# Is Trump confused? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Tags:** trump\ **Created:** [January 24, 2024, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589 "2024-01-24T13:53:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 95
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1914 "2024-09-04T02:17:42Z")
I will be honest, I never got the Christian heaven thing. You can be a horrible person, lie and cheat and hurt people but as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior before you die you’re good? Or does the acceptance involve somehow atoning for your sins? In other words if Trump were to be born again and accept Jesus Christ in order to get into heaven would he also have to change his behavior? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1915 "2024-09-04T03:30:20Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > Or does the acceptance involve somehow atoning for your sins? I think you also have to say you’re kind of sorry. A bit. Then you’re in. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 6:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1916 "2024-09-04T06:21:21Z")
Man, this thread… Trump’s understanding of Christianity is, shall we say, demonstrably limited. The man who had to ask religious leaders whether Presbyterianism (his own purported faith) was “evangelical” and who referred to the Eucharist as “eating the little cracker” really hasn’t progressed in his understanding beyond a 4-year-old level. ---
**Author:** ![Cheesesteak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cheesesteak/32/3694_2.png) [@Cheesesteak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cheesesteak)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1917 "2024-09-04T10:01:01Z")
> [@Gyrate](#): > > Trump’s understanding of Christianity is, shall we say, demonstrably limited. Replace Christianity with \_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_\_ and you’re good to go. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1918 "2024-09-04T15:40:24Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > I will be honest, I never got the Christian heaven thing. You can be a horrible person, lie and cheat and hurt people but as long as you accept Jesus Christ as your personal savior before you die you’re good? My first ever exposure to a Jack Chick tract was when I bussed tables at a Big Boy restaurant when I was 15, and one was left on a table. An army platoon in a war setting has a religious soldier who is nicknamed ‘Holy Joe’. Two other characters in the tract are Cpl. Henderson, a non-believer but decent person, and ‘Sarge’, an awful person who mercilessly torments Holy Joe for his beliefs, and eventually sends him on a suicide mission with the clear intent to get him killed, which he indeed does not come back from. When Cpl. Henderson and Sarge are surrounded by the enemy, Sarge makes a last-minute acceptance of Christ. They are both killed. Henderson is judged to not be worthy, despite saying “but…I lived a good life- I never hurt anybody”. Sarge, however-- the _murderer_, gets into heaven. I was nominally Catholic but my family didn’t practice. I did know the ‘official’ Christian belief that one had to accept Christ to receive everlasting life, but that Chick tract made me actively angry (as did many other Chick tracts later, when I discovered them all on the internet). > **[Chick.com: Holy Joe](https://www.chick.com/products/tract?stk=2)** > > His platoon laughed at him, but his testimony led his sergeant to Christ. ---
**Author:** ![bobsmom101](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobsmom101/32/2867_2.png) [@bobsmom101](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobsmom101)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1919 "2024-09-04T16:34:39Z")
So, @solost, let me see if I’ve got this right. Since he’d already said **The Magic Words** , Joe could have stuck a paring knife into Sarge in panel #7, thus saving himself several months of KP and still be good for eternal bliss. What a _chump_ ---
**Author:** ![Dung\_Beetle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dung_beetle/32/7945_2.png) [@Dung\_Beetle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dung_Beetle)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1920 "2024-09-04T16:54:12Z")
No, that’s completely ridiculous! Joe would have to say **The Magic Words** _again_. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1921 "2024-09-04T16:55:10Z")
> [@bobsmom101](#): > > So, @solost, let me see if I’ve got this right. > > Since he’d already said **The Magic Words** , Joe could have stuck a paring knife into Sarge in panel #7, thus saving himself several months of KP and still be good for eternal bliss. Seems that way, according to the Chick tract. Joe probably would have had to pray for forgiveness afterward, but hey, 30 seconds tops, and he’s good to go, with a spiffy whitewashed soul again. After all, the Sarge was able to wipe away a lifetime of awfulness, _including murder_, and secure his passage to heaven with a quick [Pascal’s Wager](https://iep.utm.edu/pasc-wag/) of a prayer just minutes before dying. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1922 "2024-09-04T17:00:28Z")
Moderating: > [@solost](#): > > My first ever exposure to a Jack Chick tract was when I bussed tables at a Big Boy restaurant when I was 15, and one was left on a table. > [@bobsmom101](#): > > So, @solost, let me see if I’ve got this right. > [@Dung\_Beetle](#): > > No, that’s completely ridiculous! > [@solost](#): > > Seems that way, according to the Chick tract. All quoted here are getting very far afield of the thread topic. Please drop the hijack now. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1923 "2024-09-04T20:58:01Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I was nominally Catholic but my family didn’t practice. I did know the ‘official’ Christian belief that one had to accept Christ to receive everlasting life, but that Chick tract made me actively angry (as did many other Chick tracts later, when I discovered them all on the internet). I was raised Catholic, went to Catholic elementary school, but was never a real believer and was pretty much an atheist by 9 or 10. None of it made any sense to me. But, yes, there was _never_ any talk of accepting JC as your personal savior or any of that bushwa about “burning in the bosom.” It’s also seemed vaguely creep to me. ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 4, 2024, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1924 "2024-09-04T21:04:08Z")
> [@carrps](#): > > any of that bushwa about “burning in the bosom.” Damn it! My three week streak of not thinking about William Lane Craig’s man boobs is broken… ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1925 "2024-09-05T00:25:04Z")
> [@psychobunny](#): > > In other words if Trump were to be born again and accept Jesus Christ in order to get into heaven would he also have to change his behavior? > [@Euphonious\_Polemic](#): > > I think you also have to say you’re kind of sorry. A bit. Then you’re in. So Trump will never get in. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1926 "2024-09-05T00:26:09Z")
Trump must be a real Christian. I mean, he’s got his name on the front of a Bible and everything. ---
**Author:** ![SuntanLotion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suntanlotion/32/16165_2.png) [@SuntanLotion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SuntanLotion)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1927 "2024-09-05T00:30:00Z")
You must start to live for God and do His will, not yours. Pretty much act like Jesus did. ---
**Author:** ![Superdude](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/superdude/32/13450_2.png) [@Superdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Superdude)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1928 "2024-09-05T00:39:43Z")
I think Trump has the “hang out with hookers” part down. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1929 "2024-09-05T00:52:55Z")
Don’t anyone ever tell him about selling indulgences. ETA: Ah jeez, @Aspenglow I apologize for wading back into the hijack. How about digging all these hijack posts into a new Pit thread? ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1930 "2024-09-05T02:37:28Z")
“I can’t imagine why anyone in New Hampshire would vote for Biden, anyone in New Hampshire who votes for Biden and Camel-la ought to have their head examined” > ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1931 "2024-09-05T19:01:24Z")
Ah, yes, the genius. I remember people telling me back in 2016 that Trump is always the smartest person in the room. That he is such a successful businessman. Try making sense of Trump’s answer to a childcare question from his speech today at the Economic Club in New York: _Adam Mockler with MeidasTouch Network breaks down Donald Trump’s STUNNING answer to a simple question._ [Watch Trump’s SCARY DECLINE Exposed by SIMPLE QUESTION](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AR5nvoUihl0) ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1932 "2024-09-05T19:31:44Z")
Vance’s answer was equally stunning, paraphrasing, ‘Get your parents or your siblings to take care of your children, and if that doesn’t work the problem is there are not enough people with the proper training and education to care for children.’ Who knew so many people were both qualified and not qualified at the same time! ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [September 5, 2024, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589/1933 "2024-09-05T20:14:31Z")
> [@crowmanyclouds](#): > > Vance’s answer was equally stunning Yeah, he said maybe grandma or grandpa wants to help out a little bit more. Believe it, Vance, if the grandparents are capable of helping, they already are. What a tool. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=94) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-trump-confused/996589.md?page=96)