# Trump's religious pandering **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [June 1, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885 "2020-06-01T23:55:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HMS\_Irruncible](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hms_irruncible/32/7394_2.png) [@HMS\_Irruncible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HMS_Irruncible)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2020, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/1 "2020-06-01T23:55:40Z")
I predicted from the beginning that when Trump’s goose appears to be truly cooked, that he would fake some sort of religious conversion to shore up his credentials with conservatives and evangelicals. It’s taken longer than I expected. I totally underestimated the eagerness of religious people to debase all of their principles and bow down to lick the boots of their false god Trump, and they’ve been doing it consistently for year. But here, today, [we have video of Trump waving a bible around in front of a church](https://twitter.com/i/status/1267602000788807682). “Is that your bible?” “It’s _a_ bible.” He’s getting desperate, and waving a prop bible in front of a church is the best idea he can think of. I have no words. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/2 "2020-06-02T00:13:06Z")
Of course [peaceful protesters were gassed and shot with rubber bullets so that he could share his love of Christianity.](https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/6/1/21277530/trump-speech-police-violence-dc-tear-gas) ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/3 "2020-06-02T00:24:37Z")
The sight of Trump standing there holding that book (that he’s never read, as many point out) was genuinely pathetic. It’s difficult to believe that anyone really believes Trump is a Christian. But that pathetic man has the power—through our foolishness in letting the Presidency become so Imperial—to accomplish massive and immense destruction, affecting millions. And he will. ---
**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:** [June 2, 2020, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/4 "2020-06-02T00:39:03Z")
He looked like he was selling a Trump steak. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/5 "2020-06-02T01:30:22Z")
For the first time in my life, I was tempted to pray for lighting to strike as he held the book aloft. God could have converted every atheist in that moment. And turned every American evangelist into a true believe too. God blew it. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/6 "2020-06-02T01:46:09Z")
[Bishop Mariann Budde](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/02/mariann-budde-bishop-st-johns-trump-bible-photo-ac360-vpx.cnn), who oversees that church, is not at all happy about it. Link to video/audio at CNN. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/7 "2020-06-02T01:46:31Z")
> [@QuickSilver](#): > > For the first time in my life, I was tempted to pray for lighting to strike as he held the book aloft. > > God could have converted every atheist in that moment. That’d have to be some pretty dramatic lighting. ---
**Author:** ![galen\_ubal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/galen_ubal/32/4440_2.png) [@galen\_ubal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/galen_ubal)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/8 "2020-06-02T01:52:20Z")
[From the Washington Post:](https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/bishop-budde-trump-church/2020/06/01/20ca70f8-a466-11ea-b619-3f9133bbb482_story.html) > [@](#): > > “I am outraged,” Budde said in a telephone interview a short time later, pausing between words to emphasize her anger as her voice slightly trembled. > > She said she had not been given any notice that Trump would be visiting the church, and did not approve of the manner in which the area was secured for his appearance. > > “I am the bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Washington and was not given even a courtesy call, that they would be clearing [the area] with tear gas so they could use one of our churches as a prop,” Budde said. > > She excoriated the president for standing in front of the church — its windows boarded up with plywood — holding up a Bible, which Budde said “declares that God is love.” > > “Everything he has said and done is to inflame violence,” Budde of the president. “We need moral leadership, and he’s done everything to divide us, and has just used one of the most sacred symbols of the Judeo-Christian tradition.” ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 1:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/9 "2020-06-02T01:53:35Z")
> [@Sherrerd](#): > > The sight of Trump standing there holding that book (that he’s never read, as many point out) was genuinely pathetic. It’s difficult to believe that anyone really believes Trump is a Christian. They don’t believe he’s a true Christian. They believe he is their useful idiot, or in the extreme Evangelical case, he’s [the harbinger if the Anti-Christ](https://theresurgent.com/2016/11/04/donald-trump-is-a-harbinger-of-the-anti-christ-to-come/). > [@Aspenglow](#): > > He looked like he was selling a Trump steak Of the multitudes of his failed business ventures an inability to sell steak to Americans ranks up there with running multiple oceanfront casinos into bankruptcy and that is a business with a guaranteed yield if you can just lure people to the tables. > [@QuickSilver](#): > > God could have converted every atheist in that moment. And turned every American evangelist into a true believe too. > > God blew it. God presumably has better things to do than fuck with Donald Trump, like turning defiant bitches into pillars of fire/salt or sending a bear to shred children for making fun of an old man’s baldness. Stranger ---
**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:** [June 2, 2020, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/10 "2020-06-02T01:57:01Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > \ > > Of the multitudes of his failed business ventures an inability to sell steak to Americans ranks up there with running multiple oceanfront casinos into bankruptcy and that is a business with a guaranteed yield if you can just lure people to the tables. > > \ And people act like they weren’t warned. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/11 "2020-06-02T02:32:08Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > They don’t believe he’s a true Christian. Some do. I’ve encountered them. They argue that the bad stuff is all the media taking him out of context. They spread memes that make him out to be Christian. They repeat the lies by the preachers who are using him as a useful idiot as if they were true. Or they believe in Q-Anon crap that he’s secretly fooling the godless liberals for some greater purpose. I mean, there’s a reason that guy made those painting with Jesus and Trump together–while painting him as opposing Obama like an antichrist. Just because those in charge understand doesn’t mean they aren’t manipulating people under them. It’s kinda what these types do. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/12 "2020-06-02T02:37:24Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > [Bishop Mariann Budde](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/02/mariann-budde-bishop-st-johns-trump-bible-photo-ac360-vpx.cnn), who oversees that church, is not at all happy about it. Link to video/audio at CNN. Thanks for that link. Astounding. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 2:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/13 "2020-06-02T02:44:52Z")
> [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](#): > > …or sending a bear to shred children for making fun of an old man’s baldness. Now that’s smiting I can get behind! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/14 "2020-06-02T03:15:16Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > [Bishop Mariann Budde](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/02/mariann-budde-bishop-st-johns-trump-bible-photo-ac360-vpx.cnn), who oversees that church, is not at all happy about it. Link to video/audio at CNN. Loved the title of a thread that I saw at another discussion forum: “Bishop Checkmates Trump.” ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/15 "2020-06-02T09:19:39Z")
> [@galen\_ubal](#): > > [Bishop Mariann Budde](https://www.cnn.com/videos/politics/2020/06/02/mariann-budde-bishop-st-johns-trump-bible-photo-ac360-vpx.cnn), who oversees that church, is not at all happy about it. Link to video/audio at CNN. Not too long after that, I went to an online Episcopal compline service. The priest was visibly upset, dispersing protestors in that manner just for a publicity opportunity. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/16 "2020-06-02T09:27:11Z")
A first-hand account: [https://www.fodors.com/community/fodorite-lounge/a-first-hand-account-of-tear-gas-etc-to-clear-ppl-for-the-potus-church-photo-op-1680950/](https://www.fodors.com/community/fodorite-lounge/a-first-hand-account-of-tear-gas-etc-to-clear-ppl-for-the-potus-church-photo-op-1680950/) ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/17 "2020-06-02T09:49:31Z")
His base will love it and he will use this “emergency” to suppress black voting in swing states. ---
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/18 "2020-06-02T12:33:38Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Some do. I’ve encountered them. They argue that the bad stuff is all the media taking him out of context. They spread memes that make him out to be Christian. They repeat the lies by the preachers who are using him as a useful idiot as if they were true. Or they believe in Q-Anon crap that he’s secretly fooling the godless liberals for some greater purpose. > > I mean, there’s a reason that guy made those painting with Jesus and Trump together–while painting him as opposing Obama like an antichrist. > > Just because those in charge understand doesn’t mean they aren’t manipulating people under them. It’s kinda what these types do. They also love the bit about god using imperfect men to advance his will. I like to respond with something about Osama Bin Laden being a good example of that. ---
**Author:** ![Snarky\_Kong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a183cd/32.png) [@Snarky\_Kong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snarky_Kong)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/19 "2020-06-02T12:41:26Z")
Think of how much contempt he must have for his voters that he thinks waving a bible around is all it takes. That’s bad, but the worse part is he might be right. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2020, 12:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885/20 "2020-06-02T12:44:11Z")
> [@Snarky\_Kong](#): > > Think of how much contempt he must have for his voters that he thinks waving a bible around is all it takes. > > That’s bad, but the worse part is\*\* he might be right\*\*. One of the few things he’s absolutely right about. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/trumps-religious-pandering/854885.md?page=2)