Christian leaders honor golden statue of Trump

[JohnH]

I fail to see the point being made when prior Presidents have done the exact same thing.

Quite apart from the shady financial and political circumstances, this kind of statue is not "the exact same thing" as Don Colossus.

It communicates something quite different, don't you think? What point are you making when you bring up this example?

So, some statues are okay as long as... they portray Christian values or something?

(Wouldn't this debate be more appropriate in the other thread where we can discuss statutes in general, as opposed to making it all about Trump?)

[temporal1]

I’m not…but I think it’s worth talking about and calling out.

“preaching to the choir?”

We don’t seem to have a problem discussing other issues that people seem to agree with.

i believe that’s correct, in those cases, topics usually end on Pages 1-3 or so. or, “unanswered topics”.
abrasive, critical, accusatory tone tends to get similar in response - - even when in agreement, such as this topic.
Robert occasionally wrote about how that worked.

[Valerie]

“preaching to the choir?”

We don’t seem to have a problem discussing other issues that people seem to agree with.

i believe that’s correct, in those cases, topics usually end on Pages 1-3 or so. or, “unanswered topics”.
abrasive, critical, accusatory tone tends to get similar in response - - even when in agreement, such as this topic.
Robert occasionally wrote about how that worked.

It seems to me when this type of ranting or venting is done in agreement is it’s hoping be validated perhaps?

[Szdfan]

We don’t seem to have a problem discussing other issues that people seem to agree with.

i believe that’s correct, in those cases, topics usually end on Pages 1-3 or so. or, “unanswered topics”.
abrasive, critical, accusatory tone tends to get similar in response - - even when in agreement, such as this topic.
Robert occasionally wrote about how that worked.

It seems to me when this type of ranting or venting is done in agreement it’s hoping be validated perhaps?

I don’t think discussing concerns about political idolatry or unhealthy religious rhetoric is necessarily “ranting” or “venting,” even when multiple people happen to agree with the concern.

[Valerie]

i believe that’s correct, in those cases, topics usually end on Pages 1-3 or so. or, “unanswered topics”.
abrasive, critical, accusatory tone tends to get similar in response - - even when in agreement, such as this topic.
Robert occasionally wrote about how that worked.

It seems to me when this type of ranting or venting is done in agreement it’s hoping be validated perhaps?

I don’t think discussing concerns about political idolatry or unhealthy religious rhetoric is necessarily “ranting” or “venting,” even when multiple people happen to agree with the concern.

What’s the point of devoting most of your discussions about the same general topic, seems unhealthy

[JohnH]

What’s the point of devoting most of your discussions about the same general topic, seems unhealthy

TDS is indeed not healthy.

[Szdfan]

It seems to me when this type of ranting or venting is done in agreement it’s hoping be validated perhaps?

I don’t think discussing concerns about political idolatry or unhealthy religious rhetoric is necessarily “ranting” or “venting,” even when multiple people happen to agree with the concern.

What’s the point of devoting most of your discussions about the same general topic, seems unhealthy

If these discussions are unhealthy, I think that probably includes both of us. You also frequently participate in political threads and write long, critical posts about Biden and Democrats.

[Valerie]

I don’t think discussing concerns about political idolatry or unhealthy religious rhetoric is necessarily “ranting” or “venting,” even when multiple people happen to agree with the concern.

What’s the point of devoting most of your discussions about the same general topic, seems unhealthy

If these discussions are unhealthy, I think that probably includes both of us. You also frequently participate in political threads and write long, critical posts about Biden and Democrats.

Because as Grace often points out, Trump (for several years) has been criticized by the same people for the same things and the same people seemed to be silent over obvious issues with other administrations- so I’m on it more as pointing this out ( as Grace seems to try to do and JohnH seems to be as well, but to no avail so let’s see, we have over 2.5 years of the same left to go.
I actually came to the forum not expecting politics at all.

[ken_sylvania]

And Protestants don’t have a tradition of honoring or venerating images of saints either, which is part of what makes the behavior of Pastor Mark
Burns and other evangelical supporters of Trump so jarring.

One of the explicit critiques of Protestantism towards Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians are for practices they believed blurred the line between honor and idolatry. That’s part of why a ceremonial blessing of a giant gold statue of a sitting political leader strikes many of us as spiritually dangerous.

I would also find it unsettling if Christians were honoring and venerating the statue of Jimmy Carter that John keeps bringing up. The concern here isn’t just the statue. It’s also the quasi-religious language and ritual surrounding it.

As I have spoken about repeatedly now, Protestants certainly do have a history to of conducting dedication ceremonies for new statues. Would you like more examples?

First of all, I want to point out that the words “honor” and “venerate” have explicitly been used in this discussion to describe the Don Colossus, which moves this beyond simple dedication ceremony.

Oh? By whom?
Or are you just throwing things against the wall to see if it sticks?

[Szdfan]

What’s the point of devoting most of your discussions about the same general topic, seems unhealthy

If these discussions are unhealthy, I think that probably includes both of us. You also frequently participate in political threads and write long, critical posts about Biden and Democrats.

Because as Grace often points out, Trump (for several years) has been criticized by the same people for the same things and the same people seemed to be silent over obvious issues with other administrations- so I’m on it more as pointing this out ( as Grace seems to try to do and JohnH seems to be as well, but to no avail so let’s see, we have over 2.5 years of the same left to go.
I actually came to the forum not expecting politics at all.

So I think your response shows that many of us are invested in these political threads, just in different ways.

I also participate in these threads because I also believe things about Trump are being distorted, but in the other direction and like you, I want to challenge the distortions I see.

What I see happening is that long anti-Biden or pro-Trump posts often get treated as ordinary political discussion, while criticism of Trump gets framed as emotionally unhealthy, obsessive or ranting.

I don’t think that’s fair or consistent.