'He wears the armor of God': evangelicals hail Trump's church photo op

[Eugene]

Source: The Guardian

'He wears the armor of God': evangelicals hail Trump's church photo op

The president’s appeal to his base amid protests was derided by some Christians. Others saw a victory in a world of evil

Matthew Teague in Fairhope, Alabama
@MatthewTeague
Wed 3 Jun 2020 11.00 BST
Last modified on Wed 3 Jun 2020 11.01 BST

No one accuses Donald Trump of subtlety. When the US president raised a Bible overhead on Monday evening outside St John’s Episcopal church in Washington DC, the sign was unmistakable: an appeal to his evangelical base for loyalty, as protests and riots roared across America.

Not every Christian answered the call. The Rev Gini Gerbasi, an Episcopal priest, said police used teargas to drive her and others from St John’s before Trump’s appearance. “They turned holy ground into a battleground,” she told Religion News Service.

But many of Trump’s evangelical supporters, far from Washingtons political stage, saw the move as a victory in a world rife with evil.

“My whole family was flabbergasted,” said Benjamin Horbowy, 37.

The Horbowys had gathered in Tallahassee, Florida, to watch live as Trump walked from the White House to St John’s. “My mother just shouted out, ‘God give him strength! He’s doing a Jericho walk!’”

-snip-

Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/03/donald-trump-church-photo-op-evangelicals

[riversedge]

1. People, we have a problem. It is going to take a lot of work to get a Dem into the Oval Office.

[Mariana]

3. Trump can't afford to lose any of his Christian voters.

The majority of Christians voted for him in 2016, and it wasn't just the Evangelicals, either - he got 58% of Protestants, 52% of Catholics, and 61% of Mormons. The Evangelicals still love him and they probably always will, but the Evangelicals alone aren't enough to carry him.

[chia]

2. "God give him strength! He's doing a Jericho walk!"

These ones won't change. They have too much invested in their belief in Trump as "God's imperfect leader." We can only outvote them.

[rurallib]

5. Jericho walk? Is that something from the Ministry of Silly Walks?

[chia]

6. haha, love it, but no, they're talking about the O.T. Joshua circling the walls of Jericho and then

the walls come tumbling down. But this:

Horbowy already supported Trump politically – he heads the local chapter of a pro- Trump motorcycle club and is campaigning for a seat in Florida’s state senate – but when Trump lifted the Bible, Horbowy and his family felt overcome spiritually.

“My mother started crying. She comes from Pentecostal background, and she started speaking in tongues. I haven’t heard her speak in tongues in years,” he said. “I thought, look at my president! He’s establishing the Lord’s kingdom in the world.”

This is why no one will be able to get through to them. Trump is too intertwined in their religious beliefs.

[handmade34]

4. ...

[Act_of_Reparation]

7. The armor of god is a fat suit?

Who knew?