Donald Trump On His Religious Beliefs

Syndicated columnist Cal Thomas yesterday interviewed Republican presumptive nominee Donald Trump on several issues.  Here is the portion of the full transcript relating to Trump's religious beliefs:

CT: Every president has called upon God at some point. Lincoln spoke of not being able to hold the office of the presidency without spending time on his knees. You have confessed that you are a Christian …

DT: And I have also won much evangelical support.

CT: Yes, I know that. You have said you never felt the need to ask for God’s forgiveness, and yet repentance for one’s sins is a precondition to salvation. I ask you the question Jesus asked of Peter: Who do you say He is?

DT: I will be asking for forgiveness, but hopefully I won’t have to be asking for much forgiveness. As you know, I am Presbyterian and Protestant. I’ve had great relationships and developed even greater relationships with ministers. We have tremendous support from the clergy. I think I will be doing very well during the election with evangelicals and with Christians. In the Middle East — and this is prior to the migration — you had almost no chance of coming into the United States. Christians from Syria, of which there were many, many of their heads … chopped off. If you were a Muslim from Syria, it was one of the easiest places to come in (to the U.S.). I thought that was deplorable. I’m going to treat my religion, which is Christian, with great respect and care.

CT: Who do you say Jesus is?

DT: Jesus to me is somebody I can think about for security and confidence. Somebody I can revere in terms of bravery and in terms of courage and, because I consider the Christian religion so important, somebody I can totally rely on in my own mind.

Trump Noncommittal On Religious Liberty Questions

JTA and The Forward report on a question-and-answer session held yesterday by Donald Trump with two dozen Jewish reporters and Orthodox Jewish activists.  The questions focused on religious liberty and on Israel.  JTA reports:

Here’s Trump’s answer to a question on whether religious employers should have the right to discriminate on the basis of religion when it comes to hiring:

“That’s the question that’s been asked and discussed very brilliantly on many different levels over the last short period of time,” Trump said. “And I’m going to really leave that decision to you. That’s your personal decision. What would your answer be to that question?”

When asked about tax-exempt status for religious groups, Trump said, “It’s really become a very big point of discussion and a very complex point of discussion and it’s something that I’m very interested in and I’m really forming policy on it and I’m actually going to be announcing something that I actually think you’re going to be very happy with. OK?”

Pastor Introducing Trump Says Bernie Sanders Must "Come to Jesus"

At a Donald Trump event in Hickory, North Carolina today, Pastor Mark Burns who spoke before Trump and Gov. Chris Christie took the stage called for Bernie Sanders to accept Jesus.  As quoted by Politico, Burns said in part:

Bernie Sanders who doesn't believe in God. How in the world are we going to let Bernie? I mean really? Listen, Bernie gotta get saved. He gotta meet Jesus. He gotta have a come to Jesus meeting.

Trump Pledges To Work To Eliminate Ban on Religious Non-Profits Endorsing Candidates

In a news conference in Ft. Worth, Texas today, Republican candidate Donald Trump-- saying that Christians are afraid to have a lobby because it threatens their tax exempt status-- pledged to work to eliminate the Johnson amendment that prevents non-profits, including religious non-profits, from endorsing or opposing political candidates. (Video of news conference, this portion at 1:44).  This came after evangelical Pastor Robert Jeffress endorsed Trump at the news conference (video at 1:42).

Trump Speculates Audit of His Tax Returns Stems From Religious Discrimination

As reported by Politico, during last night's contentious CNN Republican presidential debate Donald Trump said that he has not released his tax returns because they are the subject of a routine IRS audit. Then in an interview with CNN's Chris Cuomo immediately following the debate, Trump said:

But the one problem I have is that I’m always audited by the IRS, which I think is very unfair. I don’t know, maybe because of religion, maybe because I’m doing something else, maybe because I’m doing this, although this is just recently.

Cuomo followed up asking Trump what he meant by religion, and Trump responded:

Well maybe because of the fact that I’m a strong Christian, and I feel strongly about it. And maybe there’s a bias.  You see what’s happened. I mean, you have many religious groups have been complaining about that. They’ve been complaining about it for a long time.

Trump's Week of Controversial Religious Allusions

Donald Trump tonight won the South Carolina Republican primary, capping a week in which his religious rhetoric has sparked controversy.  On Thursday, Trump clashed with Pope Francis.  As reported by CNN:

One of the more unlikely battles to jolt a presidential campaign emerged Thursday when Pope Francis said Trump is "not Christian" if he wants to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Trump, true to form, shot back that the pontiff's comments were "disgraceful."

But by Thursday evening, the GOP front-runner was doing something unusual: de-escalating a fight.

"I don't like fighting with the Pope," Trump said at a GOP town hall in South Carolina hosted by CNN. "I like his personality; I like what he represents."

Trump called the Pope a "wonderful guy" and blamed the day's drama on the press.

Yesterday at a rally in South Carolina, Trump invoked a probably inaccurate story that has circulated on the Internet for years. As reported by the Washington Post:

As the crowd cheered him on, Trump told them about Pershing — “rough guy, rough guy” — who was fighting terrorism in the early 1900s. Trump didn't say where this happened, but variations of this story online usually state that it happened in the Philippines during the Philippine-American War — part of the island nation's protracted battle for independence — early in Pershing’s career.

“They were having terrorism problems, just like we do,” Trump said. “And he caught 50 terrorists who did tremendous damage and killed many people. And he took the 50 terrorists, and he took 50 men and he dipped 50 bullets in pigs’ blood — you heard that, right? He took 50 bullets, and he dipped them in pigs’ blood. And he had his men load his rifles, and he lined up the 50 people, and they shot 49 of those people. And the 50th person, he said: You go back to your people, and you tell them what happened. And for 25 years, there wasn’t a problem...."

Finally, this morning as Vice-President Joe Biden, rather than President Barack Obama, attended Justice Scalia's funeral mass, Donald Trump tweeted:

I wonder if President Obama would have attended the funeral of Justice Scalia if it were held in a Mosque? Very sad that he did not go!

Falwell Endorses Trump; Other Evangelical Leaders Quickly Object

Donald Trump's presidential campaign announced yesterday that Trump has received the endorsement of Jerry Falwell, Jr. who is president of Liberty University and is the son of the late televangelist Jerry Falwell, Sr.  In endorsing Trump, Falwell called him  "a successful executive and entrepreneur, a wonderful father and a man who I believe can lead our country to greatness again." According to the Washington Post, this is part of Trump's recent attempt to appeal to religious voters:

On the campaign trail in Iowa, he now begins rallies with a prayer. In Sioux City and Pella, the prayer was offered by Dallas megachurch pastor Robert Jeffress. And on Sunday, Trump attended a Presbyterian service where he met with churchgoers and posed for pictures.

Politico reports however:

Jerry Falwell Jr.’s endorsement of Donald Trump on Tuesday was swiftly met with a backlash from other Christian conservatives sounding the alarm about what they see as a dangerous candidate with questionable morals.

John Stemberger, president of the Florida Family Policy Council said: "The late Dr. Jerry Falwell Sr. would be rolling over in his grave if he knew the son who bore his name had endorsed the most immoral and ungodly man to ever run for President of the United States."

Trump Speaks At Liberty University With Outreach To Evangelicals

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump spoke at Liberty University yesterday, in a talk geared toward his evangelical Christian audience. (Video of full remarks.)  He speech was preceded by a lengthy introduction (full text) from Liberty University president Jerry Falwell, Jr., who said in part:

Matthew 7:16 tells us "by their fruits ye shall know them".  Donald Trump's life has borne fruit, fruit that has provided jobs to multitudes of people in addition to the many he has helped with his generosity.... In my opinion, Donald Trump lives a life of living and helping others as Jesus taught in the Great Commandment.

As reported by Time:

Early on in his speech, Trump tailored his message to the crowd and emphasized the power of Christianity in the country.

 “We’re going to protect Christianity,” he said, before quoting a Bible passage. “2 Corinthians, right? 2 Corinthians 3:17, that’s the whole ballgame. Where the spirit of the lord, right? Where the spirit of the lord is, there is liberty … It is so true.”

(When quoting the Bible passage, Trump said “two Corinthians” rather than “Second Corinthians,” the correct way of saying it.)

“If you look what’s going on throughout the world … Christianity, it’s under siege,” Trump continued. “I’m Protestant, I’m very proud of it, Presbyterian to be exact, but I’m very proud of it … And we’ve got to protect because bad thing are happening … We don’t band together, maybe? Other religions frankly they’re banding together and they’re using it. If you look at this country, it’s gotta be 70 percent, 75 percent, some people say even more. The power we have, we have to unify. We have to band together, we have to do really in a really large version what they’ve done at Liberty.”

Donald Trump's Christmas Card Covers All Bases

The New York Daily News reports that the Christmas card which Donald Trump mailed to his supporters this week covered all the bases after his campaign emphasis on the need to say Merry Christmas instead of "Happy Holidays."

Donald Trump Calls For Ban on Muslims Entering United States

Acting in contradiction to the policy approach urged yesterday by President Obama (see prior posting), Republican front-runner Donald Trump this afternoon issued a statement (full text) calling for a complete ban on Muslims entering the United States.  The statement reads:

Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on. According to Pew Research, among others, there is great hatred towards Americans by large segments of the Muslim population. Most recently, a poll from the Center for Security Policy released data showing "25% of those polled agreed that violence against Americans here in the United States is justified as a part of the global jihad" and 51% of those polled, "agreed that Muslims in America should have the choice of being governed according to Shariah." Shariah authorizes such atrocities as murder against non-believers who won't convert, beheadings and more unthinkable acts that pose great harm to Americans, especially women.

Mr. Trump stated, "Without looking at the various polling data, it is obvious to anybody the hatred is beyond comprehension. Where this hatred comes from and why we will have to determine. Until we are able to determine and understand this problem and the dangerous threat it poses, our country cannot be the victims of horrendous attacks by people that believe only in Jihad, and have no sense of reason or respect for human life. If I win the election for President, we are going to Make America Great Again."

African American Clergy Squabble Publicly Over Planned Endorsements of Donald Trump

As reported by Clutch, the Donald Trump campaign has been widely advertising a meeting on Monday between Trump and a group of well-known Black pastors. The meeting will be televised and streamed online live from the Trump Towers. Apparently a Trump campaign press release said that 100 African American religious leaders will appear with Trump on Monday to endorse him.  On Friday, a group of 114 other Black religious leaders and scholars published an Open Letter in Ebony strongly criticizing those who plan to meet with Trump, saying in part:

[A]s people of God, you know that our theology shapes our politics, and politics are a great indicator of our theology. What theology do you believe Mr. Trump possesses when his politics are so clearly anti-Black? He routinely engages in the kind of rhetoric that brings out the worst sorts of white racist aggression, not only toward Black people, but also toward Mexican-Americans and Muslim-Americans, too. Surely, we can agree that this kind of unloving and violent language does not reflect the politics of the Christ we profess?

In response to all of this, several of the clergy who plan to attend the Monday meeting made it clear that they have not committed to endorsing Trump.  According to the Daily Beast today, Bishop Clarence McClendon whose name leads the list of those advertised as planning to attend, said in a Facebook post:

I am not officially endorsing ANY candidate and when I do you will NOT need to hear it from pulpitting courtjesters who suffer from intellectual and spiritual myopia.

It is not clear that the 100 religious leaders who it was said will endorse Trump Monday are the same ones who are attending the advertised meeting.

Trump's Call For Registration of U.S. Muslims Criticized By Democrats and Many Fellow-Republicans

The New York Times today reports that Democrats and many fellow-Republicans are criticizing Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump's remarks supportive of a system to register all Muslims in the country.  Trump said it is merely an issue of "management." Hillary Clinton called Trump's comments "shocking rhetoric." Former Gov. Jeb Bush said in response to Trump's position: "You talk about closing mosques, you talk about registering people — that’s just wrong."

Republican Candidates Express Concerns About Muslims In U.S. After Paris Terrorism

The New York Times reported yesterday on statements by Republican presidential candidates reflecting a growing suspicion of Muslims after the recent terrorism in Paris:

[Donald] Trump, who said last month that he would be open to shutting down mosques as part of the fight against Islamic State militants, reiterated on Monday that the idea should be “studied.”

“I would hate it do it but it’s something that you’re going to have to strongly consider because some of the ideas and some of the hatred, the absolute hatred, is coming from these areas”....

Ben Carson ... called on Congress to defund its program to give safe passage to Syrian refugees. The retired neurosurgeon also suggested....  “I believe that we need to put a lot more pressure on the clerics, the imams, to make a very distinct line between what ISIS, ISIL, the radical Islamic jihadists are doing, and what traditional Islam is about”....

Jeb Bush ... also expressed concern about refugees from the Middle East entering the United States and said ... Christians and Muslims who are fleeing Syria should be treated differently. “We should focus our efforts as it relates to refugees for the Christians that are being slaughtered,” Mr. Bush said.

At a news conference, President Obama particularly criticized suggestions that there should be a religious test for which refugees will be admitted.

Donald Trump On the Ayatollah and Middle Eastern Muslim Women

CBS News reports that Donald Trump, at a campaign rally on Monday, continued his unconventional rhetoric, this time in connection with the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and Muslim women in the Middle East. Focusing on how he would address Khamenei, Trump said:

I'll say, 'Hey baby, how ya doing?' I will never call him the Supreme Leader. And I'll get along with him probably. And maybe not. And if he doesn't get along with me, they got problems. We don't.

He then went on to say that the U.S. should stop intervening to further women's rights in the Middle East because women there do not want freedom, as shown by their desire to wear burqas or niqabs that hide their face. Trump framed his conclusion this way:

With the women over there, they don't have to wear the you-know-what. And then I said, 'Oh well that makes sense. That's nice.' Then, I saw women interviewed. They said, 'We want to wear them. We've worn them for a thousand years. Why would anyone tell us?' They want to. What the hell are we getting involved for? The fact is it's easier. You don't have to put on make-up. Look how beautiful everyone looks. Wouldn't it be easier if "mwah" (kissing sound)? Right? Wouldn't that be easy? I tell you if I was a woman - "mwah" - I'm ready darling. Let's go.

Trump Questions Carson's Religious Beliefs

On the Republican presidential campaign trail last week, Donald Trump raised questions about the Seventh Day Adventist beliefs of fellow candidate Ben Carson. According to the New York Post Trump told a Florida audience on Saturday:

I’m Presbyterian. Boy, that’s down the middle of the road folks, in all fairness. I mean, Seventh-day Adventist, I don’t know about. I just don’t know about.

Subsequently Trump refused to apologize for his remarks.

Donald Trump: Closing Certain Mosques To Fight ISIS Might Be OK

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump has created a new controversy in an Oct. 20 interview (video of full interview) on Fox Business Varney & Co. in which he suggested that he might favor closing of certain mosques as a method to fight ISIS.  As reported by Mediaite:

Host Stuart Varney asked about a series of anti-ISIS measures the British government has taken. “They’ve got a whole new series of proposals to deal with this, including withdrawal of passports from some of these people who’ve gone over just to fight–”

“Absolutely. Good, good,” Trump said.

“…and closing some mosques,” he continued. “Would you do the same thing in America?”

“I would do that,” Trump responded. “Absolutely, I think it’s great.”

“Can you do it?” pressed Varney. “Can you close a mosque? We do have religious freedom.”

“Well, I don’t know,” Trump admitted. “I mean, I haven’t heard about the closing of the mosque. It depends, if the mosque is, you know, loaded for bear, I don’t know. You’re going to have to certainly look at it.”