Every week, millions of Christians gather to worship and remember the tenets of the faith: belief in God, in Jesus Christ as his son and their savior, and in the Holy Spirit. Many utter the words of the Lord’s Prayer each week, and in doing so, ask that God forgive our sins, as we forgive those who trespass against us.
These are the ABCs of the Christian faith — and they should theoretically be an easy answer to offer if, like President Donald Trump, you’re asked what might happen when you die, and what you might do when Judgment Day comes.
And yet, when asked last week by Ross Douthat on 60 Minutes where Trump thinks he’ll go when he dies — and if he could forgive his political enemies if his salvation depended on it — Trump was brutally honest.
“Well, I’m a religious person, so in theory I go to heaven,” the president said. “I hope so. I don’t want to go to hell.”
Could he forgive opponents like former FBI Director James Comey and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi?
“Well, then I wouldn’t be real, would I? I mean, if I said to you, sure, the easy answer to that is ‘Oh, yes, I could forgive,’” Trump told Douthat. “The answer is no. I want to be honest, no.”
Even if God asked it?
“Before the judgment, no,” he said. “I do hate some of my enemies…I probably cannot do that, no, because I do hate some of my enemies and I always will.”
No there will never be a significant post-religious right. There overall views aren’t popular, without being able to turn to homophobia, transphobia, abortion, there numbers would be under 15%. Only borderline issue I can think of that isn’t highly dependent on religion is guns.
There’s also the people who are unreligious or otherwise neutral on social issues, but entirely willing to toss minority rights and environmental protections under the bus when promised with tax cuts.
Well yes I wasn’t eliminating them, I was noting the 15% of them. you’ve got selfish people who are really rich that benefit from the tax cuts… and you’ve got morons who will get a lot worse off.