Trump: We don't know 'about Hillary in terms of religion'

[webfact]

Trump: We don't know 'about Hillary in terms of religion'
By JILL COLVIN

NEW YORK (AP) — Republican Donald Trump appeared to raise questions about likely rival Hillary Clinton's religious faith at a closed-door meeting with evangelical leaders Tuesday.

The presumptive GOP nominee, in a video clip of his remarks, appeared to suggest the public doesn't know "anything about Hillary in terms of religion."

"You know, she's been in public eye for years and years, and yet there's no, there's nothing out there. There's like nothing out there," he told the group.

"It's going to be an extension of Obama, but it's going to be worse because with Obama you had your guard up, with Hillary you don't. And it's going to be worse," he warned.

A spokeswoman for Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment on exactly what Trump meant.

Footage of Trump speaking at the meeting at a Times Square hotel, which was closed to reporters, was posted by attendee Bishop E.W. Jackson on his Twitter feed.

Jackson told The Associated Press that Trump had been talking about the idea that conservatives are constantly scrutinized over their religion, how devout they are and their positons on social issues.

"He was saying in the context that liberals and the Democrats don't get those kinds of questions, they don't get their faith examined in that way," he said.

"He wasn't questioning her Christianity, but he was questioning the implications of her faith, compared to how conservatives tend to have their faith examined."

Clinton grew up in the Methodist church, attending church youth group and teaching Sunday school like her mother. While she doesn't often talk about her faith on the campaign trail, she occasionally quotes biblical verses and mentions her experiences in church.

"I am a person of faith. I am a Christian. I am a Methodist. I have been raised Methodist," she told voters in Iowa in January.

In the posted footage, Trump also takes issue with the idea of encouraging prayers for all leaders.

"I said: Well you can pray for your leaders, and I agree with that, pray for everyone. But what you really have to do is you have to pray to get everybody out to vote for one specific person," he said. "And we can't be again politically correct and say we pray for all of our leaders because all of your leaders are selling Christianity down the tubes, selling evangelicals down the tubes."

Trump has sometimes struggled to discuss religious issues. He has declined to cite his favorite biblical verse and has toted around a photo from his confirmation as evidence of his Christian upbringing.

But in another video clip from Tuesday's event, Trump talked about the meaning of faith in his life.

"Christianity, I owe so much to it in so many ways, through life, through having incredible children, through so many other things," he said, noting his great support from religious voters in GOP primaries.

"The evangelical vote was mostly gotten by me," he said.

Trump also talked in another clip about the lack of "spirit" in inner cities.

"We've got to spiritize this country. And I'm not only talking about the inner cities. I'm talking about everywhere," he said, coining a new word.

Trump's campaign on Tuesday also announced the formation of a new "Evangelical Executive Advisory Board" that will advise the candidate "on those issues important to Evangelicals and other people of faith in America," according to a release.

Members of the new group include former Minnesota Congresswoman Michele Bachmann, Liberty University President Jerry Falwell Jr. and Faith and Freedom Coalition leader Ralph Reed.

Jackson, the bishop who posted video to Twitter, said that he'd walked into the meeting as more of an anti-Clinton voter than pro-Trump one, but said the meeting had changed his view.

"The thing I've heard most people say is, 'He moved the needle,'" he said. "People who came in with reservations, they have fewer reservations. Others left thinking, 'Maybe I need to take a look at him again.'"

___

Associated Press writer Lisa Lerer contributed to this report from Washington.


-- (c) Associated Press 2016-06-22

[pitrevie]

From a man who couldn't even quote one single verse from the Bible.

A man's ethical behavior should be based effectually on sympathy, education, and social ties and needs; no religious basis is necessary. Man would indeed be in a poor way if he had to be restrained by fear of punishment and hope of reward after death.
Albert Einstein

[up2u2]

Good who gives a rats what her religious views are. Leave the idiotic religion BS for the loony far Right Republicans.

[elgordo38]

Donald after 3 wives and counting and many mistresses and enriching bankruptcies and your hate speeches about almost every race on the planet. I think you have some 3500 court cases against you for failing to deliver on wages etc. I am sure Saint Peter is just awaiting your arrival with open arms. Look for the sign saying elevators to lower levels.

[Berkshire]

Good who gives a rats what her religious views are. Leave the idiotic religion BS for the loony far Right Republicans.

He was kissing up to the evangelicals at a fundraising event....more evidence that Trump will say anything to raise money or get votes.

[Boon Mee]

The religion angle is going nowhere in this election.

[IMA_FARANG]

Trump has never run a successful business venture....he always bankrupts his business associates....and takes their money for himself. Anyone who would want such a person to be president is a greater fool than he is.

[Boon Mee]

Trump has never run a successful business venture....he always bankrupts his business associates....and takes their money for himself.

Anyone who would want such a person to be president is a greater fool than he is.

Link(s)?

[Mosha]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[SgtRock]

Her religion.

Probably the same as every other Politico that walks the earth.

MONEY and lots of it,

[MaxYakov]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

[GinBoy2]

This is a pattern with Trump, it seems to be in his playbook.

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2016-election/donald-trump-s-history-questioning-others-religion-n596666

[Mosha]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

I've seen plenty of the faux family values from the religious right. You don't need religion for morals.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

[hdkane]

Nor should anyone's religion be a variable in electing them to public office...

Trump had such momentum, and he has squandered his opportunity to make real meaningful changes in history...the concerns he voiced were real issues that were largely ignored by policy makers (e.g., unchecked immigration, rampant crime, race realism, and political corruption)...if he continues on this path of just shooting off his mouth with no real regard to policy or real change, Trump will not only lose the election, but will be a minor footnote in political science as a joke...and...he will not care in the least...Trump will go play golf, while the country implodes...

[KKr]

if I summarise , Mr. Trump says he does not need votes from non-christians, correct ?

[MaxYakov]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

I've seen plenty of the faux family values from the religious right. You don't need religion for morals.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

I was thinking about a scope much, much wider than "family values", but if you want to drag Bill and Chelsea in to this, OK by me.

I do have one question though:

The Declaration of Independence has this well-known sentence:

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

In the absence of a Creator, under atheism, for example, who or what would be left to determine the "unalienable" rights of citizens?

Note: I'm not particularly religious, but I do find the Universe to be very strange and ultimately unexplainable. This is an important philosophical question to me because I would certainly not trust the definition or control of my rights to a mortal or a government. We have plenty examples of that in existence already, and I shouldn't have to list them.

My personal summation:

Humans, keep your rights-pickin' hands and anything else off my unalienable rights.

Edited June 22, 2016 by MaxYakov

[Emster23]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

Perhaps you should try reading the Constitution. Put you in more knowledgeable position than Trump. Article 6:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Moral compass does not require any religion. Perhaps those who have internal moral compass compared to those who depend on threats and rewards from external source (aka God) are more moral.

We all know who Trump worships: himself. And plenty of info about Hillary's Methodist faith. But since Trump says he gets his info from the internet, and probably nut case sites at that (given all his other demonstrations of ignorance, bias, just plain lies), no wonder he projects his ignorance into a "We just don't know" line.

http://www.livescience.com/47799-morality-religion-political-beliefs.html

[ozyjon]

[MaxYakov]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

Perhaps you should try reading the Constitution. Put you in more knowledgeable position than Trump. Article 6:

"The Senators and Representatives before mentioned, and the Members of the several State Legislatures, and all executive and judicial Officers, both of the United States and of the several States, shall be bound by Oath or Affirmation, to support this Constitution; but no religious Test shall ever be required as a Qualification to any Office or public Trust under the United States.

Moral compass does not require any religion. Perhaps those who have internal moral compass compared to those who depend on threats and rewards from external source (aka God) are more moral.

We all know who Trump worships: himself. And plenty of info about Hillary's Methodist faith. But since Trump says he gets his info from the internet, and probably nut case sites at that (given all his other demonstrations of ignorance, bias, just plain lies), no wonder he projects his ignorance into a "We just don't know" line.

http://www.livescience.com/47799-morality-religion-political-beliefs.html

Where did I associate a moral compass with religion?

Do you think religion is the only basis for a moral compass? Besides religion, an important, but not absolutely necessary component, I can identify at least four other potential sources that may (or may not) contribute to a person's moral compass.

I believe that you are incorrectly asserting that I was making any claim about it in relation to the U.S. government or anything else.

Perhaps you should try reading "Lord of the Flies", because the more I consider politics the more it looks to me like the what is happening now being acted out by supposed adults who aren't much different from the kids stranded on that island. Or maybe I'm just having a bad day or maybe that's just the nature of politics.

Anyway, in case you missed it, I asked a question about the existence of a Creator and its relation to the notion of unalienable rights in the United States Declaration of Independence in THIS POST.

Does the notion of a Creator necessitate that the concept be part of a religion?

[farcanell]

Religious leaders of any denomination are not democratically elected representatives of the people, and should have no say in the running of a country.... Just as politicians are no longer "representatives" of God.... (Anointed by God... Blah blah blah) and should have no say in the running of a church, unless, of course, laws have been broken... In which case either/or should be held to account before the people (court/ jury)

So why give a tinkers toss about who can and cannot quote scripture... Mind you, I fail to see why trump can't quote something like ...."an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth..." Verses... "... Turn the other cheek"

[Chicog]

It's ironic really. The gibberish answers he comes back with are very reminiscent of when Palin was asked what news she read.

Washington (CNN)Donald Trump regularly tells crowds that his memoir is only his second favorite book.

His first? The Bible.

"As much as I love 'The Art of the Deal,' it's not even close," he said Friday. "We take the Bible all the way."

But when asked Wednesday on Bloomberg's "With All Due Respect" to share his favorite verses, Trump, a Presbyterian, was not as direct.

"I wouldn't want to get into it. Because to me, that's very personal," he said. "The Bible means a lot to me, but I don't want to get into specifics."

Trump, who once referred to communion as "my little wine and my little cracker," was asked if he prefers the New or Old Testaments.

"Probably equal. I think it's just incredible," he said.

Translation: "I haven't read it since high school and I couldn't give a toss what it says, except I need the jesus wheezers to vote for me, so I'd best pretend I do".

Edited June 22, 2016 by Chicog

[dunroaming]

Desperate now, hopefully he won't crash and burn too soon. We need to keep the circus going!

[Chicog]

Desperate now, hopefully he won't crash and burn too soon. We need to keep the circus going!

Yes, I'm sure nobody wants the GOP to field a serious candidate.

[Norvid]

If you think H. Clinton shall be............

If you want to know.......

[smotherb]

Trump has never run a successful business venture....he always bankrupts his business associates....and takes their money for himself.

Anyone who would want such a person to be president is a greater fool than he is.

You have a lot to learn about business.

[NovaBlue05]

I'm pretty sure Hillary worships at the alter she created that bears her name

[Andaman Al]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

This is why America is completely screwed. The Religious nut jobs really do believe that it is not possible to have a Moral compass without religion. I do not need the Bible to tell me 'Thou shalt not kill', funny though, all the Right Wing Religious nut jobs that do kill seem to believe they do it in Gods name. This planet can never ever be at peace while we have religion that promotes belief in something made up by men to promote their own requirements for power (where was their moral compass?). I find it offensive that you suggest people that do not believe in fairy stories have no moral compass.

[MaxYakov]

I didn't know they were running for pope.

Sent from my SMART_4G_Speedy_5inch using Tapatalk

Are you familiar with the term "moral compass"?

If she doesn't have one handy (and it appears she doesn't), I guess she and her foundation certainly have enough money to pick one up at Versace or Oscar de la Renta.

Maybe morals are so right-wing and yesterday, like the Constitution? I'll guess we have to ask Obama, since he was reportedly a constitutional lecturer.

This is why America is completely screwed. The Religious nut jobs really do believe that it is not possible to have a Moral compass without religion. I do not need the Bible to tell me 'Thou shalt not kill', funny though, all the Right Wing Religious nut jobs that do kill seem to believe they do it in Gods name. This planet can never ever be at peace while we have religion that promotes belief in something made up by men to promote their own requirements for power (where was their moral compass?). I find it offensive that you suggest people that do not believe in fairy stories have no moral compass.

I am very sorry that you found it offensive but you are entitled to exercise your right to be offended any time you wish.

However, it was entirely your misunderstanding of my post that prompted you to exercise that right.

I made no association intentionally between religion and a notion of a "moral compass". If I had to bet money on it, though, I'd say that the closest Hillary ever got to religion was the "In God We Trust" enshrined on US dollar bill.

But, hey! I could be wrong. Has she mentioned God in any of her speeches (I find hearing her speak very nauseating so I avoid it, BTW)? Just asking?

Anyway, you must have missed my previous post on this thread that outlines my position on the matter HERE (ie, click this)

[Pinot]

Trump has never run a successful business venture....he always bankrupts his business associates....and takes their money for himself.

Anyone who would want such a person to be president is a greater fool than he is.

Link(s)?

YOU'RE asking for links?

[Pinot]

I'm pretty sure Hillary worships at the alter she created that bears her name

Anyone???