If Trump WAS Sent by God...

[Dr. Shades]

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. - Albert Einstein

That was Jesus Christ, not Albert Einstein.

[Chap]

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. - Albert Einstein

That was Jesus Christ, not Albert Einstein.

Dr C may have been joking?

[Dr. Shades]

Dr C may have been joking?

What was the punch line?

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. - Albert Einstein

That was Jesus Christ, not Albert Einstein.

No it wasn’t!

- Doc

[Morley]

Dr C may have been joking?

What was the punch line?

The punchline was when you corrected Doc Cam. You walked right into it.

[Doctor CamNC4Me]

What was the punch line?

The punchline was when you corrected Doc Cam. You walked right into it.

Ah, Dr. Shades, humor's great foe,

Our punchlines always fall too low!

With a perplexed frown,

He just can't get down,

To where laughter's merry winds blow.

- Doc

[Jersey Girl]

No. Just no.

He's posted A.I. fake images of himself praying.

https://www.forbes.com/sites/mattnovak/ ... cf94c171f6

https://Twitter.com/billdmccarthy/statu ... 9112626653

Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves. - Albert Einstein

[huckelberry]

I thought a couple of posts from other thread fit here and were interesting enough to repeat.

Ben Carson who is a GOP supporter spoke about comparing Trump to King David. A biblcal scholar, Samuel Adams, commented:

https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/19/opin ... index.html

"Let’s unpack that comparison.

The David we meet in the Bible can be a ruthless figure who cuts corners and eliminates opponents to get what he wants. He sends Uriah the Hittite to his death so that he can have Bathsheba, and this is only the most famous example of the king’s blatant disregard for women (David has many other wives and mistresses). Like a mob boss, David demands money from a sheep farmer and takes his wife. When his son, Solomon, becomes king, David advises him to kill any rivals."

The first time I read that I thought David sounded just like a mob boss, asking his son to take revenge on old enemies. It's stuck in my mind ever since as an example of the kind of thing that people don't remember from the Bible.

You are not alone. It is clear that in his day not everybody was delighted to see this former bandit and mercenary gallant young hero become king. There is an excellent discussion by "sethlsanders" of the job of whitewashing that was done, here:

Dispelling the Darkness around the Bandit King

David was successful at building a kingdom and suppressing enemies of that kingdom. He of course is given a certain position of honor as a result. How ruthless was he in that process? As Chap's link shows, even with the rose-colored apologetics in Samuel notes of ruthlessness show through.

My review of history says that nation building has almost always involved some aspects of ruthlessness. There are conflicts and division to deal with somehow. It's a bad business but one with poor alternatives. With no strong government you have fights on all sides, robbery, and little coherent law enforcement. I am not going to judge David. Nor will I claim he is ideal.

But why make a comparison to Trump? He is not nation building; he is not consolidating social order. He has sinned and David sinned but so has everybody else. Why not compare Trump to King Ahab or Saul if you want to be more positive? There are other kings, some as unqualified as Trump.

I found that discussion of much of the material in Samuel as royal apologetic to counter suspicions and resentments that were held by some people then to be an interesting observation and one that suggests a proximate reality as history for the story.

[Physics Guy]

A really gruesome book in the Bible is Judges, which concludes barbaric episodes with the remark that in those days there was no king in Israel, and everyone just did whatever they thought was right. I think it’s easier to be libertarian if you haven’t experienced anarchy.

[hauslern]

Psalm 10:2-7, New International Version:

2 In his arrogance the wicked man hunts down the weak,
who are caught in the schemes he devises.
3 He boasts about the cravings of his heart;
he blesses the greedy and reviles the Lord.
4 In his pride the wicked man does not seek him;
in all his thoughts there is no room for God.
5 His ways are always prosperous;
your laws are rejected by[a] him;
he sneers at all his enemies.
6 He says to himself, “Nothing will ever shake me.”
He swears, “No one will ever do me harm.”
7 His mouth is full of lies and threats;
trouble and evil are under his tongue