It's hard to say whether the conservative Cardinal Timothy Dolan has been duped or is merely carrying water for the President-elect. In the video (beginning at 5:21) below, he tells the right-wing Fox News partisan Maria Bartiromo
And what I'm happy to see, Maria is that- what shuld I say? Experts and scholars who are ot religiously driven are fiding this out. They say "uh oh, sales of the Bible, sales of books on spirituality are going up and there seems to be, there seems to be, a newfound appreciation for the role of faith, especially in our country, okay? I think President Trump tapped ito that, don't you?
He's referring to President-elect Trump, but that's an on-purpose mistake many dishonest people have been making since Donald Trump became the GOP nominee for President in the summer.
Sales of the Bible have been increasing, probably for a myriad of reasons, even as identification with Christianity and organized religion generally has declined. Ironically, Dolan cites an increase in book sales on "spirituality," which- given that it s a poorly defined term- may suggest that the overall increase in such sales is due to something other than increase in religous faith.
Nevertheless, after Bartiromo agrees with Dolan that Trump "tapped into that," the Archbishop continues
I've had talks with him before in the past. He can't say that he was raised as a zealous Christian but we takes his Christian faith seriously. He has a lot of memories about Norman Vincent Peale, the famous preacher here in New York and down aways on Fifth Avenue. And I think he means it.
Norman Vincent Peale was a charlatan. A wise blogger on the Catholic "Women of Grace" website (I can be ecumenical) once wrote of Peale's very famous book
"The Power of Positive Thinking" is riddled with New
Age-inspired gimmicks such as the use of imagery and repetitious phrases that
are a form of auto-hypnosis. If you train yourself to think a certain way,
certain things will happen. In other words, if the mind can conceive it, a
person can achieve it – which is precisely what the New Thought movement of the
19th century was all about. There’s nothing wrong with training yourself to
think positively, but when you believe your thoughts can actually change reality,
then you’ve crossed the line and are now making the mind into a god.
If Donald Trump "takes his Christian faith seriously," this is a case in which, as his supporters enjoy putting it, he should be taken seriously, not literally. Trump has taken contempt for Christianity to a whole new level, or depth: his reference to "Two Corinthians"; using an Episcopal Church and a Bible as props while racial justice protestors in the D.C. were tear-gassed; equating himself with the Jewish messiah/Jesus Christ: maintaining that he never has had to ask God for forgiveness; attempting to put money into a communion plate; suggesting that Communion is "asking for forgiveness," though the pastor literally says "do this in remembrance of me."
And now we learn
President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team is reportedly
planning an interfaith prayer service the day before his inauguration, where
participants can worship alongside the businessman and his wife, Melania.
But those who want to join need to weigh the price of prayer: Tickets to the service will be awarded only to those who donate at least $100,000 to Trump’s inaugural ceremonies, or who raise $200,000.
According to the report, if a donor gives $1 million or
raises $2 million, they’ll earn six tickets to the suite of inauguration
events.
So if Donald Trump "takes his Christian faith seriously," Trump, earnestly demonstrating contempt for Christianity, is seriously trying to erode fiah in Christianity.
Cardinal Dolan continues
And I think- I think the assassination attempts kindof renewed in him oh my, there's something beyond me that I think is watching over me, and it's got a task for me. And what he expresses personally semes to be expressed more and more throughout the world.
After Bartiromo argues that God saved Trump from assassination, Dolan adds
Yeah. You know, I think of, Maria, I think of Ronald Reagan and John Paul II. Both men survived assassination atempts very close to one another. And when the two of them met for the first time, Ronald Reagan said to Pope St. John Paul II, Mother Teresa told me that she things the Lord spared me because the Lord had something special in mind for me and Pope St. John Paul II smiled and said she told me the same thing. They both believe that, and look what they were able to accomplish. The world was changed for the better because of them.
As for Mother Teresa, the late Christopher HItchens was only slightly exaggerating when he called her "a fanatic, a fundamentalist, and a fraud." And the middle and lower classes still haven't recovered from President Reagan's attacks on organized labor and on consumer and business regulation, deep cuts in income taxes for the wealthy, and assault on the faith of citizens in their government.
Donald Trump was saved from being killed by two would-be assassins. In one,he was wounded by either the bullet or, more likely, fragments from the bullet. Escaping death. But the "something special in mind" for Donald J. Trump may not be something positive for the nation and the world. One Christian website explains
In Revelation 13 the apostle John records visions that he
saw, including a sign of a dragon and a terrible beast that had “ten horns and
seven heads, with ten crowns on its horns, and on each head a blasphemous name”
(Revelation 13:1). As John watches, “one of the heads of the beast seemed to
have had a fatal wound, but the fatal wound had been healed. The whole world
was filled with wonder and followed the beast” (Revelation 13:3). The
significance of the healing of the beast’s deadly wound is that, because of the
healing, the world unites in following the beast...
The apostle Paul calls him the man of lawlessness and the
son of destruction (2 Thessalonians 2:3). This one will come in great power and
deceive many—even with a counterfeit resurrection. The purpose of the
Antichrist’s deception is to swindle many into believing that he is the savior
and the one who should be worshiped. But, unlike the true Messiah, this beast’s
deadly wound was only temporarily healed. He will later be killed and judged,
while the true Christ will be victorious and establish His kingdom in
righteousness.
The world has not- at least yet- followed the beast. However, the wound- a bullet to the head- which could have been fatal was followed by rapid hearing and the country uniting (sort of) in electing the guy. And clearly, many people believe Donald Trump should be not only supported, but worshiped.
This may be far-fetched. However, it's a whole lot realistic than the view of Cardinal Dolan that Donald Trump is a man of deep Christian faith. A whole lot more realistic by a country mile, or even a city mile.
MERRY CHRISTMAS HAPPY CHANUKAH
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