Capitol and Cathedral
One of the most blatantly dishonest (or just ignorant) things said at Donald Trump’s meeting with evangelical leaders June 21 was a line from the candidate himself:
“We don’t know anything about Hillary in terms of religion,” he said, speaking to a group of Christian leaders in New York. “Now, she’s been in the public eye for years and years, and yet there’s no — there’s nothing out there. There’s like nothing out there. 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.”
Anyone with even a passing familiarity with Mrs. Clinton knows that she is a United Methodist, a social-gospel liberal who was taught from childhood that any Christian worthy of the name must stand up for the poor and outcast.
My friends and colleagues have written more deep dives on Clinton’s faith than I could possibly list in a brief blog post. Trump should start with this concise summary by Cathy Lynn Grossman of Religion News Service: “5 Faith Facts about Hillary Clinton: Social Gospel Methodist to the Core.”
5 faith facts about Hillary Clinton: Social Gospel Methodist to the core
As the campaign rolls on, I will feature and comment on the many in-depth pieces of writing about how faith animates and informs Clinton’s personal and political commitments. I will also, of course, share some of my own observations.
Trump’s tactic of casting doubt on Clinton’s faith is perhaps not quite as depraved as how he cheered the effort to deny President Barack Obama’s Christian faith. But by encouraging supporters to suppose “there’s nothing out there,” Trump invites voters to fill in the blanks with their worse fears and assumptions.
It’s gutsy (or obnoxious) for Trump, whose God-talk “sound like the wild guesses a student hazards when he’s forgotten to study for a test,” to cast aspersions on the most religious candidate running for president.
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