Serious question: is there a story in the bible about using the devil to achieve god's kingdom?

[Shanti Mama]

After SHS's statement that the almighty wanted 45 to be president, my tin hat is growing, weighing down my head. They do recognize that he's not a Christian and they don't care. Are they following script in which the ends justifies the means?

For all our Christianity knowledgeable DUers out there, please!

[Claritie Pixie]

1. Well, they're not Christians. People who worship money and power are not.

Jesus made that clear.

[Shanti Mama]

3. I agree.

[DetlefK]

2. They don't care about Christianity. They just want political power.

Ever since GWB the power of Evangelicals has been waning. And when the T showed up, they desperately threw themselves at him and tried to co-opt him. They tried to gain some of his political power by declaring him to be one of them.

It never was about religion. It's all about power.

[Shanti Mama]

4. Maybe

I think they might also see him as a vehicle to their new world order, based on a very distorted form of white Christianity. That's what I'm trying to understand.

[Claritie Pixie]

8. Back to your OP, they definitely see him as a means to an end.

The "end" being them in charge - having the authority to make laws forcing everyone to bow down to their warped sense of how to live. Total authoritarianism.

[leftyladyfrommo]

5. I don't remember any story like that.

Jesus cast the demons out a lot. I don't remember that he ever worked with them.

[Shanti Mama]

6. thanks for your reply.

[leftyladyfrommo]

11. Remember when Christ went into the wilderness alone

and Satan tempted him with unlimited power and wealth. And he refused it all. Get thee behind me, Satan.

Then there was the time he cast out demons into pigs and ran the pigs over the cliff.

He cast demons out from sick people, too.

And the time he threw the money lenders out of the temple grounds.

Some how Christ's teachings have been completely overlooked.

[Aristus]

17. Jesus actually said "Get thee behind Me, Satan" to Peter.

Not to Satan, interestingly.

Peter was warning Jesus not to go to Jerusalem, because the Sanhedrin was planning His death. His death is the reason Jesus was going, but Peter didn't know that.

[leftyladyfrommo]

18. I just remembered that he said it sometime.

Thanks for the information.

I am Buddhist but I like the Gospel if Thomas. I think it is probably closer to the original sayings.

[Lars39]

16. And that is the perfect reply to the fundy nut jobs who spout that nonsense!

Thanks! I’m tucking that one away.

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

7. Try this theory...

Thought it gave a pretty good explanation...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100211740090

[Shanti Mama]

9. This is what I'm after. Thank you!

It's terrifying and why Pence must also be removed. I know there are a lot of fundamentalists in Congress. Gulp...

[N_E_1 for Tennis]

14. You're welcome...

I think you’re correct about pence...but I don’t think pence has the same allure as Individual #1 to the group that the article is talking about. Comparing pence to trump with regard to the premise laid out in the article...pence is too “moralistic”.

From the article

****snip****

As the Trump presidency falls under siege on multiple fronts, it has become increasingly clear that the so-called values voters will be among the last to leave the citadel. A lot of attention has been paid to the supposed paradox of evangelicals backing such an imperfect man, but the real problem is that our idea of Christian nationalism hasn’t caught up with the reality. We still buy the line that the hard core of the Christian right is just an interest group working to protect its values. But what we don’t get is that Mr. Trump’s supposedly anti-Christian attributes and anti-democratic attributes are a vital part of his attraction.

****snip****

[Lars39]

10. Yes, Cyrus....Vox article on it.

https://www.vox.com/identities/2018/3/5/16796892/trump-cyrus-christian-right-bible-cbn-evangelical-propaganda

[Shanti Mama]

15. thanks

[Farmer-Rick]

12. Is there any right wing atrocity that can't be justified with the bible?

Slavery, incest, pedophilia, war, massacre, rape and torture all happen for the benefit of Christian gods in the bible. And now we have a possibly brilliant strategist and negotiator being compared to Traitor Trump.

Do Trump's Nazi supporters know Cyrus helped the Jewish people? Wait til they find out.

Religion at its best, justifying the immoral.

Forgot to say thanks for posting this. I wouldn't have known otherwise.

[world wide wally]

13. I won't get into all the details, but the warnings about false prophets and the wolf in sheep's

clothing seem to fit well here.