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  1. #1
    Senior Member European Knight's Avatar
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    Will Trump's spat with Pope Francis hurt him with N.J. Catholics?


    By Brent Johnson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com on February 20, 2016 at 8:20 AM

    TRENTON
    — It's been one of the hallmarks of Donald Trump's presidential campaign: When someone criticizes him — be it John McCain, Megyn Kelly, or Ted Cruz — the billionaire businessman snaps back with venom, and his poll numbers rise despite any controversy.

    Trump's latest response, however, may be his most audacious: denouncing Pope Francis as "disgraceful" after the leader of the Catholic church appeared to question the real estate mogul's faith.

    Some political experts say Trump, the front-runner for the Republican nomination, has run the risk of alienating Catholic voters — especially in northern states like New Jersey, which has the second-largest Catholic population in the U.S.

    At the same time, others say it might actually give the former Atlantic City casino magnate a boost with conservatives — especially in the South — who think the pope is too liberal on social issues.

    "The monolithic Catholic vote is a thing of the past," said Andrew Murphy, a political science professor at Rutgers University who specializes in the cross-section of politics and religion. "I think what makes this risky is no one knows how much this will escalate. Is this a 24-hour spat that sort of dies down?"

    Speaking with reporters Thursday on his flight back to Rome after a visit to Mexico, Pope Francis was asked his thoughts about the views held by Trump, who has called for the U.S. to build a wall along the Mexican border to stem illegal immigration.

    "A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian," the pope said. "This is not in the gospel."

    Trump fired back with a sharply worded statement saying "for a religious leader to question a person's faith is disgraceful." He also suggested that Mexico may have influenced the pope's views and warned that terrorist group the Islamic State is seeking to kill Francis and that he "would have only wished and prayed that Donald Trump would have been president" if that happens.

    Trump walked back his remarks during a GOP town hall hosted by CNN later Thursday night, saying he doesn't enjoy fighting with Pope Francis and would meet with him any time.

    "I have a lot of respect for the pope," Trump said. "I think he's got a lot of personality. He's a different kind of guy. And I think he's doing a very good job. He's got a lot of energy."

    On Friday, a Vatican spokesman told Vatican Radio that the pope's remarks were intended "neither as a personal attack nor an indication in how to vote."

    "The pope said what we well know when we follow his teaching and his positions: that one mustn't build walls, but bridges," the Rev. Federico Lombardi said.

    Still, Ed Rollins, a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan and other Republicans, said "picking a battle with someone who's a big spiritual leader in the world might not be the best tactic."

    "I think it backfires on him in the long-term," said Rollins, who was a campaign adviser for former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman. "In this case, it's better to bite your tongue and move on."

    Murphy said some Catholics may find themselves battling between their religious identity and as a supporter of Trump's working-class, anti-establishment message.

    The Rutgers professor added that Trump's comments could damage him in the GOP primaries in New Jersey, where Catholics make up 44 percent of the population, and neighboring states like New York (37 percent), and Pennsylvania (29 percent).

    New Jersey's primary is among the last in the nation (June 7), but the others are earlier. The New York Primary is April 19 and Pennsylvania holds its contest a week after that.

    Trump's remarks come as he prepares to compete in Saturday's South Carolina primary, a crucial early nominating contest in a state known for its evangelical base.

    But, Murphy said, the pope's views have made many conservative Catholics "deeply concerned," and thus they may not be bothered by Trump's remarks. Plus, he added, evangelicals in South Carolina — many of whom are Protestant — have always been "deeply suspicious of Catholicism in general."

    "This might just be another area where we thought he'd gone too far and clearly he hasn't," Murphy said.

    Patrick Murray, the director of the Monmouth University Polling Institute, noted that one of his polls from September showed 58 percent of Catholics weren't sure if they aligned with the pope on immigration and many said Francis should not be discussing immigration at all.

    By comparison, 76 percent in that survey agreed with Trump's proposal to build a wall and 61 said they like his stance on immigration.

    "Data shows this is not going to hurt him anywhere in Republican primary process," Murray said. "Quite frankly, a significant number of Catholic Republicans think this is an issue the pope shouldn't even be taking about."

    In the end, the pollster said, this may be yet another example of Trump defying all conventional wisdom about politics — similar to a famed episode of the 1990s sitcom "Seinfeld."

    "Somebody compared it to George Costanza doing the opposite of everything — everything opposite of what you should do works," Murray said. "We're definitely seeing that with Donald Trump."

    Will Trump's spat with Pope Francis hurt him with N.J. Catholics? | NJ.com



  2. #2
    Senior Member Judy's Avatar
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    "I think it backfires on him in the long-term," said Rollins, who was a campaign adviser for former New Jersey Gov. Christie Whitman. "In this case, it's better to bite your tongue and move on."
    Oh and be a little wimpy pansy? Oh, I think not. When someone says to a Christian "you are not a Christian", them is fighting words whether you're the King of England or Head of the Vatican. I'm pretty fed up with all this foreign meddling in our elections.
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  3. #3
    Senior Member European Knight's Avatar
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    I changed my mind about Christianity not because God or Christianity i did because of the Christians who are a kind of a people (most of them ) who are always sellout and surrender in front of their enemy even before the fight

    they need some Crusaders

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