Trump asks supporters to imagine one people under one God saluting one American flag!
At 46:25 in Full Speech: Donald Trump HUGE Rally in Fort Myers, Florida (9/19/2016) Trump Fort Myers Speech, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi9wvQ8IHx4, Mr. Trump says (prepared speech delivered using teleprompter, it seems), "Imagine what our country could accomplish if we started working together as one people under one God saluting one American flag." Lots of applause follows. Trump stops speaking and walks around for a few seconds before resuming his speech.
Ravi: Hmm. Uniting as one people under one flag seems quite appropriate for a political leader to call for anywhere in the world I guess. But the "under one God" call from a USA presidential nominee-candidate of a major party seems pretty unusual!!!
Did some browsing on this matter and got some interesting result links given below.
1) Donald Trump Really Wants America To Unite 'Under One God', http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/donald-trump-god_us_57d6e5ece4b03d2d459b93e0, dated 13th Sept. 2016.
A short extract from it:
"Many Americans subscribe to polytheistic theologies and may worship many Gods. Followers of monotheistic religions also have differing views about the supreme being they worship. And let’s not forget the growing ranks of religious “nones,” including atheists, agnostics and others who don’t consider themselves members of a traditional religious affiliation.
Does Trump really expect all of these people to unite “under one God”? The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for clarification."
2) What Does Trump's Promise Of A Nation 'Under One God' Really Mean?, http://www.npr.org/2016/09/18/494367803/what-does-trumps-promise-of-a-nation-under-one-god-really-mean, dated Sept. 18th 2016
The article quotes Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State group as saying, "What I hear is someone who simply doesn't understand that one of the great strengths of this country is the diversity of nationalities, of origins — the differences of opinions about religion, and ideas about religion".
It also quotes Corey Saylor of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as saying, "'One God' immediately excludes Hindus, atheists, Native Americans — whole swaths of people who have a right to be part of the American identity".
3) At Values Voter Summit Donald Trump Promotes An America Where We Live ‘Under One God’, http://www.politicususa.com/2016/09/10/donald-trump-promotes-america-live-under-god.html, dated Sept. 10th 2016
4) TRUMP PROMISES EVANGELICALS THAT HE’LL MAKE AMERICA ‘UNDER ONE GOD’ AGAIN (VIDEO), http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/trump-promises-evangelicals-that-hell-make-america-under-one-god-again-video/, Sept. 10th 2016
5) Not Funny Anymore — Trump Calls For An American Christian Theocracy At Evangelical Summit (VIDEO), http://americannewsx.com/hot-off-the-press/trump-calls-christian-theocracy-summit/, Sept. 9th 2016
Ravi: Hmm. For people like me who are deeply committed to religious pluralism (respect & tolerance for all faiths including no faith (so long as they don't break the law of the land)), the 'one god' bit is rather disturbing to hear from a major party nominee for USA president. I mean, the 'one god' meant by Mr. Trump would surely be a Christian view of God (perhaps Father, Son and the Holy Spirit being viewed as three facets of the same one God; see http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml). That would be different from how Jews and Muslims view their one God. Of course, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Parsees and atheists & agnostics would also not fit into that Christian one God belief.
Ravi: Hmm. Uniting as one people under one flag seems quite appropriate for a political leader to call for anywhere in the world I guess. But the "under one God" call from a USA presidential nominee-candidate of a major party seems pretty unusual!!!
Did some browsing on this matter and got some interesting result links given below.
1) Donald Trump Really Wants America To Unite 'Under One God', http://www.huffingtonpost.in/entry/donald-trump-god_us_57d6e5ece4b03d2d459b93e0, dated 13th Sept. 2016.
A short extract from it:
"Many Americans subscribe to polytheistic theologies and may worship many Gods. Followers of monotheistic religions also have differing views about the supreme being they worship. And let’s not forget the growing ranks of religious “nones,” including atheists, agnostics and others who don’t consider themselves members of a traditional religious affiliation.
Does Trump really expect all of these people to unite “under one God”? The Trump campaign did not respond to a request for clarification."
2) What Does Trump's Promise Of A Nation 'Under One God' Really Mean?, http://www.npr.org/2016/09/18/494367803/what-does-trumps-promise-of-a-nation-under-one-god-really-mean, dated Sept. 18th 2016
The article quotes Barry Lynn of Americans United for Separation of Church and State group as saying, "What I hear is someone who simply doesn't understand that one of the great strengths of this country is the diversity of nationalities, of origins — the differences of opinions about religion, and ideas about religion".
It also quotes Corey Saylor of the Council on American-Islamic Relations as saying, "'One God' immediately excludes Hindus, atheists, Native Americans — whole swaths of people who have a right to be part of the American identity".
3) At Values Voter Summit Donald Trump Promotes An America Where We Live ‘Under One God’, http://www.politicususa.com/2016/09/10/donald-trump-promotes-america-live-under-god.html, dated Sept. 10th 2016
4) TRUMP PROMISES EVANGELICALS THAT HE’LL MAKE AMERICA ‘UNDER ONE GOD’ AGAIN (VIDEO), http://www.ifyouonlynews.com/politics/trump-promises-evangelicals-that-hell-make-america-under-one-god-again-video/, Sept. 10th 2016
5) Not Funny Anymore — Trump Calls For An American Christian Theocracy At Evangelical Summit (VIDEO), http://americannewsx.com/hot-off-the-press/trump-calls-christian-theocracy-summit/, Sept. 9th 2016
Ravi: Hmm. For people like me who are deeply committed to religious pluralism (respect & tolerance for all faiths including no faith (so long as they don't break the law of the land)), the 'one god' bit is rather disturbing to hear from a major party nominee for USA president. I mean, the 'one god' meant by Mr. Trump would surely be a Christian view of God (perhaps Father, Son and the Holy Spirit being viewed as three facets of the same one God; see http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/christianity/beliefs/trinity_1.shtml). That would be different from how Jews and Muslims view their one God. Of course, Buddhists, Hindus, Jains, Parsees and atheists & agnostics would also not fit into that Christian one God belief.
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