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October 30, 2015 01:18 PM UTC

Ben Carson Wraps Evangelicals Around His Quiet Little Finger

  • 41 Comments
  • by: Colorado Pols

Famous rich person Donald Trump, the frontrunner in the Republican Presidential Primary, has accused opponents Jeb! Bush and Ben Carson of being “low energy” for slightly different reasons. Bush has appeared to be a “low energy” candidate in large part because it seems like he doesn’t even want to be running for President. Trump goes after Carson, meanwhile, for his quiet demeanor and soft speaking voice.

Soft-spoken and appearing to be half-awake is "Christ-like"?
Ben Carson is soft-spoken and often appears to be half-awake…which are apparently virtuous traits to certain groups of Americans.

If Trump thinks that being loud is a virtue, he’d likely be perplexed by the reaction that Carson receives when he speaks to Evangelical Christians, as he did on Thursday in Colorado. On the morning following his lackluster debate performance in Boulder, Carson spoke to a largely conservative Christian audience at Colorado Christian University in Lakewood, and the practicing Seventh-day Adventist seemed right at home in such a religious setting. As John Frank reports for the Denver Post (all emphasis below is ours):

In his calm, assured tone — described by one prominent conservative at the event as Christ-like — Carson told more than 1,500 people at Colorado Christian University to “stop listening to secular progressives who are trying to kick God out of our country.”

We mentioned the “Christ-like” comparison earlier today in Get More Smarter, but there’s a lot more here that is worthy of further examination. We’re talking about the same guy who has admitted that he tried to stab a friend to death, failing only because the victim was wearing an oversized belt buckle. Carson may be trying to play up his religious bonafides by confessing his sins, though whether or not he is absolved from attempted murder shouldn’t make anyone feel better about supporting Carson for President.

Positioning himself as a “citizen statesman,” the candidate used his faith to separate himself from the other outsider candidates — notably Donald Trump — and dismissed concerns about his lack of political experience.

“The Ark was built by amateurs, the Titanic was built by professionals,” he said to raucous applause from the crowd in a packed gymnasium on campus.

Every political hack in the world will tell you that successful politicians find a way to turn their weaknesses into strengths. But Carson’s lack of experience isn’t a weakness — it is a glaring and unmistakable hole in the resume of a man who wants to become the leader of the free world.

Carson tries to get around this problem with his analogy about The Ark and the Titanic, but the comparison is a more than a bit stark. Is Carson really implying that America would be better off choosing a candidate for President who has no political or governing experience whatsoever? Or is he just saying that Noah should have been consulted on the blueprints for the Titanic?

His message is one that resonates in Colorado, where evangelical conservatives represent a significant bloc in Republican politics.

The state’s faith-based community pushed Rick Santorum, the former Pennsylvania senator, to victory in the 2012 GOP caucus and Carson tapped the same vein to win the past two  annual straw polls at the Western Conservative Summit in Denver, which is hosted by the university’s conservative-leaning think tank.

There isn’t a Presidential candidate in either Party that won’t require some degree of nose-holding when voters make their choices. This is the state of American politics, and it’s probably unavoidable. But in order to vote for Carson, you’d need to hold your nose, cover your ears, and put a patch over one eye.

Even if you are willing to take a chance on a candidate with ZERO political experience, how do you overlook Carson’s ever-growing list of questionable statements and beliefs? Carson is entering politics with the top job in the land as his target, which seems a tad ambitious until you consider that somebody this outrageous would likely have a more difficult time trying to consolidate votes for Governor than President.

Carson needs a larger voter base so that he has a greater chance of uncovering supporters who will ignore what he says, but call him “Christ-like” because he spoke in a quiet voice.

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41 thoughts on “Ben Carson Wraps Evangelicals Around His Quiet Little Finger”

  1. "When reality-denial is your core religious tenet, your christ will, of necessity, be an immortal of reality-denial.  And, the more reality you deny, the holier you feel and the closer to godlike you become."

    (As has been so often explained here by my good friend, Moderatus)

    2. Christ believed in civil disobediance, he was the son of a carpenter.He was also pro taxes. "Give to Ceasar what is Ceasar's" His parents were not married when he was born. Betrothed is not the same as married. He was also a Jew from the Middle East. There were no Christians until after his death. Homosexuality is not mentioned in the New Testament. Oh and did I mention Jesus never tried to kill anyone!

       

  3. I really don't like to get into the comparative theology but since today's GOP is hell-bent on creating a theocracy, I guess it's fair game for debate their various belief systems. Doesn't Dr. Carson's SDA church make Mitt Romney's Mormons look like Episcopalians by comparison?

    1. My paternal great-grandmother was a staunch SDA.  So much so that she refused to attend the wedding of my parents held in the Wray Catholic church (my mom is Catholic); she was convinced her God would strike her dead if she came inside those four walls.  I will say this: she lived to be 100 yrs old (she was very strict with her vegetarian diet).  She was a physically-tough and genuinely loving woman – who gave birth to four children in a dirt-floored sod house just below Beecher Island at the turn of the last century.  The SDA church provided her with excellent accommodations and housing in her twilight years (at a home somewhere near Loveland).  

      Her brother Arthur left the bulk of his fortune to the SDA church when he died in the late 60's – and with that money they built the Wray SDA church.  For almost thirty years only about a dozen people belonged to the church (which was quite nice).  It recently sold to a family from Boulder and they have turned the church into a restaurant.  Hillbilly Heaven.  Where you can get one of the best hamburgers in eastern Colorado loaded with bacon.  Lots and lots of bacon.  Uncle Arthur and Grandma Addie are rolling over in their graves. 

    2. None of the Christian sects seem any more or less weird to this old mainly secular Jew. I mean they all involve God knocking up a mortal so He can be born in human flesh, grow up and be tortured to death as a blood sacrifice for mankind's sins, right? See…that only sounds perfectly normal if you happen to be a Christian. Not that there aren't equally weird things in Judaism. It's just my weird heritage is less weird to me than someone else's. Familiarity and all that.

      But here you go: A good summation of what makes SDL like and not like other forms of Christianity.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seventh-day_Adventist_Church

      1. BC, I agree that everyone else's religion is at least a little weird to anyone who doesn't subscribe to it.

        And thanks for the link to the wiki page. The dietary stuff is harmless and probably good for people's health but whenever a church starts to talk about "End of Days," it makes me a little nervous.

  6. SDA, unlike the Mormons, don't believe that outstanding male members are eventually rewarded with their own planet to rule.   I had a grand uncle who was an Adventist and a missionary to China.   No question they are a dedicated lot and, unlike a lot of Christian sects, I haven't heard of them burning people to death for disagreeing with them, as John Calvin did to Miguel Servetus in Munich and the Inquisition did to lots of Jews.

    1. I had a great uncle who was an SDA missionary to China.   They are a dedicated lot.   No, they aren't as crazy as the Mormons, who think outstanding males are ultimately rewarded with their own planet to rule.  At least, I never heard of Adventists killing people who disagree with them, as John Calvin did to Miguel Servetus in Geneva and the Inquisition did to lots of Jews.  

  7. I find it so disheartening that he chose to sow more seeds of dissension with lying about how secular progressives want to kick God out of America.  Can you imagine Jesus issuing such a statement of arrogance and hatred?  Carson isn't practicing the teachings of Jesus Christ to embrace your enemies.  The guy reminds me of a Carnival Barker working the crowd for cash.  The Pharisees were ethical compared to this crowd.

     

  8. As far as  the Ark vs Titanic analogy, I wonder if anyone told Carson that there is no evidence that the Ark story is true.  Some people would consider it a fairy tale or alogorical story.  It is like comparing the Spiderman movies with real police work.

    1. There's been this overall dumbing down in the Republican Party for the past 40 years. I'm old enough to remember when people would joke that Gerald Ford was stupid. (He actually wasn't.) When Reagan came along and beat the far brighter and more intellectually-curious Jimmy Carter, that was proof that brains did not a successful president make.

      But Reagan would resemble Albert Einstein compared to what followed:  J. Danforth Quayle, George "Dubya" Bush, Sarah Palin, the House Freedom Caucus, and several of the current presidential wannabes.

      Is anyone really all that surprised that someone who passes as a scientist (i.e., retired neurosurgeon) and a top contender for the GOP nomination actually subscribes to the fairy tales that religion teaches. 

      1. It's now "GOP minus 1"…

        Former Congressman: I'm Quitting the GOP

        By insulting the grassroots, the GOP leadership has set upon a suicide mission. The problem is that failed leadership is allowing Obama to destroy the Constitution and take the whole country down the drain. Well, count me out.

        The Boehner budget deal is the last straw, and enough is enough. I cannot any longer defend this transparently dishonest charade called the Republican Party.

        What I will do instead is join the largest political group in the nation, unaffiliated Independents. In Colorado, they outnumber both “major” political parties.

        The next day I will begin working my tail off for the next twelve months to organize Independents to help elect  Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as President of the United States. Cruz is the only candidate who both understands the left’s agenda and has demonstrated the courage to fight for our liberties, our sovereignty, and the survival of constitutional government.

         

        1. What kind of connections does HE have to unaffiliated voters? Hell, he's barely got connections to the party he's belonged to for most of his life. Didn't something like 70% of the Colorado Repubes vote for Both Ways, Honey Badger and Kopp in th aggregate?

          Is he so delusional that he thinks the 38% he got running on the American Constitutional Party ticket in '10 were independent voters? They were all Repubes who were freaked out and embarrassed by Dan Maes.

          1. They keep referring to the 'grassroots' as if they are some kind of 'majority'. Didn't he get the memo that Nixon's Southern strategy has unraveled?  Note to 'grassroots': the country clubbers have zero interest in your agenda.

        4. Tancreepo assumes that all Independents are the same.  You already know that on election day Tancreepo isn't going to pull the lever for Clinton or Sanders.  If he really wants Cruz to be elected then he would stay in the Republican Party because it is a closed primary.  This is just another pathetic attempt to stay political relevant by cutting off his nose.  If he goes Independent, he follows Lindsey Lohan out the door.

            1. "In a party of brain-dead nut cases, a merely insane lunatic like Tancredo hardly gets a look!"

              (Moderatus was feeling pretty down on all Republicans the day he said that.)

              1. Fuckers are dangerous, sez I…they are not just going to give up when they start getting blown out election after election…Their ultimate refuge is the 2nd…they WILL go there..

  9. So is Carson advocating that amateurs be used for high risk brain surgery on children instead of professional like him.  Does he want amateurs to build and inspect the planes that he rides in to get to these crowds that want to hear that amateurs are better than professionals?

    1. You know a brain surgeon has a very narrow, focused education. Not much time to study or think about much else. So it's not impossible at all for even the most brilliant brain surgeon to be a moron in other areas.

      1. Agreed but he is attempting to say that professional expertise is unimportant because amateurs built "The Ark" which sailed through troubled waters but the Titantic sank which was built by professionals.  Does he really believe that amateurs could do his job better than he can? If he does then why do does he get paid such unbelievable sums of money to perform high risk brain surgeries on children?  It is a weak argument even if you accept that "The Ark" and flood was a real event.

        1. Like I said, take away the brain surgeon stuff and he's just not the sharpest knife in the drawer.  When he made that remark about pointing out the guy behind the counter as the correct target to a man who had pulled a gun on him to illustratrate how he has taken action in the past and would again in the face of an armed attacker, did he realize the action he says he took doesn't exactly reflect well on him? Or his story about trying to gut a friend? The guy clearly doesn't think these things through before he says them.

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