Donald Trump went to church in Iowa, got a sermon
Donald Trump is not perhaps what you might call a Christian's Christian, but the leading Republican presidential candidate went to services at the First Presbyterian Church in Muscatine, Iowa, on Sunday, along with some reporters he invited to record the event. Trump, a Christian who was raised Presbyterian, appears to have been greeted warmly by the congregation, but some of the readings, and the sermon, caught his ear, he told reporters afterward.
One reading, about the importance of humility, included this sentence, The Associated Press reports: "Can you imagine eye telling hand, 'Get lost, I don't need you' or hearing the head telling the foot, 'You're fired, your job has been phased out?'" After church, a reporter asked him about his Apprentice catch phrase appearing in the reading, and Trump said: "I heard that.... I wondered if that was for me. They didn't even know I was coming, so I doubt it. But it's an appropriate phrase."
In the sermon, the Rev. Dr. Pamela Saturnia preached about the need to accept, as Jesus did, "those who are the most unloved, the most discriminated against, the most forgotten in our community and in our world." She specifically mentioned "the Syrian refugees" and "the Mexican migrants," two groups Trump famously wants to keep out or kick out of the U.S. Trump left two $50 bills in the collection plate. As The New York Times notes, Trump is getting serious about winning Iowa — including staying at a Holiday Inn Express — and part of winning includes trying to pry Christian voters away from Sen. Ted Cruz (R).
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In the video below, Stephen Colbert notes that Trump isn't as fluent in Christianity as Cruz, or most other people who go to church or read the Bible. Watch and, if you don't already know, learn the correct way to say "2 Corinthians." Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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