Thursday, September 10, 2015

Trump questions Ben Carson's job-creation experience, Carson goes nuclear and plays the religion card

Ben Carson has gone sectarian, which comes as no surprise in view of his Seventh Day Adventism, which has its roots among the Millerites and the Methodists of the 19th Century.

What is surprising is that it is in response to criticism from Trump about Carson's job-creation experience. Trump questioned whether Carson has the right stuff in that area, and Carson's first inclination is to question Trump's faith. Pretty thin-skinned of Carson, playing the religion card like that. It's reminiscent of Obama playing the race card. Not a good sign in a chief executive.

Asked to name a favorite Bible verse in a Megyn Kelly interview, Carson named two but tellingly stumbled over one of them.

Video here at about the 2:25 mark where Ben Carson haltingly quotes Proverbs 22:4 as "With humility and the fear of the Lord, that's where life and wealth come from." The King James puts it this way: "By humility and the fear of the LORD are riches, and honour, and life."

Funny he left out "honor".

Evangelicals will question whether this was an honorable thing for Ben Carson to say in a political context yesterday, where sectarian arguments between candidates are generally frowned upon:

"The biggest thing is that I realize where my success has come from, and I don't any way deny my faith in God," said Carson. "And I think that probably is a big difference between us." That was his entire answer. A reporter asked Carson to expand on that response, and on whether he didn't believe Trump's expressions of faith have been sincere. "I haven’t heard it, I haven’t seen it," said Carson. "You know, one of my favorite, Proverbs 22:4, it says: 'By humility and the fear of the Lord, our are riches and honor and life.' And that's a very big part of who I am. Humility, and fear of the Lord. I don’t get that impression with him. Maybe I'm wrong."

Pretty ugly to question Trump's sincerity, but to accuse him of denying his faith? That's wacky. Consider the source.