Although Donald Trump won the evangelical vote in Tuesday's Republican presidential nomination contests in Michigan, Mississippi and Hawaii, a church in far away New Zealand has clearly made known its displeasure at the GOP front-runner for his "un-Christian" ways.
The Community of Saint Luke near Auckland, New Zealand has posted on its Facebook page a picture of the cartoon billboard it erected near their church, showing Trump with a hammer in his clenched fist with Jesus Christ nailed to the cross behind him, RawStory reported. "I don't like losers," Trump's speech bubble reads.
The church said the billboard will remain there during the Lenten and Easter season.
Minister Glynn Cardy says they put up the billboard to point out Trump's name-calling and knack for racist and offensive comments, which he says is not a Christian behavior. "For those of us at Saint Luke's, the cross is about politics," he writes on the Facebook post accompanying the photo. "Jesus was killed – violently, publically and shamefully – because he spoke truth to power and confronted the leaders of his day about their treatment of the outcasts."
"To the Trumps of his day, and to those who see winners as having money and power, the Jesus of the Bible was a loser who associated with those rejected by society. And he died broke. Jesus had an alternative vision of reality, however. He was a person who sided with minorities and those who were most vulnerable, and it was this that got him killed," Cardy says.
"I hope that voters in the U.S. will see Trump's message for what it is, and not make him a nominee for their highest office," Cardy says, specifically citing Trump's attacks on Muslims, women and Mexican immigrants.
Cardy says they will keep the billboard up as long as Trump's general election candidacy is undecided.
Dalai Lama joins list of Trump critics
Meanwhile, the Dalai Lama, the Buddhist religious leader, has joined a growing list of people of various faiths who are taking Trump to task for his angry and racist rhetoric.
The Dalai Lama said he is reluctant to weigh in on American electoral politics when asked during an interview with ABC News' Dan Harris, according to RawStory.
However, when prodded, he did say he thought Trump was a bit "cheap" in his personal attacks on people as opposed to talking about issues.
"I'm just curious if you have any views on the presidential candidate in this country who is making the most noise, Donald Trump" Harris asked.
"Well, that's your business," the Dalai Lama responded.
"A serious discussion about policy matters is useful. But sometimes a little bit personal criticism — that looks a little bit cheap. That's my view."
