Christians Remain Divided about Donald Trump Despite His Vows to Take Up The Cudgels for Christian Rights in America

Oct 08, 2015 05:44 PM EDT

His non-PC stance has earned him both positive and negative mileage in publicity, and to many Republicans and conservatives, Donald Trump, real estate mogul and reality TV star, may seem like a presidential candidate who dares stand up for Christian rights in secular America, for once.

CBN reports that not everyone is taken in by Trump's religious stance, and many think that he is not the sole favorite in this key demographic.

Trump's rival candidate, medical doctor Ben Carson, is a popular choice among traditional Christian evangelical circles. Despite this, Trump announced that he is "leading with the evangelicals big league," at a campaign rally in Dallas.

It was reported that Christian sectors take an issue to the fact that despite having professed that the Bible was his number one book, he failed to say what his favorite verse from the world's best-selling book was. Many have also revealed that though they would choose Trump in the upcoming elections, they would prefer him to "tone down the insults a little bit."

Trump has defended himself, saying, "I can understand the evangelicals to a certain extent saying, 'Well, maybe he's not as nice as we want him to be.' But they also want to see the country be great."

Trump has been very vocal about recent issues that have made an impact in religious circles, among them the recent Oregon shooting and the Middle East crisis, particularly Christian persecution in the Middle East. On top of this, his forward style and blunt honesty on issues the PC brigade would tiptoe around has earned him the approval of a very unlikely admirer: Vladimir Putin, the Fiscal Times reports.

Media has noted with interest how Trump has free-roam status on Russian media, especially after he made his remarks on Russia's intervention in ISIS-infested Syria. Since Russian media is effectively controlled by the Kremlin, Trump's infiltration of Russian airwaves signals that he has the seal of approval from Putin's administration, the report notes.

However, many other Western governments do not believe that Russian airstrikes aim to take out ISIS but instead, are meant to support the Assad government, one of the Kremlin's allies in the war-torn region. Many have noted that airstrikes hit non-ISIS held regions and instead target anti-Assad rebels. Trump has yet to release a statement about this development.