Many have asked me over the past couple years how I can reconcile voting for Donald Trump with my faith as a Christian. To be fair, a good many of those questions have come from liberals who are not necessarily Christians themselves, but a good number of those have been from followers of Jesus, on both the left and the right of the political spectrum.
My answer to each has been simple: It is BECAUSE of my faith I voted for Donald Trump in the last election. And it is because of my faith I am going to vote Republican in the upcoming midterm elections, voting for candidates who claim (and I pray) will work together with Trump and his administration to further the agenda he has embarked upon in his first two years in office.
First, a little background. We all know Trump's history. As a playboy, as a businessman, as a billionaire, and as a celebrity. We know of his brashness, his "speak-what's-on-his-mind" style, and his unabashed and unapologetic dedication to being himself no matter what others think. And if you've done a little research, you will also know of his benevolence, his charity, his philanthropy, and his commitment to those who are loyal to him.
When he entered the presidential race in late 2015 -- something he'd toyed with doing for well over a decade -- nobody, and I mean nobody, gave him a chance to win anything. Nobody thought he'd beat the Republican heavyweights he mowed through in the primaries. And nobody thought he'd win the Presidency, especially against Hillary. She was indeed so shocked she'd lost that she could not even face the public the night of the election to concede the race.
I predicted he'd win the moment he entered the race, but I'll admit, there were other Republican candidates I liked better, and whom I felt were better qualified, in the primaries. The whole lot of them would have made a good President, but I was, and am still, particularly fond of Governor Walker from Wisconsin and Governor Perry from Texas. They had my support for as long as they were in the race, which wasn't very long. And I don't mind admitting that I voted for Ted Cruz in the Indiana primary, even though the race for the nomination was all but over by then.
But the system is what it is. We live in a particular form of government that has a particular set of rules. My favorite didn't win the nomination. And so, come November, there were two people on ballot: Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. And let me be clear, even though I felt some others were better qualified, and/or better people in general, I was still a fan of Trump, believing all along that his business acumen was exactly what our country needed in a President.
Now, back to my faith as a Christian. There's something very important to remember: Just because our favorite candidate doesn't win our party's nomination doesn't mean we shouldn't participate in the system. There's no call for taking our ball and going home. In fact, it could be said the very reason a man like Donald Trump won the nomination at all was because too many Christians sit it out, either whining that their guy or girl isn't winning, or worse, falsely believing that AS Christians, we're somehow supposed to rise above it and not play at all, as though we're called to some higher responsibility.
A Christian friend of mine recently told me that "Jesus exists outside of the political theatre, and He calls us to do the same." My friend couldn't be more wrong. Jesus doesn't exist outside of anything. He transcends all, according to our faith, but there isn't anything apart from which He exists, much less the very governments that oversee our everyday lives. But more on that later.
As far as the United States is concerned, statistics show that upwards of 60% of the population claim to have some sort of faith in God. The US boasts the largest Christian population in the world -- nearly 240 million people. It's no mistake. Despite what many in society, and the media talking heads like to claim, our country was indeed founded on Biblical principles, and a belief in the God of the Bible. We are a country founded on God, by people who were escaping not only political, but religious persecution from their home land. And their ancestors in our current population bear that out. If all 240 million Christians could unite and would vote, there is nothing that could stop them. The white vote, or the black vote, or the Woman vote, or the Latino vote, or the illegal vote wouldn't matter at all. God's people could control the entire government of the United States if only they wanted to. Sadly, they don't. Or, more accurately, a good deal of them don't.
Which leaves many who are followers of Jesus, like myself, to continue to try to do the right thing every time we step up to vote.
It's trendy in today's society to pretend we don't belong to one political party or another. For some reason, having a set of ideals on which to stand, and uniting with a tribe has become, at least in concept, very unpopular. But the reality is that we all still tend to lean one way or the other. It makes people feel good to stand in the middle and say they're able to look past the rhetoric and stay out of the political fray from the right and the left, but when they vote, they still tend to vote one way or the other, because, like it or not, they still have a set of beliefs to which they ascribe.
For Republicans and Democrats, and, more accurately, Conservatives and Liberals (the term "Progressives" is so grossly inaccurate, I refuse to use it) it's much easier. Each camp has a very defined and very precise set of ideals on which they stand. They are, for the most part, detailed quite nicely in each Party's platform.
Donald Trump, at least up until his election, did not portray the kind of lifestyle many would describe as being particularly "religious." Not to be too judgmental, but I wouldn't have called him a Christian. But he said something very important during his acceptance speech for the nomination. While acknowledging he hadn't earned evangelical support, he nevertheless thanked them for their support, and he vowed to fight to protect religious freedom at the government level, and it is a promise he has kept since he has taken office.
That election, for me, was not the "lesser of two evils" as many wanted to describe it. Donald Trump, while not the Christian pillar we would all have hoped for as followers of Jesus, nevertheless stood in opposition to what I believed (and still do) to be pure evil on the other side. Hillary Clinton is a snake of the first order, and I believe her presidency would have further spun us down a hole that had been started by Obama's 8 years of Liberal policy. Obama moved us farther away from Christian principles in this country than any other president in our history, with every policy he enacted and supported advancing an agenda that devalued our beliefs in Christ, eroded Christian liberties in our society, further broke down religious freedoms, suppressed the open support and faith in Christianity, supported radical Islamic and Muslim faiths, giving rise to unprecedented Islamic terrorism throughout the world, and praised, supported, and fathered legislation that stands in direct conflict with Christian values and beliefs. He believes he has the right to tell us how we can can and can't protect our own families. He represented a party and an ideology that believes a woman has the right to kill off her own children, and indeed even celebrates that it happens millions of times a year! Hillary, who I believe is far more despicable than Obama could ever hope to be, would have not only advanced the same agenda, but would have doubled down on it.
Donald Trump, while no saint, stood in direct opposition of all that, and still does. His recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capitol, and the movement of our US embassy to that city was not only a move that was friendly to Christians, and good for the United States, it was also a promise that has been made by several Presidents in the past and never carried out. Trump promised it during the campaign, and delivered on it almost immediately. It was the right thing to do. His commitment to nominating conservative judges who will interpret the Constitution as is to federal courts will ensure that religious liberties are protected to a much higher degree than they are now. And his choice of Mike Pence, a great man of faith, as his Vice-President was no accident. It was a deliberate attempt to make sure his administration reached out to people of faith.
His war against radical Islamic terrorism has all but shut down ISIS across the globe. And his commitment to strengthening our military has placed the United States back at the forefront of world respect as a leader and protector of less fortunate countries. The media wants us to believe we are a laughing stock all over the world as far as immigration and human rights are concerned. But if that is the case, then why are thousands of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers flocking to our country even as we speak?
Lower taxes means more discretionary income for the average worker, which means more opportunities to give to charitable organizations that help those in need. And while I'm not sure abortion will ever be legislated away, a commitment from Trump to defund worthless organizations like Planned Parenthood will help ensure that at least taxpayer money isn't used to fund their demonic practices.
No, as a Christian, Donald Trump was not an ideal candidate. But let's not forget something: As Christians, we are supposed to forgive others just as we have been forgiven. We are supposed to seek the best in people. We are supposed to believe that God can change hearts and lives. Donald Trump is not a young man anymore. He's a man with a lot of life experience under his belt, with kids and grandkids to think about. He is not unlike all of us -- imperfect people who have made a lot of mistakes in their lifetimes and have grown from those mistakes. I can't speak to the condition of Donald Trump's soul as it relates to his relationship with God. And I believe God can save and change anyone.
Since Trump's election, (and really in the several years before that) I've seen nothing of the womanizing of which he's accused. Nothing of the bigotry or racism the media likes to shout about. He doesn't hate women, or blacks, or other minorities. He hasn't said or done a great deal of the things the media claims, and the video and audio they DO have supporting such claims all come from a much younger Trump years in the past. I'm not trying to make excuses. I'm simply telling you what I see. And what I see is a man who has not only vociferously ticked off one campaign promise after another, but a man who has been devoted to his wife and children, standing up for them as a man should do when they've been attacked. I see a man who promised to protect religious liberties and has done that very thing. I see a man who doesn't back down from a fight, even if his mouth occasionally spouts off before he thinks. I see a man who doesn't dodge the press, but instead calls them out when they are out of line, or flat out intentionally misleading, even to the point of being the target of every media attack they can throw at him. Calling out Fake News isn't a war on the media, but rather a charge for them to adhere to the truthful and ethical standards about which they squawk, but sadly to which few of them ascribe anymore.
I see a man who has put up with vile hatred and vitriol the likes of which no President has ever seen, and yet keeps plugging away every day at his job, giving his paycheck away to charity.
I see a changed man. I do. You might not. And that might be because you simply don't want to. But as for me, I choose to see the best, even if he isn't the absolute best we have to offer. (As though that person really existed.)
As a Christian, I don't get to demand who my candidate is. I can vote for the options placed before me, and hope for the best. But if the best doesn't win, it doesn't mean I should quit the system. It doesn't mean I should waste votes on candidates who have no chance to fix, change, or affect anything just so I can feel better about myself by making a stand on my beliefs. As a Christian, I should cast the most informed and impactful vote I can cast. If I sit it out, I let the other side decide our fate. Worse, if I don't like a set of candidates and choose to vote for someone who has no chance of winning, I allow others -- particularly my opposition -- cast votes that ultimately hold more importance than my own.
Regardless of his background, Donald Trump was the candidate that opposed the evil that stood before us. He has done virtually nothing in his presidency to suggest he won't continue that opposition.
As Christians, our vote in this midterm election must be for candidates who pledge to continue to work together with Trump in that opposition, and to further strengthening the values that we hold dear. The Bible doesn't call us away from the fray, but rather into it! We are to be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 13 and I Peter 2) and yet pray for them as well, with supplications, prayers, intercessions and thanksgivings! (I Timothy) If we did those things, imagine the candidates we could have!
And who knows? Maybe in the end, God can change another heart and save another soul!
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