The outrage remains fresh:
"But did you hear what he said about grabbing women?"
"Did you see the utter contempt he directed at his enemies, the lies he told, the bragging about adultery, the claim that he didn't need to ask forgiveness?"
"How could an evangelical Christian vote for such a man?"
Those were - and those remain - the indignant protestations of morally-conscious independents and liberals who found the political, pragmatic alliance between conservative Christians and Donald Trump to be repulsive.
The answer they seemed to settle on, as evidenced by their aggressive, ongoing revolt against what they conclude is an untoward, grotesque, and morally skewed evangelicalism is that these Trump-supporting Christians chose a political tribe over the righteousness of God.
For what it's worth, I think there is an element of truth in the accusation. There are those who claim allegiance to Scripture first, who profess the sovereignty of God and the supremacy of Christ and His doctrines, yet who felt no compunction or hesitation in promoting the public and private character of a man like Donald Trump. To this day some champion him as some God-ordained Cyrus. There is legitimate cause to question their primary loyalties.
But I don't think that number accounts for anywhere close to even a substantial minority of actual believers.
My personal experience within the evangelical church has revealed large numbers who cringe at the conduct, but find pragmatic permission to support him.
What's interesting to me is that this conversation has been ongoing for the better part of six years now, but few have taken the time to inquire about the inverse. For those demanding introspection from all those Trump-allied believers, perhaps they should be challenged to do the same.
Consider:
The standard responses to this from left-leaning progressives are as monotonous as the pragmatic justifications Christians give for supporting Trump. So my desire here is to suggest that if the latter are expected to re-think their position, perhaps the former should do the same?
Progressives, and particularly progressive Christians, should ask themselves why it continues to be so surprising to them that a professing believer would draw a line in the sand at any legal defense of what amounts to a sanitized, 21st-century ritual of child sacrifice?
If a person or political movement defends, or to be honest about the current state of the Democrat Party and its national candidates, champions the sacrifice of babies to the modern Molech of convenience, why is it so bewildering that a conscientious Christian would say, "I'll take the other guy no matter what"?
To go a step further:
Here is a man professing to follow Christ and accept Christian theology, even making a public spectacle of his piety by wearing ash on his forehead, a man who has explicitly confessed that he believes human life begins at conception, cowardly refusing to explain the morally galling implications that brings.
Think this through:
- Biden has acknowledged he believes what is conceived in the womb is a human being – just as legitimate a human being as an infant, toddler, or adolescent.
- Biden says that the force of law should not protect that one particular class of human beings if another group wants to kill them for convenience.
This is NOT a man speciously arguing that life in the womb is not legitimate human life. While that would be scientifically wrong, it would be morally defensible. If the fetus isn't a human life, then laws to protect human life wouldn't be necessary.
But Biden has said the fetus IS a human life, yet he believes we should permit that baby's execution if the parent prefers it!
What Christian of sound mind could ever justify supporting such evil? Donald Trump's adultery and unChristlike demeanor is one thing, but compared to Joe Biden passively affirming legalized murder, is it really that hard to understand why church-going Christians accept the former?
I get that many of the "No real Christian could vote for Trump" declarations are insincere posturing from Democrat Party tribalists. They aren't concerned about the moral character of Christians; they are concerned about power politics.
But for those who truly do struggle to reconcile why the Republican Party, with all its problems, continues to enjoy such overwhelming support from evangelical Christians, the answer is obvious. On the issue that matters most – the issue of life and death, the issue of the sanctity of beings bearing God's image – one entire side of the political spectrum remains vehement defenders and champions of violence in the womb.
Perhaps the time of those who want to break the Republican/Christian alliance would be better spent not protesting that fact, but working diligently to break the Democrat Party's insatiable lust for abortion.
