As 2019 came to a close, many in the Christian evangelical community were rattled by the publication of an editorial
in Christianity Today in which the author argues that Donald
Trump should be both impeached and removed from office and chastises
evangelicals who continue to support him: "Consider what an unbelieving
world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior
in the cause of political expediency," the author chides.
Fair-minded people could probably debate the Christianity Today article. What I have a problem with is how people—mostly unbelievers, many of them
left-leaning or progressive, and some of them former Christians—are promoting
the article as if suddenly there's truth to be found in a
Christian magazine. It's not as if these people read the magazine for its
spiritual or doctrinal content; it's also not as if any of them would love to
meet for a glass of wine to discuss things having to do with the Christian
faith in general, let alone the impact of the Christian message on their own
lives. Rather, they share this piece prominently on (where else) social media
for no other reason than to bludgeon evangelical Christians who have the gall
to support Donald Trump despite his obvious moral and cognitive failings.
What bothers me is the implication
of their tsk tsks. Setting aside whether the articles of impeachment are valid or were politically motivated by an opposition party that was determined to impeach Trump before he was even inaugurated (I happen to
believe the latter); and setting aside whether or not previous presidents could
have been impeached for greater or even similar offenses but weren't; and
setting aside what amounts to gut-level disdain for Trump the man as
opposed to Trump the president (and by Trump the man I'm referring to his
coarseness and crudeness and moral failings and even his supposed
"unfitness" for office); setting aside these things—all of which have been debated
and discussed over the past three years and are still unresolved—I still have
to ask those who are scolding evangelicals for continuing to support Donald Trump in
spite of it all: Therefore, what?
Yes, it's true: Trump is crude.
Trump is boorish. Trump is impulsive. Trump is not presidential. Trump is
impetuous. No argument here. I never liked Donald Trump. I never watched The
Apprentice. I don't think I even gave Donald Trump a minute's thought until the moment he
rode down that elevator. And during the months leading up to the 2016 election,
I grew more and more depressed as one by one my preferred candidates fell away.
I remember texting a friend one day and asking if it was wrong for me to wish
Trump would choke on a piece of steak. But once he became the nominee, I had to
face facts, and ultimately I came to the conclusion that disputes about morals
and values or personal likes or dislikes have no place in a presidential
election when faced with a binary choice. A binary choice is what we were
faced with in 2016. "Pick your poison," I remember posting on
Facebook as election day drew near. And a binary choice is what we're faced with in 2020.
So, to my leftist friends, to my
ex-Christian friends, and even to my well-meaning fellow evangelical friends
who tsk, tsk those of us who will either reluctantly or
enthusiastically support Trump in 2020: Therefore, what? I
may agree that Trump is all that you say, but do you seriously expect me to
vote for your guy or gal? Even the tamer Dems vying for the
nomination have no place in the universe of core conservative objectives that I
value. The Democratic party has veered so far left--both in terms of the
economy and in terms of social issues--that frankly I'm surprised anyone who
hews even remotely to the center would consider aligning themselves with it.
So that's the dilemma I'm faced with
as I listen to the smug self-righteousness of those who promote the Christianity
Today editorial as if it were the equivalent of the gospel. As if they
really think someone like me is either going to vote Democrat or withhold a
vote for a Republican when the country has become so polarized. The time is
long past when our country had a strong "center," politically
speaking. I pray it returns, but meanwhile we're in the midst of a cultural
war, and Trump, for all his obnoxious and revolting ways, is, at least for now,
the person blocking the threshold to the progressive left's wave of cultural
and economic transformation. If anything, I'm disappointed
that influential Christians like those at Christianity Today can't
unite against the left. Instead, I'm detecting the stench of
"wokeness" emanating from the church, and the most "woke"
Christians are those who hate Trump. This troubles me much more than any of the
church's supposed blindness towards Trump's flaws. The way I see it, Trump is
just a blip. He's here now for one term, maybe two, but eventually he'll be
gone, both parties will survive, and our country will carry on. Societal
change, cultural change, on the other hand, once it's permeated the culture,
will remain long after he's gone.
Which brings me back to the Christianity
Today editorial. Christians are being called on the carpet for
apparently abandoning their mission (I'm thinking about the era of the Moral
Majority) as long as their "gladiator" is in the ring. Can we
Christians re-evaluate that era? Can we perhaps concede that it was wrong to
obsess about the moral character of leaders? Can we agree that politicians are
not pastors? Talk radio host Dennis Prager describes how, back during the
Clinton impeachment, he never mentioned even Monica Lewinsky's name on his
radio show. The sex life of public officials was not his concern (he says).
It's the job politicians do that matters, not their private morals. And Prager
is an observant Jew.
Do I agree? I think I do. I would
add that Donald Trump is not the first boorish man ever to hold public office,
nor will he be the last. Voters can look at what a leader does or advocates and
analyze the effect of these actions or policies on the things they value. What
else can we do? Again, we're not electing pastors.
*****
Further Reading
Trump Should Be Removed From Office, by Mark Galli
Trump Should Not Be Removed From Office: A Response to Mark Galli and Christianity Today, by Wayne Grudem
The Moral Majority (Wikipedia)
