If you have followed this blog for the past six years, you know I have steered clear of politics per se.
I have not taken sides in the left/right American political game because I believe both parties are, at their core, humanistic.
I have also not taken sides because I did not want to offend my readership over less important matters than the kingdom of God.
I depart from that tradition today to write on this presidential election generally and Donald Trump specifically. I do so because I see Christians grappling with the issue of Trump, and I would like to share where I have landed on the issue in the hope it may bring clarity for others.
A year ago I told The Wife the media would embrace Donald Trump for the spectacle and sport of it during the primaries, but if Trump got the nomination the media would viciously turn on him to keep him from becoming President. After Trump got the nomination last month, at the height of his popularity, I told The Wife, Hillary Clinton would win the general election in a landslide. Unfortunately, I have been proven correct in my first prediction, and I suspect I will be proven correct in the second as well.
In between these predictions, I have grappled with how and whether to vote for President, and here is where I have come down on the issue: I will not vote for President.
I will not vote for President because it would violate my conscience to vote for a candidate (Clinton, and probably Trump) who supports killing the unborn or a candidate (Trump) who makes fun of the disabled, is a misogynist, encourages his followers to physically abuse protesters, and has the temperament of a spoiled twelve year-old .
Yes, but if Clinton wins won’t she change the balance of the Supreme Court? As bad as Trump is isn’t he better than Clinton? Listen, I know and have considered all the arguments and am unmoved.
First, I didn’t create this dilemma and I don’t take responsibility for it. I blame everyone who voted for Trump in the primary. If they could not see who Trump was with all the media coverage he received, perhaps 4 years under a Clinton presidency is a deserved judgment. Jesus said, “A man speaks out of that which fills his heart.” Luke 6:45. What comes out of Trump’s mouth is what’s in his heart. Period. Hitler said Trumpish things, and people said the same thing about him as they say about Trump—”Once he becomes President (Chancellor) he will tone it down.” We know how that turned out.
Second, and most importantly, the health of my conscience is more important than who becomes President. Violating one’s conscience can lead to a shipwrecked faith. I Timothy 1:18-19. I’m not willing to take that chance over politics or a presidential election.
Third, I believe Clinton will win in a landslide anyway and Trump has no chance. No one who says the kinds of things he says has a chance, or ever had a chance, of getting elected. He only won the nomination because he appealed to a broader swath of the electorate than any other of the 16 candidates, any one of which would probably have beaten Clinton in a general election.
The Wife has always said that in a democracy people get the government they deserve. If that is true, and I believe it is, then God help us, because these are our two champions, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, the two people who embody best what it means to be American.
To those outside the U.S. who read this blog, on behalf of all Americans, I offer my sincere apology. GS