This
is the third part of a series regarding American Evangelicals and Donald Trump.
This is the voting bloc that made possible his unlikely 2016 election win for
the American presidency. While most evangelicals support him, there is a vocal
minority who do not - the magazine Christianity Today is one of them.
Are
they being principled and Biblical or are they judgemental and drifting to the
left?
In
addition, it is important to understand the bigger picture, which transcends
Donald Trump.
Trump’s
Spiritual Journey
Donald
Trump has been on a fascinating journey: from billionaire businessman, to
reality TV show host, to President of the United States. Yes, there has been
personal scandal in his previous life like adultery, but that is not the entire
story. After all, Jesus forgave the woman caught in adultery (John 8) and the
woman at the well with 5 husbands and living in a de facto relationship (John
4).
At
some point in his life, he reached out to evangelical Christians. As a
life-long New Yorker, where leftism and progressivism is part of one’s ‘mother’s
milk,’ Trump turned unambiguous to the right. During the 2016 presidential
campaign, he made significant promises to the evangelical community and by all
accounts, he is keeping them. He has surrounded himself with born-again
believers, including the Vice-President, cabinet, personal pastors and
advisors. The White House is full of prayer meetings and Bible studies. Mr.
Trump in less than 3 years has appointed nearly 25% of all federal judges, and
two Supreme Court justices, and they are all conservative. The economy has
boomed under his watch - coronavirus not withstanding - and he advocates for
the persecuted church at home and abroad, defends the unborn and has been very
supportive of Israel. This is only a partial list.
American
voters, Christian and non-Christian knew about Trump’s past life but
appreciated his policies and promises. They noted that his 5 children, though
from broken homes, are very devoted to him. He is on a personal spiritual journey.
Whether he is yet ‘born again’ or not, or sought forgiveness or not, only God
knows, but it appears that his moral failure was in the past; unlike some
Presidents in the last 80 years who committed adultery in the White House. To
dredge up Trump’s past now, and make it a reason and excuse for his removal
from office is most inappropriate. Such evangelical opposition is puzzling when
you see the report card: Mr. Trump is arguably the most pro-faith, pro-family,
pro-life, and pro-Israel President America’s seen in a long-time.
The
Pew Forum did a survey a thorough survey of Trump’s relationship with
Christians, including evangelicals. You can click on the link below for the
entire report. However, in summary, they said this:
It finds that white evangelicals largely see Trump as
fighting for their beliefs and advancing their interests, and they feel their
side generally has been winning recently on political matters important to
them. But when it comes to Trump’s
personal qualities and conduct, many express mixed feelings. Even among this
strongly supportive constituency, most do not view Trump as a very
religious, honest or morally upstanding person (though many white evangelicals
say he is somewhat religious, fairly honest or fairly morally
upstanding).
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