Posted on 11/29/2015 6:12:20 AM PST by Kaslin
I understand the tremendous popularity of Donald Trump in America in 2015.
He is a larger than life reality TV star; he is incredibly rich and not beholden to anyone; he is fearless and speaks his mind; he articulates the frustrations and anger of millions of his countrymen; he gives the impression that he can fix our economy and will put an end to illegal immigration; he is not a Washington insider; he could be a strong leader who could face down our global enemies; he can even be winsome and self-effacing at times.
Yes, I do understand all this to the point that, for some weeks, I wondered to myself if I could get behind Trump as a candidate. And the question still remains, if the presidential race was between Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, could I cast a vote for Trump? (I could not possibly vote for Hillary Clinton.)
But let's not deal in hypotheticals now. The immediate question is: Should evangelical Christians support Donald Trump as the Republican candidate? I do not see how we can if the Word of God is to be our guide and if it's important to us that a candidate have a solid moral compass and a biblically based worldview and I mean to be our president, not our spiritual leader, since we are electing a president, not a pastor or priest.
The Scriptures teach that out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks (Luke 6:45), and so Trump's consistent pattern of reckless speech points to deeper issues which could make him unfit for the office of the presidency.
I'm not just talking about his silly attacks on Megyn Kelly (blood), Carly Fiorina (face), and Marco Rubio (sweat) or his more serious attacks on Mexican immigrants (accusing the many of what the few do) and others. I'm talking about his character assault on Ben Carson, comparing him to a child molester who has pathological problems and, most recently, his apparent mocking of the disability of New York Times reporter Serge Kovaleski.
Worse still, rather than apologizing for his most recent remarks, he claims he is being unfairly attacked for his comments and alleges that he doesn't even know what Kovaleski looks like. Is he lying?
Notice that he referred to Kovaleski, who suffers from arthrogryposis, which visibly limits flexibility in his arms, as a "nice reporter," before saying, "Now the poor guy, you've got to see this guy," flailing his arms as he pretended to be Kovaleski.
Is this the man you want to be our president? The warnings in Proverbs are strong: "Do you see a man who is hasty in his words? There is more hope for a fool than for him" (Proverbs 29:20). And, "A fool gives full vent to his spirit, but a wise man quietly holds it back" (Proverbs 29:11).
We need a statesman, not an irresponsible flame thrower, and one can be a strong political leader who is cutting and fearless with words think of Winston Churchill without making a fool of oneself.
What of Trump's claim that, "I have no idea who this reporter, Serge Kovalski is, what he looks like or his level of intelligence," and, "Despite having one of the all-time great memories, I certainly do not remember him"?
If this is true, why did he refer to him as a "nice reporter" and what did he mean when he said, "Now the poor guy, you've got to see this guy"? And did he merely flail his arms mocking someone who, he claimed, couldn't quite remember things correctly this was Trump's defense or was he making fun of Kovaleski's arms? (Watch for yourself and you be the judge as to whether he is telling the truth.)
Kovaleski, for his part, states that, "Donald and I were on a first-name basis for years. I've interviewed him in his office. I've talked to him at press conferences. All in all, I would say around a dozen times, I've interacted with him as a reporter while I was at the Daily News."
How could Trump have forgotten someone with Kovaleski's condition?
Trump pointed to the large sums he has given to help people with disabilities, and I don't doubt that he has, nor do I doubt that he cares about the disabled and handicapped.
But what is undeniable is that he is often irresponsible and reckless in his speech, something that could be utterly disastrous for the president of the United States of America. As noted by Jay Ruderman, an advocate for the disabled, "It is unacceptable for a child to mock another child's disability on the playground, never mind a presidential candidate mocking someone's disability as part of a national political discourse."
Yet there's something that concerns me even more when it comes to evangelicals supporting Donald Trump and that is the issue of pride, the sin that is often at the root of a host of other sins (Isaiah 14:11-15), the sin which God resists (James 4:6), the sin which leads to destruction (Proverbs 16:18).
Trump seems to have little understanding of what it means to ask God for forgiveness, while his very open, unashamed boastfulness is part and parcel of his persona. Trump and pride seem to walk hand in hand, quite comfortably at that.
So, while I do understand why many Americans are behind Donald Trump and while I do believe he could do some things well as president, I cannot understand how evangelicals can back him, especially when we have a number of solid, God-fearing, capable alternatives.
(For my video commentary on this, with the relevant clips from Trump, click here. The ugly comments from Trump supporters are quite telling.)
The bottom line; Trump is human, overall I think he's a decent down to earth guy who tends to run his mouth sometimes (no crime there). Who hasn't? Most important for me, he's an American who loves, and is concerned for his country.
Michael Brown? He survived his encounter with Darren Wilson after all?
Not that Michael Brown. LOL
Lost me at the” Mexican immigrants” comments.
It just kills me how Evangelicals can sit out election after election, as their pagan neighbors send pro-abortion politicians in droves to Washington, and consider themselves “pure” and “blameless” because they refuse to get involved in “dirty” politics.
The problem with Trump is that he doesn’t engage his brain before he opens his mouth.
I am a Pastor of a church, and I would always prefer a Christian leader, however God can use anyone He wants to bring our Nation back to a Commitment to God and our Constitution.
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I agree. Regarding Trump, I look at his kids and how they turned out - all good kids, all productive, all love & respect their father .... not an insignificant factor, in my opinion. In direct opposition to Obama, Trump’s instincts are unabashedly pro-America & for her citizens (not every illegal and enemy, real or potential), even if expressed in an over-the-top way and I’ll give him a pass on that. The last thing .... some family members and I were talking about Trump a couple of weeks ago - my thought & comment was that Trump will be keeping his Bible a lot closer at hand if he’s elected President. I believe I’ve seen some ‘evidence’ (in my opinion) of that since and I think his faith and reliance on God and understanding of God using him to help America will only get stronger as time goes on. My first choice would be Cruz, but if Trump is the nominee, he has my vote.
The main reason I like Trump is because the left hates him.
Evangelicals?
Are there any Americans in this group? Because I want to know what they think as Americans, because we aren’t electing their next preacher.
Swear to Christ the same bunch that tanked the image of American Christianity with their support of those idiot televangelists, still strut around as kingmakers, willing to toss the entire election because candidate X doesn’t recite enough bible verses or know enough hymns. We end up with Romney’s and McCains because of this garbage.
We have a nation and planet on the brink, but they have bigger priorities.
Ok who is the perfect candidate.
When I put together my T-Chart, the one that comes out the best is Cruz. And nobody else comes close.
There are things I like about trump, but they are terribly overshadowed by his negatives. My personal take is that any of the top candidates will beat whomever the democrat choice is, so “electability” is not a concern for me. We tried to play that card last time. How’d it work out?
Imagine a Cruz/Clinton debate. Yeah, me too. :-)
Also, Churchill was not religious. In his great speeches, he does call on help from God because he was not a believer. He was a great man nonetheless.
The author needs to consider Trump in relation to the alternatives.
Not Romney. Evangelicals don't like him because they say he is not a Christian.
We end up with those who claim to be Christian like Obama and Hilary.
Well Michael, let me say it like this, “Donald ain’t part of GOPe.â€
That is not enough of a reason to vote for someone.
Not bad, not bad at all ...
How precious.
Now the feckless Evangelicals (a member of which i suppose I am) want a president that obeys God? One fifth of them VOTED FOR OBAMA.
I agree that Trump is biblically illiterate, but he is ideologically a Christianity supporter. Politically, an western bloc member. Pro American; capitalist and sovereign-nationalist.
This in contrast to Obama, who is ideologically anti Christian. Politically, an eastern bloc member. Anti American; stone cold marxist and one-worlder.
And I am sure all the Evangelicals that wont get behind Trump NEVER TOLD A LIE a day in their lives. So lily white and pure.
Oh Lord, I wonder how many of these same Evangelicals cast their vote for the Obamination because they heard on TeeVee “He’s a Christian” and “he’s a good man”
Bah - Go Donald!
Well, these same people told us that Obama was “Christianâ€. So now they tell us not to vote for Trump. Not every person who claims to be a Christian is actually a Believer.
Trump supporters need to be careful what they wish for. And to be clear, there is a lot I like about him too. But not enough.
I don’t like NY attitude. I do like tough talk, but in the vein of Ronald Reagan, a very nice man, who knew when to talk and when to let his actions speak for him.
Trump is not that type. He is a brash, NY jerk. In my book, all NY jerks talk tough, so talk is cheap, and trash talkers are foolish.
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