Why Evangelical Christians Should Not Support Donald Trump

Townhall.com ^ | November 29, 2015 | Michael Brown

[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.)

[GBA]

I'm definitely not a Bible scholar, just someone slowly acquiring a familiarity with its main characters and events.

One thing that keeps coming up for me is the character, or rather what we might judge as a lack of character or the rather poor quality character, of some of the Bible's greatest leaders, heroes, etc., who we still honor and revere hundreds and thousands of years later.

Another thing is the poor judgement skills and behavior of some of those who considered themselves to be great scholars and people of great faith and rationality, the real true believers of their times, such as with the Pharisees, scribes and others.

Those geniuses didn't even recognize the Messiah they claimed to know when He was there in person, standing face to face with them and their arguments, judgements, accusations and tests.

As such, I'm trying to set some of my judgements to one side and, personally, I don't have a candidate to vote for or financially support at this point. I just have questions.

I lost my faith and trust little by little, election by election, and now I don't know what is real and what is illusion in this Kabuki Theatre we've been conditioned to put so much faith and trust in without question or complaint.

As such, I now trust the Founders over anyone currently in the play or commenting about it.

I'm trying to understand and follow the Founders' original intentions and template to analyze the actors currently auditioning for the lead role.

For me, that narrows things quite a bit and offers a peak behind the curtain.

In the meantime, I'm enjoying the show for the first time in a long time and appreciating the diversion.

A big glass full of real life reality with a peak-behind-the-curtain chaser is pretty freaking unsettling these days.

It's been good to unwind some with this season's new lineup and writing, instead of the standard propaganda that's usually playing.

[Nea Wood]

...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...

That's as far as I had to read. Trump has said repeatedly that he likes Mexicans, their leaders are smarter than ours, Trump employs lots of Mexicans, etc. By Carson's own admission, he was violent. And Trump released a statement saying he did not know the reporter was disabled. Trump was only mocking the flustered behavior of a stupid person, not imitating anyone's disability.

[American in Israel]

Amazing reading this thread, I had no idea how many shallow thinking rude loud mouth Christian haters there were out there. I think the worst thing about Trump is how many of him there are.

Sigh, it makes me fear that God will follow the liberals Obama lesson with a conservative Trump lesson. There will be little left of America at this rate.

[Rockitz]

Where’s his corresponding column on Hillary? I hear crickets.....

[GBA]

LoL! Few words, said well.

[itsahoot]

Yes immigration is important but so are other issues. like the terrorists for example, or the economy, abortion etc

Save a mall lose a country, yep makes sense.

[HarleyLady27]

If this wasn't so funny it would be serious....

The Evangelicals don't like Trump for a lot of reasons, but mainly because he used to own Casinos, and other places that are beneath their standards, but if Carson takes Rove’s deal, the Casino owner will OWN Carson, now what are these bible thrumpers going to do about that????

If they are true to their beliefs, they have to turn their backs on Carson...and put a nail in their coffin...

[Gasshog]

Great Post! I will just add this for effect.

Mark Cuban, July 28th in Business Insider:

“I don’t care what his actual positions are,” Cuban wrote. “I don’t care if he says the wrong thing. He says what’s on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years.”

[Patriot Babe]

BRAVISIMO!!!!

[Georgia Girl 2]

Another pathetic attempt to downgrade Donald Trump. Its never ending.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

Very dumb article, dressed as if spiritual.

Just take any of the criticisms and apply it to other men God used for his purposes in Scripture.

Yet despite any flaws, God certainly used them.

[dschapin]

I agree with Brown. Evangelical Christians should not vote for Trump. Trump has shown himself to be a mean spirited, narcissist, with little concern for the truth.

[JimRed]

I tend to dismiss it completely as just a cheap, transparent attempt to use “religion” to tell me how I should vote.

My problem with it is that he tells you for whom to NOT vote, but give no clue as to whom he believes is acceptable.

[JimRed]

One fifth of them VOTED FOR OBAMA.

Out of black solidarity and white guilt, no doubt.

[Jim Noble]

The elite political infrastructure has been feeding off of us, the middle class, for so long. They laugh, they mock us for our naivete, and how easy it is for them to distract us, to “manage” us, all the while, BOTH “sides” enrich themselves

The ruling coalition is united around several things that the people are against. They are skilled at setting up phony issues (or issues that don’t concern the Federal government) to break up the formation of any possible other coalition.

Republicans and Democrats agree that the purpose of the State is redistribution. How much, and to whom, and under what circumstances, there are disagreements. But no elected officials of either Party believe that it is wrong to take from you and give to another of their own choosing, for reasons that make sense to them.

Republicans and Democrats agree that you have “rights” - lots of them. They also agree that any question ABOUT your “rights”, or whether or not something IS a “right”, should not be decided by a political process because that is “divisive”. So, they both agree that the voice of “the People” as contemplated in Articles IX and X can only be voiced by nine unelected life tenure judges, and that five of them, at any time or for any reason, can give new “rights” and take away old ones, particularly if those old ones arise out of majority voting.

Republicans and Democrats all believe in “diversity”. They, ignoring completely the results of all social science research on this subject, and contrary to millennia of human experience and wisdom, believe that the more “diverse” our country, its institutions, and any private entities within her become, the more cohesive and productive we will become.

Republicans and Democrats almost all believe in “free trade” and “immigration”. These things are good for various constituencies of both parties while they wreck the economy and the nation.

Many of the People, perhaps a majority, do not believe in any of these things. But in our existing system, captive as it is to the MSM-mandated “process” for choosing two candidates for POTUS neither of whom will change a thing, leaves the People with no voice.

Something’s gonna blow.

[sockmonkey]

I have no idea who Michael Brown or FIRE Ministries is, but
since he chose to lie when using Mexican Immigrants, and omitting the word, Illegal, in what Trump said, he has no sway with me.

[JimRed]

God chooses any man, regardless of his flaws to further His Will as He sees fit.

IIRC from Sunday school, Saul of Tarsus.

[Right-wing Librarian]

>>Mark Cuban, July 28th in Business Insider:

“I don’t care what his actual positions are,” Cuban wrote. “I don’t care if he says the wrong thing. He says what’s on his mind. He gives honest answers rather than prepared answers. This is more important than anything any candidate has done in years.”

Great addition! I’m reposting what you wrote because others may benefit from reading this again.

He “nails” what touches so many people.
Thanks for sharing.

[Forward the Light Brigade]

So who should Evangelical Christians support? Rev. Huckabee? Hillary? Mittens? Carson? No—we need a strong leader if we are to get back on track.

[Right-wing Librarian]

Wow, your post goes into much greater depth/detail, and is so vital for people to read and think about, and share with others.

How wonderful it would be for people to wake up and realize the truth you have exposed about both “sides”. They sure do have quite the scam running. They know Donald Trump is on to their scam, and will have no reservations about “dealing” with them employing all his God-given talents!

Thanks for sharing.