Posted on 07/10/2020 8:12:15 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
After reading Leonardo Blair’s article in The Christian Post, “82% of white evangelicals would vote for Trump despite concerns about job performance: study,” I was disturbed by the fact that a majority of white evangelicals would still vote for Trump even though his job performance has been among the poorest in presidential history.
As an evangelical who is both a conservative and a Republican, I’m writing to suggest that voting for Trump should be tied to his character, not his job performance. It is out of one’s character that presidents generate the policies they come up with and how well or poorly they execute them. A president’s policies and performance don’t take place in a vacuum, and, when both are bad, you can be reasonably sure their character is as well.
At the risk of inflaming pro-Trump evangelicals, Trump is a deeply flawed human being when it comes to his characterological make-up. Allow me to use two passages of Scripture to make this point, both of which speak to the why Christians who support Trump should seriously reconsider whether or not to vote for him in 2020.
In Proverbs 6:16-19, the Bible says, “There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies, and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.”
Trump frequently manifests many of these troubling traits in how he conducts himself in the White House. I would think it hard for any Christian to truly believe a holy and righteous God would want His followers to support someone who regularly and remorselessly practices the things He hates.
In 2 Timothy 3:1-4, the Bible says, “But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God — having a form of godliness but denying its power.”
Once again, Trump exhibits most of these character defects. If this is true about the president, he can’t possibly be God’s choice to lead our country. God is clear about how we are to deal with someone as deeply disturbed as Trump: “Have nothing to do with such people” (2 Timothy 3:5). Nothing means nothing.
Trump is a racist, misogynist, xenophobe, narcissist, and sociopath. He is someone who has a “seared conscience” (1 Timothy 4:2) in that he never admits to doing anything wrong and is utterly unrepentant about his sins. Remember, this is the man who said he has never asked God to forgive him because he hadn’t done anything bad enough to warrant doing so. Most followers of Christ are more aware of their fallenness than that.
I’m under no illusion that my words are going to persuade any of the 82% of white evangelicals who support Trump to start opposing him. It’s probably the case that those who back the president strongly disagree with what I have written and are greatly bothered that I would say such negative things about his character.
Nevertheless, character in a president matters, and it matters a great deal. When character issues in a president are this problematic, his policies and performance inevitably follow suit. Do we need to look any further than Trump’s malevolent border policy mishandling of the coronavirus, or the mean-spirited way he stokes racial unrest in this country to know this is true?
My hope is that evangelicals who support Trump will be willing to think through the passages of Scripture mentioned and be honest about whether or not they fit the president. If these passages describe Trump, I would further hope pro-Trump evangelicals would be willing to admit as much and have nothing to do with this president.
Trump has had three-and-a-half years to prove he is up to the task of being a competent and moral leader, and he has fallen short in the ways that truly matter. Trump’s immorality, ignorance, and incompetence clearly demonstrate he is not fit to be president and should not be given another four years to further prove it.
When the dust settles from this presidency, we are going to see that Trump was the king who had no clothes, an unrepentant “lover of self,” and someone who conned the majority of white evangelicals into believing he truly cares about them, our nation, and, most importantly, God.
Ours is a great nation. Our country deserves a leader who doesn’t spend his day devising wicked schemes, pouring out lies, rushing into evil, and stirring up conflict in the community. It deserves a leader who is loving, forgiving, honest, self-controlled, genuine, humble, compassionate, and kind. Trump is the former, not the latter.
When it comes time to cast your vote in 2020, vote for the person who best personifies the character of Christ, not someone who personifies the opposite.
Chris Thurman, Ph.D., is a psychologist and author of The Lies We Believe.
I am disappointed by his lack of adherence to ethical principals and by his attempted misuse of his credentials. This is a non-professional and inept effort to attack supporters of the President and discredit any who hold a set of opinions contrary to his own.
What a complete idiot.
So, apparently, the 18% won’t be voting for anyone. Ever.
This crappy newsletter was taken over by some left wingers awhile back .
Why do you posting Dem astroturf ?
Trump does not have my vote for pastor or Sunday school teacher.
Jesus ain’t running this year. None of these politicians have stellar characters there is only results to judge them on and at best the choice is one of between evils.
Pure BS.
A man shall be known (character) by his fruits (achievements).
Chris you’re full of it!
“When character issues in a president are this problematic, his policies and performance inevitably follow suit.”
Donald Trump has the best policies and the highest performance of any president I have ever known. That DOES speak to his character.
As a evangelical you don’t believe in repentance and forgiveness? ?????
The person thinks this describes Donald Trump is delusional.
ML/NJ
I really wanted to get inside the putative brain of one of these bastards; but I had to stop right there with some of the most bureaucratic-sounding psychobabble I've ever read. I can only take so much puke.
Opinions, Opinions, Opinions. We all have them as is our right.
The perfect HUMAN doesn’t exist on earth. We all have deficiencies.
And will until the end of time.
Dear Chris Thurman,
Would you REALLY prefer “Crazy Uncle Joe” Biden the CROOK, MORALLY CORRUPT HYPOCRITE & KNOWN abuser of women & girls in the WH??
(IF you answer YES, please tell me WHY.)
Yours, TMN78247
Chris Thurman, Ph.D., is a psychologist and author of The Lies We Believe he claims to be both a conservative and a Republican.
Big Daddy - “What’s that smell in this room? Didn’t you notice it? Didn’t you notice a powerful and obnoxious odor of mendacity in this room? There ain’t nothin’ more powerful than the odor of mendacity... You can smell it. It smells like death.” Useless idiot watching too much MSNBC.
Hey, Chris, urine nidiot.
Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.
Nobody is perfect, least of all politicians, and businessmen who made it big while twisting arms along the way.
If character matters above performance, then, there’s not a single president in our history who would have been elected to that high office, and perhaps 90-95 percent of people in high-government offices would never have made it to those positions.
Performance in government is what matters the most, because, it’s the most important factor for determining who best represents what people want from their elected officials. What good would a saint be, if he/she wasn’t capable of doing the work that they were elected to ‘perform’? Poor and destitute and homeless people all around the world, would be eating dirt and homeless, if they were to just depend on the character of a person to help them.
Christ was not a stellar personality. He cursed those he hated. He bullied. He was contemptuous. He was arrogant. He was notably racist (at the well). He was sufficiently reprobate that he was killed by his detractors, t he Deep church. MANY people hated him with a terrible hatred, just like Trump.
The good Doctor is a naive sentimentalist who has not met the risen Christ. I honestly believe the Dr. would have hated Jesus of Galilee. He says as much.
The author:
https://drchristhurman.com/about-me/
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