A comment from "anonymous" on August 29, on a post entitled There's an Exodus From Evangelical Churches Because of Donald Trump's Politics, said, "Your statement, 'Nothing Biden has said or done would be contrary to someone's Christian convictions...' says everything I need to know about your qualifications to judge and or evaluate Christians and Christianity. in that you are totally unqualified and don't have a clue of what Christ represents. Have you every [sic] read any of the new covenant [sic]? Just askin' and this is not a rhetorical question."
Normally, I would not respond to an anonymous comment like that. The fact that it was left anonymously speaks for itself, and nullifies
First of all, yes, I have read the "New Covenant." I was raised in an Evangelical church, became a Christian through a conversion experience defined in conservative, Evangelical terms, earned a minor in Biblical studies in college and have about 30 hours of Biblical studies, including languages and theology, in graduate school. I understand exactly what the Gospel of Jesus Christ is, and it is on that basis that I will reiterate the statement I made, that there is nothing President Biden has said or done that would be contrary to someone's Christian convictions." Since the commenter determined to make a personal criticism without providing one single statement to contradict what I said, and back it up with evidence, I'll take that as an admission that my statement is correct.
Let's Cut to the Chase
Most white, Evangelical Christians vote Republican because the Republican party has discerned, in their fundamentalist approach to Christian faith, a strong, single-mindedness when it comes to political issues. They've blindly elevated opposition to abortion rights as the single most important political issue with which they are concerned. That, and the extension of the constitutionally guaranteed rights to all people, whether they are Christian and Caucasian or not, seem to be the biggest problems.
Of course, the President has not made his support for the pro-choice position a secret. But I tend to look at it this way. If politicians and legislators who favor a pro-choice position are labelled as "baby killers" and are directly responsible for all abortions, then politicians and legislators who favor unlimited gun ownership are child-killers and murderers, directly responsible for all shootings.
In a democratic republic, where the constitution guarantees individual rights to all citizens, Evangelical Christians are free to practice their faith unhindered. They're free because everyone else is, too. Be happy with that.
Why This Christian Supports Joe Biden
I said it before, and I will say it again. There's nothing Biden has said or done as President of the United States that is contrary to Christian convictions. Not one thing has resulted from the multiple legislative achievements of the Biden Administration that is contrary to any Christian principle or value. From his management of the COVID pandemic recovery, which was an achievement that will go down in history as one of the most effective government health initiatives in history, to his economic policy that has benefitted all segments of the economy, the Biden Administration has earned the title of one of the single most effective Presidencies of the Post-War era.
Inflation is a problem, one that his administration noted would follow the COVID period, as jobs came back and the economy flourished. They took all of the steps that government can take in attempting to avoid a recession and help drop the inflation percentage, and it's working, slowly, as they said it would.
My Christian faith incorporates the gospel value of peacemaking, and of peace, as an identifying characteristic of Christianity and of Christians. It's an essential, core teaching of the gospel. Quoting Jesus' Sermon on the Mount, the gospel writer and apostle Matthew says, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God." Joe Biden is a peacemaker, in the most powerful political position in the world. His decision to end the war in Afghanistan, an incredibly wasteful operation that became increasingly pointless after Osama Bin Laden was captured, in neighboring Pakistan, was a good one, and while his political opponents tried to make the point that the withdrawal, which succeeded in getting more than 100,000 people out, including all Americans that followed instructions and didn't delay, was a failure, the facts do not support that contention.
Ukraine is a different matter. It's a sovereign country, a fledgling democracy whose people are modeling their government after ours, who have been under the oppression of imperialism for a good part of their modern history. The President understands America's moral obligation to support democracy, especially one as critically located and important to our own democracy now, at a time when our own values need to be strengthened and renewed as a result of the challenge to them from within.
It is, in fact, Joe Biden's stance for American democracy that is the main reason I voted for him in 2020, and will vote for him again in 2024. Christians who have more than just a cultural, surface understanding of their faith, and Americans who understand their constitution, its guarantees of individual freedom, and are true patriots loyal to country, not political candidates, will also see the need to support President Biden.
There is also the question of character, moral values and the compatibility of political candidates to the Christian gospel. The common excuse of politically motivated Evangelicals is to say, "We're not voting for a pastor in chief..." That's a cop out. When the Bible was written, the common people had no voice in their government, nor choice of who their leaders were. In the United States, we do. And even though our constitution guarantees complete separation of church and state, has no religious requirement for being elected to office and does not favor one religion over another, it says something about what people value when they vote.
The contrast between a womanizing, narcissistic, misogynistic, adulterous, pathologically lying, con artist, fraudster who labels himself as worldly and deliberately denies the need for religion at all, and Joe Biden, a man who isn't perfect, but who is humble, not demanding personal worship of himself, a devout Catholic who lives according to his values, is obvious. It is not possible, from my perspective, for a convert to Christianity to cast a ballot for the former candidate's worldliness and keep a clear conscience or a good testimony.
And that's not a personal judgment, it is a Biblically supported conviction. See Ephesians 5:3-14, in any English translation.
Awareness is Happening
It's becoming clear that there are consequences for the departure from Biblical, orthodox Christianity that is occurring among the extremist political right of Evangelicalism. People are leaving churches that are substituting the preaching of the Christian gospel with the counterfeit "Maga" gospel. Criticism from far right wingers aimed at labelling the very core teachings of Jesus as "liberal talking points" are being documented, along with deliberate attempts to change the interpretation of such things as "turning the other cheek," something Donald Trump, Jr. has emphasized through the "Turning Point" rallies operated by their campaign.
I will also note here that the impression is being left that most Christians generally vote Republican. That's not true. Most white, Evangelical Christians vote Republican. Most African American and Latino Christians vote Democratic. Mainline Christians tend to vote more Democratic, and Catholics appear to be fairly evenly split. The Evangelicals make a lot of noise, and tend to get a lot of attention, and a cocky, arrogant doctrinal and theological posture, in which they put themselves above others, seems to interest the media. They are a segment of the church almost completely dependent on their pastors and church leadership to interpret and understand what they think they believe, which makes them susceptible to being invaded by political cults that their leaders have been lured into accepting by flattery. Or money.
So ultimately, we are free to vote our political conscience. From my perspective, voting for Joe Biden again will be the best choice, if my conscience is tempered by my Christian faith. I could not, in good conscience, vote Republican, favoring draconian politics and government aimed at disenfranchisement, injustice and endorsement of cruelty, regardless of who is their Presidential nominee.
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