The fact that conservative Christians ask this question, and make that assumption is clear evidence of just how far away they have moved from the very principles of the doctrines they claim to correctly discern from their interpretation of the Bible. I was asked that question many times this past election season, and I didn't let it sit there without a response.
I could go into a theological discussion of the fact that there is no condition placed upon the doctrine of Christian redemption, and that nothing the Bible's authors have to say about it have anything to do with one's voting choices. In fact, to make such a statement is to engage in judging the character and faith of a fellow human being, a practice which Jesus himself condemns in some of his more stronger terms. And my response points this out, along with stating that if I can be judged for my choice of candidate, so can they, and if those are the ground rules, we can continue the conversation.
Their main objection to Kamala was that she is a Democrat, and a liberal, and she was pushing abortion rights, gay rights and transgender rights. So what? This is America. She can be a Democrat, and a liberal and neither of those things has anything to do with being Christian, except I have a problem, in my view of being Christian, seeing how that doesn't make one a liberal. This is the point in most discussions I have with conservative Evangelicals, where their argument breaks down. I have a background in theology, from getting a B.A. and an M.A. at two universities affiliated with the Southern Baptists. I can argue using the chapter and verse references, and the Greek text if necessary. Most of those with whom I argue, surprisingly, have very little knowledge of the biblical text.
Anger and Hostility Are Not Virtues of the Christian Gospel, But They Are Visible in Conservative, American Evangelicals
Part of the problem, when it comes to these issues, is that conservative Evangelicals are angry, hostile people when it comes to these specific issues. From their perspective, the visibility of LGBTQ persons in the culture is a reminder to them of the failure of their evangelistic efforts to "bring revival to America." Their numbers are dropping like a stone in a well, their churches are graying rapidly and emptying out and what that means is that the revenue stream that is exploited by what we used to call televangelists, the "corporate Christianity" of the media and book publishing businesses and big names with million dollar ministries like the Falwells, Pat Robertson, Franklin Graham, James Dobson, is drying up.
But the point is that the Constitution gives all Americans freedom of conscience. LGBTQ persons are a small percentage of the population, and they're not "taking over." Nor is their presence in society something that has the potential to bring God's judgment on this country. That would be something that a conservative Evangelical, reading and studying their Bible in its cultural, historical and theological context, should be able to discern. America was never offered a "covenant" by God to exist as a theocracy in the same way as ancient Israel. In fact, the Christian gospel is the only "covenant" that exists in biblical theology in the present age, and that's an individual covenant, not one offered to nations or countries. So any judgment, for those who accept those terms, is individual, not corporate.
On Abortion Rights, It's Not Just About Birth Control
It's impossible to discuss this issue with a conservative Evangelical in a reasonable manner. They are so full of misinformation, they have virtually no understanding of what is involved and they resort to their simplistic accusations of "baby killing" as a means of ending an argument in which they cannot engage intelligently. They have absolutely no understanding at all of the fact that these draconian abortion laws, which prevent doctors from performing life-saving procedures in the event of complications, will wind up causing the deaths of thousands of women, over 80% of which would be preventable otherwise. That's not a mortality rate that we'd put up with in this country for anything else.
Harris didn't champion the use of abortion as birth control at all, she championed the right of women to make health care decisions in consultation with her own doctor, and with her pastor, priest, rabbi or Imam, if that was her choice. This is not an issue without complications. We've seen some tragic examples of what can happen to women when doctors are restricted from providing treatment under some draconian, restrictive law that a state legislature passed without consulting a single medical professional.
So, to those conservative Evangelicals who want to argue this point, my response is to put this back on them. How many women are you willing to kill in order to have your abortion restrictions? Are you willing to sacrifice the 80% of women whose lives could be saved by performing whatever measures the doctor deems necessary to save their life? That's certainly not pro-life.
The sexual behavior exhibited and advocated by the President-elect doesn't seem to support the conservative, Evangelical position on abortion. Perhaps, if those who aspire to leadership set a better example in their own sexual morality, or lack of it, abortion used for birth control purposes would not be as much of an issue. Conservative Evangelicals put a huge amount of effort into teaching and encouraging abstinence until marriage among their young people, and then go out and give their political support to a man who was in bed with a porn star while his own (third) wife was pregnant with their son.
I see a lot of mixed messages here. Get it straight, and then we'll discuss it.
How Can You Call Yourself a Christian, and Vote For Donald Trump?
It's only fair for me to ask, though my own integrity won't permit me to make the same kind of judgment about someone else's Christian faith, based on their political choices. I'm more interested in the rationale that selectively criticizes a Democrat, and let's a Republican off the hook for what I see as infinitely worse bad character, immorality and political ineptitude.
Starting with Trump's almost gleeful continued insistence that he is sinless, and has not done anything requiring God's forgiveness, because he does not see God the same way his Evangelical friends do, which is a direct mockery of their faith and what they believe, moving through the brand name he built for himself by getting on the front page of the tabloids to describe his bedroom antics with his wives or the other women with whom he had affairs, his fraudulent business schemes, his incessant lying, his backstabbing and betrayals, and his hateful thirst for vengeance.
I'd suggest looking through the text of Jesus' words recorded in the New Testament, and the works of the apostles, and find anything but terms like licentiousness, impurity, fornication, idolatry, sorcery, strife, jealousy, fits of rage, to describe Trump's character. There is no integrity and certainly no humility, both of which are high on the list of Christian virtues. There's no humility or repentance, or any of the characters that define good leadership.
The man incited an insurrection to disrupt Congress, intending to inflict pain and suffering while overturning the results of a legitimate election, based on a lie that, through over 60 attempts in court, he could not provide one shred of evidence to prove.
The apostle John calls the kind of denial of the need for forgiveness Trump has repeatedly articulated in front of Evangelical leaders who are trying to goad him into saying something they can identify as a confession of faith, as the spirit of antichrist. Not "The Antichrist," a figure from Evangelicalism's fantasy "end times" narrative, but antichrist meaning a full denial of the person of Jesus Christ.
And those are things which qualify someone to be President of the United States? No, not to mention Article 3 of the 14th Amendment, which we are ignoring.
Reaching a Consequential Decision
Those who were raised in Evangelical churches eventually come to the point of having to make a consequential decision. One of the distinctive doctrines of Evangelical Christianity is the belief that the Bible is inerrant, infallible in its content, and is the sole authority for the faith and practice of the church. However, few Evangelicals show much evidence in their lifestyle of the effects of a Christian gospel that they claim is "transformational." Their push toward Christian nationalism is an admission of failure on their part to reach the people of the United States with the gospel, and bring about a revival that will sweep away all of the immorality they see, and bring "God's favor" on the country. And they're not going to let core principles taught by Jesus, such as "loving your neighbor as you love yourself," and "love your enemies and pray for those who despitefully use you," get in their way of bringing this about.
Nor do they show any consistency between what they claim to believe and their politics. They consistently vote for candidates based on partisan perspectives, and then attempt to explain it away with some convoluted, theologically distorted and twisted reasoning, like the mess being circulated now to defend voting for a visibly evil, deranged demagogue by comparing him to King David and claiming that sometimes God uses evil men to achieve his purposes. David was described as "a man after God's own heart," not perfect, but always repentant, in contrast to the unrepentant, defiant, characteristically evil Trump, who is after his own good, and doesn't really believe God exists. God doesn't ever use men like that.
How could he possibly use someone filled with that much hatred for other people, and who is unable to acknowledge the existence of God because he thinks so highly of himself? Not possible.
It's Time to Leave Now
Several years ago, right in the middle of a sermon, when the GOP elephant was starting to stampede its way in, I nudged my wife and said, "I'm done, let's go." When we got to the car she thanked me for making that move, and said she couldn't have taken another second of it. We'd been members of that church for five years, were good contributors, regular volunteers and active members. They practiced "loving your neighbor" so well, that weeks went by without a phone call, or even a postcard inquiring about our whereabouts. The offering envelopes came, as usual, a reflection, perhaps, of their true values.
While 81% of white Evangelicals voted for Trump once again this year, that percentage represents an actual drop in total number, as near as I can figure, about 8 million fewer votes. Looking at membership figures reported by Evangelical denominations, and non-denominational churches in the US over the same decade, most of those people can be accounted for. The Southern Baptist Convention, the largest Evangelical denomination in the United States, has dropped 20% of its membership since its peak in 2006, with more than 2.5 million of those occurring in the years since 2016, according to their annual reports. In just one year, prior to COVID 19, that number was close to 450,000.
So here's a suggestion for anyone reading this who still belongs to an Evangelical church who may be part of that 19% of white Evangelicals that didn't vote for Trump.
Leave. And let them know why you're leaving. Don't leave any doubt.
It will liberate you in ways you didn't know were possible.
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