Christians and Donald Trump

"As a Christian, how could you NOT vote for Donald Trump?"

That question was asked by a Christian friend to another friend, who is also a Christian.

That is a fascinating question, one that has replayed itself in my mind over the last few months.

It is also the wrong question.

The more accurate question is:

"As a Christian, how COULD you vote for Donald Trump?"

This question, I should point out, has really haunted me ever since the general elections in November.  How could Bible-believing Christians vote for a man such as Donald Trump?  When did narcissism, crude descriptions of consequence-free sexual assault, and rampant abuse and destruction of small businesses become the Christian ideal?

When a man's response to losing a verbal conflict with a woman is to make childish menstruation insults, why did a lot of Christians say, "OOOO, I've got to get me some of that!"

I can name a lot of faults here - and believe me, I will, either in this post, or others.  After all, encouraging apparent criminal activity and apparently committing treason in the same action is either a sign of creative thinking or simply run the mill sociopathic behavior.

He made fun of a handicapped person, which gives the people of our country - especially our children - a lousy example to follow.  Remember, the Bible tells us that we are a spectacle to the world - and the President of the United States is even more of a spectacle.

Then there's his congenital lying.  This alone should actually be a deal-breaker for Christians, but I have learned, to my dismay, that a lot of Christians could accurately be called LILACS.  Why?  Because they lie like anything.  Not only that, but IOIYAR is a functioning fact of life nowadays.

What is IOIYAR?  Literally, it means "It's O.K.if you're a Republican."  That belief came into hard play during President Bill Clinton's infidelity issues (and were they ever prominent.)  The general Republican reaction was disgust, moral reprehension and a desire to throw him under the earth.

You could've heard crickets chirp when a bunch of Republican congress-critter philanderers were outed all of a sudden.  The reactions of Republican supporters (and Christian supporters, too) ranged from continued moral indignation at President Clinton to anger at how the Republican philanderers had their privacy invaded.  After all, that was their business, not ours.

Now, there are a lot of Christian leaders who strongly recommended Donald Trump to be our president despite his strongly un-Christian actions and behavior.  After all, Dr. Jim Garlow said that Mr. Trump was surrounded by Christians and that Hillary Rodham Clinton had some sort of leftist socialist platform.  So obviously, Trump was the choice that Christians should and must vote into office.

For now, I will ignore Mr. Garlow's political ignorance and his willingness to be a false witness against Mrs. Clinton.  I say "mister" instead of doctor because thanks to his actions during the campaign, he is guilty of conduct unbecoming of a doctor of divinity.

There are two arguments against Garlow's reasons: One Christian reason and one historical reason.

The implication that being surrounded by Christians and Christian advisors and leaders in effect makes you a Christian leader is not only weird, but unbiblical as well.  I grew up in a Fundamentalist Christian church and our pastor mentioned many times that you cannot get other people into Heaven, nor can other people get you into Heaven.

"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
                              John 14:6 (KJV)

I would love to see Donald Trump come to Christ, but his actions and narcissism make that a difficult hope.

Another implication from Garlow's comment is that by being surrounded by Christians means that Donald Trump can somehow be controlled.  Donald Trump is comparable to a force of nature, and not controlled by others.

I am hoping and praying that this is the ONLY comparison that can be made with Adolf Hitler, but the Nazi leader was also like a force of nature, and totally uncontrollable.  In 1933, Franz von Papen helped engineer Hitler's appointment to Chancellor of Germany on the belief that he could be controlled.

Von Papen was wrong, of course, as history shows.  Hitler used von Papen as if he were a tissue and quickly shunted him aside.

Other examples of this exist throughout history, but Hitler's is the most prominent and had the most effects on the rest of the world.

To be honest, the belief that "we can control him" is almost always a conceit and a bit of hubris on the part of the followers.  Besides, Donald Trump has more than enough hubris for everyone.

Also, the belief that he can be controlled is a trope commonly used in movies.  Are the Christians who voted for him (including Garlow) really that genre dumb?  This train wreck was in the making and it was so obvious to anyone who paid the slightest bit of attention.

Being a Christian doesn't mean that you don't have to make a decision, and it doesn't mean that you don't have to actually research and learn on your own.

It doesn't mean you have to be willingly dumb.

Letting someone else make your decision for you doesn't mean that you are a faithful Christian.  It makes you a tool, and a pretty useless one at that.  It also makes you a useless Christian as well.

Don't be a "sheeple".  After all, you have to answer for what you do.  Jim Garlow isn't going to answer for you, even if he led you to that decision.  He will answer for himself.

Being a sheeple makes you little more than a slave, and about as useless.

That's all for now.

Peace be unto you.