Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Religion and Politics

So we've gone this far, have we? Back in January Christian conservatives were given several positive political choices. Ted Cruz: Raised in an evangelical family with a history in the church. A politician with a strong pro-life stance, and an unwillingness to waiver in the face of religious complacency. Marco Rubio: A practicing Catholic with strong ties to the non-denominational evangelical church. Another strong Pro-life candidate who tries to live out his faith in the midst of a godless political culture. Ben Carson: a non career politician with deeply help pro-life beliefs, who specializes in separating conjoined twins. A seventh day Adventist with a strong religious perspective. John Kasich: an Anglican who believes in the literal Noah, and is trying to be a voice of hope for the poor and mentally ill. I could go on. Candidate after candidate with strong faith in God and a desire to lead the country back to Christian values. And then there's Trump.

The grand old party voted. 58.3% of Republicans decided they would rather have the savvy businessman run our country than any of the other candidates. That's right... a party that has an overwhelming majority of Christians voted predominantly for a man who bears almost zero resemblance to Christianity.


If 81% of republicans claim Christianity, and 58% of republicans voted to nominate Trump, even if the 17% of the non-Christians voted exclusively for Trump, that still leaves 41% of Christians who picked a cut-throat businessman over several other decidedly Christian possibilities. We are supposed to be the ones praying for God to guide our country back to him. We are the ones who are supposed to be humbling ourselves, praying,seeking God's face, and turning from our wicked ways, so God will hear our prayers, forgive our sins, and heal our land. And now we're here. The general election is 5 months away, and my social media is being peppered with headlines like this:


Honestly, I'm appalled, I'm embarrassed, and I'm angry. What is the point of this kind of media? What do they hope to gain? Is the body of Christ this ignorant? Are they willfully misleading people? Do they actually think Trump is saved?


Let's look at this critically. Let's say he's been saved all along. Do we want the kind of back sliding Christian leadership that this man represents? If he has been a Christian for years, he's broken his marriage vows, twice. He's owned and operated and invested in pornography in the form of at least one strip club. He's been cut-throat in business, protecting his personal wealth through legal loopholes while declaring bankruptcy in several failed business ventures, leaving thousands jobless. He's been an abortion supporter until the last few years.

Let's say he he only recently got saved. Is it really a good idea to put a baby Christian in the oval office? He will be subject to the scrutiny of the world, and attacked on all sides by demonic opposition. Is it right for those of us who have been in the faith longer to leave a vulnerable fellow human being open to that kind of spiritual abuse? If we truly had his best interest at heart, we would refuse to enable his pride and foolishness and encourage him to build up his spiritual inventory before taking on such a monumental task as that of being president. Then there's another possibility, but I hesitate to consider it. Is the church so desperate for unity in the face of our party's appalling nomination that they feel they must lie and manipulate fellow Christians into a false sense of unity by declaring this man a Christian when he has no Spiritual fruit to show? Certainly Christian leaders would never stoop so low. Surely Christian leaders would be willing to be honest and trust God to keep our nation safe no matter who is elected president in the fall. I'm being sarcastic, but I can't seem to shake this nagging fear in the back of my mind.