"People mystified by Evangelical Christian support for Trump don't seem to get the reason why, which is not that Evangelicals approve of his personal conduct. It is that they think he's their enemy's enemy and he's willing to fight."
Brit Hume, Fox political commentator
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| Click: Christianity Today editorial |
Donald Trump is "morally lost."
So said the editor of Christianity Today, a magazine founded by Billy Graham. The editorial said it was the duty of Christians to face the truth of Trump's "gross immorality and ethical incompetence" and remove him from office.
The editorial started a widespread round of discussion within the public Christian community, characterized not by soul-searching, but by political justification. Step one was to attack the messenger. Franklin Graham, son of Billy Graham, said that his father had voted for Trump before he died and that he would never have supported impeachment and removal. Trump tweeted that the magazine was "far left" and "very 'progressive' as some would call it, which has been doing poorly."
Talking past each other.
Mark Galli, Christianity Today editor, wrote that character mattered. Christian behavior matters to Christians. Galli said there is a difference between virtue and sin, between good behavior and bad behavior, and that Trump routinely and unapologetically does bad behavior. Christians cannot help observing it and have an obligation to "call a spade a spade" and refuse to accept it.
"The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral."
Christians, as a matter of faith, must not condone flagrant immorality. We are, after all, Christians, and it is not who we are.
There is an entirely different way to look at it. This is not about morality or immorality, nor about condoning what Trump does, Franklin Graham wrote. He dismisses that briefly:
Is President Trump guilty of sin? Of course he is, as were all past presidents and as each one of us are, including myself." Of course. Well, duh.
Graham lists Trump's accomplishments: a strong economy, good trade deals, appointed conservative judges, "the most pro-life president" and he defends "religious freedom." Trump is delivering.
The important issue is whose side one is on in a political fight. His.Trump's.
"For Christianity Today to side with the Democrat Party in a totally partisan attack on the President of the United States is unfathomable."
Graham wrote that Democrats opposed Trump and that three House members actually refused to join in, showing that the case was weak, and that "not one single Republican voted with the Democrats. . . . Why would Christianity Today choose to take the side of the Democrat left who's only goal is to discredit and smear the name of a sitting president?"
Graham, too, wants to call a spade a spade:
"The spade is this—Christianity Today has been used by the left for their political agenda. It’s obvious that Christianity Today has moved to the left and is representing the elitist liberal wing of evangelicalism."
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| Trump signing a Bible |
Franklin Graham and Brit Hume should know.
4 comments:
A half-hour podcast from NPR Hidden Brain, Sept 16, entitled "We're All Gonna Die," resonances on this point. Recommended.
"...it is not about religion or morality or Christian behavior."
You are dead right about that.
Evangelical religion is a business catering to a particular kind of individual, sort of a theological Disneyland. A recent 20/20 recounted the story of Jim and Tammy Faye, who personified the evangelical movement. Television moved the fraudsters from the tent to the airwaves and gave them a sheen of credibility. Among other things this tale showed the utterly sociopathic, morally bankrupt behavior of those who will say or do anything to get money from believers, who are easy marks.
Trump and evangelicals are well suited to each other. In another life, at another time it's pretty easy to see Trump at a mega church pulpit.
A larger issue is the disintegration of the Republicans, who now happily enable this behavior. As the movement grew, politicians on both sides were forced to acknowledge them, but Ronald Reagan notoriously, shamelessly, pandered to evangelicals and set the Republicans on a course that has led them to the precipice. The party is doomed, but the collateral damage from its collapse will take a generation to repair.
Sadly you are right on the mark when you said, “ ...political evangelicalism. It is not hypocritical because it is not about religion or morality or Christian behavior. It is about our team, set upon by elitist liberals, and whether or not we back our guy. We do. This is about politics and only politics.”
The end times aspect of evangelical Christian belief is super scary and a real existential threat to mankind. If I understand it correctly, they think the sh*t is hitting the fan right now and only the followers of HIS path will have their souls saved during the soon-to-be Rapture. So why worry about the environment? Why worry about morals? We're all sinners anyways. So, yeah,Trump gets a Mulligan. He's their end game umpire and its all good. Eternal life for the believer's soul. And everybody else dies. Wow.
That is some twisted worldview. And try to convince them otherwise without condescending is impossible.
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