In the spring of 2011 I wrote an article titled “Trump Psychosis!” Therein I chronicle the rise of the Trump voter scourge, likening it to the same sort of mental abnormality as the “Hope and Change” voter. I had no idea then how virulent the malady would prove to be.
I’ve written less this
election cycle than in cycles past, more out of disillusionment and the desire
to interact more directly on social media than a lack of subject matter. I feel however,
it is necessary to pen something on the eve of the 2016 election.
I am astonished not so
much by the idea people truly think the openly corrupt Donald Trump will be
useful in supplanting the oh so obvious corruption of Hillary Clinton. The
troubling thought is the gyrations my fellow conservatives use to contort their
brains, so they can rationalize supporting Donald Trump.
I’ve seen the religiously recalcitrant Donald Trump compared to the Biblical King David, Moses, the Apostle Paul and lately, King Cyrus II of Persia due to impressive examples of Scriptural eisegesis. All of which highlighted much to my chagrin, either the right’s epic Biblical ignorance, or the depths folks will go in soothing their spirits when they know Trump is tragic at best, or more likely a democrat shill who conned them. Too invested, they hunker down.
The Hillary voter falls under the auspices of the willingly/unknowingly ignorant and the knowingly wicked—There is no third thing. Hillary Clinton is the most unrepentant, loathsome creature ever to be nominated for President. There is not a shred of decency in a person who can stand before victim’s families and lie to their faces for no other reason than political expedience. Unfathomable shame should fall on anyone who supports her.
I’ve seen the religiously recalcitrant Donald Trump compared to the Biblical King David, Moses, the Apostle Paul and lately, King Cyrus II of Persia due to impressive examples of Scriptural eisegesis. All of which highlighted much to my chagrin, either the right’s epic Biblical ignorance, or the depths folks will go in soothing their spirits when they know Trump is tragic at best, or more likely a democrat shill who conned them. Too invested, they hunker down.
The Hillary voter falls under the auspices of the willingly/unknowingly ignorant and the knowingly wicked—There is no third thing. Hillary Clinton is the most unrepentant, loathsome creature ever to be nominated for President. There is not a shred of decency in a person who can stand before victim’s families and lie to their faces for no other reason than political expedience. Unfathomable shame should fall on anyone who supports her.
The only argument for Trump I can almost understand is he has the virtue of not being Hillary Clinton. If people stuck to this line of reasoning in supporting Trump I could partially relate. All the other rationalizations though… The saddest is the, we must protect the Supreme Court from Hillary appointees! Even though Trump is a congenital liar, we should trust he will appoint conservative Justices as he sort of promises—Never mind not too long ago, Trump stated his über liberal and pro abortion sister, would make a great Justice.
I can think of no better example than the Roe v. Wade decision to illustrate the fallacy of this reasoning. Of the nine seated justices, ruling in Roe, six were appointed by real, dyed in the wool Republicans, namely Eisenhower and Nixon—These weren’t ersatz Republicans like Trump.
Only two of the nine justices voted against and offered dissenting
opinions, William Rehnquist, appointed by Nixon and elevated to Chief Justice
by Ronald Reagan and Byron White, appointed by John F. Kennedy—The two
dissenters weren’t even both the result of Republican administrations.
Far more recently, a conservative majority failed to strike down the dreadful Affordable Care Act. This with John G. Roberts, Jr. appointed by George Bush as Chief!
Then I hear, the painfully shallow, “We aren’t electing a pastor.” This is without question, the most pig-ignorant, immature, buck passing argument ever! It’s insulting! This bit of silliness is eclipsed only by the even more vacuous: “According to your standards, no Christian can vote for anyone because we are all sinners. No one is perfect enough for you.”
Well, I believe God when he gave us a formula for choosing leaders.
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:” Exodus 18:21
Far more recently, a conservative majority failed to strike down the dreadful Affordable Care Act. This with John G. Roberts, Jr. appointed by George Bush as Chief!
Then I hear, the painfully shallow, “We aren’t electing a pastor.” This is without question, the most pig-ignorant, immature, buck passing argument ever! It’s insulting! This bit of silliness is eclipsed only by the even more vacuous: “According to your standards, no Christian can vote for anyone because we are all sinners. No one is perfect enough for you.”
Well, I believe God when he gave us a formula for choosing leaders.
“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:” Exodus 18:21
Was God Himself
suggesting the men Israel was to provide His people be sinless? The God who
says we all fall short of His glory? Are we so immature we think there were
less sinners back then than today? Yes, we all sin, but this does not absolve
you of the solemn responsibility to consider some men are more worthy than
others. Does the above verse suggest Trump or Hillary to you at all?
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the Trump voters are so worried about preserving from Hillary stated: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Was Jay suggesting “Perfection,” or simply a standard we ought to not think ridiculous and unattainable? Certainly making the argument “No one is perfect” lets you off the hook when you choose as abysmally as Hillary and Trump.
That God allows us to choose, does not infer he approves of our choices, or is in any way responsible for our errors. I say this for the “God is in control,” folks who feel comfortable passing Trump onto God, as if He is going to use Trump to usher in a new golden age. Please don’t blame our choosing between Trump and Hillary on the Holy God revealed in the Holy Bible.
I am a believer—I don’t just believe in God, I believe God! When you say you believe in God, but ignore His tenets for political expedience you betray Him and yourself—This is the opposite of faith. God has earned our faith because He is faithful. Faith is not belief without proof, the sort of faith one has to have in a Trump or Hillary who lie as a matter of course, but rather trust without reservation based on a proven track record.
This is why Christ admonishes us to “Judge not according to appearance, but judge a righteous judgement.” You have the folks who castigate people for judging Trump and Hillary harshly—They do this while quoting from Matthew 7: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” As if Christ was speaking of judging in general, as opposed to judging hypocritically as is contextually obvious.
This is the same God who says in the very same chapter of Matthew: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Why would the Lord tell us to examine folk’s fruits, if we shouldn’t heed what we glean about a person’s character by doing so? Are we not supposed to temper our dealings based on observing a person’s track record?
The Trump supporter claims they like Trump because he says he will fight for them and he is not an insider, even though during the time Ted Cruz for example was actually leading filibusters and revolts on the people’s behalf, Trump was, with his personal treasure, aiding and abetting the very people Senator Cruz was fighting against. If I have to choose the saddest thing for me personally this cycle, it would be admitting the right is not immune to the exact same strain of cognitive dissonance the left exists on.
As I stated above, as a believer I believe God. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14
America’s problem is not political it’s spiritual. Today, we have a haughty spirit in our nation—one comfortable with disregarding God’s tenets. If you can explain to me how voting for a man who has said from his own mouth, he has never approached the throne of grace in humility asking forgiveness for anything--Or a woman so wicked, like a modern day Ananias and Sapphira, together with her husband, raised millions for Haitian relief only to enrich themselves is an indication of a nation humbling itself and seeking God’s face, I will gladly vote one of those wretches in.
Do you believe this nation can be healed apart from God? You must, or it would not be so easy to support Trump, or Hillary for any reason. I am reminded of the words of Ben Franklin spoken before the Constitutional Convention in our nation’s youth: “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”
John Jay, the first Chief Justice of the Supreme Court the Trump voters are so worried about preserving from Hillary stated: “Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation to select and prefer Christians for their rulers.” Was Jay suggesting “Perfection,” or simply a standard we ought to not think ridiculous and unattainable? Certainly making the argument “No one is perfect” lets you off the hook when you choose as abysmally as Hillary and Trump.
That God allows us to choose, does not infer he approves of our choices, or is in any way responsible for our errors. I say this for the “God is in control,” folks who feel comfortable passing Trump onto God, as if He is going to use Trump to usher in a new golden age. Please don’t blame our choosing between Trump and Hillary on the Holy God revealed in the Holy Bible.
I am a believer—I don’t just believe in God, I believe God! When you say you believe in God, but ignore His tenets for political expedience you betray Him and yourself—This is the opposite of faith. God has earned our faith because He is faithful. Faith is not belief without proof, the sort of faith one has to have in a Trump or Hillary who lie as a matter of course, but rather trust without reservation based on a proven track record.
This is why Christ admonishes us to “Judge not according to appearance, but judge a righteous judgement.” You have the folks who castigate people for judging Trump and Hillary harshly—They do this while quoting from Matthew 7: “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” As if Christ was speaking of judging in general, as opposed to judging hypocritically as is contextually obvious.
This is the same God who says in the very same chapter of Matthew: “Ye shall know them by their fruits.” Why would the Lord tell us to examine folk’s fruits, if we shouldn’t heed what we glean about a person’s character by doing so? Are we not supposed to temper our dealings based on observing a person’s track record?
The Trump supporter claims they like Trump because he says he will fight for them and he is not an insider, even though during the time Ted Cruz for example was actually leading filibusters and revolts on the people’s behalf, Trump was, with his personal treasure, aiding and abetting the very people Senator Cruz was fighting against. If I have to choose the saddest thing for me personally this cycle, it would be admitting the right is not immune to the exact same strain of cognitive dissonance the left exists on.
As I stated above, as a believer I believe God. “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” II Chronicles 7:14
America’s problem is not political it’s spiritual. Today, we have a haughty spirit in our nation—one comfortable with disregarding God’s tenets. If you can explain to me how voting for a man who has said from his own mouth, he has never approached the throne of grace in humility asking forgiveness for anything--Or a woman so wicked, like a modern day Ananias and Sapphira, together with her husband, raised millions for Haitian relief only to enrich themselves is an indication of a nation humbling itself and seeking God’s face, I will gladly vote one of those wretches in.
Do you believe this nation can be healed apart from God? You must, or it would not be so easy to support Trump, or Hillary for any reason. I am reminded of the words of Ben Franklin spoken before the Constitutional Convention in our nation’s youth: “In the beginning of the contest with Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayers in this room for Divine protection. Our prayers, Sir, were heard, and they were graciously answered… do we imagine we no longer need His assistance?”
The fat lady sings? Who knows, either way it's curtains for morality and decency.
Digital Publius
