Why Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Should Reconsider Their Vote For President Trump (Longer Version)
The other day, I posted the truncated version of this longer essay. Here is the full-length version for you.
It is from Michael J. Alter, who wrote the masterful The Resurrection: A Critical Inquiry. Unfortunately, the evangelical audience that this essay finds in the thread below will react in a typically predictable fashion, as they did after the shorter version. But there you go.
Why Christian Evangelicals and Fundamentalists Should Reconsider Their Vote For President Trump
This essay is an attempt to specifically reach out to YOU, the members of the religious community, primarily, but not exclusively Christian evangelicals and fundamentalists. You may be a minister, pastor, preacher; or you may be a farmer, a carpenter, a construction worker, a factory worker; a small mom and pop storeowner, a businessperson; a mother or father, grandmother or grandfather; or perhaps a retired worker. YOU are important and YOUR vote is important.
According to many pollsters and pundits, a disproportionate number of YOU are intending to vote for President Trump, presumably based on Scripture. This essay is an attempt to reach out to YOU and ask that YOU reconsider that decision, and vote for Vice-President Biden. Why? Because President Trump has proven that he is NOT the right person to lead OUR nation.
OUR nation needs a healer, not a divider.
OUR nation needs a national peacemaker; not a national arsonist;
OUR nation needs a President who will reach out to his opponents, NOT an antagonizer. Scripture instructs
- Matthew 5:9 “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.”
- Mark 3:25 “If a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand.”
In contrast, President Trump reaches out only to his base and attempts to weaponize conspiracy theories, the media, the National Guard, the post office, voting by mail, wearing masks, and even science.
Since this address is being primarily directed to the religious, although it is hoped that others too will listen. If YOU permit, let me illustrate why Scripture provides ample evidence that President Trump does NOT have the moral requisites to be reelected President. By no means, however, it is openly acknowledged that NO person is perfect. Nonetheless, it firmly believed that if you open your ears, your minds, and your hearts; YOU will reconsider your vote.
First, let us directly confront the issue of President Trump’s actions in regard to the Jewish people. Genesis 12:3, in reference to the Jewish people reads: “And I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you.” President Trump perhaps thinks, as do many supporters, that because he supports “the nation/state of Israel,” he will be blessed and he deserves their vote. However, it is noteworthy that the verse says “you” – referring to the collective Jewish people; not just the nation of Israel. Yes, the President has provided economic, military and political support for the state of Israel. But so too, has every previous administration, Democratic and Republican. Do you TRULY believe that Vice-President Biden will reduce aid to or support of Israel?
However, the concern here is not only with the nation of Israel; more important, it deals with Jewish people throughout the world. It is here, that President Trump’s actions must be carefully weighed:
- Do you remember when Trump tweeted a picture of Hillary Clinton next to the Star of David superimposed over a pile of cash with the words, “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever.”
- Do you remember when Trump an ad featuring the faces of powerful Jewish people with a voiceover about them being part of a “global power structure” that has “robbed our working class” and “stripped our country of its wealth.” The four readily identifiable American bad guys in the ad are Hillary Clinton, George Soros (Jewish financier), Janet Yellen (Jewish Fed Chair) and Lloyd Blankfein (Jewish Goldman Sachs CEO).
- Do you remember when Trump refused to condemn the Charlottesville neo-Nazis and white racists. He said, and I quote: “included “some very fine people,”
- Do you remember when Trump addressed a leading Jewish organization he said and I quote: “A lot of you are in the real estate business because I know you very well. You’re brutal killers, not nice people at all. But you have to vote for me, you have no choice.”
Contrary to blessing the Jewish people, President Trump has employed in his speeches and tweets anti-Semitic dog whistles, anti-Semitic tropes and anti-Semitic innuendos. Since President Trump has been in office, the number of anti-Semitic incidents as reported by the ADL has significantly increased (almost doubled) as compared to the Obama/Biden administration:
Year | Number of anti-Semitic incidents |
2019 | 2017 |
2018 | 1879 |
2017 | 1986 |
2016 (election year) | 1266 |
2015 (Obama/Biden) | 941 |
In Genesis 2:15, Scripture recounts that God placed man in the garden and commanded him to both till it and tend it.” Commentators interpret this verse to mean that WE are to be a partner in creation with God and take care of the earth and environment. We are to be stewards on the environment. The US is the only advanced nation in the world that is no longer part of the TREATY. The President advocates deregulation permitting more auto emission despite opposition even by car manufactures. He also advocates using more dirty power and opposes the Green deal. The President is violating Scripture.
Do YOU TRULY believe that President Trump has exemplified, even closely, the commands or teachings found in the Bible? Let’s see what Scripture says, starting with the giving of the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai, and continuing onward:
Exodus 20:15 You shall not steal.
Exodus 22: 20 You shall neither mistreat a stranger nor oppress him
Exodus 23:1 You shall not circulate a false report
Exodus 23:2 You shall neither side with the mighty to do wrong.
Exodus 23: 9 Also you shall not oppress a stranger
Lev 19:11 You shall not steal, nor deal falsely nor lie to one another.
Lev 19:14 You shall not curse the deaf, nor put a stumbling block before the blind
Lev 19:16 You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people.
Lev 19:18 You shall not take vengeance nor bear any grudge against the children of your people.
Lev 19:18 but you shall love your neighbor as yourself.
Lev 19:33 And if a stranger dwells with you in the land, you shall not mistreat him
Lev 19:34 The stranger who dwells among you shall be to you as one born among you, and you shall love him as yourself
Lev 19:35 You shall do no injustice in judgment, in measurement of length, weight, or volume
Lev 19:36 You shall have honest scales, honest weights
Deut 10:19 Therefore love the stranger
Deut 14:22 You shall truly tithe all the increases of your grain that the field produces year by year
Deut 15:7 If there is among you a poor man of your brethren within any of your gates…you shall not harden your heart and nor shut your hand from your poor brother
Deut 15:11 For the poor will never cease from the land, therefore I command you, saying, open your hand wide to your poor and your needy, in your land.
Jeremiah 7: 9–10 paraphrased: “Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, swear falsely. . . Has this house, which is called by My name, become a den of thieves in your eyes?”
Proverbs 6: 16–19 lists seven things, which are specifically called an abomination to God:
one who sows discord among brethren. (NKJV)
a false witness who speaks lies, and
feet that are swift in running to evil,
a heart that devises wicked plans,
hands that shed innocent blood,
a lying tongue,
A proud look,
I will leave it to YOU to TRULY judge: how many of these seven actions relate to President Trump, and not just once, but also numerous times?
There are additional reasons Scripture says that YOU should NOT vote for President Trump. These words are NOT unique. Many of these words, in fact, have been collected from others:
- President TRUMP lacks compassion: The Bible says: “Therefore as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, and longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another.” (Colossians 3:12)
- President Trump appeals to fear and anger:
Yet, 1 John 4:18 instructs: “There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
The Bible instructs in Matthew 5:22 : “But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother [a]without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment. And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ shall be in danger of the council. But whoever says, ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire.
President Trump has chosen to make immigration and the economy central themes of his campaign and his rhetoric surrounding these issues consistently appeals to fear and anger; absent appeals to love. Most notoriously, he chose to characterize Hispanic immigrants as rapists and murderers. Regardless of our policy convictions around the place of undocumented immigrants, this broad characterization is cynically aimed to incite fear and anger. His recent endorsement by the white supremacist American Freedom Party is the fruit of this rhetoric.
- President Trump is enamored with the feeling of “greatness” and ego, yet he often displays no concern for “goodness” or service, contrary to Scripture (Rom 12:19; Phillip 2:3; 1 Peter 5:5). Recently, it was reported that he called our soldiers “losers” and “fools.”
- President Trump demonstrates a person with a narcissist personality disorder. He constantly displays examples of arrogance, conceit, self-absorption, self-aggrandizement, haughtiness, pride and self-importance. Significantly, however, President Trump is not just proud. He is proud of being proud. Just listen to or read many of the speech that he gives. For example, back in 2011, he said, “part of the beauty of me is that I’m very rich.” (Trump, Donald, R-N.Y.; ABC News with Ashleigh Banfield; 3/17/2011.) Ask yourself, When was the last time that you saw a public expression of sincere and true humility from President Trump? (Ps 5:6; 59:12; Mark 7:20–23; Luke 14:11; Rom 12:3, 16; 1 Tim 6:4–5; James 4:6; 1 Peter 5:5)
- President Trump is consumed and brags about his materialism, money and wealth. Yet, in reality he inherited much of his fortune from his father, estimated to be $413 million in 2018 dollars! And, it is noteworthy that President Trump’s love of money is more apparent than his love of God or others.
Let us see what Scripture says about money:
Matthew 6:24 “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.”
1 Timothy 6:10 “For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.” (cf. Heb 13:5; James 4:6, 16)
Furthermore, in an interview, Present Trump boasted: “My whole life I’ve been greedy, greedy, greedy,” (Jan 29, 2016) Trump said at political rally. “I’ve grabbed all the money I could get. I’m so greedy.” Even Trump’s TV show “The Apprentice” used the O’Jay’s song “For the Love of Money” as the theme song. The spiritual concern here is not so much greed, but the misplaced priorities that his statement reveals. He has made the pursuit of material wealth an idol and worshipped it his entire life
- President Trump is a compulsive and pathological liar and promoter of falsehood. Be true to yourself! Now we even have the Woodward tapes, the “Smoking Gun” with President Trump acknowledging that early on, he knew about the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic and played it down because he was concerned that it would panic the nation. Do you TRULY believe President Trump’s asserted defense? Two questions: (1) How would this panic display itself? (2) How many additional fellow Americans do YOU think died because he lied to the public about its severity, method of transmission, and the importance of self-distancing and wearing a mask? Be TRUE to YOURSELF.
Is it more probable that IN REALITY, the people Trump wanted to keep from panicking were *investors* - he didn’t want the virus to cause the stock market to tank. Or, he didn’t want that to lower his ratings in the polls?
Yet, what does Scripture say about liars?
Wisdom 1:11 - Beware then of useless grumbling, and keep your tongue from slander; because no secret word is without result, and a lying mouth destroys the soul. (cf. Ps 102:2; Col 3:9; Eph 4:29; 1 Peter 3:10)
- President Trump is openly hostile to women, especially if they are strong-minded; and/or minorities. He has groped women, assaulted women and verbally debased women. Remember when he said woman are: “‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ ‘slobs,’ and ‘disgusting animals.’” And, remember that he said you “have to treat em like sh–.” And there is his infamous Access Hollywood audiotape with Billy Bush. These actions are contrary to 1 Peter 2:17.
- President Trump does not attempt to love his enemies or even forgiven them; rather he cultivates and continually harps on antagonism or revenge. Openly he advocates for revenge, “as viciously and as violently as you can.”: Senator John McCain, Representative John Lewis; Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, and others:
Yet Matthew 5:43–45 has Jesus teaching: “You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies and bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you."
- He doesn’t seem to care about the poor. On the issues of poverty, hunger, and oppression, topics everyone from Jesus to Jeremiah cared a great deal about, Trump is deafeningly silent. His 2017 tax cut gave 83 cents out of every dollar to the wealthy. This was one of the nation’s greatest transfers of wealth in our history, and remember that it went to the wealthy and large corporations. This is nothing less than “SOCIALISM FOR THE RICH.” Furthermore, during the pandemic, he grudging provides any benefits for the unemployed.
- The damage done to our nation’s credibility as a moral voice outweighs any short-term political advantage. “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”. Yet Scripture is abundantly clear:
Deut 16:20 - “You shall follow what is altogether just…
Isaiah 10:1 - “Woe to those who decree unrighteous decrees.”
Psalms 82:3 - “Defend the poor and fatherless; Do justice to the afflicted and needy.”
Mark 8:36 — “For what will it profit a man, if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul?”
Matthew 19:21 reads, Jesus said to him, ‘If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.’”
Colossians 4:6 - Let your speech always be with grace, and seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Titus 3:2 - speak evil of no one, to be peaceful, gentle, showing all humility to all men.
Matthew 22:37–39 - Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’
In January 2016, John Stemberger wrote an article, “3 questions evangelicals should ask about Donald Trump.” His poignant words written then are perhaps even more important today:
I do not believe every Christian has a moral duty to only vote for Christians. In the Bible, God used even evil leaders for his purposes. But when a choice is given, should evangelical Christians choose to elect a man I believe would be the most immoral and ungodly person ever to be president of the United States?
There are times I read a verse from scripture and wonder whether God looked into the portals of time and breathed out very specific words for a certain time in history. I believe 2 Timothy 3 is such a verse for today:
“But understand this, that in the last days terrible times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
C.S. Lewis once said he would rather play cards with an atheist who never cheated over a Christian who didn’t care. In the same way, disaffected evangelicals should prefer someone with a moral center over the hollow core of a B-grade celebrity.
Next, I would like to share with you a famous parable recorded in Matthew.
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you?39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left [that is the GOATS], ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They [that is THE GOATS] also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.” [NKJV]
Today we have the Democratic Party symbolized as a donkey and the Republican Party symbolized as an elephant. However, the sad truth is that much of today’s Republican Party is no longer comprised of elephants. Present Trump has literally transformed the Republican Party into his own image, a party of GOATS.
Returning to John Stemberger, he concludes his article writing:
There are times I read a verse from scripture and wonder whether God looked into the portals of time and breathed out very specific words for a certain time in history. I believe 2 Timothy 3 is such a verse for today:
“But understand this, that in the last days terrible times will come. For people will be lovers of self, lovers of money, proud, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having the appearance of godliness, but denying its power. Avoid such people.”
You have had the opportunity to read this essay, and more important see with your own eyes and hear with your own words what President Trump has spoken and done. His actions epitomize the GOAT employed in Matthew 25. Do you really want to be associated with a GOAT? More important, is it really right to vote for a GOAT? Remember Jesus’s teaching: ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’ And Jesus’s instruction to “Avoid such people.”
For the reasons listed above, and many others, President Trump does not deserve your vote nor does he deserve the opportunity or privilege to serve a second term. Four years ago President Trump made a statement directed to African-Americans, but it might as well have been addressed to the entire nation: “What do you have to lose”? by voting for him.
After almost four years in office, the answer is open to all to see: (1) 200,000 dead, (2) a compulsive, narcissistic and pathological liar, (3) an instigator of divisiveness in our nation, (4) employs anti-Semitic stereotypes and symbols accompanied with an increasing number of acts of anti-Semitism during his administration, (5) open hostility to women, (6) open hostility and xenophobia to immigrants, (7) exploding national deficits during a period of low unemployment and an expanding economy (pre COVID-19), (8) degrading the office of the presidency, (9) presenting a horrible role model to our children, (10) his blatant corruption by making financial gaining while in office (11) making America a laughing stock of the world, (12) weakening our foreign alliances by catering to our adversaries, (13) subsidizing corporations and the rich (corporate socialism and socialism for the rich), (14) demonstrating a lack of compassion and empathy for the poor, the minorities and the weak (15) exemplifying racists actions, (16) demonstrates excessive egotism, grandiosity, narcissism and vanity, (16) lacking any sense of humility, (17) taking destructive actions against the environment and (18) weakening significant American institutions (e.g. the FBI, Justice Department, National Security Agency, Environmental Protection Agency, etc.).
In a few weeks, you will have the opportunity and free will to choose between falsehood and truth. As it says in Deuteronomy “Now choose life (truth) so that you and your children may live.”
If you are one of the many evangelicals supporting President Trump, it must be honestly asked, Is President Trump supporting biblical teachings? Recently, Mark Galli, the former editor of Christianity Today posted an editorial (December 19, 2019). He concluded his editorial writing:
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
We have reserved judgment on Mr. Trump for years now. Some have criticized us for our reserve. But when it comes to condemning the behavior of another, patient charity must come first. So we have done our best to give evangelical Trump supporters their due, to try to understand their point of view, to see the prudential nature of so many political decisions they have made regarding Mr. Trump. To use an old cliché, it’s time to call a spade a spade, to say that no matter how many hands we win in this political poker game, we are playing with a stacked deck of gross immorality and ethical incompetence. And just when we think it’s time to push all our chips to the center of the table, that’s when the whole game will come crashing down. It will crash down on the reputation of evangelical religion and on the world’s understanding of the gospel. And it will come crashing down on a nation of men and women whose welfare is also our concern.
His editorial is a must-read in its entirety.
In Evangelical circles, there is a well-known acronym: WWJS – WHAT WOULD JESUS SAY. You are asked, What do you think Jesus would say about voting for President Trump? President Trump’s actions are not only the complete opposite of those of Jesus; they are the opposite of his teachings, and those found multiple times elsewhere in Scripture. As a believing Christian, Would you do less than what you know Jesus would do? If not, Why?
Michael J. Alter
Miami, FL