I wrote recently about a divide among evangelical Christians, that some are hoping to be true to their faith as they see it, while others are just using religious doctrine as a justification for their own prejudices.
I wondered if there might be a backlash of sorts. People don’t like to be called out on their prejudices and few of us can claim to truly know our own motivations.
The Republican National Convention in Cleveland only confirmed, to a disgusting degree, what I had argued already.
If you’d like to see what the bible says about enemies and how we should treat them, there are plenty of places to look. Just for starters, try Matthew 5:38-39 & 43-48, Luke 6: 27-36, Proverbs 24:17,Proverbs 16:7, Proverbs 25:21, Romans 12:20. I could go on.
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The convention opened with a benediction from Pastor Mark Burns of South Carolina. After introducing himself, he declared the reason for his presence “Because we are electing a man in Donald Trump who believes in the name of Jesus Christ. And, Republicans, we got to be united, because our enemy is not other Republicans – but is Hillary Clinton and the Democratic Party…”
What?
This sounds like no kind of Christianity I ever learned. Christ is not partisan. And he does not, in my recollection, declare enemies.
Yet, much of the convention was just that, screaming invectives about Hillary Clinton, complete with a mock trial presided over by Chris Christie, chants of “lock her up” and even calls for her execution.
If you’d like to see what the bible says about enemies and how we should treat them, there are plenty of places to look. Just for starters, try Matthew 5:38-39 & 43-48, Luke 6: 27-36, Proverbs 24:17,Proverbs 16:7, Proverbs 25:21, Romans 12:20. I could go on.
The Daily Show had a segment in which they interviewed evangelical convention attendees, asking about Trump’s Christianity. One even touted his business success as evidence of God’s favor on Trump.
Other than partisan pragmatism, one must still question where they see the Jesus in Donald Trump.
Is it in his complete lack of talking about his faith for most of his life? Perhaps the fact that he can’t seem to get the names of the books of the bible straight?
Or perhaps it’s his business acumen, such as his involvement in casino gambling, numerous and longstanding accusations of not paying his bills, his four bankruptcies?
Maybe it’s his personal behavior. You know, like cheating on his three wives?
Maybe his loving personal demeanor is the thing. Like constant denigration of women, appeals to racism, threats to ban members of an entire faith from the country.
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There’s a common Christian hymn called “They will know we are Christian by our love” though I doubt Trump knows it. Maybe his loving personal demeanor is the thing. Like constant denigration of women, appeals to racism, threats to ban members of an entire faith from the country.
Perhaps it is the name-calling of those who disagree with him or get in his way, from fellow celebrities, to political opponents of both parties, including former prisoners of war.
Perhaps it’s his manner of speaking, calling attention to himself, putting his name on buildings around the country and in giant letters on the stage. Maybe he just hasn’t read Proverbs 11:2, Ephesians 4:2, or Philippians 2:3.
It could just be that the big two issues of the religious right: abortion and gay marriage, trump (no pun intended) every other one. As long as he’s on the right side of those, maybe all else doesn’t matter?
Except he isn’t. He’s been on both sides of both abortion and gay rights throughout his career.
It could be that now that he’s a Republican (having supported Democrats, including Hillary Clinton for years), he really believes these things. But that would require a huge leap of (gulp) faith, particularly given that he has spent the entire campaign lying through his teeth at every opportunity.
According to the fact-checking site Politfact, 70% of the Trump statements they’ve examined are mostly false, false, or “pants on fire.” (By the way, if you’re wondering about that percentage for Hillary Clinton, it’s 27%, though Trump supporters would just tell you the fact-checkers are part of the liberal conspiracy).
If you’re going to support Trump as a Christian, perhaps you should send him a bible. He doesn’t seem to be familiar with any of it.
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Maybe he’s just a new Christian; maybe he doesn’t know. I’m guessing he’s not familiar with Proverbs 14:5, Proverbs 17:7, Ephesians 4:29 or Colossians 3:9.
If you’re going to support Trump as a Christian, perhaps you should send him a bible. He doesn’t seem to be familiar with any of it.
But overall, if you’re going to support Trump, particularly over Clinton, a lifelong Methodist who taught Sunday School and participated in bi-partisan bible study sessions and prayer circles during her time in Washington, and her running mate, Tim Kaine, a committed Catholic, it had better be for reasons other than Christian faith.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom at the convention though. While the Christians I know were appalled at the opening benediction, the closing one set a different tone. Space does not permit a full description, but Pastor Steve Bailey spoke with more humility “…we are here to ask you to transform us, to make us better, make us courageous, make us tireless in seeking a more just nation for all…”
In his prayer, Bailey called out racism, incivility, addiction, injustice, the denigration of our fellow humans, and the hardening of hearts. He encouraged finding common ground among varying perspectives, requested that the almighty give us courage, compassion, and hope.
I only hope the attendees were listening.
—A version of this piece was published in the Porterville Recorder on July 27th, 2016.
Michael Carley is a writer (among other things) living in central California with his wife and son. His first novel, Know My Name, was published in July 2016. He currently writes a weekly column for the Porterville Recorder, a small local newspaper. He can be contacted at [email protected]”
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