LJ Idol Season 10, Week 6: "Heel Turn"
Let's talk about the election.
According to exit polls, eighty percent of white evangelical/born-again Christians voted for Donald Trump.
In theory, this is my demographic group...and I have no clue how this happened.
How any person of faith could look at a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women, spoke against every race except whites, and supported policies that would threatened the whole of humanity's existence--and see him as the candidate that they, as Christians, ought to vote for is beyond my comprehension.
Nothing he has done or said, either during the campaign or after (or, to be quite frank, beforehand), convinces me that Trump is a man of faith. "By your fruits ye shall know them," Jesus said (Matthew 7:16), and given the litany of shady business practices and hurtful words in his past, Trump's fruits are rotten.
Let me be clear: I'm not saying that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist, misogynist xenophobe. Many of these voters believed that they were being true to their faith. I know some of these voters personally, and I can tell you that there is genuine love in their hearts--for their families, their friends, and their God.
But the fact that none of what Trump has said or done (and continues to say or do) was a deal breaker for them in their support of Trump is something I will not soon forget. The fact that they have turned their backs on many of the people God has called us to love will be very difficult for me to forgive.
Paul wrote to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16). Neither am I. But I am ashamed for, and by, those with whom I share the name of Christ...and apparently, share little else.
Maybe I'm wrong. Actually, I pray that I am. Maybe this has all been a massive troll job, an act, and maybe Trump will flip the script on those who supported him and prove to be a capable, competent president. But I'm not optimistic.
In the meantime, I'll continue to fight for the ideals that Jesus really espoused:
"Let the little children come unto me, and do not hinder them" (Matthew 19:14)
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven" (Luke 18:25)
"Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40)
That's the Gospel I want to spread.
According to exit polls, eighty percent of white evangelical/born-again Christians voted for Donald Trump.
In theory, this is my demographic group...and I have no clue how this happened.
How any person of faith could look at a man who bragged about sexually assaulting women, spoke against every race except whites, and supported policies that would threatened the whole of humanity's existence--and see him as the candidate that they, as Christians, ought to vote for is beyond my comprehension.
Nothing he has done or said, either during the campaign or after (or, to be quite frank, beforehand), convinces me that Trump is a man of faith. "By your fruits ye shall know them," Jesus said (Matthew 7:16), and given the litany of shady business practices and hurtful words in his past, Trump's fruits are rotten.
Let me be clear: I'm not saying that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist, misogynist xenophobe. Many of these voters believed that they were being true to their faith. I know some of these voters personally, and I can tell you that there is genuine love in their hearts--for their families, their friends, and their God.
But the fact that none of what Trump has said or done (and continues to say or do) was a deal breaker for them in their support of Trump is something I will not soon forget. The fact that they have turned their backs on many of the people God has called us to love will be very difficult for me to forgive.
Paul wrote to the Romans, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel" (Romans 1:16). Neither am I. But I am ashamed for, and by, those with whom I share the name of Christ...and apparently, share little else.
Maybe I'm wrong. Actually, I pray that I am. Maybe this has all been a massive troll job, an act, and maybe Trump will flip the script on those who supported him and prove to be a capable, competent president. But I'm not optimistic.
In the meantime, I'll continue to fight for the ideals that Jesus really espoused:
"Let the little children come unto me, and do not hinder them" (Matthew 19:14)
"It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of Heaven" (Luke 18:25)
"Whatever you did for the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me" (Matthew 25:40)
That's the Gospel I want to spread.