There is so much more to our Christian responsibility than our views on same-sex marriage and a child’s right to life. If I can be honest both of those areas are legitimate concerns but lazy excuses for wholeheartedly supporting a political party (or person) on either side of this democracy. For far too long we have allowed the conversation of political Christian ethics to be driven by the limiting (and debilitating for Christians of color) perception of single-issue voting.
President Donald J. Trump has, by any stretch of the imagination, been a flawed representation of the American political process (at the very least) and who he is as a man has superseded his responsibility as the leader of the ‘free world’. I think it is also limiting (and politically lazy) to make his character and his presidency two mutually exclusive topics when we are voting for the person just as much as we are voting for a set of policies. What must be challenged, in the middle of this #impeachment, is not only the president’s possible abuse of power but ‘we the people’s’ commitment to American exceptionalism and if Donald Trump (the person and leader) is the best representation of American bureaucracy.
I highly doubt, if we are honest, that our assessment of Donald J. Trump as a man will lead us to the answer that we so desire.
But another (and lazy) excuse is that we just choose the lesser of two evils. Well if that is your argument then you will still come back to a relative (and bias) understanding of what one considers to be evil. I know plenty of white Christians (pastors and leaders in ‘racial reconciliation’ movements) who voted for Trump as a choice for the ‘lesser of two evils’ but is not that justification deeply unsatisfying? When we stand before God will we justify our support by saying, “Lord I chose the lesser of two evils even though my choice was still...evil?”
I am dubious that our answer will even be satisfying to us in the end and so I believe our loyalty should be marked by more than a commitment to a broken system that advocates on the behalf of a man you could not trust to run your local convenient store let alone the most powerful country in the world.
Perhaps this is simply my idealism talking but I believe that Americans are better (and deserve better) than what we have currently settled for. In particular for Christians I think there is so much more to the gospel than the issues many of you are lobbying for (however important) and we must do better to hold ourselves accountable to the Incarnate Word more so than political leanings. Jesus seemed much more committed to persons than he was to obeying political laws that operated as suppressive systems against the poor (John 4).
In short, I hope that we are able to choose more wisely in the near future. I hope that we are able to see through the mirage of relative power and see that America can be so much more if we give her a chance. Perhaps someday one of us will rise and embody the very best of America idealism.
President Donald J. Trump has, by any stretch of the imagination, been a flawed representation of the American political process (at the very least) and who he is as a man has superseded his responsibility as the leader of the ‘free world’. I think it is also limiting (and politically lazy) to make his character and his presidency two mutually exclusive topics when we are voting for the person just as much as we are voting for a set of policies. What must be challenged, in the middle of this #impeachment, is not only the president’s possible abuse of power but ‘we the people’s’ commitment to American exceptionalism and if Donald Trump (the person and leader) is the best representation of American bureaucracy.
I highly doubt, if we are honest, that our assessment of Donald J. Trump as a man will lead us to the answer that we so desire.
But another (and lazy) excuse is that we just choose the lesser of two evils. Well if that is your argument then you will still come back to a relative (and bias) understanding of what one considers to be evil. I know plenty of white Christians (pastors and leaders in ‘racial reconciliation’ movements) who voted for Trump as a choice for the ‘lesser of two evils’ but is not that justification deeply unsatisfying? When we stand before God will we justify our support by saying, “Lord I chose the lesser of two evils even though my choice was still...evil?”
I am dubious that our answer will even be satisfying to us in the end and so I believe our loyalty should be marked by more than a commitment to a broken system that advocates on the behalf of a man you could not trust to run your local convenient store let alone the most powerful country in the world.
Perhaps this is simply my idealism talking but I believe that Americans are better (and deserve better) than what we have currently settled for. In particular for Christians I think there is so much more to the gospel than the issues many of you are lobbying for (however important) and we must do better to hold ourselves accountable to the Incarnate Word more so than political leanings. Jesus seemed much more committed to persons than he was to obeying political laws that operated as suppressive systems against the poor (John 4).
In short, I hope that we are able to choose more wisely in the near future. I hope that we are able to see through the mirage of relative power and see that America can be so much more if we give her a chance. Perhaps someday one of us will rise and embody the very best of America idealism.
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