Yes, Christians *CAN* Vote for Trump…

First off: I’m not a Trump supporter. I’ve repeated this so many times in social media that I’m going to add as part of a standard disclaimer.

Apologies of sorts to Philip Yancey, and other evangelicals who are utterly against Trump, as well as those who want to shame supporters: sorry not sorry.

I’m not sorry, because you are wrong. I still respect you, but you’re still wrong.

I’m not sorry, because we have to live in the world that actually is, rather than an imagined one.

I’m sorry, because the truth matters more than making political points.

Here’s the reality:

1. American is not, and has never been, a Christian nation. Stay with me here, folks…this is key. It’s been a country founded by believers, yes…and at times even led by believers…but the Constitution, through the First Amendment, guaranteed the freedom to worship, and did not dictate that worship. If you need further ‘proof’ of this, let’s examine how this country (initially) codified slavery, or how they treated Native Americans, or upheld segregation, or even how they far more recently treated Japanese-Americans during WW2. Would you like to argue the Christian themes there?
2. For DECADES, if not centuries, we have had ‘leaders’ pay lip service to faith, and we’ve grown accustomed (as have they) to the particular phrases or buzzwords in order to demonstrate their level of Christian faith. Seriously…where has it gotten us, aside from further away from godliness? The fact is this: words have little meaning in and or themselves, particularity when those words are from pandering politicians.  Words do not determine faith, and we are immeasurably immature to think and judge by words alone.
3. Character eventually, for lack of a better word at the moment, oozes out. Take for example, one of my favorite modern believers: Billy Graham. He has met, advised, prayed with, and spoken to presidents without regard to whether they were a Democrat or Republican since 1950. There’s been no controversy, no ill words spoken toward him…because of his character, anchored not to politics, not to culture, but to his faith in Christ. Oh, but the things murmured about the current candidates…not so rosy, not even believer Ted Cruz, who is being portrayed by some as the super-believer. I’m not even talking about the tabloid stuff, but about how they treat people, from Secret Service agents to colleagues in the Senate.

So where does this leave us? Frankly…up in the air. I don’t believe there’s any candidate that is more Christian, shall we say, than they are politician. Again, read #2 above.

So I’m not going to slam or shame believers into voting one way or another, because it’s not my place. We can EASILY argue against every single candidate in much the same way. I’ll choose grace.

(Well, except maybe for my friends that support Bernie…I’ll tease them incessantly but good-naturedly).

First off: I’m not a Trump supporter. I’ve repeated this so many times in social media that I’m going to add as part of a standard disclaimer. Apologies of sorts to Philip Yancey, and other evangelicals who are utterly against Trump, as well as those who want to shame supporters: sorry not sorry. I’m not…