All one has to do is google Trump Evangelicals to find the myriad justifications why conservative evangelical Christians are not only OK with Trump but enthusiastically endorse him for POTUS. Probably the most noted is that of James Dobson. Another display of the twisted logic/theology for supporting Trump comes from Wayne Grudem who goes so far as to explain "Why Voting for Donald Trump is a Morally Good Choice." Warren Throckmorton, among others, has outlined why Grudem is deviant.
Since I have some relatives who I consider to be conservative evangelical Christians, and since I have no clue as to how any serious Christian can support Trump, I asked the question - "Why is it that so many conservative evangelicals support Trump?" I was not too surprised to hear that no "true" evangelical would support Trump. Here is the response:
To answer your question in five words, Good Doctor, there is no Biblical justification: The majority of people who consider themselves fundamentalist, Bible-believing evangelicals are simply not that religious. A person may believe in the Bible as the unerring word of God, six day creation, Adam and Eve, forbidden fruit and fall of man, virgin birth, atoning death on the cross, resurrection, salvation, the rapture, and Tribulation, but still vote for liberals, believe in abortion, fornicate, get divorced, and hate with a passion. In other words, there is not much that distinguishes them from nonbelievers. So, despite Trump’s track record of liberal beliefs and non-Christian lifestyle, they can ignore that and get behind him as a leader who will “make American great again.”
I guess you could chalk it up to hypocrisy, but I think it goes beyond that. There is some kind of disconnect or self-delusion, and definite ignorance of the Bible going on. For example, Matthew 7:14 states “Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” That tells me that if your path is not difficult, you are not much of a Christian. I know of a woman who goes to church every Sunday and sings in the choir. On the surface she is a model Christian. However, that same Christian, before she married her second husband, was promiscuous. Her logic was, “We are all sinners, God forgives our sins, therefore God forgives my fornication.” Rinse and repeat. Her mind blocked out the part of genuine repentance and forsaking the sin, i.e. the difficult part. Those kinds of Christians have their cake and eat it, too. They are church attenders and not serious Christians.
A fundamentalist, Bible-believing evangelical who knows the Bible and takes it seriously would have grave reservations about voting for Trump. Trump stated during the campaign that he believes in Planned Parenthood, which receives taxpayer subsidy. If he is elected President, will he sign a bill that funds Planned Parenthood? Or will he wait for a bill that defunds it? I would not vote for him on the basis of his support for Planned Parenthood without evidence that as President he would defund it.
I know the alternative sounds much worse than Trump, but so be it. The country is in steep decline and no President is going to reverse that. However, we cannot forget that no matter what, in good times and bad, God is in control. We may have a financial collapse that, at long last, forces the states to step up and regain their sovereignty. How I would love to hear Texas (or Indiana) tell the Supreme Court to go to hell. “We Hoosiers will decide whether or not we want abortion or same-sex marriage. You Supreme Court justices can stick your opinions where the sun don’t shine!”
If the money runs out, certain states will be in great position for self-sufficiency while others will flounder. Maybe Hillary would be the better choice to propel us in that direction and rid us of the Federal Leviathan. She would bring about the collapse of the Federal government that would at long last restore the principles upon which this country was founded, as promulgated by the conservative states.
On the other hand, that may not be in the cards at all. We may simply be continuing our descent into the chaos preceding the Great Tribulation. That is the outcome I’m more inclined to believe. And for now, the decision for President from this “fundamentalist, Bible-believing evangelical” is “none of the above.”
