Defeating Hillary Clinton is all that matters. Nothing else. That’s the argument of all the people who can admit what a degenerate Donald Trump is but say we should support him anyway.
In spite of the fact that Trump’s values and positions over the years are in conflict with the values and positions of most of the delegates who nominated him, we are supposed to support this man for president of the United States. Others, like myself, believe that supporting such a man would do permanent damage to the conservative movement, to the Republican party, to our Christian witness for those who value it, and to the pro-life movement.
To support Trump is to reject morals and values that most Republicans have espoused for generations. Say goodbye to any credibility in the future of complaining about the moral failings of any candidate from any party. That right has been forfeited by those who support Trump. It’s ludicrous to watch Republicans defending Trump by using all the same arguments that Democrats used to defend Bill Clinton when his affairs and sexual assaults were becoming public knowledge. Republicans have turned into Democrats, defending deviancy in exchange for the hope of political gain. Trump is the Republican version of Bill Clinton. It’s easy to claim your candidate is the virtuous one when using Hillary Clinton as the measuring stick, but that does not make him virtuous.
Rejecting values for political expediency makes the Republicans even worse than Democrats. Democrats do not have values. Anything and everything goes, so who is surprised when Democrats do illegal or unethical things? No one. But Republicans are supposed to have values. Until this election cycle, I thought most did. I may have to reevaluate that presumption.
I’ve grown weary of the oft-used argument that Trump must be supported because it’s vital that Hillary Clinton be defeated. Perhaps if Republican voters wanted to ensure support for the nominee they shouldn’t have nominated a morally reprehensible candidate. With all the candidates from which to choose, why nominate the one person among them who is most likely to lose to the worst person the Democrats have nominated in my lifetime? It’s bewildering.
Christians supporting Trump are in an even worse spot. Supporting Trump and all that he is means placing a higher value on political victory than on morality and the treatment of women. It saddens me to see vehicles in my church parking lot with Trump stickers on them. Putting a political race over basic Christian morals and decency out of fear that Hillary Clinton will be president is to have priorities in the wrong order. As Christians, we are supposed to know that our hope does not rest in a political party or candidate. Democrats have no god other than government so we should expect such actions from them, but for Republicans to mimic these godless pagans is to head down that same road.
Yes, I haven’t forgotten about the Supreme Court argument. We have to support Trump because he’s the only candidate who will appoint conservative justices! He’s promised he would! Sure. As Leon Wolf said, “If you believe that Trump has actual pro-life principles or that he will honor any sort of pledge to only appoint pro-life justices, then you have to be one of the most monumental suckers who has ever lived.”
Trump has a long record of breaking promises to wives, business partners, customers, and Trump University students. He has a long record of pro-abortion positions and has praised Planned Parenthood repeatedly, even during the current campaign. He has refused to answer the simple question of whether or not he has personally paid for an abortion. Wouldn’t he say so if the answer was no? What is it about this man with no values that makes you think he can be trusted?
Trump’s lip service to pro-lifers is merely to get their support. He has no intention of following through. If you wanted results on the abortion issue, you should have nominated a solid pro-lifer instead of an unprincipled man who has made a lifestyle out of immoral behavior.
Pro-lifers who support Trump are endorsing a man whose personal life has been a textbook of immorality, traveling and partying with such morally reprehensible people as Bill Clinton and the pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. About Epstein, Trump said, “I’ve known Jeff for fifteen years. Terrific guy. He’s a lot of fun to be with. It is even said that he likes beautiful women as much as I do, and many of them are on the younger side. No doubt about it – Jeffrey enjoys his social life.”
My question to Trump supporters is how far down will you go? How far into the gutter will you sink in order to support your candidate? As the Democrats continue to go further and further left, openly promoting socialism and anything-goes, amoral lifestyles, are the Republicans going to continue the trend started with the Trump nomination and try to match the Democrats, unscrupulous candidate for unscrupulous candidate? How loathsome does a candidate have to be before you would no longer support him?
To answer that question myself, we are there. I cannot and will not support a candidate who is antithetical to my Christian beliefs and principles. I will not trade my support for the foolish hope that Trump will suddenly become a right-winger after a lifetime of licentiousness and debauchery. Since he himself has said that he’s never done anything for which he needs to repent, I see no reason to think he is a changed man. If he wins, it will be without my vote and then we will all get to find out if there truly has been a miraculous, road-to-Damascus conversion or if you are all just “monumental suckers.”
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