Donald Trump shocked the world this November as he defied political analysts and achieved the required number of electoral votes to become the president of the United States. Even people with little or no political interest weighed in about the news to say how surprised they were by how things turned out. However, for some people of the Christian faith, the most surprising thing is that Trump has been able to win support from other followers of Christ.
He Talks Flippantly About Sexually Assaulting Women
Shortly before people were set to go to the polls to cast their votes, a recording leaked that featured Trump bragging about grabbing women by their genitals. It was later dismissed as “locker room chatter,” but many people were outraged that this kind of language was spoken by the man who was one of the two contenders vying to lead the United States.
Trump’s Doesn’t Show the Love Jesus Advocated
Even individuals who are not Christians are usually familiar with how Jesus preached about loving your neighbor. Trump’s rallies, and now his statements while in office, are often filled with hate, especially towards people who are living in the United States as immigrants. Such dialogue has caused Christians and others to argue that even though Trump says he is a Christian, his actions don’t match with his words.
He Is Against Refugees From Many Nations
Trump has gotten into a lot of hot water over an executive order that’s sometimes referred to as the “Muslim ban” because it bars people from certain countries from entering the United States as refugees. Although Trump asserts the executive order is strictly to crack down on terrorists who come from those countries, some people argue the order is discriminatory against people from certain religions, and particularly Muslims.
Many religious leaders have stood against the refugee order and it makes sense that they have. If you think back to the story about the birth of Jesus, his father and mother were fleeing because of persecution. This reality has caused some people to point out that it’s hard for Christians to support Trump’s barring order against refugees and profess their devotion to Jesus at the same time.
Trump Capitalizes on Fear
1 John discusses how perfect love casts out all fear, but Trump regularly relies on fear-based tactics to spread his message, whether it be speaking his mind on Twitter or addressing his followers in person. After the recent terrorist attacks in Manchester, England, Trump immediately communicated that the attack is a perfect example of why the refugee ban mentioned above needs to be recognized as the law of the land.
It was only after that when he mentioned that the United States supports the people of Manchester during this difficult time. There is other evidence that Trump is feeding a culture of fear in society — first when he spoke out against Mexicans, and then when he broadened his approach to target Muslims.
He Skipped the White House’s Passover Seder
Many Christians eagerly study the Old Testament to learn about events that are significant in the Jewish faith, such as Passover and the exodus from Egypt. Although Trump hosted a Passover Seder at the White House this year, he didn’t attend. The only acknowledgement of Passover was a fairly generic tweet. Trump’s daughter is Jewish, and even she didn’t go to the Seder at the White House, although her message on Twitter about Passover was arguably more relevant.
For the reasons above and many others, it is baffling to many Christians that there are still other people within the faith that continue to support Donald Trump. To them, he stands against everything Jesus Christ embodied during his short but meaningful time on Earth.
Trump’s rise to power could arguably exemplify what happens when people become one-issue voters. Trump’s “Republican” ticket made a lot of people assume he was pro-life, and many would vote for him for that reason alone. In reality, Trump stated long before the presidential election that he was actually pro-choice. As a result of lack of trust in the media and one-issue voting, we end up with a President who essentially played a part in order to get elected, but doesn’t actually represent the majority of our citizens’ real and true values — Christian or not.
Kate Harveston is a political activist and writer. She enjoys writing about anything related to politics and culture, and how those elements intersect. If you like her writing, you can follow her on Twitter for updates or subscribe to her blog, Only Slightly Biased.
