Despite what Trump voters think, I contend Mr. Trump was extremely lucky. I also know that anyone alive is extremely lucky because bad stuff is just around the corner for anyone.
Eight years ago, while writing a newspaper column called “Ask the Thoughtful Pastor,” I received a question about Trump voters. The original column is here, and I will repeat some of it in this column but with updated material.
The original question: Dear Thoughtful Pastor: I’ve noticed a lot of “vote shaming” posts in social media lately aimed at Trump voters. This does not seem to be a loving response to individuals. HOWEVER, there are consequences to actions, and the fate of our country is a serious concern for many of us. What would Jesus Do?
Right now, a lot of people think that Jesus protected Mr. Trump from an assassin’s bullet. Now, Jesus has not bothered to do that for the many children that have been slaughtered in their schools, or for the good man at the Trump rally who died seeking to protect his family or for the thousands around the world that are being mowed down by gunfire even as I write.
Despite what Trump voters think, I contend Mr. Trump was simply extremely lucky. I also know that anyone alive is extremely lucky because bad stuff is just around the corner for anyone. We’re all a split second away from some other person’s decision that might result in our death, maiming, or the destruction of everything around us. That is just life.
So, let’s go a little deeper with this “What would Jesus do?” question. We’re not the first to ask it. One day, a long, long time ago, in a country far, far away, but with people facing many of the same problems we face today, someone came up to Jesus and asked him, “What do I have to do to inherit eternal life?”
Jesus answers, “Love God with everything you’ve got and love your neighbor as yourself.”
She responds, “I feed the hungry, offer help to the refugees from war-torn countries and advocate for health care for those who can’t get it. I’ve fought to raise the minimum wage and work tirelessly to eliminate corruption in our government. Don’t you think I’ve covered the “love God, love your neighbor” thing?”
Instead of giving her a straight “yes” or “no” answer, Jesus told a story. So, let’s start with that. The answer might go something like this.
One day, a group gathered at a local home to strategize how to stop Donald Trump from turning the US into his personal profit center while eliminating free speech,
setting up massive detention camps for anyone he suspected of being in the US without proper documentation, removing civil liberties from women, shredding the societal safety net, and selling the US soul to Russia. They were drawing up action plans, drafting letters and assigning committee memberships.
Suddenly the door slammed open and a white man walked in carrying a sign that said. “I’m voting for him–get over it b*******.” His t-shirt proclaimed, “Kamala: DEI Vice President” on one side and displayed a Nazi symbol on the other side.
He sauntered up to a woman wearing hijab, the traditional head covering for many Muslim women, and yanked it off her head, screaming, “You got a bomb in there?”
Standing toe-to-toe with a Latino man and well-known immigration attorney, he spewed spittle, “I’m going to toss you over that wall and keep you out.”
The hostess’ daughter stood nearby holding a tray of canapes. He smashed the tray away, pushed her up against a wall and whispered. “Your p**** is now mine, and don’t you forget it. Soon, I’m going to plant a baby in there, and there is nothing you can do about it.”
Then he stomped out, flipping the bird at the horrified people, got into his Confederate flag-covered truck and peeled off.
Most of the attendees gathered around the hostess’ daughter and the Muslim woman as tears of shame and fear streamed down their faces. One phoned the police to complain. Another ran out the door to grab a photo of the man’s license plate, planning to hunt him down for a bit of private revenge.
Suddenly, they heard the sickening sound of squealing tires. They spilled out onto the street. Half a block away they could see smoke rising from the truck.
A quiet message of “He deserved it” was passed from eye to eye. A few smirked. One called 911 but was put on hold and couldn’t get through.
Suddenly the Muslim woman raced out and ran down the street. She yanked open the driver’s side door and pulled the by-then unconscious driver out. While others watched and yelled at her to get back, she dragged him to the side of the street. Moments later, the car burst into flames.
She pulled off her headscarf and wrapped it around the bleeding man’s head, gently dabbing the blood away with a clean handkerchief. When the ambulance appeared and loaded him for transport to the local hospital, she followed.
The man didn’t have health insurance. His family had left him and he had just been kicked out of his apartment for non-payment of rent. He had been laid off from his factory job five months previously and had been unable to find work again.
The hospital bandaged him and discharged him quickly, telling him he had suffered a major concussion along with several broken ribs and needed much rest to recover.
The Muslim woman took him to her house, with a “Harris for President” sign out in front, and installed him on the living room couch.
She had to return to her regular job but called on some elderly widows from her mosque to keep a watch on him and to fix nourishing food. She also arranged for her daughters to stay with relatives for a while.
The community nursed him tenderly until he was back on his feet. Someone found an older car for him and a local mechanic got it in running condition. Ten days later, he quietly left, troubled and uncertain in spirit yet finding a spark of joy and life that he thought had long disappeared.
After telling this story, Jesus turned to the questioner and said, “Have you got a better handle on what I mean by ‘loving your neighbor’ now?”
The person who asked the question said, “So I’m supposed to show mercy on someone who genuinely hates me?”
Jesus said, “Do you want mercy shown to you? If so, you’ve got to start the cycle instead of waiting for someone else to do it. Go, continue to stand up to oppression and live faithfully. Absolutely. But you still must offer mercy to those who differ from you and even hate you. This is the only way to love God with everything you have.”
So, let’s ask this question of the Trump voters, many who are indeed devoted Christians who do their best to love God and their neighbor. Does Mr. Trump show mercy to those who oppose him? Is he gracious to others? Well, here is part of what he wrote after Mr. Biden decided to withdraw from the 2024 Presidential race.
“Crooked Joe Biden was not fit to run for President, and is certainly not fit to serve – And never was! He only attained the position of President by lies, Fake News, and not leaving his Basement,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. “All those around him, including his Doctor and the Media, knew that he wasn’t capable of being President, and he wasn’t.”
Does this sound like the response of a person who shows mercy to someone? And keep in mind that Mr. Biden immediately phoned Mr. Trump after the bullet grazed him to express his concern about him. That’s what a good person does–a good person heaps grace upon the one who least deserves it.
Mr. Trump is not a good person. Trump voters know it. There is no other way to phrase it. And that’s the most concerning thing of all. They seek to re-elect a bad, greedy, manipulative man who has made no secret of his wish to be a dictator.
Here’s a summary of his plans, emerging from two live interviews with Time Magazine reporter Eric Cortellesa.
What emerged in two interviews with Trump, and conversations with more than a dozen of his closest advisers and confidants, were the outlines of an imperial presidency that would reshape America and its role in the world. To carry out a deportation operation designed to remove more than 11 million people from the country, Trump told me, he would be willing to build migrant detention camps and deploy the U.S. military, both at the border and inland. He would let red states monitor women’s pregnancies and prosecute those who violate abortion bans. He would, at his personal discretion, withhold funds appropriated by Congress, according to top advisers. He would be willing to fire a U.S. Attorney who doesn’t carry out his order to prosecute someone, breaking with a tradition of independent law enforcement that dates from America’s founding. He is weighing pardons for every one of his supporters accused of attacking the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, more than 800 of whom have pleaded guilty or been convicted by a jury. He might not come to the aid of an attacked ally in Europe or Asia if he felt that country wasn’t paying enough for its own defense. He would gut the U.S. civil service, deploy the National Guard to American cities as he sees fit, close the White House pandemic-preparedness office, and staff his Administration with acolytes who back his false assertion that the 2020 election was stolen.
For those who follow Jesus, who said so clearly, “You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you free,” there is a profound intellectual and spiritual disconnect. This is not a man who even pretends to understand the basics of Christian ethics or is interested in having a morally sound or Constitutionally-based foundation for the US.
I have no idea how Trump voters, who also proclaim their Christian beliefs, can reconcile the two.
So, it is not just the nation at stake here. It is the future of Christianity in the US because both will be under death threats from a second Trump administration.
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