Here's Why I Could Never Vote for Donald Trump (or Anyone Who Shares His Views)
I hope my friends who support former President Trump won't bypass this because of the title. I'd really like to share my feelings--all of them, without debate; and in a way so that they can be pondered thoughtfully, if you care to do so.
So, I have three key reasons why and I will explain each of them.
- I'm a woman,
- I'm a minority,
- I'm a Christian.
As a woman, I can't support a candidate who views women as objects. He makes it clear by his statements and behavior that women are either beautiful (then they're fit for his pleasure and can be in his presence), or they're ugly (and he would "never sleep with them", "they are disgusting", "nasty", horseface", "'A crazed, crying lowlife' and 'a dog'","low I.Q.". "In a New York magazine profile published in November 1992, a year after Trump divorced his first wife, Ivana, Trump was quoted dispensing his wisdom about how to handle the fairer sex.'You have to treat ’em like s***,' Trump said in the article to friend Philip Johnson, who responded, 'You’d make a good mafioso.'” Trump’s response: 'One of the greatest.'" There are only these categories for women--the ones he can use or the ones he has no use for. I suspect there's one more--the ones who vote for him. He even spoke of his daughter in sexualized terms. That's a problem.
As a minority, (two times--African-American and female), he is absolutely not the candidate for me. Former President Trump makes it clear that his desire is for white male rule, and he simply cannot abide anything else.We can start with his birtherism campaign against the first African-American president. There's also his full-page ad convicting (prior to any trial) the innocent minority youths accused of raping a woman in Central Park (after coerced confessions). We know they were innocent because the actual perpetrator came forward, years later. We have his repeated use of "Chinese Virus" to describe Covid-19. In 2020, he retweeted a video of of a man chanting “white power” at a Florida retirement community; why would a racially-sensitive person do that in such a racially-charged environment? He called immigrants from Mexico and South America "rapists and thugs". "In the 1990s, the failed casino mogul frequently cast doubt about the legitimacy of tribes seeking to build casinos in the New York area, citing their dark skin as evidence they were faking their ancestry." Trust me, there are many more racist statements and behaviors--including a suit by the Justice Department in 1973, for discriminating against Black would-be renters by having their applications marked with a "C" for colored.
I don't have enough time to continue with those two reasons, but I think you get the point, unless you refuse to acknowledge what is in plain view; or maybe it's because it doesn't affect you or your family. It does affect me, and if he has his way, he will set in motion a dastardly plan that will disenfranchise me and other minorities--and you, too, if you aren't white and wealthy.
Finally, I am at the most important aspect. I can't in good conscience vote for Donald Trump as a Christian. I've heard all of the arguments for Candidate Trump--abortion, LGBTQ+ issues, the economy, the right to bear arms, foreign affairs (I really find that one amazing!), and border control. Now, that I have my turn, I can answer each of them--biblically, with a few verses.
I will start with this verse: "And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. 'Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.'" [Matthew 28:18-20, BSB].
I think we have gotten the commission wrong. Jesus told us to "Go, make disciples, baptize them and teach them to keep the commandments that He taught them". That is all. Nothing else. The disciples did exactly what he told them (see Acts 1 -3, key verses 2:14-42). But, somehow as time went by, mankind has gotten far away from this commission. There have been "holy" wars fought, divisions created, excommunications and protests against the very people He told us to make disciples of. I have another verse, "'What business of mine is it to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. 'Expel the wicked man from among you.'" [1 Corinthians 5:12,13, BSB] So, this is the Apostle Paul speaking to the Corinthian church. They had a lot of issues, kind of like us--making comparisons between church leaders, and themselves, being busybodies, thinking too much of themselves, and focusing on the wrong things. We do that, too.
Instead of focusing on discipleship, we are alienating the very ones that we are commanded to make disciples of (all nations). We have put political issues before people--and even before the command before us. In addition to making disciples, Jesus taught them the most important thing was this: ("Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?” And Jesus replied to him,)‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF [that is, unselfishly seek the best or higher good for others].’ The whole Law and the [writings of the] Prophets depend on these two commandments.” [Matthew 22:26-40, AMP]
I hope this is making sense. And, lest you wish to revert to the Old Testament--Jesus said, that it is "summed up" or completed in these two verses. If you choose to abide by the Mosaic Law than you are bound by ALL 600+ points of it, and if you break any one of those, you are guilty of all of them.
However, if you choose the grace that came by Jesus Christ, than you are no longer bound by the Law and you must not return to it. That's what Paul was explaining to the Galatians when he asked the question, "O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom--right before your very eyes--Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]? This is all I want to ask of you: did you receive the [Holy] Spirit as the result of obeying [the requirements of] the Law, or was it the result of hearing [the message of salvation and] with faith [believing it]? Are you so foolish and senseless? Having begun [your new life by faith] with the Spirit, are you now being perfected and reaching spiritual maturity by the flesh [that is, by your own works and efforts to keep the Law]? [Galatians 3:1-3, AMP]
We don't live by the Law, nor do we impose it on others--we live and are justified by faith in Jesus Christ and His work at Calvary. We can do nothing to save ourselves. He Is our Redeemer--the Law could do nothing to save mankind from sin, so to judge sinners is futile. Sinners, sin. That is the natural state of sinners, they don't have the power of the Holy Spirit to do anything else. They need our love and compassion. They need us to see them as God does: made in His Image and after His Likeness, just like us. The only difference between sinners and us is we have accepted His grace by faith. In our current social environment, we have done more to drive sinners away from God, then we have to draw them to God with our disdain for them.
If we are to keep that Great Commission, then we have much work to do. We have to teach them the way Jesus taught the original twelve disciples, by example. He touched the untouchable, He went among those who were hated and despised, He even forgave a criminal while He was on the cross. And, He reserved judgment for the "insiders", those who should know better. To the woman in sin, He simply said, "Go, and sin no more".
We can offer that kind of freedom to the world--and they are literally dying for it.
What will we do?
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