The candidates are set, the election is upon us and what are we to do? This has been a looming question for most concerned Christians since Donald Trump first came down the escalator that fateful day in June 2015. Can faithful Christians, imbued with the Holy Spirit, regenerate and keen to the ills of the secular world, pull the lever for “orange man bad” while still being held to their religious and moral convictions? This is what I aim to put to rest in this article. Not only can I make the case that Christians can vote for Donald Trump in the coming election without hesitation…but they ought to.
I noticed that in 2015 and 2016 respectfully, an ongoing debate in the evangelical world began regarding the morality of Trump and evangelicals around the Country. This debate of Trump marriages, dalliances with porn stars, potty-mouth, etc. keeps popping up in faith-based communities around the nation. We know the tropes, we know the sins, and yet we keep debating what to do.
Even today, in 2024, nine years after that notorious escalator ride, we still weigh the options. That needs to end. The problem is everyone is speaking past each other and not thinking theologically. This, I plan to remedy. The issue has become an emotional one, based on secular/religious morality that isn’t relevant. In academic circles, this is a theological apologetic [Apologetics is the discipline that deals with a rational defense of Christian faith. It comes from the Greek word apologia which means to give a reason or defense.[1]] on why Christians should vote for Trump in the coming election.
I remember a poignant response to this came from one of the best theologians of our generation, Wayne Grudem. He wrote a letter to an old friend and shared it with his church. You can find this on YouTube. His point was to appeal to a conscientious Christian who loved Christ, loved the Church, and struggled with what he perceived as a false, immoral Christian, obtaining the White House. I thought Grudem’s response was kind, thoughtful, and elegant, yet it still missed the point. As Christians, we are tasked to think theologically: “Ultimately the believer must try to think theologically. This involves thinking exegetically (to understand the precise meaning), thinking systematically (to correlate facts thoroughly), thinking critically (to evaluate the priority of the related evidence), and thinking synthetically (to combine and present the teaching as a whole).”[2] This means that above all, our feelings, emotions, proclivities, ideologies, etc., we are asked to see how this lines up with the word of God. What does the Bible instruct us on how to act in these matters? As usual, we theologians have overthought this and made it more complicated than it should be.
Please allow me to make the case.
1. Politics is Not Sacred
First, Politics is not sacred. This has been forgotten in America, even to conservative Christians. The flag represents the United States of America, its principles and values, and those who died to preserve those principles and values, nothing more. It is not a religious symbol, remember this statement: “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or serve them, for I the Lord your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and the fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing steadfast love to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments.”[3] This goes for everything patriotic too. All too often conservatives fall prey to idol worship, and this goes for the halls of Congress as well.
A couple of years ago I was listening to Geraldo (I know) on the Five lamenting about how pissed he was at Trump for the January 6th riots. He used the term hollowed halls for the degradation of the Capital building. I remember thinking, what is so hallowed about Congress? Currently, Congress has an 81% disapproval rating, if it is hallowed our priorities are misconstrued. Most Americans detest politicians and think the system is rigged (which it is).
Moreover, the Bible is clear on this. The New Testament says very little of politics but to pay taxes (Matthew 22:21) and that God installs leadership in Government (Romans 13:1-7), whether we like it or not. The Old Testament is replete with examples of where Government goes wrong and of the evils of good men allowing ruling power to corrupt and pervade evil (David, Solomon, Rehoboam, and on and on).
What most Christians miss, which is vitally important, is the warning that the Book of Revelation is portending – do not trust governments! They will rise and fall on the evils of mankind and only Christ, at His second coming, will put things right. I do not mean to be dismissive of the intricacies of this powerful book but why everyone is stuck in the micro of Revelation (which is needed for good exegesis), they miss out on the Macro message. Revelation warns us of worshiping government and putting too much stock in sinful rulers of the secular age.[4]
2. Christians Do Not Worship Man
This should be obvious but unfortunately, with the advent of Trump, even right-wing conservatives are falling into his cult of personality. The left worships its politicians. Just look at Obama with the media and celebrities (YouTube Colbert interviewing Obama – “I want to take a moment and drink you in” – it is gross). Now they are trying to do the same with Kamala. Look at how Hollywood celebrities fawn over each other and shower themselves with awards and accolades. It has gotten so egregious that this author, a film student and admiring of all things film, can no longer watch anything award shows or talk shows that showcase democrat politicians, media celebrities, or Hollywood stars. The amount of idolatry and man-worship on display is enough to make Babylon, Ancient Greece, and the Empire of Roman blush in modesty.
Christians understand the nature of man and the history of Idol worship. The left holds up politicians as their gods, along with their demi-gods (celebrities in the media and Hollywood), this much is clear, and we should not emulate this in any form (Colossians 3:5).
Christians understand the nature of mankind (Psalm 51:5), that all mankind sin and fall short of the glory of God (1 John 1:8). Donald Trump is a sinner, no different from you or me, and should be considered a sinner before God like all others. Whether Trump wears his sins on his sleeve or hides his sins and runs from them (i.e. Joe Biden, Hunter Biden, Kamala Harris, Mitch McConnell, etc.) should be taken into context; “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”[5]
Carping about the persnickety sins of Trump over all other politicians is an act of futility, bias, and hypocrisy. What Christians should be concerned with are legal issues that prevent or preclude Trump from office, and that discussion is alive and well in society, as well as, being adjudicated in the court system. We (Christians) do not worship man, we understand that all men are flawed and that includes our politicians, especially our politicians.
3. Religious Persecution
Thirdly, religious persecution is the Christian way and we have been very lucky up until now. This might be the most important reason not to vote Kamala – Walz in the coming election. Moreover, this is also the hardest thing for good, God-fearing Democrats to come to grips with – the Democrat party is hostile to Judeo-Christian religion, ethics, and values.[6] If you care about past, present, and future religious persecution and discrimination, Trump–Vance is where you have to go. Long gone are the days of Jimmy Carter or JFK interjecting their faith and reason with political positions. The Democrat party is no safe space for Christian belief.
David Horowitz wrote about the hostility toward Christians from Democrats in a great book called Dark Agenda: The War to Destroy Christian America. This is a wonderful and fact-full book on how the left has declared war on Christianity. He goes into detail on just how hostile the Obama administration was toward Christians, Churches, and para-church organizations. I, too, have written recently on the attempts that the Biden administration has taken to stifle religion in America.
Everyone saw the inimical actions of local, state, and federal governments toward Churches during the pandemic, jailing pastors, closing down Church services, and preventing end-of-life care by chaplains or pastors from ministering to the sick and/or dying. Did you think liquor stores are essential, but Churches are not?
How about web designers and bakers being persecuted for their religious convictions? Democrat administration has deemed planned parenthood as sacred spaces needing government protection, but pro-life centers are being vandalized with no consequence. Pro-life activists are being torn from their homes and prosecuted by Democrat prosecutors for merely praying to abortion clinics or defending their cohorts from leftist violence.
I could write an entire article on how the family is under attack from Democrat politicians, including Tim Walz, who thinks gender-affirming is paramount to parental authority. Not to mention the physical harm Democrats are doing to young pre-pubescent girls and boys with gender dysphoria. God does not make mistakes in creation; He has declared it so: “When God created man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and he blessed them and named them Man when they were created.”[7]
The Democrat Party has amalgamated itself into a civil religion; “French Enlightenment philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau first coined the term ‘civil religion’ in his Social Contract (1762). Rousseau criticized traditional religion for advancing dogmas that he believed led to ignorance, intolerance, and arbitrary limits on personal liberty.”[8] The words ignorance, intolerance, and limits on personal liberty seem to be in every Democrat politician’s speech in the last ten years; after all, Biden did save democracy from the intolerant and ignorant when he stepped aside to pave the road for Kamala as we are told daily. I am sure it had nothing to do with the utter lack of cogency he displayed each day.
Believe it or not, there still are pro-life Democrats in America today. According to Gallup, as of 2024, about 12% of Democrats self-identify with the pro-life position. The only problem is that the party does not support them. During the 2020 primary in a town hall, a pro-life woman (Kristen Day) asked Pete Buttigieg if pro-life voices still have a place in the Democrat party. This is what she wrote: “He refused — twice — to even answer that part of my question and instead focused on his unyielding support for abortion and did not really seem to want the vote from me or people who share my views.” This is the harsh reality of where the Democrat party is today.
4. God’s Sometimes Picks Shaddy Characters
I know this sounds blasphemous but hear me out. So far, I have been making purely theological reasons why Christians should vote for Trump-Vance in the coming election. I have tried to stay away from the emotional tug at the heartstrings that so many do in favor or against. However, many Christians might still be on the fence because of Tweets or temperament, and just plain disdain for “orange man bad.” Let me make one last effort to prove to you that if you believe in God’s sovereign hand in the world, and you love Christ and have a passion for Christ’s church, you might be surprised at how God can choose flawed men to change the fate of religious faith in the world. Let me give two examples.
First, let us look at the Old Testament. When Israel was exiled to Babylon, who freed them to return to their homeland? It was not a Jewish Messiah or great warrior, it was a pagan king; “Cyrus II, also known as ‘Cyrus the Great,’ was king of Persia, circa 559–529 bc. Cyrus became lord of Judah when he conquered Babylon.”[9] This freed the Israelites to return home a rebuild. Cyrus’s famous proclamation can be found in the book of Ezra:
“Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: The Lord, the God of heaven, has given me all the kingdoms of the earth, and he has charged me to build him a house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Whoever is among you of all his people, may his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the Lord, the God of Israel—he is the God who is in Jerusalem. And let each survivor, in whatever place he sojourns, be assisted by the men of his place with silver and gold, with goods and with beasts, besides freewill offerings for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.” [10]
God works His glory by whatever means He wishes, sometimes it is through Saints, as in Abraham or Moses, and sometimes it is through pagan kings such as Cyrus. This also happened to Christendom in the fourth century with the Emperor Constantine, also known as “Constantine the Great.”
In 306, after Constantius’s death, Constantine was proclaimed Emperor in York. He became the senior ruler of the empire in 312 after defeating his rival Maxentius at the Milvian Bridge. According to Lactantius, Constantine received instructions in a dream the night before the battle, leading him to fight under the sign of the Cross, which was later modified into the Labarum standard. He credited his victory to the Christian God, and soon after, Christianity was tolerated and received imperial favor. In 313, he reached an agreement with his fellow-emperor Licinius to enact a policy of religious freedom, known as the Edict of Milan.[11]
There is much debate on when or if Constantine actually became a Christian or just realized the benefits of Christianity as a national religion, but that is beside the point. A deeply flawed pagan man stopped religious persecution and changed the trajectory of Christianity in the West forever. Once again, God saved the Christian faith and let the Gospel spread throughout the world by using a deeply sinful human being. God’s glory wins every time, and by whatever means He chooses to do so.
The point is, that God can be using Trump to the right the ship, and Trump’s speech, attitude, crude nature, and debaucherous past do not matter. Only the glory of God matters. God could use Biden or even Kamala, but that fruit has yet to ripen. I have seen Trump brag about the Supreme Court and the overturning of Roe. This was a great thing, but Trump had very little to do with it. A devout Christian would have recognized God’s work in that landmark decision. Trump had nothing to do with the passing of RBG (1 Samuel 2:6) which paved the way for a more conservative court. Despite Trump’s protestations, he did not overturn Roe Vs. Wade, God did.
Allow me to conclude with something personal. I am not a huge fan of Trump; I only worship the Triune God. I didn’t vote for Trump in 2016. I have been following Donald J. Trump’s life and career since I was in junior high. “The Art of the Deal” was one of the first adult books I read; I read it when I was 11. I knew about Trump’s tendency to ruin good things; I saw the airline debacle and the USFL, and everyone witnessed the disaster that was Trump University. I figured he would get into the White House, make some jokes, and burn it to the ground, all along claiming to be the best. I was wrong! He governed conservatively, protected religious freedom, protected our borders (which is a biblical value), and kept the United States out of wars. What more can a Christian ask for in a secular world?
In 2020, I enthusiastically voted for Trump because I was not a Christian in 2016, but I became one in 2017. When I became a Christian, it felt like a veil was lifted and the scales fell off my eyes. I was able to see the truth that had been hidden in a world of deception. I realized that the right choice theologically was to oppose religious hostility, and I believed that only one side was committed to doing that. My decision to vote for Trump was influenced by my Christian conviction, my aversion to politics, my dislike of celebrity worship, my belief that the Democratic party espouses an evil platform, and my understanding that God uses flawed individuals to glorify Himself, not to glorify men.
You might be wondering why I have not addressed the elephant in the room – is Donald Trump a Christian? I did not cover the issue because it does not matter. This is a binary choice, one side supports and promotes evil, and the other fights against it. Which side are you on?
Footnotes:
[1] Norman L. Geisler, “Apologetics, Need For,” Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics, Baker Reference Library (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 1999), 37.
[2] Charles Caldwell Ryrie, Basic Theology: A Popular Systematic Guide to Understanding Biblical Truth (Chicago, IL: Moody Press, 1999), 19.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ex 20:4–6.
[4] I could make a long and hard case that Politics is, in essence and theologically, an evil endeavor and that most men and women who seek it, do so for nefarious reasons and should never be looked upon as examples of heroism, exemplary, or reverence. However, in this treatise, it would be too long.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ro 3:23.
[6] I could make a cogent apologetic argument for why the Democrat Party no longer is a safe space for Christians and Biblical doctrine but, once again, that would be too large in scale for this article. Suffice it to say, there are problematic reasons for individuals to claim both a true Christian faith and allegiance to the Democrat Party.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ge 5:1–2.
[8] Arthur Remillard, “Civil Religion: History, Beliefs, Practices,” in Handbook of Religion: A Christian Engagement with Traditions, Teachings, and Practices, ed. Terry C. Muck, Harold A. Netland, and Gerald R. McDermott (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2014), 643.
[9] Jason M. Silverman, “Cyrus II,” ed. John D. Barry et al., The Lexham Bible Dictionary (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).
[10] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Ezr 1:2–4.
[11] F. L. Cross and Elizabeth A. Livingstone, eds., The Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church (Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2005), 408.
R-Rated Religion 