As your pastor, my authority is found in and founded upon
the Bible. The Bible is God’s word written down by the hands of inspired men
and is without error. When I speak from the Bible, I may preach and teach with
authority. However, the Bible does not address every issue, nor answer every
question we would like to ask of it. Should Christians place their children in
public schools or homeschool them? Should parents allow sleepovers? How many
songs should we sing together on Sunday morning? How much should we western Christians
give to church and other charities, given our remarkable wealth compared to the
vast majority of Christians through all time? The Bible doesn’t speak directly
to them. As your pastor, I can apply wisdom and the fruit of studying the Bible
and prayer in seeking to answer these (and so many more) questions, but I dare
not claim undue authority.
As your pastor, I cannot tell you whom you should vote for
in this election. The Bible does not mention Trump nor Clinton, not even in the
footnotes. Furthermore, there are legal limitations on political speech by
religious organizations, of which First Baptist Church is one. However, the
Bible does speak clearly about many topics and issues that are highly relevant
in this election cycle. Therefore, while I will not tell you for whom you
should vote, I want to issue strong concerns about both major candidates. I
will speak to my own position, not seek to mandate yours.
Should I vote for Secretary
Clinton?
For many evangelicals, opposition to Secretary Hillary
Clinton is almost visceral, a reflex that has been trained over the course of
decades. While she claims Christian belief and identifies as a Methodist, her
fervent advocacy for abortion and for gay rights have placed her beyond the
pale for many evangelicals. Her denigrating of numerous women who claimed
sexual abuse by her husband reveals a person for whom power triumphs over
principle. Moreover, she has gone to tremendous lengths to oppose transparency and
is a well-documented liar. I tremble to think what she would do in office. I
cannot in good conscience vote for her.
Should I vote for Trump?
While opposition to Clinton or alignment with (aspects of)
the Republican party is second-nature to many evangelicals, I must register strong
opposition to the standard bearer of that party this election, Donald J. Trump.
There are many reasons for my opposition to Trump: his
racist and race-baiting statements; his brief record of being pro-life, during
which he also shows a lack of understanding of the position; his exploitation
of the poor and vulnerable through his casinos; his ownership of a strip club; his
serial infidelity; his boast of never having repented; his questionable, even
nonsensical claim to being a Christian (see previous); his apparent lack of any
plan for anything (simply repeating ad nauseam that he will make something
great is no more a plan that simply repeating ‘yes we can’); his track record
of cheating his contractors;…
However, I neither have time to write about these, nor do
you have time to read about all of them. Instead, I would like argue only that
he is a sexual predator. Trump is a man who has not only committed adultery
repeatedly, he has also bragged about it. He has been sexually aggressive
toward many women over the course of many years, using his money and his power
to exploit and even assault women. This is not news. While the most recent
revelation is abhorrent and vile, it is entirely in keeping with the character
of Trump, which we have already seen over this last year (and before).
If I were to vote for Trump, I would be saying that character
doesn’t matter, that power is more important than principle. Even if I thought
that Trump could be trusted to govern as a pro-life president (which I don’t);
even if I believed that Trump would appoint good Supreme Court justices (which
I doubt, and there is every reason to doubt his promises); even if I believed that
Trump were competent to keep the country safe and deal with the complexities of
the global world (which I don’t); even if I believed that he could strengthen
the economy (I have my doubts); even if I thought that his racist speech didn’t
reflect how he truly believes (and I don’t know what reason I would have to
think that); even if all those things were true, I would not be able to vote
for Trump on account of his character, especially in his treatment of women.
Like I said, I cannot tell you for whom to vote. But I would
urge you to consider carefully before voting.
