How, Then, Should Christians Vote? And do Evangelicals owe Bill Clinton an apology?

What’s going on here, Aaron? I’ve submitted at least one and possibly two articles on this subject recently (i.e., since the last go round here on SI), written by thoughtful Christian conservatives who defend Christians’ voting for Trump. My submission(s) didn’t get posted. Assuming the reason was that this topic has been plowed pretty well on SI, I was fine with that. But then you post the latest screed from rabidly irrational Trump-hater David French (yes, hypocritically, French clearly hates Trump). (Really, Aaron, you should just establish a permanent link to French’s blog on SI’s front page and be done with it.). I’m hoping there’s an objective reason for the imbalance, but the appearance is disturbing.

In the meantime, for a point by point rebuttal of French’s holier-than-thou post, see this: https://twitter.com/calfreiburger/status/1226623165767593984?s=21.

And for today’s defense of Trump voters at The Federalist, see: https://thefederalist.com/2020/02/18/i-didnt-vote-for-trump-in-2016-her…

[TylerR]

As some on this thread continue to concoct a strawman wherein every registered Democrat is an evil Leftist who dreams of killing babies, it’s worth considering how much damage the Christian Right has done to the cause of Christ by nurturing and promoting a civil religion of WASP-ish Christian Americana with Reagan in his Oscar-winning role as secular Savior, and Falwell, Dobson (et al) playing the apostles.

I suspect there is an age divide among convictional, conservative Protestants about supporting President Trump. I suspect those who cut their teeth in the heydays of the Religious Right from the 1980s onward are more likely to support President Trump. I also suspect those who are children of the 1980s - 1990s are much less likely.

Tyler, sometimes I think you need to get out more.

Have you listened to a Democrat candidate lately? Its hard to caricature them because they are as extreme as you can imagine.

Is every Democrat evil? No

If every Republican good? No

I appreciate Dobson. I’ve learned a lot from him.

Yes, the candidates are all insane on these issues. I’m less convinced the candidates are representative of where their constituents are. Pro-life Democrats do exist.

This discussion makes me ask, why don’t people of character (assuming there are still some around) run for positions of leadership? In Judges 9, Jotham gives the hypothetical story of the king of the trees in v. 7-15. The most respected trees (olive, fig, and vine) refuse to take the leadership, while the bramble (least respected) will. The others will not leave their abundance, sweetness and cheer to lead. Don’t you find this to be part of the problem? What are Christians doing about this? It does cause us to think that politics is a messy business and it is hard to keep abundant life, sweetness and cheering effect to be in it.

[TylerR]

Pro-life Democrats do exist.

And what power do they have to influence ANY legislation the party promotes or passes.

For example, Sen Mansion from WV. What power does he have? None!

All voting for a pro-life Democrat does is give power to the anti-life ones.

I think there are good leaders out there—Ted Cruz comes to mind—but we’ve got something of an issue where Americans, and even American Christians (read “megachurch”) are impressed with the next big thing and we don’t give the good politicians the time of day.

First, apologies… I can’t really follow the discussion/debate in detail…

But I have noticed that the back and forth seems to reflect some pretty different ideas about what “good character” means. I’m not claiming to authoritatively define it, just explain what I mean by good character in the context of leaders in general and US Presidents in particular.

So, when I look at the character of a candidate for public office the list of important character traits is a lot like what we all would probably like to our bosses to have. This is a brain dump, so there is overlap… it’s messy.

• Responsible: A strong sense of duty to the organization and to people in general vs. himself or herself, regard for the history and traditions and institutions he’s part of
• Essentially honest (exceptions somewhat expected… humans, after all)
• Trustworthy: Consistently makes agreements in good faith
• Honor… behaves honorably. This is hard to define, but a major component is that he/she shows a strong desire to take what he/she sees as the high road ethically and relationally. (It’s the opposite of “I can do whatever I want.”)
• Respects others, avoiding public shaming of subordinates, colleagues, etc.
• Fair in criticism: goes with that respect, I guess.
• Solution driven: Uses criticism and other tools as a way to move toward solutions, not as a way to self-aggrandize. This ties in with responsibility probably.
• Maturity: generally reacts to criticism, adversity, disappointment, etc., with restraint, thoughtfulness. Not ruled by emotions or baser instincts or immediate impulses.
• Knowledgeable/competent/intelligent: Is well informed on the relevant subject matter and a high level of skill in what the role requires
• Respectable: people are drawn to the personal qualities he/she demonstrates and want to follow their lead for that reason. May need to intimidate outsiders but doesn’t need to bully his own staff.
• Good judgment: generally has a good sense of priorities, generally a good sense of what’s probable and what’s extremely unlikely…. Is not petty and vindictive.

This is very incomplete and chaotic… but might illustrate. I’m not saying a leader has to score 100% on these all the time. Nobody does. These should be evident qualities in his or her life. Patterns of how they go about their work and relationships.

We all know what kind of people we tend to respect, even if we disagree with their agenda. They’re basically folks who, consciously or otherwise, have a basic commitment to golden rule and habits that reflect that commitment. Everything else is pretty much special knowledge and skills to fit the role.

(And yes, there have been many presidents that fit this bullet list!)