It is a serious undertaking to ask people of any faith to vote a specific way in an election, to endorse a candidate, or align with party ideologies. Some of the strongest, most God-fearing people I know are fierce liberals, and are registered Democrats supporting Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders. I am a staunch conservative and openly support Republican candidates but by no means should I ever directly tie my religious beliefs to my politics and expect other Christians to do the same. Political issues are incredibly gray and while our faith should direct our conscience, it should never command that we vote a certain way. That’s why asking Christians to stop voting for Donald Trump carries so much severity.
Donald Trump is unlike any candidate our country has seen and I’m not going to go into too much detail on why he would be a disaster for the GOP and the larger conservative movement. There are plenty of opinion articles that talk about his illegal business practices[1], lack of respect for constitutional property rights[2] and limitations on government, donations to Democratic campaigns, tax evasion, use of bogus lawsuits and the FCC to suppress critics, support for Planned Parenthood, and overall abrasive demeanor. If these were the only issues with Trump I might not consider asking Christians to vote against him. However, there are huge moral issues with Trump’s policies that need to be addressed in order to highlight the major contradictions evangelical Christians should have with his campaign.
Trump has openly shared policies that advocate mass killings of innocent civilians, wants to “humanly” deport 11 million people out of the United States while building a wall on the Mexican border, supports massive religious discrimination, and encourages his supporters to use violence. Anyone who stands for these things has no place to lead a nation and should face a wave of opposition from Christians. While I comprehend the appeal of Trump as anti-establishment, I struggle to understand how he has gathered so much support from the Christian community.
The biggest moral issue I have with Trump is his blatant mistreatment of human rights. Trump has espoused foreign policy around stereotypes and hysteria, capitalizing on the fear of terrorism and particularly ISIS. When asked how to fight ISIS while minimizing civilian casualties, his response was to run air strikes and bomb entire villages with ISIS presence, regardless of innocent lives that would be taken in the process. Trump also said that he would kill the wives and children of known terrorists, proclaiming, “"the other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families.” Taking human lives didn’t seem to bother Trump, who criticized the Obama administration for being too “politically correct” in the war on terror.
While I am far from an expert on foreign policy, I concentrated my bachelor’s degree on Middle Eastern studies in international relations and know that Trump’s policies are not only in violation of human rights but would also be incredibly ineffective. I am both a security hawk and a human rights advocate and see no reason for anyone to support a candidate willing to expend countless civilians lives, regardless of their family association. Israeli expert Gregory Kreig commented on Trump’s position, arguing that “deliberate attacks against the terrorist families is blurring the moral differences between the terrorist organizations and the state which is fighting terrorism. This by itself might benefit the terrorists which are trying to claim that they are fighting a moral war against relentless and immoral entity.”
Another issue with Trump’s disregard of human rights is his immigration policy. This is the most controversial within conservative groups, and for a good reason. There is a balance between national security, border issues, and immigration. However, Trump has promised to deport 11 million people living in the United States illegally. This would require substantial “search and seizure” raids of people’s homes, tearing families apart, and massive efforts to uproot hardworking people, many of whom came to the US as small children through no fault of their own and have never known another home. I’m not suggesting total amnesty, I’m suggesting that we take a minute to think about what it would take to deport 11 million people. Eleven million looks like just a number in big policy debates but every number has a name, every name has a story, and every story is precious to God. [3]
One of Trump’s biggest talking point is his desire to build a wall on the Mexican border (have Mexico pay for that wall) and keep out all “the bad ones”. He also wants to end the constitutionally protected “birthright citizenship” for children of illegal immigrants, sending US citizens with illegal immigrant parents outside of the country and banning them from ever entering again. The notion of taking rights away from citizens, breaking up families, and building a wall on the Mexican border are bigoted, racist, and immoral. Christians shouldn’t support putting up walls to other countries; we should look for ways to evangelize to other nations and spread the gospel to the ends of the earth.
Another example of Trump’s discriminatory politics[4] is his claim that he would ban Muslims from the US as part of the war on terror. A campaign release said that, “Donald J. Trump is calling for a total and complete shutdown of Muslims entering the United States until our country's representatives can figure out what is going on.” Trump, who has also called for surveillance against mosques, supports a database for all Muslims living in the US, would extend the ban against Muslims to visitors and tourists. Too many Christians have heard this and applauded Trump for standing up to jihadists. But in reality, 99.9% of Muslims reject terrorism and Trump’s policy wouldn’t prevent terrorist agendas but rather take religious discrimination to an irrational and immoral level. Christians, of all people, should understand the need for religious freedom for Christianity, Judaism, Buhism, Islam, and all other religions alike.
Violence and disrespect for human life have characterized Trump’s campaign until now and have allowed him to dominate state primaries. He has been an erratic, unprincipled, immoral leader who advocates for racism and anger. When faced with critics and protestors, he has encouraged violence against anyone who disagrees with him. At one rally, he told supporters to beat protestors until they “had to be carried out on a stretcher.” Trump has also criticized former Soviet leadership for not using more violence to suppress dissenters.
It is shocking to see so many evangelical Christians back Trump’s campaign, praying to “make America great again” while following a leader with no respect for human life. While party loyalty has its limits and I believe conservatives should disavow Trump as a candidate, there is no reason for Christians who value human rights to continue to vote for him.
[1] Trump’s success as a real-estate mogul has been heavily questioned and many arguments analyze his finances concluding that his self-reported net value of $10 billion would be more than doubled had he simply invested his money in an unmanaged stock index fund (The Bloomberg Review). Trump has also filed four corporate bankruptcies since 1982.
[2] Trump attempted to condemn the home of an elderly widow in Atlantic City to use her land for a casino parking lot. In one GOP debate, Jeb Bush pointed out the distinction between eminent domain for public purpose (roads, infrastructure, etc.) and Trump’s attempt to build a private parking lot.
[3] There are many Republican leaders who have this same immigration stance. While it is not unique to Trump, it definitely speaks to his character and value for human rights.
[4] Trump also exemplified discrimination when he failed three times to denounce the KKK and its former leader, David Duke this past week.
