It is one week out from the election on November 8th. This campaign continues to be negative and divisive. I'm sick of talking about it. I am a white young upper-class Christian male with no college degree (yet). I am the essence of typical demographics of a Trump supporter. You could also say that I am one of the last people to be offended by Donald Trump's words and actions. For the Trump supporters reading this, you can cast me as a "libtard" or "Shillary supporter". But by doing so, you are perpetuating a problem of not listening to the other side. I watch Tomi Lahren's videos, Fox News, and occasionally read on what Breitbart puts up online. You should be able to do the same. I am not and have never been a Clinton supporter, so lets begin.
I recently wrote an article called Trump and the Christian Problem where I explained the countless reasons that Trump and Christianity do not go hand in hand. Though I believe Jesus wasn't necessarily all that political, there is no way that the message of the Bible and the message of Trump are congruent.
I will attempt to explain (just since my last feature on this issue) the additional reasons that the typical base of Trump should run...and run far away.
As I continue to become more horrified at the success (or lack of) success of Trump over the years, I will continue to point out reasons that even his most loyal fans should reconsider.
Trump and the Media
Trump supporters often point to Trump's lack of political correctness as a key selling point. Trump often points to how the election is "rigged against him", "they have it out for me". It is easy to point to biased media as a reason to slip in the polls, but it takes guts to let them write what they want. As President, there will not only be domestic media attacking your every word, but international leaders, media, and dignitaries that will twist and skew your words to fit their agenda. It seems that Trump wants to silence the critics, finding new reasons to attack the First Amendment of the Constitution that he claims to love literally. In January, he told Fox News "I feel very strongly about it (The Constitution)...I'm proud of it, I love it." However, in a series of tweets in September, Trump elaborated on the 1st Amendment, "It isn't 'freedom of the press' when newspapers and others are allowed to say and write whatever they want when it is completely false!" Trump actually has a point. When an article is written to be 100% false, there is no need to have it circulating in the public. But Mr. Trump it goes both ways. You propose the need to clean the nation of illegal immigrants when they have lower crime rates than normal citizens (Immigration Policy Center/Wall Street Journal). You point to "radical Islamic terrorism" as a rampant problem like ISIS is actually in the US and carrying attacks. The reality is fewer than five attacks since 2001 have been carried out by Muslims who were not US citizens. San Bernadino, Orlando, Charleston, Boston, Fort Hood, as well as unfortunate others were all carried out by legal US citizens.
Yes, Islam does have teachings in the Koran that teach violence towards non-believers in the name of Jihad. Yes, there is a radical Islamic terrorism problem in this world. The rampant problem belief here is misguided. Most come and get radicalized by ISIS online and the recruitment presence they have. If we want to end it here, it has to come with an assault on ISIS in that sphere.
Trump has decided to shut off the input of factual information calling it "wrong" and instead silenced it by shutting the Washington Post, Politico, Univision, the Daily Beast, the Des Moines Register, the Huffington Post, and Buzzfeed (CNN Money) out of his campaign events. Though Trump has promised to bring them back if he does win the presidency, it won't matter then. Trump will have been sworn in for four years, and all we would be able to do is sit back and watch.
Trump and Women
We have all heard the degrading remarks made by Donald Trump back in 2005 caught on tape. Supporters chalk this up to "locker room talk", and say they are more concerned with what "Hillary has done vs. what Trump has said". However, it seems that it is not just words that Trump has said. 11 women (as of this writing) have come forward and made allegations against Trump for various forms of sexual assault. Yes, they are allegations. Yes, they come forward at what you could call an "inopportune" time for Trump. I believe that coming forward with a past scar such as sexual assault takes bravery. Whenever the time feels right for a victim to come forward should be up to the victim, not the perpetrator.
"Locker room talk" is different than joking or bragging about sexual assault. No, you can not just do "whatever you want". It should be appalling to any Christian the degree of language Trump used. Not only are very foul words used, but the manner of aggression shows a true lack of care. Trump apologized later, saying that those who "truly know me know it is not who I really am". This tape shows him to be a con-man. When you are not on the camera, that is who you really are. Yes, of course he would have acted differently if he was not on camera, but that's the point. I wonder what he can tell the American people and then do behind our backs once President?
Additionally, a faction of Trump supporters also started a trending hashtag on Twitter called #Repealthe19th which calls to repeal the 19th amendment giving women the right to vote. Trump has not responded or disavowed the supporters that champion this cause.
Trump and Democracy
Trump has pointed out that the election is rigged against his campaign. He points to the "biased media" as vouching 100% for Hillary. The media has been estimated to give around 3 billion dollars in basically free advertising for Trump since the campaign started, due to all the interviews and media appearances he has made (MarketWatch).
He now refuses to say whether he'll accept the results of this election if he does in fact lose on November 8th. He said to keep the country "in suspense" and not immediately concede. We have had brutal elections in our country's history, but we have always known that a peaceful transition of power would be maintained. These are events other third-world countries deal with, not the U.S. It what has made our country great, and what will continue to make our country great.
I can go into a whole other article about the social issues of Christianity butting up to the secular part of our country. The Supreme Court is not a bad argument for a Trump presidency, but the court is supposed to be fair and not be about pushing a political agenda. Trump's picks on Supreme Court will take us back years on decisions that were made decades ago. Moderate, even-handed justices need to be chosen instead of a continued polarization on the court. The decisions these days are hardly ever 6-2, 7-1, 8-0 as it always splits down party lines. The picks of a Trump presidency don't indicate bipartisanship, they indicate a further dividing country.
But Hillary?
Hillary is corrupt too, manipulating and lying to the American people over and over again. However, I believe that Hillary has great traits to be our leader as well. She has championed and fought for equal rights for a variety of minorities in our country. She stuck by her husband's side through his good and bad decisions while in office in the 1990's. Clinton attempts to get solutions passed for the true everyday American. And ultimately, she has shown work in bringing parties together to get bipartisan solutions done.
It's hard to deny that she has truly fought for our country over nearly 30 years of public service. But I will not be supporting Hillary in the polls this November.
For me, both candidates have a clear moral complex problem. Both are inbred liars and have manipulated (or been manipulated) by political schemes for decades. They both have failed decisions and ventures (Iraq War vote and Trump's businesses). Trump has a women problem and Hillary has national security problems.
I am planning on voting as a write-in for John Kasich. I came to this conclusion after realizing that voting Hillary in a heavy blue state will not do much to the change the results. Gary Johnson and Jill Stein are also not qualified in my opinion and I believe that keeping my conscious clear is important. Not voting is saying I don't care, and I clearly do.
I believe that if the undecided actually could come together on a candidate fully qualified for this esteemed office, this would send shock waves throughout. Yes, this person wouldn't likely win, but it shows that there is a wave of people (who could have decided this election) that want another option.
Until then, we can only pray for our leaders, knowing that God has a plan though when it seems He is far.
