Deborah Fikes, former executive advisor to the World Evangelical Alliance, is not a fan of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump so she is "praying" for "Sister Hillary [Clinton]" from the Democratic party to win this year's race for the White House.
Evangelical support has traditionally been associated with Republican candidates, but Fikes carries such a negative opinion of Trump that she is giving her all-out support to Clinton, whom she describes as a "trustworthy" politician who is "embraced by many Evangelical sister churches."
On the other hand, "Mr. Trump's proposals are not just un-Christian — they're un-American and at odds with the values our country holds dearest," says Fikes. "Hillary Clinton is the leader who people of faith are looking for and we are praying that Sister Hillary and not Mr. Trump will be elected in November."
Trump met with evangelical leaders in New York on Tuesday to allow faith leaders to "better understand [Trump] as a person," while at the same time help the business magnate "better appreciate" the personal views of Christian conservatives.
Even though it was the perfect time for Fikes to express everything she does not like about Trump's campaign, she was not able to attend the meeting as she was not among the invited leaders. Fikes adds that she cannot tolerate Trump's "religious and ethnic intolerance" towards Muslims.
"It troubles me deeply to see abuse of the vulnerable and intolerance toward religious minorities on the rise," Fikes says. "As someone who has fought hard to counter China's recent persecution of Christian minorities, I worry that allowing religious and ethnic intolerance here in American will undermine our ability to have a prayer of fighting it around the world."
"When candidates like Mr. Trump start sounding eerily similar to some of the worst global offenders, it's time for some serious soul searching," she continues.
The World Evangelical Alliance responded to her comments by clarifying that it does not endorse any political candidate and Fikes was speaking in an independent capacity. The National Association of Evangelicals, its member organisation in the US, also does not endorse any political candidate.
