It seems like Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is the popular choice among the faith community, especially since he stands against abortion and has promised to champion religious liberty.
But Jonathon Von Maren writes for Life Site News that a Christian vote for Trump does not really add up, although he understands the lure Trump has on people who are fed up with being pushed around.
"Some Republican candidates talked like pastors, but Trump talked like a gladiator just as many voters were sick and tired of being pushed around. When he called the media 'vultures' and 'scavengers' and 'really dishonest people,' those who had been called 'homophobic' and 'bigoted' and 'stupid' and 'hateful' for years by the media rejoiced in the catharsis," he says. "Donald Trump was finally a candidate who would smash political correctness right in the face."
But Von Maren says there are quite a number of "uncomfortable truths" about Trump that Christians must first acknowledge. The first one is that Trump was actually pro-abortion in the past, and he was even unfamiliar with the basic positions held by the pro-life movement.
Another detail is that Trump has cheated on his previous two wives, and this is why he is on his third marriage. Von Maren notes that Trump acted with "extraordinary cruelty" during the divorce proceedings, adding that he also does not have a respectful view of women.
"He talks about women in ways that no Christian can accept. He's the first major presidential candidate to own strip clubs. He has a framed copy of Playboy on his office wall," he says. "It seems likely that he's paid for abortions in the past. He doesn't really care about the transgender bathroom debate or its implications. Aside from that, he is shockingly uninformed on many of the issues, as this week's presidential debate highlighted."
Von Maren understands the exasperation the Left feels about Trump. Even though Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton knows more about policy, can act calmer under pressure, and has more experience than Trump, the business tycoon is still running neck-in-neck with Clinton.
Von Maren knows why. When Christians say they are going to vote for Trump, that does not mean they are supporting him. "Voting for Trump is not a reflection on Trump, it is a reflection on just how bad Hillary Clinton is, and just how scared many, many Christians are of another near-decade of secular progressive rule," he explains. "Christians fear that Clinton would turn the United States of America into a hostile nation for them to live in. And thus, the two sides will never see eye-to-eye."
