Political Viewpoint _ Long Read

As with most people, my social media circles has people from various stages in my life. Because of that, I have people from very different places on the political spectrum. In the past few years, I have disagreed with both people on the left and on the right. Ironically, both sides assumed that I was opposite of them on everything simply because I disagreed with them on an issue or a few issues. During this time, I have posted articles that I mostly agreed with and “stalked” other people’s posts and only commented when I felt they went too far. My default is to react to others rather than be proactive (that is why I was much better at defense in sports than offense). Since I have some time on my hands, I wanted to express my opinion more completely and on my own terms rather than just reacting to others posts. I feel like the chorus from the song “Stuck in the Middle with You”: “Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right, Here I am stuck in the middle with you.” I guess I am just a jester/fool in the middle, neither a clown nor a joker. I would rather be called a fool and stand by my convictions than be thought wise and compromise.

Problems with the Right:

My position has been and always will be that character matters when it comes to our leaders. That was a lesson that I learned from both my father and my father-in-law: treat others with respect, help others regardless if they “deserve it” or not (because they deserve it as much as or more than we do), and work hard in everything you do. While there are many other character qualities that are important, there is a basic line that needs to be obtained in these basic qualities in order for one to be considered for leadership. In my lifetime, there have been three Presidents that in my eyes have failed this test: Nixon (not that I remember much from then), Clinton, and Trump.

Unfortunately, many of my evangelical friends have tossed out the character issue for a more pragmatic approach to political debate. While many in the ’90s said (and ironically still say it) that character matters, it does not matter enough to make a stand when it would hurt politically.. I have heard that “we are in a war for our nation”, “leadership is a character trait”, “look at all he has done”, “he has endured so many attacks from the other side and still has done so much”, “we are not voting for a pastor but a president”, “We do not like his character either but...”, and others. Every one of those reasons are based upon the same premise: the character of our leader does not matter as much as their ability to accomplish what we want them to. In other words, the “character” test that was applied to Clinton can be ignored when it comes to our political allies.

As a Christian, this saddens me greatly to see so many abandon basic decency for pragmatic “short-term” wins in the political arena. Not only that, but I am hearing more and more that people who stood on their convictions before are setting them aside for political expediency in the upcoming election. This last week, the president of the seminary I attended just came out saying he was going to vote for Trump in November due to the policy stance and behavior of the democrats and he felt that voting a third party is wasting his vote. While I respect him and his stance on many issues, this was vastly disappointing. In 2016, he said “When it comes to Donald Trump, evangelicals are going to have to ask the huge question, ‘Is it worth destroying our moral credibility to support someone who is beneath the baseline level of human decency for anyone who should deserve our vote?’” He went on to say this:

“Can we put up with someone and can we offer them our vote and support when we know that person not only sounds like what he presumes and presents as a playboy, but as a sexual predator? This is so far over the line that I think we have to recognize we wouldn’t want this person as our next door neighbor, much less as the inhabitant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. And long term I’m afraid people are going to remember evangelicals in this election for supporting the unsupportable and defending the absolutely indefensible.”

It is hard to see anything in President Trump’s actions in the last 4 years that would change one’s perspective on this matter regardless of what his opposition has done. I have not heard that he has addressed these comments in light of his previously recorded statements about the president.

Most of the criticism of the president comes from those on the political left and so they attack his policies. I am a conservative and my perspective is a bit different. As far as what he has done for the religious right, he has done many things that I agree with from a political perspective: His appointments for judges have been consistent with a constructionist legal perspective and supporting pro-life arguments; his undoing of many of the Executive Orders that President Obama used to bypass the legislature and enact some of his agenda; and wanting Congress to change current immigration laws to be more workable are just some examples of positive actions he has done. On the other hand, he is not a conservative and so his expansive budget, his used of tariffs, his method of enforcing immigration laws, and his consistent inability to speak the truth when his ego is involved are just some examples of actions that the Republicans have typically been against in the past but support because their man, Trump, is in charge.

My one question to those that support him is this: Do we need to take all that baggage that he brings to achieve these victories? Absolutely not. Besides, the methods that he uses to achieve these wins is childish, mean, arrogant and insulting. His managing style would never be used as a positive example in any reputable business school and the way he treats those under him swings from flowing hyperbolic flattery to ugly attacks and personal insults. It is no wonder that turnover is so high in his administration. This behavior is not acceptable in the normal business world and it should not be accepted in our political leaders either.

Problems with the Left:

While there are serious problems on the political right, the left has its fair share as well. Because I am a conservative, I will not address the political differences that I have with those on the political left. That list is quite large. Instead, I will highlight a few areas where those on the left have bent over backwards to turn actions other presidents have done into attacks on the current president.

Quite a few years before my dad passed away, he had a conversation with someone talking about Journalism schools. At the time, a dean of a prominent school said that over 90% of all the professors of Journalism schools were democrats. A truth a few years ago has blossomed into the mainstream media (MSM) loosing all credibility because of their bias against the political right and President Trump. The latest example is the way the MSM is treating the (more) credible accusations against Biden compared to the accusations against Judge Kavanaugh. Someone did a comparison of CNN’s coverage of the stories. The day the accusations against Kavanaugh came out, CNN did multiple stories and in three weeks, they had done 700. Compare that to the fact that three weeks after the accusations against Biden came out, CNN had not done a single article and it is clear the statement they are trying to make. The NYT editor even justified their bias reporting and even changing a headline because the Biden campaign asked them to. He said that they want to give all the information so that their readers can make their own decisions except for when they [The New York Times] need to make a judgment. In other words, they will report the news as long as it agrees with their perspective. Then, they cannot be relied to give the basic facts. While the MSM is counted on to ask difficult questions, their antagonism for anything the president does or says taints any questions they ask and articles they produce because of their own bias and agenda.

The Democrats in Congress are also showing themselves unable to keep from distorting facts and spinning quotes intending to inflict political harm on the president. While the presidents actions are childish, they never rose to the level of “high crimes and misdemeanors” and required him to be thrown out of office. The manner the House hearings were held was pathetically partisan and unfair and the rhetoric that has come against the president at times is ludicrous.

Stuck in the Middle:

If anyone has read this far, I am pretty sure I have offended everyone by something I have said. I know that I am in a VERY small minority that does not support President Trump but agrees that he should not have been impeached. I believe that we should enforce immigration laws and work to make them more viable but I also feel that some path can be carved out for those currently here to be treated humanely without destroying their families. I also believe, to paraphrase Lord Acton, Power corrupts, but political power corrupts absolutely. Our political landscape has turned from fighting for what is best for America into fighting to regain/retain political power even to the point of compromising on the basic tenets of the ideology each side claims to represent. I would love to see a third party of Common Sense arise. The current two party system is broken and the parties are drifting farther and farther apart: the Democrats are going more left and the Republicans are going like they are “three sheets to the wind” (my favorite idiom); not knowing what their foundation should be.

Thankfully, my hope is not in the political system. my hope is in the person of Jesus Christ. Thus, while I understand we are to fight to bring God’s truths to bear here on earth, I feel it is a poor trade to vote on the basis of achieving your agenda for making a stand and preserving your witness. Political gains are fleeting and temporary. Your Christian witness is more significant and besides, we are commanded by God to pay attention to it.