Note: I was hardcore #NeverTrump from the very beginning. He represents the opposite of Conservative values and Christian values, being both a fascist and a deeply immoral, selfish man. This Facebook post from the 2016 election cycle is representative of my views both then and now. (DL, June 10, 2023).
townhall.com/columnists/waynegrudem/2016/07/28/why-voting-for-donald-trump-is-a-morally-good-choice-n2199564
Respected theologian Wayne Grudem is publicly teaching that voting for Trump is the moral thing to do.
The core of Grudem’s argument is this:
"There is nothing morally wrong with voting for a flawed candidate if you think he will do more good for the nation than his opponent. In fact, it is the morally right thing to do."
The core of my response is this:
Grudem’s argument cuts exactly both ways. It can just as easily be used as a moral justification for voting for Hillary. It simply comes down to how you define what is “more good for the nation.”
Basically everything that follows Grudem’s opening premise is simply politics. Without defining what “good for the nation” means, Grudem highlights his own preferences for conservative supreme court nominees, lower taxes, approval of the keystone pipeline, and other GOP platform items as the marks of Trump’s “goodness for the nation.”
Grudem’s Argument isn’t Christian, it’s Political
His argument is not rooted in Scripture. Once he has finished supporting the initial premise, he simply trots out Republican talking points about what Trump will do vs. what Hillary will do to demonstrate that Trump would be the most “good for the nation.”
In so doing, he largely treats Trump as a typical Republican candidate. He evaluates him almost entirely in terms of the GOP platform. What he absolutely fails to do is address Trump’s disturbing uniqueness—his fascistic self-aggrandizement, his destruction of healthy political discourse, and his brutal nativism. Listening to Grudem, Trump’s basically Bob Dole with a loud mouth and fuller sexual history. The reality is that Trump is much closer to Vladimir Putin. Grudem’s failure to address this aspect of Trump’s political character wholly undermines his argument that Trump would “do more good for the nation” than Hillary.
From where I sit, Grudem’s vision for what will be good for America is too heavily colored by his Oldconservativewhiteguyness (I totally understand why Germans do that with nouns.).
Perhaps if he had limited himself to concerns about liberal justices and abortion, gender issues, and religious liberty, I would have accepted that his concerns were intrinsically Christian, rather than being the concerns of a Christian who is also an old, white, male Republican.
But Grudem’s Christian concerns also include such things as:
– A desire for “lower tax rates that would lead to more jobs”
– A desire to “rapidly rebuild our depleted military forces”
– A desire to “not let China and Russia and Iran push us around anymore”
– A desire to “approve the Keystone oil pipeline and grant more oil drilling permits”
– A desire to “repeal Obamacare”
There’s nothing inherently Christian about any of these things, and there’s no biblical basis for concluding that these positions would “do more good for America.” They’re neo-conservative talking points, pure and simple.
Defining What’s ‘Good for America’
I for one, think that it would “do more good for America” if we put a much greater emphasis on preserving the environment (which Grudem doesn’t mention), and avoiding foreign entanglements (which he doesn’t mention), and cutting our spending (which he doesn’t mention). Auditing the Fed might be good too. Oh, and not electing a fascist.
By Grudem’s logic, I’m morally obligated to vote for the candidate who would “do more good for the nation.” So shouldn’t I consider voting for a Libertarian candidate like Gary Johnson? Or even Hillary—flawed as she is—to keep the fascist out?
And this is where Grudem’s choice of pragmatism over principle (shout out to [Name Redacted]) shines through. For Grudem, it would seem a candidate only counts as someone who would “do more good for the nation” if they actually stand a chance of being elected. Since a Gary Johnson can’t win, he can’t DO anything, even if the good he would do if elected would far outweigh the “good” that Trump would do.
The reality is, if Grudem is correct that the moral thing for a Christian to do is to vote for the person who would do the most good for the nation, then that’s what they need to do—even if that person will certainly lose.
At this point in my response, it would be time to talk about how, in fact, rather than being good at all, Trump is actually a horrible candidate. One of the very worst ever.
But as I was beginning to write that section, my friend[Name 2 Redacted] shared this article (www.patheos.com/blogs/eidos/2016/07/a-good-man-justifies-a-wicked-deed-grudem-on-trump/) with me which does a really great job of making that case. So read it instead.
And don’t vote for Trump.
#NeverTrump
EDIT: Some final points in regards to Supreme Court nominees.
1) I don’t trust Trump to actually nominate conservatives. Even Bush I nominated David Souter, and Bush I was a principled, experienced Republican. If Trump wins, he’s going to nominate whoever’s best for Trump. Period.
2) The congress has to confirm whoever is nominated, and the GOP controls congress.
3) I’m long past believing the best thing for the church is to vote for terrible men on the hope that the church will be spared persecution. Read your Bible, people.