Over the past day, I’ve read of couple of posts whose ideas resonated together. The first was by David French over at NRO. The second was by Sarah Hoyt at According to Hoyt.
French’s piece, Franklin Graham and the High Cost of the Lost Evangelical Witness, takes Billy Graham’s son to task for having a double standard with respect to presidential morals. Graham spoke out against what he saw as Bill Clinton’s moral lapses 1998, but in 2018 called “this thing with Stormy Daniels and so forth … nobody’s business.” Yet, he’s recently called out Pete Buttigieg, tweeting, “As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as a sin, something not to be flaunted, praised or politicized.” French (and I) see Graham as inconsistent, and he (and I) see such inconsistency as the sort of hypocrisy that blunts the Church’s witness to the world.
The proper Evangelical position toward any president is not hard to articulate, though it is exceedingly difficult to hold to, especially in polarized times when one party seems set on limiting religious liberty and zealously defending abortion: We should pray for presidents, critique them when they’re wrong, praise them when they’re right, and never, ever impose partisan double standards. We can’t ever forget the importance of character, the necessity of our own integrity, and the power of the prophetic witness.
Read the whole thing.
This tweet from The Babylon Bee is a proper, if humorous, response to some Christian’s acceptance to Donald Trump’s sexual behavior.
FWIW, I didn’t support Trump in 2016, he hasn’t been an ideal president, but I believe that he’s done better that Hillary Clinton would have. That brings me to Sarah Hoyt’s post, We SEE You. She writes,
Years ago, I told a friend that I voted Republican, not because they were that much better than the Democrats, but because the press hated them and would keep an eye on them, while the left got a complete pass, which meant they could get crazier and crazier.
Christians on the Right shouldn’t fall in to the same trap that has caught so many folks on the Left. We need to shine the light of Truth rather that avert it because of worldly political convenience. Hoyt continues,
The deeds done in dark? Shout them from the rooftops. Do not give the left their presumption of good, or even of good intentions.
Read all of this one too.
I’ll add that the Right is not entitled to any presumption of good either. The Truth is out there.
Sarah writes some good stuff.
I think the issue is that many Christians see Trump as being the only one actually pushing back effectively on the Left’s anti-Christian program.
Also, every time the left opens their mouths, the Orange Overlord with the morals of an alley-cat looks like a saint in comparison.
https://www.breitbart.com/the-media/2019/04/26/nolte-national-review-condemns-franklin-graham-as-a-bad-christian/
As a man of no religion whatsoever, I have no dog in the who’s a better Christian fight, but Nolte’s position strikes me as far better thought out, and argued.
There has never been, and never will be, an “ideal” president. He has done better on myriad issues than anyone else running for POTUS would have, and under incredible odds.
You are overlooking a few key points here. The first issue is that Bill Clinton engaged in sex with a young intern in the White House while he was in office. Trump’s numerous sexual failings pre-date his time in office. President Clinton received oral sex in a government building, during business hours while he was in office. None of that appears to be the case for President Trump.
That doesn’t make Trump’s behavior any more moral or Buttegieg’s any less so. The White House isn’t God’s house.
Alas, reading comprehension doesn’t seem to be your strong suit. Go back and read what I said. I didn’t defend or excuse Trump. I did point out a significant difference in the events.
There seems to be an ever increasing tendency to argue points that weren’t made. The internet would be a better place if people actually replied to what was said.
I read John’s post, to which you were replying, which is largely about the relative morality of the various acts in question. It’s not all about you, dude.
Then you pointed out that Trump acted like an alley cat outside the Oval Office rather than in it. That would be a defense of Trump.
Like I said, reading comprehension doesn’t seem to be your strong suit. Go back and read what I wrote. You’ll find that I stated there were differences but I offered no defense of Trump. But maybe “numerous sexual failings” means something different to you.
Again, it helps every so much to reply to what I actually said.
Then what was your reason for pointing out that Trump’s behavior predated his time in office? You said it was a “key point.” Why is a key point?
You wrote clearly enough. Your indignation is what doesn’t make any sense.
This misses the larger point that Bill Clinton raped Juanita Broddrick, biting her lip between his teeth so that she could not scream out for help, and, after raping her, casually suggests that she put some ice on her swollen and bloody lip. If we live in a just universe, Bill Clinton will go to hell for that one act. Other women also report being raped by Bill Clinton. Equating Bill Clinton and Donald Trump as two philanders is simply a disservice to the truth.
David French is doing exactly what he denounces: corrupting Christianity allegedly in order to purify it. Christianity posits a church that has as its primary motive reconciling the individual with God, preparing him for final judgment, etc. Christianity does not exist to settle a political score. Thy shall not bear false witness is God’s Commandment. Hoist your enemies on their own petard is one of Saul Alinsky’s rules for radicals. Good Christians are good Christians because they believe in God, his Word and his Plan. Good Christians to David French are folks who join him in his obsessive quest to get Donald Trump, and, bad Christians are anyone who refuses to join him.
Imagine if the big asteroid struck tomorrow. Does any rational person really believe that God will cast Franklin Graham into Hell because of his remarks about Donald Trump and admit mayor Pete for promoting sodomy?
Everything David French said about Donald Trump either turned out not to be true, or, was known to David French to not be true at the time he said it, except for Trump’s affairs in the intermediate past.. Instead of having the introspection to admit that he was wrong, David French has opted for an alternate reality in which he is the keeper of the public morals and defender of the true faith.
If David French is really so interested in purity, may I suggest he put his alleged conservative principles before the donations of liberal billionaires.