Monday, October 10, 2016

Evangelicals against the GOP nominee


Thank you to Andy Crouch, editor of Christianity Today magazine, for speaking out strongly against dt today in his Where We Stand article, "Speak Truth to Trump."

His words make me proud to say I once worked for CT as a summer intern in 1970 and 1971, continuing as a stringer for several years thereafter.

"In these closing weeks before the election, all American Christians should repent, fast, and pray—no matter how we vote," he writes--an excellent idea.

We have made many mistakes as a nation and as individuals.  Tomorrow is Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of repentance and reflection for the coming year.  I will join in repenting this October rather than relishing the collapse of dt's campaign.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2016/october-web-only/speak-truth-to-trump.html

Of course, he includes a paragraph of critique against Hillary Rodham Clinton in order to balance his statement.

I don't agree that "several of the Democratic candidate’s policy positions are so manifestly incompatible with Christian reverence for the lives of the most vulnerable."  He's referring to her pro-choice position, which actually shows a lot of reverence for the lives of women who find themselves pregnant and unable to welcome a child--often another child.  

Surely these women are among "the most vulnerable."

I guess he's not classing immigrants, refugees, African-Americans and other minorities as among "the most vulnerable."  Hillary Rodham Clinton's policies show a lot of reverence for these people.

He couldn't be referring to her support of affordable health care, which shows lots of reverence for the health and well-being of "the most vulnerable."

What does Crouch mean when he says "her party is so demonstrably hostile to expressions of traditional Christian faith"?  

Her vice presidential running mate is a devout Catholic.  She has been a strong Methodist all her life. Many Democrats, like me, are evangelicals and Christians of other types.  

He must mean something by "traditional Christian faith" that I can't understand.  People against gay marriage?  That's not in the Nicene creed or the Apostles' Creed.  The Trinity, Jesus as redeeming us from our sin--that's traditional Christianity.

In his analysis of dt, however, Crouch is sharply accurate.

"He is, in short, the very embodiment of what the Bible calls a fool," Crouch says, citing ways in which dt is an idolator: "He has given no evidence of humility or dependence on others, let alone on God his Maker and Judge. He wantonly celebrates strongmen and takes every opportunity to humiliate and demean the vulnerable."

Most importantly, Crouch calls out dt on his "defiance of God’s manifest concern for the stranger, the widow, the orphan, and the oppressed"--a central theme of both the Hebrew Scriptures and the Gospels.

Immigrants, people of color trying to rent apartments, women trying to retain dignity in the face of sexual assault--these are the vulnerable whom dt has humiliated and demeaned.

Many people were tweeting and retweeting Crouch's stinging condemnation today.  After three months of wondering why evangelicals like Mike Pence are supporting this nominee, my faith in born-again Christians has been renewed.

It's also good to see Karen Swallow Prior's article on the CT website against the notion that "locker room talk" is an acceptable excuse for any and all misogyny.

http://www.christianitytoday.com/women/2016/october/call-out-locker-room-talk-for-sin-it-is.html

Christianity today faces many challenges; it's good to see this magazine come out swinging against the Republican nominee.








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