The Faith and
Freedom Coalition’s Road to Majority 2016 gathering in Washington, D.C., was
held last weekend. I attended that meeting on Friday, and among the speakers
was a man you may have heard of: Donald Trump.
You may have
even heard or read about that meeting and Trump’s speech there. Among other
things, he was interrupted by some protesters, led by Medea Benjamin of Code
Pink. (I mentioned her in a blog article back in Nov. 2012; see this link. Here is a
link showing what happened on 6/10.)
The Faith and
Freedom (F&F) Coalition was founded by Ralph E. Reed, Jr., in 2009. Reed
was also the founder executive director of the now defunct Christian Coalition
of America in 1989.
This was the
second F&F meeting I have attended, and I wrote about my 2011 visit here. This
year’s seemed to be a smaller and less significant meeting than the one five
years ago—and this one was co-sponsored by Concerned Women for America, the
conservative Christian organization founded by Beverly LaHaye in 1979.
At the “gala
dinner” on Saturday evening (which I did not attend for more reasons than one),
Mrs. LaHaye, whom I imagine doesn’t want to be called Ms., was awarded the 2016 F&F’s Lifetime Achievement Award. Dr.
Ben Carson delivered the after dinner keynote address.
The first principle F&F mentions on its website is “Respect for the sanctity and dignity of life, family, and
marriage as the foundations of a free society.” The most common emphases at
last week’s meeting was the need to oppose abortion and same-sex marriage—and the
use of cross-gender bathrooms by transgender people.
(In his
speech on Friday morning, Rep. Louis Gohmert of Texas spoke mostly about the
transgender issue—repeatedly saying that transgenderism is a “mental disorder.”)
To his
credit, near the beginning of his speech Reed said, “We are Christians first,
Americans second, and members of a political party third.” But before he
finished it was quite obvious that he thought for patriotic Americans being a
Christian and being a Republican were pretty much the same thing.
Reed, who is
an excellent speaker and a skillful executive, emphasized that this election is
a fight between good and evil. Abortion was his first example of the latter.
The second evil he railed against was gay marriage.
He urged support
of Trump because of these two issues—and because of the upcoming SCOTUS justice
appointment.
Reed then
praised “imperfect people who will work for God’s will to be done.” That idea
is highlighted in an online article I
recommend: “A Theological Case for Low Expectations.”
Another article,
also worth reading, is “Conservative Christian Women Confront Their Doubts on Trump.”
The latter
article explains why many conservative Christians are hesitant to vote for
Trump. But I am quite confident in predicting that most of them, with perhaps
the exception of those who are quite young, will end up voting for him.
Or perhaps
it is more accurate to say that they will vote against Hillary and for Trump’s
party. They may not like Trump or know if they can trust him, but they know
they can trust Hillary—to do the wrong thing.
Hillary will
clearly do the wrong thing in their eyes on abortion since she is clearly
pro-choice. She will clearly do the wrong thing regarding same-sex marriage and
LBGT rights.
If those are two of the greatest evils in the country, as was repeatedly emphasized at the F&F meeting, how could conservative Christians not vote for Trump?
If those are two of the greatest evils in the country, as was repeatedly emphasized at the F&F meeting, how could conservative Christians not vote for Trump?
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Very sad.
ReplyDeleteAnton, I assume you meant that it is very sad that conservative Christians will most likely vote for Trump. I agree.
DeleteBut considering things from their point of view, they find it very sad that people would vote for a President who is in favor of "killing babies."
This article makes no reference to the horrendous Orlando shooting--although I did write some about the opposition of conservative Christians to same-sex marriage and, by extension to gay/lesbian rights. But since the article is about conservative Christians, I commend Christianity Today, the conservative Christian magazine, for the following statement they posted after the Orlando tragedy.
ReplyDelete"We at Christianity Today are deeply grieved by the shooting in Orlando that killed 49 people. Our heartfelt sympathies go out to friends and family of the victims. In this case, the attack was targeted at one group, and so our prayers go up for gays, lesbians, and other sexual minorities who now live with a heightened sense of fear. We are glad to hear of so many Christians, from many theological persuasions, reaching out to comfort them in their grief."
Sad to see politics driving Christianity. Left, right, center, and just about every angle. It will only lead to more division and animosity. So much for unity, peace, and love one another. Thankfully there are still a few who seek Christ first.
ReplyDeleteI do not see politics driving Christianity except in the case of the Republican Party and the Christian Right.
DeleteDo you have any example of any Christian group (such as the Faith and Freedom Coalition) who is aligned "hand in glove" with the Democratic Party or any other party?
Yes, but I will step out of the dialogue since it has been covered before. No need to promote more division.
DeleteThanks for this post & the links to the additional articles. I do think it is likely that more conservative Christians than usual will simply not vote in the fall, due to their discomfort with Trump and their distaste for Clinton. Of course, if Trump finds a running mate that can excite conservative Christians, that might energize the Christian Right vote.
ReplyDelete