Recently, I found myself arguing for the reelection of Donald Trump with a couple of fellows who are solid Christians. I'm often in agreement with them, at least more often than not. On the subject of Trump, not so much. It seems neither of them are any more likely to vote for Trump in November than they were in Nov of 2016, which is to say, they didn't vote for him in Nov of 2016.
They weren't the only ones, of course. There's another who didn't vote for him and to all three, I offered reasons why I felt their decision was incredibly poor as well as contrary to what they should have done (in my humble opinion) as Christians. Before going any further, I must make clear that I do not in any way consider their objections to Trump on par with those of, say, an idiot like Dan Trabue, whose claims of following Christ I find not only false, but highly objectionable. The three about whom I speak are actually Christian men.
Rather than revisit my arguments, I instead have decided to offer the arguments of others who might hold some sway.
The first is Ralph Reed. Reed has a new book out: "For God And Country: The Christian Case For Trump" in which he attempts to make the case that Trump "has been the most ardent and effective presidential defender of
religious liberty and the pro-life cause since Ronald Reagan—and perhaps
in U.S. history." (from the Amazon description of the book)
"In For God and Country, Reed reveals:
-The sincerity of President Trump’s defense of the Christian faith—and why he has delivered policy victories when other pro-Christian presidents haven’t
-Why Trump is the most pro-Israel president in American history
-How liberals hope to demoralize Christians—and thus defeat Donald Trump and reverse his pro-life, pro-family, pro–religious freedom policies
-Why Never-Trump Christians naively preach de facto political surrender"
This last point I might argue against. Rather, I would say that it is the consequence of not supporting Trump's presidency, though it might not factor into a defense of Trump for the purpose of convincing the three in question. Indeed, the surrender if far worse than merely political.
Personally, I only know of Reed in a mostly political sense despite his connection to the Christian Coalition and the like. And I haven't read the book. I felt the mere fact that the book is out there indicates there are others of note who are making the case from a Christian perspective. More compelling in that regard are the next two, beginning with Albert Mohler.
Mohler was really against Trump the first time around. He stated the very reasons many of us balked at the idea of a Trump presidency and like the three in question, he followed through by opposing his campaign in 2016. But since then, he's come around for the reasons I felt were legitimate back then, and are very much more important now. What follows are two links about his change of heart:
https://www.newyorker.com/news/q-and-a/how-the-head-of-the-southern-baptist-theological-seminary-came-around-to-trump
https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2020/04/16/souther-baptist-albert-mohler-to-vote-trump/
Finally, there's Wayne Grudem. Grudem also had less than a favorable opinion of Trump back in 2016, though I don't recall if he said he voted for him or not. I wanna say he did, but don't quote me. In any case, he does indeed support him now and recently presented his case to a Christian friend in a letter that appeared at Townhall.com. The link below is from American Thinker.com, but it contains a link to the letter within it. The AT article is worth a read as well, but the letter is definitely essential for its detailed argument. I like how Grudem refers to one's vote as a package deal, as that is truly how it must be regarded. He also speaks to the point I made regarding the folly of third party voting.
https://townhall.com/columnists/waynegrudem/2020/08/08/letter-to-an-antitrump-christian-friend-n2573909
All in all, the Christian move is indeed to vote for Trump. Given the choices that matter, it's the only choice one has as a Christian who cares about his fellow man.
UPDATE: Originally, I neglected the link to the Wayne Grudem argument. Sorry.
