It’s been a frequently cited reason for many Christians who have deconstructed their faith and left the church. They say they simply cannot abide a religion whose adherents would endorse a man like Donald Trump. If the vast majority of Christians support him, then it can only mean that Christianity is a false religion.
For the sake of this argument, let’s assume that the worst things the Left says about Trump are true, that he is a racist and a fascist who is a threat to American democracy. If all these things are true, how could Christians embrace such a terrible man?
Well, Christianity teaches that we are all sinners. I’m not crazy about this particular word, but I don’t disagree with it. We are all indeed deeply flawed individuals.
This includes all Christians. Becoming a Christian does not automatically transform you into a saint. But the Left is always quick to suggest that Christians, because they preach morality, should be saints themselves. And because Christians are not saints, they are hypocrites and therefore should be disqualified from preaching the Gospel. It’s a clever argument, but a dishonest one.
Again, the truth is that Christians, like everyone else, are deeply flawed. Considering this, why wouldn’t they make errors in judgment from time to time? Why wouldn’t they be susceptible to being deceived or duped?
But even if it’s true that evangelical Christians were duped by Trump, how would that prove that Jesus Christ was not divine? How would that invalidate the teachings of the Gospels? How would that make Christianity a false religion?
It would not.
The truth is that Christianity teaches us to live by a very high standard:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
Sadly, all Christians fail to meet this standard. However, this does not mean that the religion is false. It does not mean the standard is bad and should be thrown out. Yet this is what so many on the Left would have us do. Throwing away high standards simply because they are difficult to meet is the surest way to send a society into decline, which is exactly what has been happening for the past several decades.
Christianity is about accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and following his teachings as told in the Gospels. The moral actions of other Christians are ultimately irrelevant regarding this. Yes, from the very beginning, there have been Christians who have been cruel and unkind. But it doesn’t matter, because true strength comes from Christ, not other Christians. To blame Christianity for the flaws of your fellow Christians makes little sense because Christianity does not make people flawed. They were already flawed to begin with. Bottom line, Christ should always be the focus. Christ is ultimately what matters. Therefore, to walk away from Jesus Christ and the religion he founded just because you have issues with other Christians would seem to be a very foolish move.
When voting for the President of the United States, no candidate will ever be the perfect choice. So you are usually voting for the least-worst candidate who can win. This is key. Of all the Republicans who ran for President in 2016, Trump was sadly the only candidate who could have won the general election. I’ve always thought that this reflected far worse on the country as a whole than it did on the Christians who voted for him.
It is important to remember that in 2016, the ideological direction of the Supreme Court was on the line due to the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. For many Christians, this was their main justification for voting for Trump. If the Left had ever gotten control over the court, our religious freedom would have been severely curtailed. Whatever Trump’s faults, Christians knew that he would protect them. They had no such faith in Hilary Clinton (especially after her comments that half of Trump’s supporters were “deplorables”).
In conclusion, many Christians weren’t so much voting for Trump as they were voting against the Left (this was also true in 2024). If the Left had not been so intolerant of religion and religious freedom, Hilary Clinton might very well have won, and Trump would be little more than a footnote in American political history.
So, for all those who cannot fathom how any good Christian could have voted for Donald Trump, there is your answer.
For the sake of this argument, let’s assume that the worst things the Left says about Trump are true, that he is a racist and a fascist who is a threat to American democracy. If all these things are true, how could Christians embrace such a terrible man?
Well, Christianity teaches that we are all sinners. I’m not crazy about this particular word, but I don’t disagree with it. We are all indeed deeply flawed individuals.
This includes all Christians. Becoming a Christian does not automatically transform you into a saint. But the Left is always quick to suggest that Christians, because they preach morality, should be saints themselves. And because Christians are not saints, they are hypocrites and therefore should be disqualified from preaching the Gospel. It’s a clever argument, but a dishonest one.
Again, the truth is that Christians, like everyone else, are deeply flawed. Considering this, why wouldn’t they make errors in judgment from time to time? Why wouldn’t they be susceptible to being deceived or duped?
But even if it’s true that evangelical Christians were duped by Trump, how would that prove that Jesus Christ was not divine? How would that invalidate the teachings of the Gospels? How would that make Christianity a false religion?
It would not.
The truth is that Christianity teaches us to live by a very high standard:
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:48)
Sadly, all Christians fail to meet this standard. However, this does not mean that the religion is false. It does not mean the standard is bad and should be thrown out. Yet this is what so many on the Left would have us do. Throwing away high standards simply because they are difficult to meet is the surest way to send a society into decline, which is exactly what has been happening for the past several decades.
Christianity is about accepting Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior and following his teachings as told in the Gospels. The moral actions of other Christians are ultimately irrelevant regarding this. Yes, from the very beginning, there have been Christians who have been cruel and unkind. But it doesn’t matter, because true strength comes from Christ, not other Christians. To blame Christianity for the flaws of your fellow Christians makes little sense because Christianity does not make people flawed. They were already flawed to begin with. Bottom line, Christ should always be the focus. Christ is ultimately what matters. Therefore, to walk away from Jesus Christ and the religion he founded just because you have issues with other Christians would seem to be a very foolish move.
When voting for the President of the United States, no candidate will ever be the perfect choice. So you are usually voting for the least-worst candidate who can win. This is key. Of all the Republicans who ran for President in 2016, Trump was sadly the only candidate who could have won the general election. I’ve always thought that this reflected far worse on the country as a whole than it did on the Christians who voted for him.
It is important to remember that in 2016, the ideological direction of the Supreme Court was on the line due to the death of conservative justice Antonin Scalia. For many Christians, this was their main justification for voting for Trump. If the Left had ever gotten control over the court, our religious freedom would have been severely curtailed. Whatever Trump’s faults, Christians knew that he would protect them. They had no such faith in Hilary Clinton (especially after her comments that half of Trump’s supporters were “deplorables”).
In conclusion, many Christians weren’t so much voting for Trump as they were voting against the Left (this was also true in 2024). If the Left had not been so intolerant of religion and religious freedom, Hilary Clinton might very well have won, and Trump would be little more than a footnote in American political history.
So, for all those who cannot fathom how any good Christian could have voted for Donald Trump, there is your answer.