I am stunned by the strong support for Mr. Trump within the “evangelical” church that no longer speaks for me as a Christian as long as the term continues to have the perverted connotations of the past decade.
Mr. Trump is coming courting; he wants our daughter’s hand in marriage. We as parents must decide. We must judge his worthiness to marry Miss America. We’ve just met him at the door and are standing back, watching, listening. Is this man a decent, kind, honest and caring partner for someone we love so dearly?
We can’t know Mr. Trump’s heart. Only God knows. But as parents of the would-be bride, we judge him by his words and actions. They will tell us the side of the tracks the suitor comes from. They will show how much love and honor are in his heart.
And will they tell us that this is the kind of guy we would have been pleased and proud for our only daughter to climb in bed with? Does he pass the “decency” test as Christian author and teacher Max Lucado describes it? Here’s some of what he has to say….
“We appreciate decency. We applaud decency. We teach decency. We seek to develop decency. Decency matters, right?
Then why isn’t decency doing better in the presidential race?
The leading Republican candidate to be the next leader of the free world would not pass my decency interview. I’d send him away. I’d tell my daughter to stay home. I wouldn’t entrust her to his care.
I don’t know Mr. Trump. But I’ve been chagrined at his antics. He ridiculed a war hero. He made a mockery of a reporter’s menstrual cycle. He made fun of a disabled reporter. He referred to the former first lady, Barbara Bush as “mommy,” and belittled Jeb Bush for bringing her on the campaign trail. He routinely calls people “stupid,” and “dummy. One writer catalogued sixty-four occasions that he called someone “loser. These were not off-line, backstage, overheard, not-to-be-repeated comments. They were publicly and intentionally tweeted, recorded, and presented.”
And now, millions of us are prepared to let such a man become the voice and face of the nation. His middle-finger diplomacy, hate-fueled bigotry and general disregard and disrespect for all our symbolic daughters is the package we will get.
And that is just downright indecent.
Decency for President – Max Lucado
Go Fred! What also concerns me is that Trump’s followers say he expresses what most people are thinking. Then do we ALL lack decency?
And Clinton, the only alternative that has any chance of being elected, is a proven, chronic liar, peddles government influence for immense personal gain, enables sexual misconduct on the part of her husband, and describes half of Trump supporters as being “Deplorables,” yet she seeks to be a President who serves all Americans (at least that’s the theory) and a respected world leader. Where’s the decency in all that? No thank you.
If our choices are between (1) a candidate who makes no pretense to be statesmanly, respectful, courteous or in any way diplomatic and is willfully and aggressively indecent and (2) one who successfully pretends to be those things to world leaders, I choose door number 2 but without enthusiasm or satisfaction.
And I don’t know many people on either side of the aisle who are happy with those choices. Nor should we be.
Regardless of the winner, it falls on the winning party to keep their president accountable, responsible, intelligent, articulate and honorable to all they serve.
Is this a matter of choosing the lesser evil? Personally, I would rather NOT votes at all or vote for a third party candidate. Both Trump and Clinton scare me as to their potential for destroying our democratic republic in four to eight years. NO! I wouldn’t want my daughter to marry Trump, nor would I allow Clinton to baby-sit my children. I don’t trust either one.
Clarence, it seems to me the only way I would vote third party or not at all was if I believed that thee was no difference in the two party candidates with regard to the potential damage to national diplomacy, integrity, reputation and security. Then it wouldn’t make a difference, But if you’re afraid of dire and near-term consequences of one choice and only loathe making the other, then most will vote against what they perceive as the most dangerous choice.
As a Canadian, watching from the sidelines with fear and horror, I wonder what I would do if I was in a position to vote this November. After 2 seconds of deep thought, I choose Mrs. Clinton above not voting, or throwing my vote away on a third party candidate. I don’t love her, but she is clearly sane and will do a better job than a madman. Come on, people! A vote is a precious privilege, and a serious responsibility!
I appreciate your thoughtful post, Fred. The narrative of this election seems to be “choose the lesser of two evils” and then it somehow seems hard for people to choose, but I think this article below sums it up pretty easily. I don’t love the tone or the language of the piece, but I do appreciate the vast (and factual) differences outlined between the candidates: https://thecontrarianblogger.com/2016/08/24/the-morons-case-for-hillary-clinton-because-some-of-you-really-are-that-stupid/
As with many decisions in life, when voting there is a practical approach and a principled approach. Our political system presents us with two candidates, and if you don’t care for either the practical thing to do is vote for the lesser of two evils. But what to do if the two evils are, well, too evil? From a principle point of view, each person should vote for the person they truly want to be president without regard for the probability of winning. As for “throwing your vote away”, let’s face it, no president is elected by one vote, so all individual votes are meaningless. It is only the collective opinion that matters.
I have always voted for the lesser of two evils, but this will be the first year I make an exception. I don’t want to see either of these candidates leading our country, and in principle I can’t say I do by voting for one. At the same time, out of principle I feel it is important to vote. So in 2016 I will use for the first time my option to write in a candidate that I feel is best qualified to lead and protect our nation. In reality I realize that either the slick politician or the clown will actually win, but at least when they screw things up I can say I didn’t vote for them!