The Trump/Graham Problem
Oh Lord, kum bay ya!
In the epilogue of my recently published book, Promise of Better Days, – as one who
attends church and Sunday school regularly – I commented on the “shifting
Christian ethos – of the last several decades burdened with politics” and some
causes of lower church attendance. Franklin Graham has been at the front of
this political/Christian misfortune, which continues to harm Christianity. In
my opinion, this is one of the reasons Christian disenchantment has increased
over recent decades, leaving church pews sparsely filled most Sundays.
Graham
claims that God by the prayer of Christians elected Donald Trump, who said
while waving the bible, “‘I’m a true believer. And you’re many
true believers — I hope all — is everybody a true believer in this room? I
think so. But Christianity is under tremendous siege, Trump told supporters at
Dordt College, a Christian liberal-arts school.” Among other patronizing
comments, he said, “I’ll tell you one thing: I get elected president, we’re
going to be saying ‘Merry Christmas’ again. [Extolling the faux Christian war] Just
remember that,” he said. “And by the way, Christianity will have power….” So,
was it Christians who elected Trump – or not?
As most families, I have close
members on both ends of the political spectrum. Even though we may disagree,
with reasonable open minds and respectful discourse we should be able to talk
and write about important issues facing our nation. Until we can do so, we
can’t expect the same from our representatives. Donald Trump was elected
President of the United States: by an electoral majority, in part, rendered by those
who could not vote for a flawed competitor (partly earned, but moreover by
conspiratorial politics over more than a quarter century – unfairly to a demoralization).
Politics is about building a certain perception of the candidate, whether
fairly or not. The perception of many
different factions, including some “Reagan Democrats,” turned the tide in
this election.
Nevertheless,
I believe, we must try to find some hope in Trump’s presidency. In past years
he wavered between party affiliations. Meanwhile, “a building base of support”
sweltered in the Republican Party, metastasizing –ideally and timely – for his Machiavellian
run as a Populist candidate: Executed precisely by betting on false innuendos, invective
irresponsible-rhetoric, and volumes of conspiracy theories propagated by
Stephen Bannan’s Brietbart and others, including a major one Trump manufactured
himself: “Birtherism” of President Obama. In an article August 2016, 72% of registered
Republicans polled gave credence to this falsehood. In spite of Trump’s amoral
rhetoric, as a possible ideologue, he does not appear resolute in a particular
philosophy: i.e. now accepting key parts of Obama Care. Democrats will push
back where they must. But, I trust, they will not take the “low road” of
Mitch McConnell’s cabal: “everything Obama” (2008-09 extended a full eight
years) to be blocked. For the good of America, Democrats should join
Republicans in infrastructure projects and other areas, i.e. ensuring full coverage
of lower-cost healthcare – along with other shared “common cause,” such as
addressing problems of the National penal system.
Back
to the main point: “The Big Problem” shared by Trump and others of the Christian
profession. LEADERSHIP! While at the polls on election-day, a Christian GOP‘er
expressed her view of Hillary Clinton to be only a “pseudo Christian.” (Don’t
know what John Wesley would have said of this judgment.) To rate Trump on a
Christian scale, any “lower or higher,” I’ll leave to a higher authority. But I
believe – as many Christians – Trump wasted his “moral authority” – assuming he
had some – on the “throw-away lines,” despicable rhetoric of lies, and
unfathomable promises. Several prominent, true conservatives such as Lindsey
Graham, John Kasich, Governor of Ohio, and Erick Erickson, Editor of TheResurgent.com,
staunchly rejected Trump on moral grounds. Writing in the Washington Post “Here’s what I decided after pastors begged me to reconsider
my Never Trump stance”: Erickson said, “…
I think Donald Trump will do lasting damage to the witness of the church….” “I
am without a candidate. I will not harm my witness nor risk Trump’s soul to
serve my political desires.” And that was a concern, now inerasable, from many
Christian minds and ethical people. Trump “sold his soul to the devil” to get
on the throne or whatever it was he was seeking. There was a willingness – by many people – to
ignore personal decency and fair treatment towards people who are different or
not. Therein will remain a problem for many people, who are rightly
upset, primarily, by “the way” he got there and frightened by his
un-predictableness.
For
mainstream country to find any unanimity with him, “he must own his problem.”
Can he turn it around? Not on a dime, maybe a millions acres. As a Deist
Christian, I believe in redemption, grace, and Jesus as an incomparable great
moral teacher. But it has to be Trump who “is overcome” in a solemn contriteness
for an unconscionable great sin, such as with Bill Clinton when he met with pastors
after his indiscretions. Trump must not only disavow the alt-right, groups that
now find it safe to hate. At a minimum he must show some sincere remorse,
otherwise, he has betrayed Christianity and all its moral precepts. At this
beginning of a new administration, I question, if only then, is there hope, at
least, for some semblance of harmony in our nation. Can you ask people of
sincere faith to move forward with anything less?
That
moment of truth cannot come through Christians such as Franklin Graham. Undeniably,
Graham’s team does much good work throughout the nation and world, but he was a
primary leader of many pastors who undermined Christianity’s moral teachings
for their own political desires. If Graham had followed the counsel – valuable
lessons learned – of his father Billy Graham – he would possibly be of an esteemed
pastor status. I have followed Billy Graham since his ministry’s founding days,
which included an article I read in the 1950s that recalled him “practicing
sermon delivery” as a young man while standing on a tree stump deep in the
woods. Graham’s thoughtful introspection of the recent past years, however,
changed him, as revealed in an interview of 2006:
Billy Graham no longer has any use
for politics, says Jon Meacham in Newsweek. For more than 50 years, America's
most famous evangelical preacher has been spreading the Gospel to millions of
people on six continents; along the way, he's ensnared himself in a series of
political controversies. "Only when Christ comes again will the little
white children of Alabama walk hand in hand with little black children,"
he said after the March on Washington in 1963. During the war in Vietnam,
Graham lent his support to President Richard Nixon, only to get caught on White
House tapes exchanging anti-Semitic remarks with the president. But now that
he's 87, Graham is distancing himself from those who mix Christianity with
conservative politics. He's come to believe, for example, that the Bible is
open to honest interpretation. "I'm not a literalist in the sense that
every single jot and tittle is from the Lord. Sincere Christians can disagree
about the details of Scripture and theology-absolutely." Though his own
son has called Muslims "wicked" and "evil," Graham
disagrees. "I would not say Islam is wicked and evil. I have a lot of
friends who are Islamic. I have a great love for them." Graham's fiery
certainty has given way to humility; when asked if he believes heaven is closed
to non-Christians, he demurs. "Those are decisions only the Lord will
make. I believe the love of God is absolute. He said he gave his son for the
whole world, and I think he loves everybody regardless of what label they
have."
And now we must “rebuild a Nation” on
higher moral ground: “To make it whole again,” if that’s possible. That
requires respect and kindness, forgoing vindictive language, and giving those
who lament plenty of space. We owe it to a large portion of young millennials
and a generation of wise and older citizens attuned to Bernie Sanders’s message.
Now they march the streets: Not necessarily to “take back” a country, but to
express genuine despair over irrevocable moral deterioration that will be hard
to move beyond. Some outliers are troublesome, as we’ve seen before. Short
memory: The Tea Party, when Obama came in office, staged live televised events
organized by different conservative organizations; fueled by the press, cable
TV networks, most notably Fox News. A local radio station’s owner/operator
commentator, in March 2009, along with the local sheriff opened the program
with “We will ‘take back’ our country.” McConnell’s group would guarantee it with the help
of ultra right-wing outlets, such as Alex Jones, the most insanely
conspiratorial of all.
As Will Rogers said, “I’m not a
member of an organized political party, I’m a Democrat.” So maybe that’s where
we’re falling short – to give those defeated by a “mortifying campaign” an
organized venue for their expressions. Without doubt, we should be more concerned
about the alt-right. David Milbank writes in The Washington Post: Trump
has been emboldening the hateful for some time. The FBI just reported
a 67 percent increase in
hate crimes against Muslims last year, part of a 7 percent overall rise in hate
crimes. Since the election, the Anti-Defamation League has seen a proliferation
of racist and anti-Semitic vandalism, and the Southern Poverty Law
Center has received allegations of more than 400 instances of
hate-based intimidation and harassment. The white supremacists have generally
celebrated Trump’s triumph, with David Duke boasting that
“our people have played a HUGE role in electing Trump!” and the head of the
neo-Nazi site Daily Stormer bragged that “we did this.”
Can we find a clear way out of the “immoral,
rhetorical swamp”? Will moral Christians help lead the way? (Religion by no
means owns morality.) Of help, would be defusing insidious, faux cultural-wars,
such as Christianity being under “tremendous siege” and using so-called “non-political
correctness” as “a licenses to excoriate people” of different opinion. Such was
the modus operandi of Trump, echoing others, some of the Christian faith. If
the church continues in an ethic-slippery descent – mixing corrupt politics
with religion – a failure in moral clarity – it will not be because of
liberals, progressives, libertarians, conservatives, or neoconservatives. It
will be because “Christians fail to be Christian.”
Yes, I still have hope, that the world
can be a better place. Based on the promises of President-elect Donald Trump,
his many different support factions will expect many different kinds of change.
Policy change can be risky business politically. There will be much
disappointment, inside fighting, and I speculate, much “buyers remorse.” So,
everyone hold on!
Meanwhile those of use who are of
different religious faiths will continue going to church, synagogue, or mosque.
We’ll stand by the red Army kettles; we’ll say, “Merry Christmas” or if one so
chooses, Christian or not, will say “Happy Holidays,” it does not matter. That
person may be of a different faith or of no affiliation, but they serve
mankind; their moral values may be of higher standard than yours or mine.
When Christians “reclaim” (not just
claim) Jesus (Lord)
as the incomparably great moral teacher, only with “moral authority” can the
church claim legitimate Christian leadership. We often hear “God is in control,”
“God did this or that”! God only set the
universe in motion. God is only in control on this planet by “mortal men
and women” that “The Supreme Creator” has given free reign. Absent “The Golden
Rule,” Ethics of Reciprocity, the moral codes of all traditional faiths, and
many with no connection, God’s free-reign people, of this nation and earth,
have a choice: “secure it” or “blow it up.”
Oh, Lord, Come By Here!
