For me, the decision to vote against reality television personality Donald Trump, and for Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, was an easy one. There was never really any doubt in my mind as to who I would be casting my ballot for. I can appreciate, however, that others, even some whom I consider to be my friends, are struggling with the decision for reasons that are personally very important to them. This is especially true for those who feel as though abortion is a sin, and have grown accustomed over the years to casting their votes for conservative candidates who, like Trump, promise to push so-called “pro-life” agendas. I don’t pretend to know how difficult it must be for people of faith to look beyond the subject of abortion and vote against the Republican candidate for President, but I found this recent Facebook post by my friend Billy Kangas, and the subsequent conversation it’s spawned, to be incredibly interesting. I’m heartened to see that these kinds of conversations are happening, and I’m proud of my friends, like Billy, who are opening themselves up to criticism by initiating dialogue like this.
Here, with Billy’s permission, is what he posted last night. Billy, I should add, is an anti-hunger activist, a liturgical theologian, and a graduate student at The Catholic University of America. [The above photo comes courtesy of Kate de Fuccio.]
To my christian friends who are voting for Trump. I know why you are doing it. You hate Abortion.
I know it’s an important issue… but I feel I have to say something.
But this pro-life only attitude has become dangerous. Not only for the nation and the world but even our souls.
It’s been used to cover such a multitude of sins.
It’s justified budgets that abuse the poor.
It’s justified supporting candidates who vote to cut food aid to the most vulnerable, those who support the death penalty, those who oppose the care of creation, those who close the door on the refugee, those who promote unjust wars, and those who refuse to take action to reform our immigration policy, gun laws, or work for racial reconciliation.
We accept politicians who ignore the 1 in 5 people in developing nations who are living in extreme poverty, or even worse, allow them to further abuse them through unjust trade deals, or unsustainable aid policies that are focused more on generating American wealth then on helping the needy in their distress.
These things are antithetical to the faith and we have sacrificed working on them just hoping that maybe this time the right judges will finally get appointed and overturn Roe V. Wade.
I have brought these issues up time and time again and have been told that until we overturn abortion these other issues are marginal and secondary.
We can’t keep going this way.
I want to challenge you. We are faced with a candidate who has time and time again demonstrated he’s got it wrong. He promotes a message that marginalizes the stranger, he denies care for creation, he values security over justice, and profits over mercy. He objectifies women and promotes a culture of masculinity of the most deplorable kind.
I do not want my children to grow up believing that this is what a leader in America looks like. I do not want the witness of the Church to be that the “end justifies the means.”
The end does not justify the means. Our message is freedom to the captives, food for the hungry, water for the thirsty, clothes for the naked, grace for the sinner, mercy to the debtor. Our means is the cross. The daily laying down of our lives.
Vote for this. I don’t care how you do it but vote for this.
#Voteforthegood
Grace and Peace….
28 Comments
Related, I just now read on Politico that, according to Ralph Reed, the founder and chairman of the Faith & Freedom Coalition, the just released 2005 audio of Trump confessing to sexual assault won’t likely deter anti-abortion voters from supporting the Republican candidate.
“I think it will have little or no impact. People of faith are voting on issues like who will protect unborn life, defend religious freedom, grow the economy, appoint conservative judges and oppose the Iran nuclear deal,” said Ralph Reed. “In their hierarchy of concerns, an 11-year-old tape of a private conversation with a talk show host on a tour bus ranks very low.”
Ralph Reed is lying. He knows very well it will impact the numbers. Everyone with even just a little bit of sense most likely knows that, and everybody with as much experience as he has in campaigning certainly knows it. But it’s a little white lie by his standards, and those are alright when they serve a more righteous cause.
There is no doubt this will result in a number of people deciding not to vote for Trump, and many of them will just not vote in the presidential race at all. The only question is how many will abandon him over this, and the answer is certainly more than 1% of the electorate. Watch the next round of polling from Florida. I bet Trumps support drops more than 5%.
Doubt it.
Most of the Trump supporters I know or are aware of are the diehard zealots like this fine woman profiled in a Chicago Tribune piece – http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-trump-true-believer-20161001-story.html
She probably laughed, pumped her first in joy, called those speaking out a bunch of whiny Libtards, and said those women Donald were talking about were probably a bunch of skanks and hoes who were asking for it.
Joe M., I wasn’t talking about the Trump supporters you know.
The people Trump is losing are the ones on the cusp. The only question is how many. I’m estimating it will be 5% or more damage in Florida, 2% or more in Ohio, and he’ll fall behind in Iowa now also.
Republican Officials Are Stampeding Away From Trump
http://fivethirtyeight.com/features/republican-officials-are-fleeing-trump-in-droves/
It’s a pretty broad generalization to equate “people of faith” with “pro-life” (and I use that term very loosely, given its extraordinarily narrow definition by self-proclaimed “Christians”). I’m a person of faith — a Catholic, even — and I have no qualms whatsoever about voting for Hillary Clinton. I’m also not at all conflicted in my support for access to abortion. We need to stop using the talking points of the right where “religion” = “anti-choice”.
“Doubt it,” Joe M?
Here are some folks I’ll mention by name who have abandoned Trump today:
Gov. Gary Herbert
Rep. Jason Chaffetz
Rep. Chris Stewart
Sen. Shelley Moore Capito of West Virginia
Sen. Deb Fischer of Nebraska
Sen. Dennis Dauggard of South Dakota
Sen. Kelly Ayotte of New Hampshire
Sen. Mike Crapo of Idaho
Sen. Jone Thune of South Dakota
Sen. Dan Sullivan of Alaska
Rep. Martha Roby
Rep. Bradley Byrne
Rep. Joe Heck
Rep. Cresent Hardy
Rep. Ann Wagner
Rep. Rodney Davis
Rep. Scott Garrett
And here are a couple of people who were apparently undecided before today:
Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Rep. Mia Love of Utah
So, I suppose you believe it’s only GOP Governors, Senators and US Representatives who are abandoning Trump over his comments. Does that make sense to you?
Point taken, Meghan. The “pro-life” set should not own descriptive terms like “people of faith” and “values voter.” There are, as you say, many religious people who are pro-choice. I’m sorry if I implied otherwise.
I think a lot of Republican officials were looking for an opportunity to distance themselves from The Donald. This is just a convenient excuse.
As for the hot polloi think, I spent quite a bit of time in the car today, listening to talk radio, and I was shocked by the number of women who defended his remarks. Really, I wasn’t expecting it. Also, I was surprised by the number of men who, after stating that it was completely beyond the pale, then went on to say that they still couldn’t support Clinton, as she was “just as bad.” It’s maddening.
Just as many tens of thousands of voters have been looking for an excuse as to how they’ll vote, Mark. This has damaged Trump severely, and is also going to damage republicans in close elections down the ticket.
The Clinton campaign coordinated to have this video/audio to be released now. It’s still early. We still have 30 days left. That means they have much worse stuff to have come out on Trump if his numbers begin to recover again.
They’re also testing how such releases play with the public. They’ll do it again at least two more times before election day, and the juiciest one will be timed to have the most impact on election eve.
Talk radio is a very filtered representation. The show hosts want those lunatics on the air, for a variety of reasons. Also, this isn’t about changing those lunatics minds. It’s about shocking the reasonable Republicans into abandoning Trump. They don’t have to vote for Clinton. That would just be icing on the cake in instances where it happens.
If they’re rolling this out on October 7th, I can’t wait to see what they have in store for three weeks from now.
Related:
“Top Evangelicals Stand By Trump After Crude Video Revelation”
Read more:
http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/top-evangelicals-stand-by-trump-after-crude-video-revelation
…and then there is this…
Federal Judge Orders Hearing in Donald Trump Rape Lawsuit
http://lawnewz.com/high-profile/federal-judge-orders-hearing-in-donald-trump-rape-lawsuit-case/
iRobert,
Bunch of no name party folks stepping back from Trump doesn’t matter. They’re not the names who matter and they’re irrelevant to Trump’s most fervent supporters that make up the bulk of his momentum.
However, if just 1-2% of the moderate all R voters step back from Trump because of this, that alone can be game over for him… If the election were tomorrow. Everyone will forget this with the next Clinton or Trump snafu.
McCain just withdrew his support.
And, Joe, you’re right when you say that the common people don’t care. But, when the party stops putting money in, that means that the ad buys stop, and he stops being invited to campaign in key swing states. So it does matter.
Yeah, bigger names have hopped on the bandwagon (or maybe more appropriately – dumpster fire) as the day has progressed. That’s an issue.
Again – until the next scandal just adds to the white noise and drones this problem out. I think we’ve all lost count of however many scandals Trump – and Clinton – have had this campaign season. It’s rather incredible and sad all at the same time.
Interesting.
Only a very small “values voters” are having these discussions. The vast majority are going to vote for the Groper because that’s just what they are going to do.
Samantha Bee had an excellent history of this – it was a deliberately chosen cause by evangelical folks as they were rejoining politics as a movement. I grew up Catholic (don’t practice but my family traditions mean I’ll always have one foot in, so to speak). There was/is plenty of variations amongst Catholics: there’s the social justice aspect (more under PJPII, less under Benedict, more under Francis), to say the least. Obviously some Catholics / parishes / idiots in higher levels of clergy try to push abortion as the one issue. And in certain countries they’re succeeding or attempting to (Poland, Ireland). But truth be told despite fear mongering about everyone following lock step with the Vatican, and very loud Uber conservative Catholics, there isn’t that one issue rallying many evangelical churches have. The one and only political issue I remember my local parish a) taking a firm stand on and B) encouraging from the pulpit was the death penalty (at the time and in retrospect, quite proud)
So, Joe M., you’ve worked on federal level campaigns in some capacity?
Quite a few members of the student body at Falwell’s Liberty University have apparently decided that they’ve had enough. Here the letter from the group Liberty United Against Trump.
Read more:
https://thewayofimprovement.com/2016/10/12/the-liberty-university-student-body-calls-out-falwell-jr/
Wow. Some sense out there.
“Associating any politician with Christianity is damaging to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. But Donald Trump is not just any politician. He has made his name by maligning others and bragging about his sins. Not only is Donald Trump a bad candidate for president, he is actively promoting the very things that we as Christians ought to oppose.”
Unbelievable (or maybe not) that our resident representative of Christianity feels to need to advocate for one of the most reprehensible public figures in the United States, by any measure.
Opposing Trump isn’t a matter of ideological difference, he is truly a bad person unfit for any leadership position.
Leadership requires compassion and compromise, two things that Mr. Trump does not have.
I was ideologically opposed to Romney, somewhat to McCain, and very much to the Bushes, but I never assumed that any of those people were inherently callous or self obsessed to a fault. Trump is simply an awful individual. It is astounding that people who claim to have a monopoly on morality would continue to claim to like such a person.
There are a lot of empty people out there.
an evangelical Trump supporter on FB gave me this response to a litany of Trumps abuses: “God used Samson and a jawbone of an ass to restore Israel. Samson was a womanizer, known for his hair, and didn’t drink alcohol. We will see.”
The rapture creates zero sum logic for fundamentalists Christians.
I’m not sure radical leftists who support anyone but Hillary are much different.
Further reading on the subject — “Hillary is the best choice for voters against abortion”
http://www.christianpost.com/news/hillary-clinton-is-the-best-choice-for-voters-against-abortion-170258/