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It is fair to say that the previous fourteen election cycles combined do not equal the caustic intensity of 2016 and 2020. Regardless of the side that you’re on, the whole country is equally passionate or distraught over what might happen to us over the next few years.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican; you’re some combination of stressed, frustrated, passionate, hopeful, or confused. Pick your top two descriptors. I’m sure they are on my list, and there are others you’re itching to add from your list. Go for it.
The consensus is that whoever the top two candidates will be, they will not be everyone’s preferred candidates, but it’s the result of where we are as a nation. And how we got here has been speculated and debated ad nauseam, though it hardly matters any longer, though it would be wise for some to understand history better than they do. Nevertheless, we are here, and we’re heading toward an inevitable outcome.
Apart from a stunning “out of left field” act of God, either a flaming socialist, left-wing progressive, or Donald Trump will be our next president, and you have four possible voting options when the voting day rolls around.
Opinions about these options are flying through the Twitterverse every second of every day. This cyber-phenomenon will continue, even after it’s over; it’s the world in which we live. Some say there are no good options. And when they make a case for their “no good option,” they feel compelled to footnote their reasons for voting for that person. I understand.
Nobody can make a strong biblical case for any of them. Perhaps you can pull a couple of biblical planks from their platform and say, “At least they say they believe [fill in the blank].” Options three and four are noncommittal votes that place you on the sideline while leaving the decision to those who will pick between options one and two.
I suppose if you voted three or four, you could at least say, “I did not vote for [fill in the blank], so it’s not my fault.” I’m not sure how that could make you feel better other than pretending to have risen above those who voted for a “not-so-satisfying-winner,” which makes you a loser like the rest of us. It’s like standing on the sinking Titanic, saying, “I told you something bad was going to happen.” Good for you. Ready to die?
One thing that rings ironic about this presidential cycle is how similar it is to the 2008 election. Many people agreed that Obama’s election had more to do with voting for an idea than for Obama’s values. His base wanted a black person as the President of the United States.
No black person had ever sniffed such a reality, and as the election drew near and the possibility seemed likely, the momentum was unassailable. It was an emotional, reactionary vote as much as anything. The pent-up black person, who has had someone in their family lineage legitimately oppressed for hundreds of years, had the possibility of having one of their own as the leader of the United States.
That likelihood would tempt any frustrated demographic to kick clarity into neutral and vote emotionally rather than thinking through what it means to change the freest country ever created fundamentally, which is what President Obama said he planned to do.
But when I talk to black people about killing pre-born babies, LGBTQ+ initiatives, and significant government dominance, few of them are “pro” any of those issues—after they practically understand them and realize how some of those legislative perspectives will continue to oppress them.
Black people, like most people of color (nobody is truly black or white), are reasonable when you talk to them one-to-one. As a person of color, the shade of a person’s skin is irrelevant to me. I’m more concerned with their politics than their shade of melanin.
The similarity of that voting cycle with the current voting one is how it’s the conservatives who are the “emotional and reactionary ones.” Up until Trump, we have experienced twenty years of unabated liberal legislation and media bias that has propelled many conservatives to react by putting forth a very odd solution for our national woes.
Donald Trump is nearly everything that conservatives are not. In a vacuum, nobody in their right mind would want someone like Donald Trump as their president. But here’s the thing: if you pile up everything that is wrong with Donald Trump and put it beside a Socialist or Left-Wing Progressive, you experience a tension like you never felt before.
It’s an anxiety that has never crossed your mind because nobody would ever come up with such a storyline. Donald Trump may be lying (pandering) about all the things you care about, but the Socialists and Progressives are not. They don’t like you, and they want to squash you, your beliefs, and your life as you know it.
They want to kill pre-born babies from conception to after they are born. They want to make sure that they have the right Supreme Court Justices on the bench to carry out their anti-God mission. They despise Christians and their agendas.
They oppose virtually everything you love, and they do not equivocate on those issues. Where Donald Trump is wishy-washy, disingenuous, and pandering, they are not. They are pro-Gay, pro-Abortion, pro-Government, and anti-Christian. If you’re a believer, it means they are anti-You!
Left-wing supporters are perplexed as to why anyone would vote for somebody like Donald Trump. If the truth were known, most of the conservative camp agree with them. The reason left-wingers do not understand the problem is that they are asking the wrong question.
The question is not why would anyone vote for Trump? The question is, why would anyone vote for a Socialist or Left-Wing Radicals who hate America? Trump may be a loose cannon, but the other side is not, and that’s the problem. Their guns and sightlines have a clear target: it’s everything that has “Christian value” associated with it.
Did you think I was going to give you a clear candidate to vote for in this coming election? I have always prayed for our country, but I have never prayed the way I’m praying now. In the past, I would pray while also believing in the human responsibility to vote wisely.
Now, we’re at the total mercy of God (as though we weren’t before). Yeah, it’s come to that. Our collective human responsibility to vote has no good options. What will you do? I recommend that you start with this short prayer: “Dear God, Have mercy! Amen.” And then make your decision.
Rick launched the Life Over Coffee global training network in 2008 to bring hope and help for you and others by creating resources that spark conversations for transformation. His primary responsibilities are resource creation and leadership development, which he does through speaking, writing, podcasting, and educating.
In 1990 he earned a BA in Theology and, in 1991, a BS in Education. In 1993, he received his ordination into Christian ministry, and in 2000 he graduated with an MA in Counseling from The Master’s University. In 2006 he was recognized as a Fellow of the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors (ACBC).