I have heard the voices of my conservative Christian friends, telling me that I should vote for Trump so Hillary doesn’t win. I would like to respond one last time to let these, my brothers and sisters, know why I am not voting for Donald Trump.
First let me say that I love each of these people as a brother or sister in Christ, and though we may disagree on this issue, in 50 years we are going to be in the same place and we’ll be in total agreement at that point on who our governmental leader should be (Jesus Christ).
I understand that the next President will pick several supreme court justices. I understand that welfare is out of control. Alexander Fraser Tytler (1747-1813) said, “A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world’s greatest civilizations has been 200 years.”
I think we’ve already passed that point, and I firmly believe that the best days of the United States of America are behind us. This is because there are too many selfish people in our country who have decided that they are going to vote for whoever promises them the most stuff, and not whoever can fix the problems we have. It’s the NIMBY principle (Not In My Backyard) where people don’t have a problem with evil occurring, so long as it doesn’t affect them.
And so I’m faced with the choice of voting for one of two people who stand against almost everything I believe in. One of these people (Hillary) is definitely evil, in that I believe she has had a personal hand in murdering people who get in her way, she’s corrupt, she’s as liberal as Obama, and I believe that she would destroy our country. The other person (Trump) is evil in the sense that he is a hedonist. He lives solely for himself. He has never admitted to making a mistake (at least not that I could find), and therefore he doesn’t learn from his mistakes. He says whatever is expedient, whatever gets him the result he wants. When someone changes their story as many times as Trump has, I have to ask myself, “How can I trust him when he says he’s going to do this or that?” How can I trust that he’s going to stand for second amendment rights? How can I trust him to appoint good justices? How can I trust him to keep ANY of the positions that he now claims to hold? I understand that you’re saying I should vote for Trump because Hillary definitely won’t do what is right and Trump might do what is right. But from what I have seen of Trump I don’t think he WILL do what is right.
Jesus said, “You shall know them by their fruits,” and while that verse is referring specifically to false teachers, I believe the principle applies to government leaders as well. In the world of investing they say past performance does not guarantee future results, but it is usually a good indicator. It is well established that Trump has no morals. He is a serial adulterer, has implied he’d like to sleep with his own daughter, and voting for a man as blatantly anti-God as Trump is not something I can bring myself to do. I believe that voting for an immoral man like Trump can only reinforce our culture’s belief in “if it feels good, do it” and “whatever makes you happy is good.”I personally believe that the biggest manifestation of evil in our modern world is abortion. The fact that almost a million children are murdered in our country alone every year speaks to our health as a society. The fact that Trump supports Planned Parenthood says more about him in my mind than anything else. Actually, I believe it is entirely possible that this election, in which we have two ungodly people running for office, MAY be the Judgment of God on our nation for the murder of millions of children, among other things.
I shared a picture on Facebook yesterday that sums up my entire argument against voting for Trump. Basically it says that Jesus never told us that when faced with two evil choices, we should take the one that is less evil, because it’s a waste to do the right thing if nobody else is doing it.
I guess what I’m saying is that I understand my friends’ point about the numbers, and if I don’t vote for Trump this increases Hillary’s chances of winning because it means one less vote for the only person who can probably beat her. But what I’m trying to say, is that I don’t believe that voting for Trump is the right thing to do, and is only marginally less wrong than voting for Hillary. And so I will follow my conscience and, I believe, the Holy Spirit, in voting for neither of them. I am not answerable to God for the votes of the other three hundred and twenty million people in this country, I am only answerable for my choices. I think each one of us has to do what we believe God wants us to do in this situation.
Finally, no matter who is President next year, we should keep our focus on the fact that we are Christians first and Americans second. I love my country, but I love my God more. I get shivers when I hear the Star Spangled Banner, but if the American flag comes to represent tyranny and oppression, I will no longer pledge allegiance to it. While it is true that I am an American citizen, just as Paul was a citizen of Rome, we are both citizens of Heaven, and as such I would like to follow his example of putting my responsibility to God before my responsibility to my country. As Peter said in Acts 5:29, “We must obey God rather than men.”
And so, no matter who wins in November, two facts will remain:
1. God is still in charge of the universe. The United States of America is not my God, and if this great experiment fails, it will not shake my faith in God.
2. I am here on Earth not to bring about a glorious age of holiness and justice, but to witness to others about what Christ has done for me and what he can do for them.
That is my duty and responsibility as an ambassador of Christ. I echo the words of Martin Luther, who said “I cannot and will not recant anything, for to go against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand, I can do no other, so help me God. Amen.”
Words of Truth 
Used on Sharper Iron here. Thanks I appreciate you
Of course you realize that we don’t live in a democracy. We live in Federal Republic.
Yes, I am aware.
Then I’m a bit confused as to how you conflated the quote by Tytler on the Athenian Republic with what we have in the United States. While a few similarities exist, the differences are not unimportant when comparing the two governmental systems. Unless you can demonstrate how Tytler’s argument against Athens applies in principle to the United States, your using his quote is simply a sort of straw man argument.
I’m not advocating voting for Trump, but I do think that we have to be careful in the way we craft our arguments against any candidate. We might get our Bible right, but without a corresponding accuracy in history we come off as more light than heat.
Matt
I don’t believe I’m conflating anything. As this article states, America is a representative democracy. A federal republic is a TYPE of democracy. When you get right down to it, what is a democracy? It is a country ruled by the people. The fact that “the people” appoint representatives in our country to do the ruling doesn’t change the fact that “We the People” are still the ultimate power in America.
And I’m not saying the quote directly applies, I only used it as a commentary on the welfare state in America. I haven’t seen the numbers, but I expect that the number of people in the United States who pay taxes has gone down over the past 20 years. In other words, the amount of people who are merely a burden on the others has gone up. I don’t know this for certain, I only suspect it. But if it’s true, then the quote from Tytler is at least indirectly applicable. Would you not agree that “loose fiscal policy” is a good description of a government that is spending like a drunken sailor on liberty (with apologies to actual drunken sailors, who quit spending when they run out of money)?
Our country is 19 trillion dollars in debt. We have a budget of 4 trillion dollars worth of expenses and 3.5 trillion dollars in income. That’s 2016. In 2015 we had expenses of $3.7 trillion and income of $3.2 trillion, so the half a billion dollar deficit is holding steady. That means every year our debt is going up by 500 billion dollars. To put this in household budgetary terms, let’s remove eight zeroes. This leaves us with a household income of $32,000, and annual expenses of $37,000. That’s obviously unsustainable, especially since we have outstanding debt of $190,000.
Well, I won’t belabor the point. I suppose if it is assumed by fiat that Tytler’s argument against democracy applies equally to every type of democracy, then our system of government was doomed to failure at its very beginning. I’m not certain how that applies to our responsibility to vote.
I agree that each candidate is horribly flawed. I also agree with you that this presents a quandary for Christians. However, if your primary argument in support of Tytler’s assertion is fiscal, then it would seem obvious that Donald Trump is the best candidate for you.
I’ll let you have the last word…. 🙂
Well, I will use my last word to admit that your statement may be correct and I could be wrong. I initially included the quote because this post was originally a reply to a friend who brought up the issue and stated that he thought the quote was by Thomas Jefferson. I included the quote in response to him, and just left it in when I converted this to a blog post. It is entirely possible that if I had simply written this as a standalone post, I never would have used the quote. But it’s such a great quote.
Whenever voting for some one, you are voting for some one who does not necessarily share all of your convictions (unless you are voting for yourself!). But you do share SOME. convictions, and you pray that, if elected, he/she will think issues through, listen to good advice, and make wise choices. It is several months yet before our presidential election, so listen carefully before declaring that you would NEVER vote for a particular candidate. Do you believe that God can sovereignly work in the lives of people, and, if so, how are you praying? And what are the sentiments which each candidate has expressed that lead people to vote for him.her? A candidate may express views with which you disagree, but those views are not necessarily evil or morally wrong.
I agree completely. However, in saying I will “never” vote for Trump, I am saying I will never vote for the man who is currently running for President. It is possible that God will soften his heart, and he will become a man I could vote for, but I believe that to be highly unlikely.
How am I praying for him? I have said other places (like Facebook) but evidently not here, that I am praying for both Hillary and Donald, that they will both see their need of salvation, and that whichever of them wins the election (assuming they are the only possibilities at this point) will lead our nation with wisdom.
And I also agree that the views of a candidate can be different than mine but not be morally wrong or evil. A good example is Hillary Clinton’s fiscal policy. She wants to raise my taxes. I don’t like this, but it isn’t morally wrong or evil, I just disagree. But her support of the murder of innocent children by Planned Parenthood (and others), IS morally wrong. Both of them have enough moral positions which I believe to be against God’s expressed statement of what is right and wrong that I feel secure in stating that I will not vote for either one.
Again, I agree that God CAN change their hearts, but if they did, they would most likely lose the support of those who are currently supporting them anyway (such as if Hillary came to realize the horror that is abortion and immediately started fighting against it…she would almost certainly lose most of her support).
I couldn’t agree more! I just wish that Jack Hyles was still around. Many of us for years tried to persuade him to run at every election, but he never followed that path. I just wish that someone who is a follower of Jack Hyles would run. As far as I know, Trump is not. At least I have never heard him say that he is.
It’s refreshing to see like-minded people on the web that is so full of pro-Trump liberals.
Great post. This is why Bernie is so popular. Steve, I hope that you and all of your followers will write in Bernie and not vote for Trump or Hillary. I know we are technically wasting our votes, although I don’t see any Christian can in good conscious vote for Trump. Bernie, on the other hand, is someone I think that any Christian can and should vote for.
I hope everyone over at that sharper site does this as well.
If I find Clinton and Trump’s liberal policies and positions untenable, why would you think I would vote for a Socialist?
Bernie Sanders is pro-choice, which is one of my litmus tests. Go to http://www.stepstopoliticalepiphany.com and watch the videos. Bernie doesn’t measure up.
Steve, the main reason I am against trump is because he is anti-woman in that he argues with Megan Kelly and thinks Rose O’Donnell is a slob. Rosie O’Donnell is a fine, educated, moral, and articulate woman. Megan Kelly is also a fine, moral woman, plus she works for FOX. Anyone who disagrees with FOX News is automatically out. Bernie Sanders has no beef with FOX anchors and is a gentleman. Sure, there are some things we may disagree with him on, but we aren’t going to agree with any candidate about everything.
They are all anti woman in that they think it’s ok to kill female babies.
Thank you. Great answer.
I really don’t know whether to believe that this is a real site or just another paid operative whose job it is to elect Clinton. These hit pieces by the left are getting really old. Fortunately, I don’t think that there are a lot of people who are still buying into this. “Steve,” or whatever your name is who wrote this article, please be honest with us. Do you really believe what you wrote? Trump only lives for himself? What?? You completely lost me and anyone who is conservative who happens to come across your site. Trump is the only one who is standing up for cultural decency and capitalism by any stretch at all! He is the only one who is actually “living for himself” by trying to conserve or even bring back a nation by standing up to the globalists who are doing everything in their power to socially, economically, religiously, etc. destroy this country! I don’t understand your comments at all, how he is “selifish” by actually making an attempt to save a way of life and freedom that has been enjoyed by millions. That’s why I would not be surprised is this were just another paid leftist blogger whose job is to try to sway naive voters into voting for Clinton.
He’s a hedonist, Ed. That means everything he does us for his own benefit without regard to the needs of others.
Cultural decency? He runs an escort service and his companies have (until recently) included strip clubs. He brags in his book about sleeping with married women. You want a home wrecking pimp as President?
Steve, your site does appear to be real and not made just last night as another pro-Clinton site. I really didn’t know if you were a real person or not. You seem like a gentleman and I agree with some of the things you say, but for the life of me, I really do not understand this anti-Trump movement by people who call themselves conservatives. Trump is, if he is for real, the most conservative and best candidate we have seen in generations. I think you and other of this ilk are horribly naive and gullible if you cannot see this. Please do not take offense at that, as I do not mean to be acerbic or caustic at all in saying that. (I realize we cannot always convey tone and spirit in the written format, so please take this as simply a disagreement and nothing unkind.)
I am not offended at all, Ed. I think the key in your comment is the words “…if he is for real…”. I don’t think he is. Observed him over the last several months changing his story and his positions over and over to suit the audience he was speaking to. I think he is just saying what he thinks people want to hear at this point. I don’t trust him. I believe Ted Cruz is way more conservative than Donald Trump is, so I disagree with your statement about him being the most conservative candidate in a long time.
Cruz is by far the most conservative candidate. Now ex candidate.
Really concerned over the Trump devotion I see in some of his followers. Really scary stuff.