It’s a headline CNN could only dream of:
“Evangelical publication calls for Trump’s removal from office”
Christianity Today, a magazine founded by Billy Graham, published an op-ed Thursday calling for President Donald Trump to be removed from office. It urged evangelicals not to support him.
“Whether Mr. Trump should be removed from office by the Senate or by popular vote next election—that is a matter of prudential judgment,” Christianity Today’s editor in chief, Mark Galli, wrote in the op-ed. “That he should be removed, we believe, is not a matter of partisan loyalties but loyalty to the Creator of the Ten Commandments.”
Galli went on to say that the impeachment hearings illuminated Trump’s “moral deficiencies for all to see.”
“None of the president’s positives can balance the moral and political danger we face under a leader of such grossly immoral character,” he wrote.
CNN at least acknowledges that Christianity Today has been critical of Trump in the past because of, wait for it…immigration.
Galli went on to say that Christians should consider what an unbelieving world will say if they continue to brush off Trump’s “immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency.”
Jim Wallis, the founder of Sojourners magazine, said he thinks a lot of younger evangelicals will be excited about the editorial.
I want to say a few things about this.
Living in Congressman Steve King’s district, I see some parallels here. Many of the people who are pushing the narrative that King is a racist, white supremacist, are the same people who have criticized him for years over his views on immigration.
They figured out, though, that King can’t be beaten for putting America first, so instead, they’re going to use words printed in the New York Times to take King out.
I think this is what is happening to Trump. Consider other headlines about Trump from Christianity Today and Galli:
“Why Donald Trump threatens to Trump the Gospel” (Jan. 27, 2016) —
“What to Make of Donald Trump’s Soul” (April 21, 2017)
“So, what’s an evangelical” (Sept. 18, 2019) — “Though one can argue that evangelical religion has been in crisis from the beginning, starting in November 2016 and the election of Donald Trump, it exploded afresh.”
“The heart of the evangelical crisis” (May 15, 2019)
“The other family separation at the border: Canadian and US Evangelicals” (Aug. 2, 2018)
Mark Galli is part of an “evangelical” bloc that hates our country’s immigration laws. And they’re willing to put illegal immigrants ahead of the lives of unborn babies.
It sounds harsh, but when deciding between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, or Joe Biden, that’s one of the choices staring voters in the face.
Christians are told every election cycle, we’re electing a President, not a pastor. We’ve been trained to believe there must be a separation of church and state.
But now that an “evangelical publication” is criticizing Christians for supporting Trump, they’re quick to give credibility to the idea of mixing faith and politics.
I get Christian reservations about Trump. I do. But, consider the alternative.
Joe Biden supports abortion. Joe Biden was a catalyst in President Obama’s reversal on same-sex marriage. Joe Biden is not going to stand up for religious liberty. Biden said:
“The single most basic of all human rights is the right to decide who you love, it is the single basic building block…Hate can never never be defended because it’s a so-called ‘cultural norm.’ I’ve had it up to here with cultural norms.”
And he’s the “moderate” Catholic in the Democrat race.
I’d say Christians need to think critically, but it’s really not critical thinking here that is required — just thinking at all would suffice.
This is a classic case of cutting off your nose to spite your face.
Trump, to my knowledge, has never claimed to be a champion of Christianity. In fact, during the 2016 campaign, I remember Trump saying he couldn’t recall ever asking God for forgiveness.
Does that disqualify him from being President? That’s a question left for individual Christians to answer for themselves I suppose.
But here’s a hypothetical for Christians who have sold out in support of illegal immigration — what if Trump is the only thing standing between a Christian’s right to worship and a tyrannical government? What if Trump is the only thing standing between a Christian’s right to freedom of conscience and a government that forces believers to compromise their most basic convictions? What if Trump is the only thing standing between a church’s ability to hold a biblical position on marriage and a church losing its tax-exempt status because it won’t buckle on the Bible’s view of family?
Barack Obama was one of the most pro-abortion Senators in U.S. history. Barack Obama celebrated same-sex marriage by lighting up the White House in rainbow colors. Barack Obama’s White House Christmas tree had an ornament depicting Mao Zedong and an ornament showing a drag queen.
Barack Obama excluded pro-life groups from attending a White House-sponsored healthcare summit. Barack Obama ordered a monogram symbolizing Jesus’ name covered while speaking at Georgetown.
Is there an article from Christianity Today and Galli calling for Obama’s removal from office?
Galli is using his platform in Christianity Today to continue putting illegal immigrants and open borders above unborn babies, biblical marriage, religious liberty and the free exercise of Christianity.
It’s sad. It’s dishonest. And it isn’t fooling anyone with any intellectual honesty.
