Why Christians can be happy about Trump's victory
Photo Canva.com, AFP, Brendan Smialowski
Opinion
His opponents thought he was beaten forever. But again, all poll stations and the media underestimated Donald Trump. He defied all rules and expectations and has become the 47th president of the United States, with a larger mandate and more power than ever. Is this good news for Christians?
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With a convincing, landslide victory over the Democratic candidate Kamala Harris (60), winning the popular vote, a majority in both houses of Congress (Senate and House of Representatives) and with a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, Donald Trump (78) has an unprecedented mandate to implement his policies in the most powerful country on earth.
In his victory speech, Trump – with his usual bravura – spoke about a political victory ‘like we have never seen before’. He promised to ‘heal’ the United States and stated that God’s special providence had twice saved his life to enable him to fulfil his mission.
Everybody knows that Trump is no angel. He is not a man whose aim has been to embody virtue. He has been convicted of criminal activities, and he is not, according to all Christian definitions, a faithful husband. Trump can also be highly crude in his utterances and seems to have announced measures which by many are interpreted as a direct threat to the state of American democracy.
Deplorable
For many Christians in Europe, a vote for Trump would not be self-evident. Though many of them also understand that the best approach to his speeches was the adagium that we should not take them literally but seriously. That things are not as bad as they sound.
What Trump has been saying, most radically and coarsely, ultimately conveyed the message that he wanted to do everything to stop the liberal agenda of the Democrats, to fix the borders, and to improve the deplorable state of the economy. Trump has been threatening his opponents with revenge and retaliation – something he will not do if he is serious about his promise to heal the nation. What's more, his victory as such is already interpreted as the expression of the revenge of regular, hard-working Americans.
How ambiguous the Christian appreciation of Trump may be, most Christians will be relieved that Kamala Harris lost. I recently talked with an American Evangelical who grudgingly said he would vote for Trump, but he would do so with a pinched nose and then run out of the polling station. The Christian vote for Trump, despite everything, will have been inspired by an unconditional dislike of Kamala Harris’ Democratic programme. As a person of multi-religious convictions, Kamala Harris is a progressive, liberal politician for whom abortion rights have been a central theme in her campaign.
All other positions on this issue, in her view, are nothing less than ‘immoral’. Her liberalism also inspires her view that religious liberty needs to be limited, as this liberty should never be used as an excuse for ‘discrimination’ and the violation of the rights of the LGBTI community. And her position towards Israel is also less determined than Trump’s: advocating the rights of Palestinians, she supports a two-state solution in the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Evil genius
On the other hand, Trump has stressed the importance of cherishing Christian values, at least politically. During his earlier term of office, Trump secured a conservative majority in the Supreme Court, which abolished the federal right to abortion, and this decision introduced stricter legislation in many States. His support for Israel is unconditional, and he is very outspoken about Iran as the evil genius behind most conflicts in the Middle East.
During his presidency, religious liberty seems not to be at risk. Trump more than once stressed the importance of Christian and conservative values, promising that his government will ‘protect Christianity, our preachers and our Churches [against government intrusion]’. This position implies a staunch defence of the liberty of education and support for persecuted Christians worldwide.
At the end of the day, Christians may be conditionally happy about Trump’s victory, hoping that he will fulfil his promise to heal a divided nation. Let’s wait and see and give him at least the benefit of the doubt.
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