5 Reasons why Christians should feel comfortable voting for Trump in 2020

By John Reid, Voices Contributor Sunday, July 19, 2020

If you’re a Christ-follower who’s wrestling with whether to vote for Trump in 2020, I get it. I understood your plight in 2016 and I understand it now, though less-so now. I’ll admit that in 2016 I abhorred the man’s behavior and I certainly wasn’t confident that Donald Trump would be the conservative policy-pusher that the Christian-right wanted.

But I have no reservations now, and, my brothers and sisters in Christ, neither should you.

I would never ask someone to vote against their conscience, but I would challenge them to reconsider how their conscience is framed.

Consider the following:

1. You’re not voting for Donald Trump; you’re voting for the Trump Administration.

Remember that by voting for Trump, you’re effectively voting for many more people. Sure, Trump’s name is on the ballot for president, but you’re also voting for Mike Pence. You’re voting for outspoken Christians like White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, director-appointee for the White House Office of Management and Budget Russell Vought, and many other committed non-carnal Christ-followers.

2. You’re not voting simply for a person; you’re voting for an agenda.

Isolating a vote to a face is to miss the point entirely. We don’t vote simply to have people in office; we vote to have our preferred political agendas fulfilled – elected officials are the means by which our political agendas are fulfilled.

Supporting President Trump isn’t renouncing your convictions, rather it’s looking at the bigger picture beyond one man and seeing how his administration has fought to protect religious liberty, the life of the unborn, and many other volatile issues currently under attack in America.

To be fair, many have made the point that Supreme Court justices don’t matter in regards to abortion because it was a Republican president (Reagan) who appointed Justice Kennedy, and Kennedy upheld Roe in 1992. Well, this is true. However, Kennedy was also Reagan’s third choice at filling The Court’s vacancy after two failed appointments. Also, Kennedy has ruled very conservatively on many other cases.

No justice should be expected to be perfectly in line with conservative or liberal jurisprudence, but we can vote in a way that makes it close.

Alternatively, you know the agenda of the left, which has become extremely wicked in a relatively short period of time.

3. Policy outweighs character because policy outlasts character.

Notice my use of the word “outweigh.” I didn’t say that policy has weight and character does not. Both character and policy hold weight and should be wrestled with thoroughly before a voting decision is made.

Long after Trump’s administration, his character will be a talking point but his judicial appointees and legislative influence will last for decades. Long after Trump’s administration, there are other people who will remain in influential positions. Federal judges, for example, hold lifetime tenures. They are appointed – not elected. We don’t vote for them.

But we vote for the person who appoints them. Trump has appointed 200 Federal judges at the time of this article’s publishing. These judges have been right-leaning constitutional originalists who will be answering the calls to defend freedom, religious liberty, the value of life, and other imperative matters for decades to come.

Our children’s futures are worth far more than one man’s character.

Religious liberty is worth far more than one man’s character.

The millions of lives of the unborn are worth far more than one man’s character.

Economic advancement, especially for low-income communities is worth far more than one man’s character.

Ask yourself, are you willing to sacrifice these valuable opportunities on the altar of one man’s character?

4. If for no other reason than abortion, vote for Donald Trump.

An overturning of Roe v. Wade is currently brewing in the lower federal courts. The plethora of “heartbeat bills” states passed in 2019 are all being challenged, and these bills specifically address the Roe issue.

The likelihood that the Supreme Court takes up these cases is very high because these bills check 3/3 boxes that influence The Court’s decision on whether to hear a case:

§ These bills violate Supreme Court precedent (Roe ’73, Casey ’92)

§ These bills have a national impact

§ Multiple federal appeals courts are next in line for review

Given the appellate process, these cases will likely be brought to the Supreme Court in approximately three years from the time of this article’s publishing, and with the ages of the liberal Justices Ginsburg and Breyer, The Court’s two eldest judges, at least one vacancy is likely to be filled before the Roe precedent review.

The next president will be responsible for who is on The Court when Roe is challenged likely in the next few years.

5. Voting for Trump is a tangible way of keeping Biden out.

Enough said.

John Wesley Reid is a Washington D.C.-based journalist and political commentator. A native of southern California, John studied political science at Biola University after serving in the Marine Corps. His favorite past times are studying theology, running, playing Skipbo, traveling, and dropping the classiest of puns.Social media handles are all @johnwesleyreid