Former President Donald Trump needs white evangelical Christians to vote in droves to win the election. But as a Southern Baptist pastor in Texas who wants to see Trump beat Kamala Harris in November, what I heard in this week's presidential debate has led me to conclude that Trump risks alienating evangelical voters by following the wrong advice.
Evangelicals have long voted Republican because of their commitment to life, family values and religious freedom, but some of Trump's recent comments, likely at the behest of non-evangelical campaign advisers, run counter to the views of most evangelical Christians.
of Majority Evangelicals believe abortion is the taking of a human life and therefore should be illegal. While they are grateful to President Trump for his role in ending Roe v. Wade and returning the question of abortion legality to the states, their pro-life efforts don't stop there.
So we're Trump's statement His administration has been “great for women and their reproductive rights” and has embraced “abortion on demand,” a Democratic euphemism. He said There would be no nationwide abortion ban under his administration. Support The first debate asked whether chemical abortion should be legal nationwide.
Evangelicals are also known for their emphasis on family, believing that growing up with a married father and mother is essential to a child's upbringing and protection. This belief also extends to evangelicals' views on immigration policy, with 92% of evangelicals who voted for Trump saying they “Protect the unity of close family members”
But the “largest deportation operation in American history,” touted by the former president during the debate, would separate families on a horrific scale. Evangelicals want a secure border, but they don't want mass deportations of up to 100,000 people. 20 million.
Of course, people who commit violent crimes should be deported (if they're even allowed to leave prison), but the reality (as evangelicals know because many of our churches include immigrants) is that the vast majority of immigrants have never committed a violent crime, and we don't like to imply that most immigrants are criminals.
It is impossible to deport 20 million people without deporting millions of nonviolent U.S. citizen parents. In my state of Texas alone, deporting all undocumented immigrants would amount to nearly 1 million U.S. citizen children Growing up without a mother, father or other family.
Trump Recent Interviews “As soon as we got hold of a woman with two or three children [who] I shouldn't be here [who’s] He expects to face pressure from the media to stop if he says “good women,” but he concludes that while it is “painful” to separate mothers and children in this way, he “has no choice.”
He seems to forget that separating children from their mothers at the border was a rare policy during the Trump administration's first term, even if it was on a smaller scale than what “mass deportations” would imply. Most white evangelicals opposed it.Prominent Trump-supporting evangelicals such as Franklin Graham, Ralph Reed, and Bob Vander Plaats have each said:Shameful“, “heartbreaking” and “Cruelty.”
Finally, Evangelicals have always supported religious freedom, and this includes providing refuge to those who are denied religious freedom abroad. 72 percent Evangelicals believe the United States has a moral responsibility to welcome refugees fleeing religious persecution. Most of them They are persecuted Christians.
President Trump has promised to end all refugee resettlements.first day” has led some evangelicals to wonder if voting for him would be a vote against the persecuted church.
To be clear, few evangelical voters will support Kamala Harris, who, as she made clear during the debates, is less in tune with evangelicals than Republicans on issues like life, family values and religious freedom.
But if Trump's recent comments on these issues lead enough evangelical voters to choose “neither,” that could be decisive.
According to exit polls, Trump won about 80% of the white evangelical vote in both 2016 and 2020, but white evangelicals Share The overall decline in voters 26 percent To 22 percentIn 2020, hundreds of thousands of evangelical voters turned out to vote, sending Joe Biden to the White House.
If Trump is going to direct his trademark “You're fired!” at Kamala Harris, he'll have to do so first. To Advisor They foolishly tell him that to win he must affirm abortion rights, get “tough” on immigrants, separate families, and shut out persecuted Christians.
If he listens to Christians, he can win and finally be a champion for life, family, and religious freedom.
Tim Moore is the senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Leander, Texas.
