I was listening to NPR’s report this morning on Trump’s commencement speech at Liberty University and they brought up the fact that Trump said “Two Corinthians” instead of “Second Corinthians” as a reason why some evangelical Christians didn’t like Trump during the presidential race.
Setting aside the fact that saying “Two Corinthians” is how it’s actually done in some churches — meaning there’s nothing “un-Christian” about Trump’s pronunciation at all — it’s such a laughable reason to begin with.
The term “evangelical Christian” comes with a lot of unfortunate baggage (due to nobody else’s fault), but technically speaking, that’s what I am. Evangelical Christianity is my tradition and tribe, for lack of a better term — warts and all.
I’ve been saddened and distressed by the extent to which evangelical Christianity has become uncritically linked to the Republican party, and the extent to which so many of its leaders have bent over backwards to proclaim the Gospel of Trump while overlooking or downplaying his many obvious and egregious faults.
I like you a lot, NPR, but come on: there are a host of reasons why us evangelicals would (and, I’d argue, should) reject a man like Trump.
His rampant sexism and misogyny, his pride and arrogance, his utter lack of humility, his willingness to tolerate and spread deception and hatred to achieve his goals, and his rejection of basic Christian principles like repentance and forgiveness… all of these are reasons why this particular evangelical Christian rejected Trump.
And for what it’s worth, I’ve seen precious little in the last few months in the man’s character and behavior that makes me reconsider my opinion.