Unpacking

Over the past couple of months, I've written a number of posts about the multitude of reasons I believe that President-elect Trump is a spectacularly bad choice to lead the United States for the next four years. The fact that he was elected last week does not lessen my concerns.

What follows is a hodge-podge of thoughts and quotes... a virtual download of my fears and frustrations. I'm still trying to wrap my head around this victory for a convicted felon... and, when I'm honest with myself, attempting to trust God with it as well.

Moreover, it's not as simple as "love God, hate Trump" or "it's the end of the world as we know it" - so much depends on how we choose to live and act. Heck, so much depends on how I choose to live and act.

“I wish it need not have happened in my time," said Frodo.

"So do I," said Gandalf, "and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.”

JRR Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring

Hoping I'm Wrong... And Right

As you'll see as you work your way through the rest of this blog post, I take seriously the words that Mr. Trump has spoken over the course of the last four years. In many cases, the promises he's made have immense potential to cause financial havoc, ballooning national debt, trade wars with both enemy & allied nations, and warp the American sense of justice and law enforcement for generations to come. 

So, I hope I'm wrong about any number of these things. I pray that the President-elect will back away from and/or forget many of the proposals he has floated.

At the same time, I'm really struggling with the desire for Mr. Trump to follow through on some of these things and for those who voted for him to see the downstream impacts of their decision. I'm striving against that instinct - it makes me feel petty and mean and vindictive. But I also know that the most effective teacher is often natural consequences.

The really cynical part of me is resigned to the reality that Mr. Trump is a past master at finding someone (besides himself) to blame for pretty much everything that goes wrong... and that the tendency of those who've supported the President-elect to let him off the hook.

There are two kinds of Trump voters. Those who voted for Trump BECAUSE of what he said he would do, and those who voted for Trump DESPITE what he said he would do.

For example, Trump said he would lock up his political opponents like Liz Cheney. The BECAUSE voters genuinely hope he will imprison Cheney. The DESPITE voters thought it was all bluster and Cheney is not at risk.

The BECAUSE/DESPITE split applies to many other issues. In 2025, I expect one of these groups will be very disappointed.

When engaging with a Trump voter, it's helpful to discern which type you're talking to. Most in my circle are DESPITE voters. I suspect that's the case nationally as well. God help us if I'm wrong about that.

Skye Jethani

A Not Exhaustive List of Stuff That is Likely To Happen

• Donald Trump will never be held responsible by a court of law for the attempt to overthrow the 2020 election (including January 6, 2021) or the refusal to return classified documents (including hiding them and lying about them).
• The majority of those in jail for federal offenses related to the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol will have their sentences commuted or be pardoned for their crimes. 
• Working with the likely majorities in both House & Senate, the tax cuts from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act will be extended. 
• This will result in increasing the federal debt load.
• While the wildest numbers that Mr. Trump floated seem unlikely, he is primed to lean into increasing tariffs against China as well as any country who does not build production facilities in the U.S. 
• I wrote extensively about Mr. Trump's inability to understand and/or explain how tariffs work - and the potential fallout of these kind of decisions.
• Some attempt will be made to begin mass deportation/"remigration" of illegal immigrants.
• The combination of tariff/trade war behaviors and increased efforts to deport large numbers of individuals will have an negative economic impact - including the raising of prices on food and construction.
• Both pro-life and pro-choice folks will be frustrated by the lack of federal action on the issue of abortion.
• If RFK Jr is given a health care role with power in the Trump administration, there will be serious damage to the FDA and CDC. The biggest question will be how vast the negative effect of his leadership on vaccination and the subsequent health crises (measles, polio, etc.) from the loss of herd immunity, esp. among school age children.
• At some point during the Trump administration, the President will attempt to pressure Ukraine into negotiating a deal for peace with Russia that gives Russia pretty much everything it wants. Ukraine will refuse that deal, even if it means a complete loss of U.S. financial and weapons support.
• This is based on the proposed deal floated by Mr. Vance, suggesting that Russia would keep all of the territory it has gained from the unprovoked attack as well as receive a promise that Ukraine would not join NATO. This offers literally no security to Ukraine and will be rejected outright.
• The Trump administration will vacillate between loud support for Israel in its battles with Hamas & Hezbollah and peace-making attempts in order to placate Saudi Arabia and other Middle Eastern nations with whom the President-elect and his family are attempting to do business.
• China will continue to increase pressure on Taiwan - and that situation will grow increasingly difficult if/when the Trump administration acquiesces to Russia regarding Ukraine.
• Mr. Trump will continue to denigrate those who oppose him in wildly inappropriate ways - and evangelicals in particular will continue to excuse these behaviors by likening him to Old Testament biblical leaders like David, Cyrus, or Jehu.
• The Trump administration will slow roll or outright deny aid/assistance to those states whose governors and/or legislatures do not support his agenda.
• The President-elect will test the boundaries of the Supreme Court's presidential immunity decision.

A plea to everyone who supports Trump.

He won.

• If he tries to say he can run for a 3rd term, please stand up and say no.
• If he attacks Americans with the military because they’re “the enemy from within”, please stand up and say no.
• If he lets RFK discourage vaccines that have eradicated diseases like polio, please stand up and say no.
• If he tries to hurt journalists, please stand up and say no.
• If he tries to seize control of the media, please stand up and say no.
• If he tries to jail his political enemies, please stand up and say no.

We’ve debated if he would do those things, you’ve been certain he wouldn’t. If you’re proven wrong, your fellow Americans need you to care about their wellbeing more than winning.

Taylor Dartt

Vox populi, vox Dei?!

In Latin, it means "The voice of the people is the voice of God" - and though that sounds pretty darn pro-democracy, it was actually first used negatively by Alcuin of York in a letter to Emperor Charlemagne in 800 A.D.:

“And those people should not be listened to who keep saying the voice of the people is the voice of God, since the riotousness of the crowd is always close to insanity.”

In our current political situation, it's the tendency to defer to "the wisdom of crowds" - or to ascribe deep political meaning to the number of people you can turn out for a political rally.

Here's the deal: the voice of the people can be wrong. Richard Nixon was elected in a landslide in 1972 (60.7% of the popular vote, 520 electoral votes out of 538)... and yet resigned as president less than two years later to avoid being impeached.

I am not suggesting that the results of the 2024 election are incorrect - Donald Trump was elected president. What I am suggesting is that I can both assert the fairness of our election system and question the wisdom of choosing such a flawed candidate to lead our country.

Even in a well-established and long-functioning democracy, even in the exceptional United States of America, even in the enlightened 21st century, the majority can be wrong.

This shouldn’t be a controversial or startling statement. It’s self-evidently true...

In a democracy, the people rule. Which is good! And the majority decides. Which is right! But we don’t therefore surrender to the majority our right, our duty, to make our own judgments about the wisdom of their decisions...

We need to be able to say that it was foolish and short-sighted, and maybe worse, to judge that Joe Biden’s economy was so terrible that Donald Trump’s bigotry and demagoguery counted for nothing. We need to be able to say it was wrong to embrace change if change means the deportation of millions of residents living here peacefully, or abandoning tens of millions of Ukrainians fighting for the survival of their nation and their liberty...

...it is worth being reminded that respecting the decision of the people doesn’t mean surrendering one’s judgment to them.

William Kristol

Stop Bashing Democracy

In all of this, I find Jonah Goldberg's take on the demonization of the other side to be both thought-provoking and convicting:

I completely understand why some folks are so upset about Donald Trump winning. But that’s really no reason to trash-talk democracy, America, or the Americans who democratically voted for Trump. I am not backsliding or changing course here; I still think Trump is unfit for office. That doesn’t mean, though, that everyone who voted for the guy is a fascist, sexist, racist, or idiot. 

There are many reasons this kind of talk is objectionable and ill-advised, but I’m going to focus on the one that matters the most: It’s not true.  

Let’s start with the claim that everyone who voted for Trump is an idiot.

Did some idiots vote for Trump? Of course. But I guarantee you that Harris got her share of the idiot vote, too. Idiots are pretty well distributed across the political spectrum. And you know what? So are smart people. Lots of smart people voted for Trump. And lots of smart people voted for Harris. I find the tendency of people—smart and dumb ones alike—to think that “smart” and “right” and “dumb” and “wrong” are interchangeable terms to be one of the most exhausting analytical errors out there. 

In fact, it’s almost as exhausting as thinking that “wrong” is synonymous with “fascist” or “bigot.” Fascism and bigotry are wrong, but not all wrong people are fascists and bigots. Are some Trump voters fascists and bigots? Yeah, sure. But I don’t think he cornered that market either.  

More importantly, for every voter who wants Trump to be a “fascist”—or racist, or authoritarian, etc. the labels here really don’t matter—there are probably dozens, or hundreds, or, most likely, tens of thousands of Trump voters who think it’s unfair to call him an authoritarian, never mind a fascist. Why? Because they don’t think he is one and don’t want him to be one. Those people might be wrong (I have opinions!), but that doesn’t mean they’re idiots or fascists themselves. It just means they’re wrong. And convincing them they’re wrong doesn’t get easier by calling them idiots and fascists. 

There are people who voted for Trump believing that he was lying about some things just to get elected. There are other people who voted for him believing that he was telling the truth about that stuff but definitely lying about other stuff. Now that he’ll be president, we’ll find out which things were lies and which weren’t. If he pardons all of the January 6 rioters, some people who voted for him will be very happy, others will be disgusted, and many others will fall somewhere in between. If he puts RFK Jr. in charge of health care, some will be horrified, some will be happy, and others just won’t care—at least not until their kids start getting measles. We’ll just have to wait and see.  

But treating fellow Americans like they are “enemies within” is wrong and destructive when Donald Trump does it. And it’s wrong and destructive when his enemies do it. Wait for the facts. Have arguments over the facts. That’s what politics and democracy are for, no matter who wins an election. And if you win the argument, you’ll win the next election.  

Jonah Goldberg

God Is In Control (And Other Things That Aren't Very Comforting)

Finally, a theological musing.

I understand that many of my fellow followers of Christ who voted for Mr. Trump intend their words to be a consolation - or at least a statement of theological truth. For some, they are a barely concealed "get over it already", wrapped in pious theological language.

The effect, regardless of intent, is to dismiss the feelings of frustration, anger, and sadness of those of us who've opposed the return to the presidency of Mr. Trump. I'll point out that the Bible is filled with laments... and even an entire section entitled the "Book of Lamentations". 

Equally tone deaf are the attempts to police reactions to this loss - making fun of folks (both famous and obscure) for the way they are processing their grief in public. This is not the way of Christ - this is not the fruit of the Spirit ("love, joy, peace, patience, kindheartedness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control" - Galatians 522-23).

I'll close with a thoughtful take on this from pastor Jeb Barr:

“GOD IS ON HIS THRONE”

I’ve seen many people post to this the last couple of days.

“God is on His throne” is a true statement, but it is an incomplete theology.

“God is on His throne” does not mean all is ok or that His perfect will is being accomplished.

God is on His throne during every evil even in human history.

God is on His throne, and genocide still happened.

God is on His throne, and clergy sex abuse still occurred and was covered up by His followers.

God is on His throne, and Hitler still sent millions to gas chambers after rising to power with the support of most German Christians.

God is on His throne, and still millions of Africans were kidnapped and brought to the Americas as slaves, and many Christians used Scripture to justify and defend the practice.

God is on His throne, and our nation still tore itself apart as North fought South, both sides believing God was on their side.

God is on His throne, and in His sovereignty He allows evil, sin and suffering to take place, and He rarely stops us from hurting one another.

God is on His throne, and one day He will return to see all things right and enact perfect justice, but today is not that day.

“God is on His throne” too easily becomes the platitude of the privileged who believe they will benefit from the current circumstances. All is ok because they are ok.

“God is on His throne” can quickly become an abdication of our responsibility to be His stewards over creation and His hands and feet to the hurting.

God is on His throne, and He’s commanded us to hear the cries of the poor, to advocate the cause of the oppressed, to welcome the stranger, to visit the prisoner, and to feed the hungry.

God is on His throne, but are we carrying out the commands and the priorities of the King?

Jeb Barr