It has taken me a long time to write these words to you.
You have been taking a lot of heat these last few months, and for that, I am truly sorry. I also want you to know, first and foremost, that I love and cherish each one of you, many of whom I have known my entire life, and that is why your continued support pains me so. This essay will make many of you upset, and I apologize for that, but friends need to tell friends the truth, and as a Christian minister I need to speak the truth in love, so please keep reading.
I do not think you all are racists, homophobes, Nazis or any of the other things you have been called just as I am not a communist, snowflake, socialist (well I did vote for Bernie Sanders) libtard or any of the horrible names I was called, by some of you, during the past 8 years.
I can somewhat understand your reasons for voting for Mr. Trump in the first place. I was not thrilled with any of the candidates myself, but the demeanor of Donald J Trump during the campaign upset me. Making fun of people with physical disabilities, shouting “lock her up,” in sighting violence and all the rest are not what has, or continue, to make America great.
This is not about President Obama or Secretary Clinton, that is the past, and there is nothing anyone of us can do about that. This is about the present and the future of our country, and I believe of our souls.
No, I know the argument, her emails, Benghazi, and all the rest. Like I said I was not thrilled about the candidates, heck I voted for Bernie Sanders in the primary, talk about going out a limb. But none of that, none of it, holds a candle to what Mr. Trump has said in the past, during the campaign, and since taking office in January.
President Trump has three close advisors, Steve Bannon, Stephen Miller and Sebastian Gorka all known to be racists and White Supremacists and yet there they are, with unfettered access to the President of the United States, making policy decisions and advising him. This alone should be enough.
As a Christian, I have a difficult time trying to come to grips with other Christian leaders like Robert Jeffers, Jerry Falwell, Jr. and Paula White who are willing to overlook so many of the moral transgressions of Mr. Trump. Three times married, mostly because he cheated on the former wife with the next one, objectifying women and saying the grab them by the P^&%. Demonizing of Mexicans, LGBTQ, the poor, and Muslims for a quick laugh and a bump in the polls. These are the same Evangelical Christians that were in moral outrage when a President lied about having sex.
They are willing to trade away their morality and dare I say they have sold their souls, for the promise of the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, and judges, so their brand of Christianity will be the law of the land. They have blasphemed God by calling Mr. Trump “anointed” by God. We do not anoint Presidents in America no matter what party they belong to, especially one that demonizes all of the groups I have already mentioned.
But the real reason I am writing this, and if you are still with me, I hope you listen, his immediate refusal to denounce Nazis and White Supremacists and the Klan after the riots in Charlottesville, Virginia. If his non-renunciation was not bad enough when he finally did renounce them, after tremendous political pressure, he tried to make a moral and legal argument that the Antifa and BLM are the same as Nazis and White Supremacists. Make no mistake about it, they were carrying the Nazi flag, giving the Nazi salute, and chanting “blood and soil” and the “Jews will not replace us.” Donald J. Trump is the leader of the party that is on record of stalwart support for the Nation of Israel, and he could not find the moral courage on Saturday to denounce Anti-Semitism on an American street.
There are not many sides to this issue there are only two, one was Nazis on it, and the other side should have everyone else. We fought a world war, where many hundreds of thousands were killed and injured, to prevent this very thing and here we see it happen all over again on an American street. It is very sickening to me.
I agree that any group, flying any flag that resorts to violence should be denounced, but to try and make an equivalent between these groups is disingenuous at best. And the Evangelical voice that got Mr. Trump elected has agreed with the President, supported him, and stood by him, and has done harm to the Christian witness not only in America but the world.
There was a time, right or wrong when America was the moral compass in the world. At one time we were the Antifa that fought fascism and then Communism all around the world. We removed dictators from power because of their political philosophy and how they treated their citizens. We have stood for freedom around the world for generations, and now we have a stain on our reputation. America is not great, and we have Donald J Trump to thank for it.
I will repeat this, I love and cherish each one of you, but I cannot understand why you still support this man, I am sure you feel the same way about my support for President Obama, but there can be no comparison. Many of you have unfriended me on Facebook and other Social Media sites, and that is your call, I have not done so. I have unfollowed many of you during the campaign and after, but I will not let something like this come between us, but it pains me greatly to see your continued support.
