Our Evangelical Problem

 Mike Pence

Many have wondered how evangelical Christians could vote for Donal Trump. After all, they have spent years preaching to us that moral character was the most important factor in choosinga political candidate.  While preachers, priests, and bishops have, in defiance of the law, used their pulpits to convince congregations to vote either for a candidate or against a candidate, they  always argued that their candidate possessed a higher moral character.

And then this year, Donald Trump comes along, flaunting his lack of moral character.

One would have expected the Evangelicals would have been outraged at his past behavior and his current rhetoric. But, then an election occurred and according to the exit polls, the Evangelicals voted in greater numbers for Trump than they did Mitt Romney, John McCain, or George Bush. (They are a minority of 28% within the minority party, but they posesses disproportinate power because the GOP needs them to win.)

So what happened? How did they manage to ignore  Trump's many lies, his sexual ethics, his lack of interest in religion, his attitude toward women, his assault on the Eight Beatitudes, and his attacks on a religious minority? Apparently, they weren't really serious about about moral character; they were only interested in a few issues: criminalizing abortion, restricting LGBT rights, and reversing access to gay marriage. If Lucifer himself promised to promote their pet issues, they would have voted for him.

Technically, they should not care about any of these issues. No one is forcing them to have an abortion, no one is forcing them to have dinner with a transgender, no one is forcing them to marry a member of their own sex.

What it's all about is that evangelical Christians want to impose their beliefs on the rest of country. They want their religious beliefs and moral code to become the law of the land.

Fortunately, our Founding Fathers foresaw such a danger. Thus, in their wisdom, they gave us the First Amendment which, as Thomas Jefferson pointed out, builds a wall between church and state. And, of course, they seem to have conveniently forgotten that George Washington wrote: "The government of the United States is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion."

This obsession with imposing their religion and moral code on the rest of us is extremely dangerous in a constitutional democracy. Just as they fear a government based on Sharia Law, others rightfully fear a government based on the beliefs of the evangelicals.

In the 2016 Presidential election, a man of dubious Christian pedigree changes his mind on abortion and says all the things the Evangelicals want to hear. Then he chooses Mike Pence, the poster boy for the Evangelicals, as a running mate, and they flock to the Trump tent.

Of course, it is quite possible that a politician sincerely can change his mind on an issue, but Mr. Trump's change seems to be pandering, and it apparently worked. And now he is obligated to fulfill his promise to the people who want to break down the wall between Church and State. (Most recently, Mr. Trump has backtracked on the gay marriage issue.)

The hope for our nation is that our judiciary has the integrity to prevent one religious group from imposing their beliefs on the rest of their fellow citizens.

The Country is Pissed Off, Pre and Post

Unhappy and worried Americans take to the streets exercising the rights of free speech  and t peaceful assembly. Others try to create violence within such a setting. Some Americans, consumed by hate, now feel free to harass, insult, torment, and even assault other Americans because of the shade of their skin.

All of this blatant hatred in a constitutional democracy as the result of a presidential election, in spite of President Obama's effort to make the transfer of power peaceful and smooth. The bottom line is Americans are pissed off. (Forgive the vulgarity, but after the language we were subjected to during the political campaign, my usage seems mild.)

The Clinton supporters are angry because their candidate, in spite of winning the three debates, leading in the polls, and winning the popular vote, lost the election.  They are outraged that the FBI inserted itself into the final stage of the campaign and  believe that the media was manipulated. They are also convinced that Vladimir Putin and the Russians took an unholy interest in the election, and disgusted that the winning candidate made statements threatening to many.

Prior to victory, the Trump supporters were angry with the status quo:  government, politicians, bureaucracy, social programs, lack of jobs, international trade deals, factory closings, Wall Street, and innumerable real and perceived injustices.  In many cases, this anger was fueled by fear, fear of  the other: immigrants, people of color, and especially Muslims.

After the surprising results of the election, the pundits on both sides tried to explain the results. The Republicans were quick to say: "The people who voted for Trump, although they may not have liked his character,  were voting for the conservative agenda." The Democrats were scratching their heads and asking themselves why Americans would vote for a sexist and racist.

There has been much analysis as to what the election means. Did Hillary lose it? Did Trump win it? Why didn't the Democrats go to the polls as they did in 2012? Since it was so close, did the 3rd party candidates flip it?

But the most important question is: if a sexist and racist candidate receives a majority of the electoral vote, does that mean those voters are also openly or secretly sexists and racists? I would hate to think that is the case. Granted some voters fit into that category (you know who you are)abolish, I hope that many who voted for him did so in spite of his sexism and racism,

And in the final analysis, it's not that difficult. The country is pissed off. The Trump voters saw Hillary as the same old boring vanilla and wanted a new more exotic flavor. The untried outsider has more appeal than the perceived insider.

So, Mr. Trump's problem is that after he and the Republicans build walls, expel Latinos, force Muslims to register (as of the present, they will not have to wear a crescent moon and star on their coats), abolish Medicare, build more pipelines, cancel citizens' health insurance, privatize National Parks, reduce taxes on the wealthy, cancel trade deals, renege on the Paris Accord, initiate a trade war with Chins, sabotage the Iranian Nuclear Agreement, and possibly withdraw from NATO. the country will still be pissed off - now, for other reasons.

Change simply for the sake of change does not work.