Christian morality doesn’t change based on politics

The 2016 presidential election presents conservative Christians with an excruciating decision that is testing our character. This predicament is also causing both debate and division within our own churches, denominations and organizations — and even in some extended families.

This predicament has a name: Donald J. Trump.

This predicament also has a context. Evangelicals became much more engaged in the political scene with the nomination of Ronald Reagan in 1980. At the same time, the two major political parties became identified with rival visions for the American future.

On a range of moral issues and policies, the Democratic Party veered far left. The Republican Party was nominating only pro-life candidates and adopting a platform solidly defending the sanctity of human life and the normativity of the family headed by a father and a mother. The Democrats became the party of abortion rights and a moral revolution that would eventually include same-sex marriage.

Since then, evangelical Christians have been a central constituency of the Republican Party and, motivated by deep moral concerns, have eagerly voted for Republican candidates all the way down the ticket.

But how can “family values voters” support a man who has, among other things, stated openly that no man’s wife was safe with him in the room? A casino titan who posed for the cover of Playboy? A man who boasted that he did not repent of his (well-documented) sins and would not?

Then came the video. But the Trump on the 11-year-old tape did not reveal anything that evangelicals should not have already known. He is, in terms of character, the personification of what evangelicals have preached (and voted) against. Under normal circumstances, he would be the realization of evangelical nightmares, not the carrier of evangelical hopes.

Sadly, this election cycle represents a massive embarrassment for the nation and an immense missed opportunity for the Republican Party.

Hillary Clinton represents the most pro-abortion candidate ever to be nominated by a major political party. Evangelical Christians understand her vast character problems, dating back to the 1980s and extending to the email scandal that, taken alone, would have ended the career of any other politician — and should.

To be clear, I find Clinton’s character morally disqualifying for the office. Conservative Christians are not wrong to see the future of the Supreme Court in the balance. They are not wrong to see a restoration of the Clinton dynasty as a grave danger to unborn life and to values we believe to be essential to America’s cultural health and influence in the world.

I could never vote for Clinton, nor can I vote against my conscience just to prevent her from reaching the Oval Office. Conscience, however, is the central issue in the present crisis.

In the midst of President Bill Clinton’s sex scandal and impeachment, I went on national television numerous times to call upon the president to resign, arguing that he lacked the moral character necessary for any leader, much less the president of the United States.

I believe I was right then, and that means that I cannot now vote for a candidate who lacks the essential minimum of moral fiber that is absolutely necessary for leadership. I cannot argue with a straight face or a clear conscience that one set of moral rules applies to Democratic leaders and another applies to Republicans.

At this most difficult moment for evangelical Christians, the world is watching to see if we believe what we have been preaching about morality and character. Our neighbors are watching; our children are watching. At the very least, conservative Christians must acknowledge the moral issues at stake and avoid becoming apologists for politics devoid of character. Something even more important than a presidential election is at stake: our moral credibility.

Many faithful evangelicals will vote against Clinton and the platform of the Democratic Party. I understand that and respect the dignity and privacy of the voting booth. Others, like me, will be unable to vote in conscience for either Trump or Clinton.

Surely Christians united in moral conviction owe each other that basic kindness of respecting conscience in the voting booth in this excruciating political predicament. If not, we face in ourselves a problem far greater than this tragic election.

This story was originally published November 2, 2016 at 7:58 PM with the headline "Christian morality doesn’t change based on politics."