Trump and Evangelical Christians
Since the election, I have been thinking about the role that religion played in electing you as the next President of the United States and the enormous responsibility that you now have to the American people who elected you. By now you must be aware that approximately eighty percent of white, evangelical Christians voted for you. I hope that you will take your responsibility to the evangelicals very seriously and learn what is of utmost importance to them. Therefore, let me review a few of the core beliefs of evangelical Christians.
At the heart and center of evangelical faith is trust in Jesus and the Bible. There are of course doctrinal disagreements among evangelicals but they certainly agree that Christ is the only way to salvation and that the Bible, both the Old Testament and the New Testament, is the Word of God which we must strive to follow in our everyday lives. The 1974 Lausane Covenant, which is one of the most influential documents for evangelical Christianity, states that "We affirm the divine inspiration, truthfulness and authority of both Old and New Testament Scriptures in their entirety as the only written word of God, without error in all that it affirms, and the only infallible rule of faith and practice.”
The Bible, for evangelicals, is not only a way of thinking but a way of living. But what does the Bible teach? First and foremost, the Bible teaches that we are created in God’s image. This means that we must not only have respect for people but must also stand against and reject any form of injustice. We must never compromise with evil. The Lausane Covenant also stresses social action and states that we must "denounce evil and injustice wherever they exist. . . . Faith without works is dead."
The great values of biblical thought are compassion and love, especially love for the stranger, which we are reminded of again and again. What stands out about the classical prophets in the Bible is their passion for social justice and their deep sensitivity to injustice. The prophets are appalled by human greed and can never adjust to it. More than anything else, the prophets are outraged, in the words of Abraham Joshua Heschel, by the “monstrosity of inequality.” There are many other demands made of us in the Bible including humility, a passion for social justice, concern for the poor, the widow, and the orphan, and the constant need to examine our lives in order to repent of our sins.
Evangelical Christians also claim that in order to transform society, human beings need to undergo transformation, and in order for human beings to transform themselves, they need to repent. This idea gives me hope as it is repentance which leads to the capacity to change. I know that change is not easy but it does happen. In fact, I would say that this is one of the great teachings of all the great world religious traditions that I have studied. They all claim that if we truly follow the path they set forth, we can change and be transformed to a life of compassion and wisdom. Israel Salanter, the great nineteenth-century Lithuanian rabbi, who founded an ethical self-perfection movement in Judaism, said that the truly great wonder in the world is that it is possible “to transform a human being into a mensch.” Mensch is the Yiddish word for a compassionate human being of dignity and great integrity.
I know that you have very strong opinions on how to make American great again. But I also know that you are willing to listen to voices of people who do not agree with you. I remember your claim that “I know more about ISIS than the generals do. Believe me.” But just a few weeks after the election, you seem to have changed your mind since you are selecting a number of generals for key positions. What gives me even more hope is your recent expression of gratitude for the work of President Obama. I am especially encouraged by your meeting with Al Gore to discuss climate change. So, I’m not giving up hope that you will become the president of many surprises and that four years from now, you will be written up in Time Magazine as the President of the United States and not "President of the Divided States.”
I’m certain you are aware that since the election there has been a rise in intolerance and hate speech in our country especially directed at minorities. If you will, in fact, take seriously the core beliefs of the evangelical Christians who helped to elect you, then you must never be silent in the face of intolerance and hate. As president, you have a special responsibility to speak out and protest any form of bigotry. Yes, the goal of every American president is to make America great. But the American people and the rest of the world who view the American president as the "Leader of the Free World” expect you to promote healing not only for the American people but for all people.
My beloved teacher, Abraham Joshua Heschel, is greatly admired by many influential Christian thinkers. Heschel’s writings have also made an impact on evangelical scholars. Marvin R. Wilson, one of the best-known evangelical scholars in America, stated to me in a letter that “the writings of Abraham Joshua Heschel have had a greater impact on my life than any other single source except the Bible.” So I invite readers, especially all those who voted for Donald Trump, to ponder the words of Rabbi Heschel, “In a free society, when evil is done, some are guilty, but all are responsible."