Why asking "How can a decent moral person vote for Trump" is a terrible question

After 1000 plus comments across multiple threads regarding this post, with some thoughtful feedback, and some colorfully-worded dissent, I want to answer a couple consistent questions raised: 1) How can a seemingly decent moral person who follows Jesus vote for Trump? 2) Do I support Trump’s morals and character?

Let me ask the first question in reverse: How can decent moral people vote for Biden? Does that sound like a productive question to ask? No. That is why I've never asked. I am not questioning someone's moral compass. Nor should they question mine. There is a reason the idea of a "Supreme Judge" is in the Declaration of Independence. The framers of this country believed the country should live under the moral laws of God and the governing laws of man. As virtuous as I think some people are, I don't see anyone on the tickets or anyone here as the arbiter of right and wrong or good and evil. Stop calling people evil and deplorable, and I'm certain a very robust and fruitful conversation will follow.

The breaking point and deal killer for many is that Trump is racist and he's commandeered white supremacists to rise up. They then take this a step further (this is where the illogical syllogism comes into play) by saying someone's vote for Trump or someone's insufficient hatred for Trump (which is what my husband was told hundreds of times this week) means they are by extension racist. To show the absurdity of it all, I've even been called a "white” privileged person. Trump's paleoconservative position has appealed to the working class who love America and want to put American jobs first. Is this form of nationalism a bad thing? No. Has this awakened some extreme groups on the right? Yes. But this doesn’t make him or his policies racist or supportive of white supremacy. He has repeatedly condemned these hate groups. I cover this in much greater detail in my book, Unequally Yoked: Finding hope and balance in our differences.

We're seeing repugnant violent extremists rising up on the left. Yet, on the left there is a wink and a hat tip to rioting, iconoclasm and far-left fringe groups in the name of social justice. There's also a dogmatic left shutting many people down. This happens on the right too. But cancel culture is more pervasive on the left because they control tech, media and academia. Maybe it’s just me, but I don’t see a lot of people cancelled for their support of Biden. I also see explicit calls from the left to remove checks and balances (removing filibuster, packing the court, changing electoral college). I also see failed promises to minorities and flat out racist comments from the top of the Democratic party.  Why are these moral actions to support? Or said differently, are the people who want to push through these actions have the character and morals I support?

This seems to be the question asked of me. Do I support Trump’s character and morals? I would say that the character of a man should be judged by its entirety (flaws and all). I grant Trump has made statements he could have said better, and even some he should not have said at all. But the fidelity of his words is in many cases diminished by the media, which has masterfully leveraged scorn for the man into entrenched contempt. I’m not voting for the pastor of my church. And I’d have to squint hard to find the moral consistency in any accomplished politician.

This brings me to Joe Biden. Is he a man of character? He seems to be a good guy with a measured way of speaking, gaffes and all. He might even be less polarizing. But I would also measure his character to be president in its entirety, and this is where he may be deficient for this job. I don’t see any evidence that he will have the fortitude or restraint to be a bulwark against the growing radicalized left that many hope.

In closing, to have a binary view of how people should vote is to have a binary view of good and evil. To many like me, our vote and our moral foundation are calculations with lots of inputs. As moral psychologist Jonathan Haidt, a self-admitted liberal atheist, pointed out, conservatives have a far more complex moral foundation than liberals. While conservatives equally revere compassion, fairness, authority, loyalty and sanctity, Democrats rank compassion and fairness higher in their moral calculation.

Now back to Jesus. Anyone who says they know what Jesus would do or vote for has become a modern day Pharisee. What would Jesus have me do?  He would have me understand that we are all broken and flawed and that if we start from a posture of gratefulness and forgiveness we move ourselves closer to Him.  He would have me love my neighbor as I love myself. So I follow Jesus and even if you disagree with me, I still love you and I respect your view. All I ask is to allow others to have the freedom to have theirs too.