Christians supporting Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump, pay attention. Eric Sapp has a message for you.
First, let’s establish some credentials. Mr. Sapp is a founding partner of the Eleison Group, executive director of the American Values Network, and he sits on the global advisory board of the Christian Media Corporation which is the parent company of the Christian Post. It’s safe to say, he’s a bona fide evangelical. He also is voting for Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
In a piece just published at the Christian Post, Mr. Sapp lays out in explicitly religious terms, why the choice between Trump and Clinton from a Christian perspective, is crystal clear.
He states from the outset:
“I see three options for evangelicals in this election and none of them include voting for Trump. Evangelicals can morally justify a protest vote for a third party, not vote at all, or join the 30%+ of evangelicals saying they’ll vote for Hillary Clinton. What we cannot do is to cast our vote for Donald Trump. The harm to the Christian witness if we support this man who embodies everything Christ warned Christians against in the Sermon on the Mount would last generations.”
I have been saying for some time now that Trump’s candidacy has destroyed whatever tenuous moral foundation the religious right ever thought it had. But to hear these same sentiments being trumpeted so loudly from such a high profile evangelical is, well, refreshing.
Make no mistake, I’m happy the religious right has been gutted. And Mr. Sapp’s piece is the perfect illustration of that. If one truly adheres to the fundamental tenets of the teachings of Jesus Christ, then a vote for Donald Trump is a slap in old JC’s face!
Mr. Sapp continued to make his case to readers of the Christian Post:
“What will our Latino brothers and sisters think of us? How could we ever again have credibility on religious freedom if we are willing to trade the First Amendment rights of our Muslim American neighbors so easily? And what will our children learn when they see us cast our lot with this man?”
He then hearkened back to scripture to deliver the final blow to all those Christians who are letting their emotions guide them toward Trump rather than letting their faith guide them toward Clinton:
“Trump’s ‘tempting’ offer is remarkably like another made two millennia ago … when the Devil offered Jesus the power to rule over all the kingdoms of the world with justice and mercy, if only Christ would bow down to the Devil. American Christians should not take a deal Jesus rejected.”
That’s a powerful last line worth repeating, “American Christians should not take a deal Jesus rejected.”
Here’s a video of Trump trashing the Sermon on the Mount:
Featured image via YouTube screengrab
