Many editorial boards of prestigious publications are formally supporting the Donald Trump’s impeachment and calling for removing him from office, but perhaps none has the sting and impact of the ringing condemnation offered yesterday by the leading Evangelical publication in America: Christianity Today.
The magazine, founded by the late evangelist Billy Graham, published an editorial by editor-in-chief Mark Galli that succinctly and clearly lays out the case for removal from office. Even though Galli restates the conservative talking points that there has always been partisan animosity towards Trump (which … true) and that Trump didn’t get a chance to present his side of things (false), he gets down to the real point right away:
But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
Trump has enjoyed passionate—and paradoxical—evangelical support. Even though nothing he does, says, or believes matches with the tenets of Christianity, conservative evangelicals find him appealing. Maybe it’s the homophobia or racism or xenophobia or misogyny, I don’t know, but he’s convinced some evangelicals that he’s close to Jesus, and it’s terrible. Trump appeals to the worst instincts of America, and sadly, those are often the worst instincts of people who define themselves as Christian.
The fact that Christianity Today has come out not just for impeachment, but for removal from office, is therefore huge. I would hope that this move will sway some Christians, but … they may be so far down the Trump rabbit hole, where truth and facts don’t matter, that they will ignore it. The editorial certainly annoyed the President, who took to Twitter with his customary lies and fury.
….have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
Ah yes, noted “far left” magazine Christianity Today, which has entire sections of its website dedicated to pro-life writing and is, again, the most popular magazine for decidedly right-wing evangelical Christians—but that doesn’t mean there’s an E in the title. At least the gaffe got Entertainment Tonight some attention. I’m not sure who Trump thinks this “radical left non-believer” is, but … the extent of the fact-free nature of these tweets would be high comedy if it weren’t terrifying.
Galli had the chance to respond to Trump’s tweets directly on CNN, unsurprisingly taking issue with that “far left” characterization. Even so, Christianity Today makes a strong case against this horrible man, entreating their readers to turn away from him and back to morals and reason:
To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come?
I don’t know if this will actually change any minds in the evangelical community but…I certainly hope it does.
(via: Christianity Today, Image: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
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