For the Sake of My Conscience, re: Donald Trump

In fifty years, when Donald Trump's role in American Christianity is discussed, I want to be able to honestly say I spoke up and denounced the idolatrous position into which many fellow Christians have placed the President. That I took no part in encouraging or propagating his words or actions, so bafflingly praised by other believers. This, then, is a public declaration for the sake of my own conscience when I think of these current times in my later years.

It should baffle me that I have to elaborate that, being a Christian, I have no admiration for a KKK-endorsed rapist. It should go unsaid, but sadly it doesn't: many American Christians (certainly not all, but far too many) have placed President Donald Trump on a pedestal as God's spokesman, and his party as the only way God's will can prevail in our country (as if His will could in some way be restrained). This is an idolatrous and blasphemous outlook, thus making a post like this necessary, to keep my fingerprints from any Christian endorsement of Donald Trump. 

The Bible tells us the best way for a Christian to show Jesus to the world is by our love and our actions. We are called to be ambassadors for Christ. This is not possible by lionizing a man found by a jury to have committed sexual battery, a man who was endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan and did nothing to disavow that endorsement, a man who pardoned criminals who committed violent acts in his name, who re-emboldened white supremacist movements in America, and who pardoned unrepentant violent criminals because they committed their acts of violence in his name. I can't show anyone the love of Christ by placing Him on equal footing with any man who does these things.

As far as sinners go, I'm among the worst - but I'm not being touted as a beacon of godliness, nor basking in such ill-founded praise. I'm not autographing Bibles or giving speeches at Liberty University. I'm not the President, and my sinful inclinations aren't influencing political policy. Furthermore, being a sinner, I must strive to repent and do better. I mustn't deny my sins with the delusion that I have no need for God's grace - as when President Trump said: "Why do I have to repent or ask forgiveness if I'm not making mistakes?" 

This concludes my feeble form of public record, my attempt to emphasize that not all Christians in America see Donald Trump as a pope-like figure, Christ's deputy on Earth, the only vessel through whom any good in America can be manifested. This is not a lament that Kamala Harris lost the election, not a pitch for Democratic policies, or for an alternative politician to worship. This is simply a plea for those outside the Church to understand that Donald Trump does not represent or embody the doctrine of Jesus Christ, despite the claims of many gravely mistaken adherents. I hope that those who read this who have qualms with Christianity have at least not been led to those negative feelings by believing the lie that this man is in any way the ambassador of our faith.

-Bud Sturguess. Amarillo, Texas. February 24, 2025.

PS To relieve certain people of their comment section duty of pointing out that Bill Clinton was a horndog who received fellatio in the Oval Office and lied about it 30 years ago, I say: yes, he did. Awful stuff. What it has to do with Donald Trump, I've no idea, but it always seems to be a go-to counterpoint when someone criticizes this golden calf.

PPS For the sake of fairness and accuracy, Donald Trump did eventually make remarks against the Ku Klux Klan and other hate groups - but it took deadly violence in Charlottesville and enormous pressure for him to do so. His actions since then, however render his remarks moot - numerous perpetrators of the January 6th Insurrection, indiscriminately pardoned by Trump, were associated with white nationalist groups.

photo by Damon Winter, New York Times