By Luke Griffo
With the Presidential election quickly emerging and the two candidates at last settled, Christians are obligated, as always, to prayerfully consider how we utilize the authority God has given to us as American citizens. As I have personally considered this election, I have somewhat unexpectedly become torn in my own conscience. I have voted Republican in every election in which I have been allowed to participate, and in both 2016 and 2020 I pulled the lever for Donald Trump without any of the hesitation experienced by many Christians. This year, however, I do not find that to be the case. This is not due to Trump’s personal immorality, his crude manner of speaking, his four sham indictments, or his rhetoric and behavior following the 2020 election. My hesitation this time around is due to the brazen and, I believe, fatal compromises with abortion, both on the part of Trump and the Republican party over which he exercises such massive influence.
For generations, the Republican Party has been the sole home for those who oppose abortion. While the actual victories of Republicans over the abortion regime have been limited, to say the least, there was always the clearly stated goal of ultimately bringing abortion to an end. That reality has fundamentally changed. The same man who once stated that, were abortion to be outlawed, the women who procure them should be “punished,” and who has been characterized by both himself and others as the most pro-life president of all time, has in the past two years opposed a heartbeat bill passed in Florida, pressured Arizona judges to reverse their decision to uphold a law criminalizing abortion doctors, has promised that his administration will be “great for women and their reproductive rights,” and has succeeded in essentially removing abortion from the platform of the party for which he bears the standard. He has also nudged the party toward official support of IVF as well as the abortion pill.
It has been clear since the overturning of Roe V. Wade by the Dobbs decision in 2022 that the Republican Party has become noticeably less pro-life and much more comfortable with allowing some regulated abortion. Their current position seems to align essentially with the “safe, legal, and rare” line of the Democrats in the 1990’s. All of these revelations have led me to seriously consider whether I as a Christian can, in good conscience, cast a ballot for Donald Trump, knowing what I know. I staunchly reject the position that either a vote for Trump or a refusal to vote for him is itself sinful. I know very faithful Christians who stand firmly in both camps; this is a matter of Christian liberty. That does not mean, however, that it is unimportant. It is my purpose to make the strongest biblical argument I can for both positions: supporting Trump and opposing Trump. In so doing, I hope that I may help those who, like myself, are deeply torn by the present, sorry state of our national politics.
At the very foundation of political reality in this world is the fall. Due to man’s sin and the thoughts of his heart now being “only evil continually” (Gen. 6:5), his insatiable lust to commit violence against his fellow image-bearers must be forcibly curbed. Thus, God proclaimed after He judged the wicked world by a flood: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Gen. 9:6), and when men cooperated together to challenge His sovereign authority, He confused their languages and geographically scattered them (Gen. 11:1-9), divinely ordaining the distinctions of peoples and nations. God created one particular nation for Himself, Israel, and to them He articulated the moral law of His created order and taught them specifically how this law was to be applied in a civil context against those who would disregard and disobey it.
In the New Testament, the apostle Paul explains the basic purpose of civil government: “For rulers are not a terror to good conduct, but to bad. Would you have no fear of the one who is in authority? Then do what is good, and you will receive his approval, for he is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword in vain. For he is a servant of God, an avenger who carries out God’s wrath on the wrongdoer” (Rom. 13:3-4). Scripture is clear that, in this present age, civil government among men is an institution largely concerned with restraining man’s evil tendencies through the lawful use of the law. The state presupposes man’s sinfulness, and it is not in the business of making men righteous but of keeping them from rampant, public evil.
With all this in mind, then, our human governments will always themselves be imperfect institutions full of sinful men which will be variably successful in their assigned task of maintaining civil order. What we should not expect is for the state to achieve its ideal, to be perfect in justice and fully without compromise. The effectiveness of the state is always on a sliding scale. As Christians, with whatever power we have to shape and influence civil government, our aim should be to establish that which does the most to restrain evil while respecting the dignity and genuine liberty of God’s image-bearers to the greatest degree that we possibly can.
Part of achieving this mission is to take into account the providential circumstances into which God has placed us and thus what is within reach politically. Part of the reason why the apostles spent little time teaching first century Christians how to influence and shape the government is that they lived under a totalitarian empire in which they had no clear and immediate opportunities for such work. Effectiveness in any area of life requires individuals to operate in reality as it is. Unlike our brothers of the first century—and for that matter throughout most of history—modern American Christians have the privilege and responsibility of participating in the government, and this is done at the most basic level by casting a vote for our representatives. Therefore, we must think very carefully as to how we exercise this weighty privilege; playing an active role in civil government, however small, means that we must do all that we can personally to deter wickedness and to promote public justice. We have more liberty and more power with respect to our civil authorities and their governance over us than our Christian forebearers going back centuries, and with this comes far more responsibility in this sphere.
This reality, however, does not equate to Christians having carte blanche to construct their ideal society. We do not live in a consummated utopia. And this brings us to Donald Trump and the 2024 presidential race. In God’s providence, and by means of various factors ranging from corruption and big money interests to poor political theology and general failure on the part of the church, Christians today find themselves in a two party system in which both candidates and both parties on the national level are deeply compromised and thoroughly unchristian. In such a case, it is the Christian’s obligation to, once every effort to nominate a godly candidate has been exhausted, carefully consider which candidate will do more to restrain evil and promote justice, and out of love for our neighbors, vote accordingly.
When one compares the policy positions of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris, the answer to this question is easily deduced. Under Democrat rule for the past three and a half years, with Harris serving as Vice President, we have experienced illegal immigration at truly staggering proportions, the advance of the LGBTQ agenda at the highest levels of government, the weaponization of federal law enforcement against both political opponents and ordinary citizens (in some cases Christians), crippling inflation, global unrest bringing with it the very real threat of global war, and a complete lack of accountability on the part of our elected officials. Piled on top of all these realities is the fact that Kamala Harris has proven herself personally to be a liar who has regularly changed her stated positions based on political circumstances, and a lover of lawlessness who actually raised funds to bail out rioters in the summer of 2020. Throw in the fact that her running-mate, Governor Tim Walz of Minnesota, has turned his state into a “sanctuary” for sexually confused kids whose parents oppose the mutilation of their bodies, and the fact that Planned Parenthood of Chicago provided free abortions and vasectomies to attendees of the Democratic National Convention, it is clear that this ticket, on every level and in every respect, is not merely foolish but is actively anti-life and anti-human flourishing. A Harris-Walz administration would be dangerously disastrous for every one of our American neighbors, and beyond that it would be a more flagrant and open rebellion against the triune God than has yet been seen in this nation.
The Democrat Party is currently engaged in open warfare against the interests of the American people and against the God under whose authority they currently rule. In warfare, one must be prepared to make common cause with diverse allies and co-belligerents. Even David, when Saul posed an immediate threat to his life, lived among the Philistines and deceptively presented himself to them as an enemy of Israel (1 Sam. 27). At this moment, there is no greater opportunity for gains at the federal level than a second term for the Trump administration. Part of what makes it clear that this is an effective resistance to the advance of the left is their desperation to keep Trump specifically far from the White House. Trump has uniquely caused the Democrat establishment unprecedented panic leading to equally unprecedented action against him, from attempting to remove his name from the ballot to indicting him on spurious charges. Though it is not entirely clear why, it seems as though another Trump presidency is feared by the establishment in a way that no other Republican is or has been. Whatever the reason for this, the fact that another term for Trump appears so daunting to the Left indicates that he may be genuinely effective in dismantling at least some of their entrenched power. Considered in this way, a vote for Trump is not so much an endorsement of the man or even of his platform, but is instead employing the most useful weapon available to us at this time to fight back against an agenda that is truly wicked and threatening to our entire society.
Additionally, while the Republican line on abortion—and in particular Trump’s stated position on the subject—is abominable, it is no more so than that of Harris. However, on virtually every other issue, Trump is the better of the two by a long shot, and while no other issue rises to the level of child sacrifice, they are by no means trivial. The civil and social unrest, along with the unstoppable trafficking of both drugs and human beings at the southern border is nothing short of a national humanitarian disaster. The high potentiality of global war with another four years of abhorrent foreign policy could lead to widespread and immense human suffering. And though it is often derided as materialistic to vote based on the economy, the fact is that a spiraling economy leads to the loss of jobs, housing, and security for families, and these in turn bring about suffering and death. It is true that the Republican ticket is abysmal on the issue of life; however, the overall platform still far supersedes the explicit policies of death pushed by the Democrats. While dramatically failing to address the underlying evil on which our nation is built, Republican governance nevertheless provides the opportunity for more flourishing and less death than its counterpart.
With all this being said, however, abortion remains the most significant issue of our day by far. Child sacrifice is a great enemy and a source of curse upon our nation, and even though another Trump presidency will promote a wicked platform on the federal level, it will nevertheless ultimately be more beneficial in the fight than an administration under Kamala. The disappointing reality is that the federal government at this time is entirely useless in combating abortion. In its best opportunity to justly outlaw the murder of preborn children, the Supreme Court chose rather to wash its hands of responsibility with the Dobbs decision. With a Congress utterly impotent to pass any meaningful legislation, it seems likely that federal statute limiting abortion is all but an impossibility, even if Trump were interested in achieving this. In our current situation, the battle against abortion must be fought and won at the state level, and while Trump has recently and infuriatingly demonstrated a willingness to weigh in on state legislation taking the wrong side of the issue, he still remains much more sympathetic to those seeking to combat child sacrifice than Harris, and if the political circumstances are right in his estimation, he could conceivably support serious pro-life legislation. On the other hand, under Democrat rule, there is no political incentive structure that could possibly be erected which could bring about any level of support for even the most modest limitations on abortion. Trump being in the White House gives those laboring against abortion on the state level at least slightly more leeway in doing their work than the alternative.
This leeway also extends beyond legislative work and into the work of ministry in the realm of abortion. Since Joe Biden took office, there have been a number of Christians who have been federally investigated and prosecuted over their involvement in pro-life ministry. The threat of such action from the Department of Justice would assuredly disappear were Donald Trump to take office. This is not to say that Christians are cowardly or should vote out of fear—Christians will fight abortion even with the imminent threat of federal imprisonment—this is simply to say that even an administration ambivalent to the cause of life is to be preferred over one which wholeheartedly supports abortion, and which is additionally signaling increased willingness to use the power of the sword against any who would stand in opposition.
Finally, there ought to be consideration of personnel. As the expression goes, “personnel is policy,” and if the Biden administration has been enlightening in any way, it has exposed that the executive himself is not necessarily in control of the government at all. His staff and the people he hires to fill his administrative agencies seem to steer the direction of the state more than any elected official. Therefore, even if Trump himself is genuinely pro-choice, the fight against abortion still exists in the Republican Party. Put another way, anyone in politics who truly wants abortion to end is likely to be at least strategically aligned with the Republicans, even if many top Republicans have no interest in doing away with the practice. In a nation where no serious third party exists, the Republican Party remains the only game in town for those looking to abolish abortion; it is still a viable vehicle for the political fight for life. A Trump cabinet and an administrative apparatus staffed with Trump hires will not be perfect on abortion by a long shot, but it will be far superior to Kamala’s vision, and it is likely that a large number of government workers hired by Trump will be genuinely pro-life, with perhaps even some abolitionists in the mix. Over time, these personnel decisions will begin to influence policy decisions. The presidency is about more than the promised agenda; it is also about who is crafting the agenda behind the scenes.
None of this is to argue that having a pro-choicer like Trump in the oval office is an unadulterated positive in the fight against abortion, or for the Republican Party as a whole. Obviously, Trump’s voice carries weight and influence (just consider J.D. Vance’s tone change on the issue of life), yet there remain many Republicans who are staunchly against abortion and who are unwilling to compromise alongside their standard-bearer. For Christians, then, we must be resolved to labor for these Republicans to succeed in primaries both at the state and federal levels, and we must be diligent to influence the party, beginning on the local level where we actually may have some effectiveness, doing the hard work of bottom-up reform. And this must begin with the church herself actually getting on the same page. If the church cannot even come to an agreement as to what abortion is and how the law must treat it, how can we expect our political representatives whom we elect to show greater unity and consistency than we? We cannot presume to have the influence we wish for politically when we ourselves are torn by inconsistency and infighting. A Trump presidency is far from ideal, but if anything it will presumably secure time and space for the opponents of abortion to maintain the fight on the state level. With that time, the church must be wholly determined to ourselves reaching agreement and at last presenting a united and immovable front against child sacrifice.
There are no perfect options in a fallen world, and frankly, in the 2024 presidential race there are not even any good options. Yet we do as Christians have the opportunity to give ourselves more freedom than we would otherwise have to diligently and effectively fight rather than essentially being forced to disarm or go underground. It may come to that, but we have not yet reached that point, and we ought to do what we can to avoid getting there. This November, that means casting the ballot for Trump.