Avoiding evil

      I get it. If I was voting for Donald Trump, I wouldn't like people telling me I shouldn't, or why it is wrong to do so......though if I was voting for Donald Trump, I would be so ashamed of doing so that I would do my best to keep that a secret.

     I have felt for some time, whether I am right or wrong, that pastors need to speak out more about the issues of our day. Years ago, preachers spoke out against kings........ and paid for it with imprisonment and their lives. Today, our pastors don't usually speak out against our presidents and others in government. I don't know if they are afraid to lose their tax exempt status, are afraid to lose members, or if they just feel it is something we shouldn't talk about in church.

    And it shows. No Christian that is worth their salt should ever have voted for some of the politicians that we have had through the years. People like Bill Clinton, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and more. These politicians who claim to be Christian, yet live lives that are far removed from the Biblical definition of a Christian, and who fight for causes like abortion, gay marriage, and other things God condemns......no Christian should have cast a vote for them.

   I have found myself wondering how any genuine follower of Jesus could vote for these candidates who are so godless and fight Christians and Christian causes with everything they have.

  And then there are we conservatives. We have been consistently voting for the lesser of two evils: Bob Dole, John McCain, Mitt Romney, and on and on.... and now we have the worst choices we have ever had in my voting history.

  Hillary Clinton is a terrible person and candidate. She should be in jail, but is most likely going to be the next president....... and there will be thousands, maybe millions, of people who call themselves Christians who will help get her in  there. I cannot imagine how anyone with common sense, much less with Jesus in their heart, can support and vote for her.

  And then we have the "lesser of two evils." Donald Trump is a man who held the same views and policies as Hillary for years, was friends with her, supported her and other liberals, and only changed his views and policies when he decided to run as a Republican. I am unconvinced that DT is a lesser of two evils, and weighing everything I know about the candidates, I believe one is as bad as the other.

  I have asked Trump supporters/voters if they vote for a candidate as bad as DT to stop the Democrat, how much worse of a person/candidate will they vote for next time to stop  the Democrat. Surely anyone with integrity would at least admit Trump is worse and to the left of any Republican who has won the nominee.

    It isn't a popular stand, and many would like me and others to just keep quiet who are not going to vote for Hillary. Even other Christians cannot seem to understand that some of us honestly feel as Christians we cannot vote for Trump. They would rather we go against our conscience and what we believe, and vote for him anyway to try to stop Hillary.

   It is between you and God if you vote for Trump and are a Christian, but no one has the right to tell me I must also do that, and go against my conscience and what I believe God wants me to do. Is it important who becomes president? Of course... but is politics and our rights and freedoms more important than doing the right thing as Christians?

  We live in a day when even other Christians won't understand you not doing something as a Christian. If you dare say you don't believe a Christian should do a certain thing, you are judging and will receive as much hate and flak as if you were dealing with non-Christians. There isn't much difference in the world and the church anymore, and politics is just one area where we have become just like the world and don't vote any different from the world.

  It is very likely that if Christians had dug in their heels years ago and refused to vote for the lesser of two evils, and demanded a candidate who actually stood for the right things, we wouldn't have the choices we have today..... but we kept lowering our standards to keep the other candidate from winning - not that it has helped most of the time - and now we have gone lower than ever before........ and the Republican party and many Republicans expect us to do as we always do - fall in line and vote for the candidate they have picked.

  I am very offended, hurt, and disgusted.... and maybe some other negative emotions - by Christians who give we "#nevertrump" people a hard time. No, not all Trump voters do, but there are many who do. They don't care about our conscience. They don't care that we feel it is wrong to vote for either candidate. They claim we are voting for Hillary if we don't vote for Trump, and toss out other crazy statements like that.... as if being a Republican takes precedence over being a Christian  As if our rights and freedoms as Americans are more important than doing the right thing, doing what God wants us to do.

   I am including myself in this, so don't get your feathers too ruffled: is it possible we have put our political party, our rights,  and freedoms too high in importance? Is Jesus truly first in our lives, or is our country and freedoms first before Him? I have voted for candidates I didn't like, candidates who I felt were way too weak and shaky on the important issues, and regretted it. Beating the Democrat was so important, I set aside misgivings and everything else and voted for the lesser of two evils..... and they lost anyway.

  The thing is, how long can one vote for the lesser of two evils, before it affects you? Our actions can be like throwing a pebble in a pond....the ripples keep going further out..... and what if voting for godless candidates, and by doing so voting for the policies and values - or lack of values they possess - affects us and our relationship with God?

    There is a limit for all of us on this lesser of two evils. If Barack Obama was the Republican, knowing everything we know about him, I don't believe the Trump supporters would vote for him to stop Hillary. If Adolf Hitler was running against Hillary, he wouldn't get the Trump voters' support. Well, Donald Trump is my limit.

     I have prayed, thought a lot, talked to a lot of people, paid attention to what Trump says, how he acts, how he changes positions, and what he has stood for and done in the past......and it isn't that I won't vote for him....... I can't vote for him and do what I feel and believe is right. My conscience, my Christian beliefs and values are more important to me than trying to stop Hillary Clinton. They weren't always, but in these last few years God has worked a miracle in my life and changed me in ways a lot of people can't see....... I can no longer put politics above God. I feel I have done so in the past, and I cannot anymore. Am I saying other Christians are doing so? Maybe they are, maybe they aren't........ but if they refuse to understand that some of us cannot vote for him and they demand we go against our conscience.... then they are most likely putting politics above God, and trying to get us to do the same.

   I probably have been too outspoken about this election. I am very angry and upset at the voters who gave us these two horrible choices when we could have had a very decent and godly candidate..... and I have let that anger come through too much. I am trying to dial it back a bit and also not post as often about Trump, but contrary to what some people think, we who are not voting for Trump not only have the right to withhold that vote, we also have the right to post how we feel about him and about voting for him. Yes, we need to tone it down, but no more than the Trump supporters do with their attitudes, insane comments and accusations, I do believe that Trump is the most divisive candidate to come along in the Republican party and is causing division even among Christians.

  We who are not voting for Trump have been accused of:

Pride

Stubbornness

Stupidity

Vitriol

Of voting for Hillary by not voting for Trump

And more.

   I had a man about my age who is a pastor add me as a friend on Facebook because we were both against Trump and in the same Facebook group. After Trump got the nomination, he continued to post anti-Trump stuff and also posted that we need to vote for him. He called we who will not stubborn and stupid, and when I called him out on it.... he deleted me. Come on.....aren't we better than that?

  There is wrong on both sides. We who are against Trump have been too angry and have vocalized that anger too much and in ways we should not have....... but many in the the pro-Trump crowd have been as bad as liberals in defending their candidate and attacking anyone who is against him........ and I said many, not all. We need to stop the anger, the insane accusations, the stupidity. We need to stop putting politics and politicians above God and above decency and kindness. Go ahead and support Trump and say we are wrong to not do so.... but don't be ridiculous about it. Go ahead and oppose Trump and withhold your vote due to conscience, but tone down the anger (yeah, that is me!)

  I believe 100% that Hillary Clinton will be our next president. I still believe that Trump was originally - and maybe still is - part of a plan to destroy the Republican party, wipe out the conservative competition for Hillary, and help guarantee her the presidency. I could be wrong on that..... I am willing to admit that.... but I am convinced she will win and our country and freedoms will never be the same..... but even if he wins, I fear he won't be any better and our country and freedoms may never be the same. I believe with all of my heart that we are doomed as a country.......and maybe that is what we need to wake us up.

    We American Christians in general are too like the world. We are too shallow, too concerned with things of the world, and the idea that most of us are carrying a cross and denying ourselves in a life of surrender is a joke. Maybe we need a Trump or Hillary presidency to shake us up and wake us up to fully depend on God and truly surrender our lives to Him. I don't want persecution or loss of freedoms and rights.......but we have it way too easy and have sat idly by as our country gets more and more wicked, and we keep voting for the politicians who help make it more wicked. This election may be the time we pay the piper.

   I have been reading about Christians in Muslim countries and what they go through to follow Jesus.......one man felt that God told him that if he became a Christian, he'd lose all he owned, his 2 year old son would be killed, and he would face persecution and torture....... and he and his wife still converted to Christ........ and it all did happen. He was imprisoned in an underground bunker and tortured with snakes and other means by his own father......and if we keep voting the lesser of two evils, we could be there some day. Far-fetched? There is a lot happening in this country we never dreamed would happen...... people losing their jobs for being against gay marriage or transgenders, people losing their businesses and being fined for not performing a service for a gay wedding....we are no longer a nation that honors God and respects Christianity.

  So go ahead and support and vote what you consider the lesser of two evils. That is indeed between you and God..... and it is also between we and God who cannot vote for Trump or Hillary.