Defending indecency, part 3

 ** Warning: It has been awhile since I did a post about Trump, and this is going to be one. If you support him and can't handle criticisms of him, read no further. You have been warned.

  I'll be honest. I think a large part of me being anti-Trump has as much to do with the actions and attitudes of his supporters as with the man himself. Don't get me wrong. I still despise everything about the man and am still shocked and appalled conservatives and Christians picked a man like him who has the morals of a snake.. or worse. All of these months later, I am still smarting and bewildered by the words of so-called friends who insisted I was for Hillary if I didn't fall in line and vote as they wanted me to. I had some pretty mean things said about me, and a relative even declared I was not on God's side if I did not support Donald Trump.

 It has been unique and amusing to sit on the sidelines these last several months. I have watched as liberals lose their minds over Trump doing things Obama did and acting like Obama did in some ways. On the flip side of the coin, I see conservatives and Christians cheering on and defending things in Donald Trump that they criticized Obama for. And no, that is not the case for everyone who voted for the man, but I am seeing a lot of that on social media.

 Which brings me to this blog post. This is the third post along these lines. I did Defending indecency   first, then Defending indecency part 2. Now it is time for part 3.

  Back when Barck Obama was unfortunately in the White House, he regularly made a fool of himself on Twitter. He often resorted to personal attacks, and acted in ways on social media that conservatives and Christians would mostly agree was beneath the dignity of the office he held.

 And then along came Donald Trump. He used Twitter to launch personal attacks against his fellow contenders for the GOP ticket, as if his words and actions in person weren't bad enough. He even personally attacked the wife of Ted Cruz, which I would hope even his supporters took issue with.... but I doubt they did.

 Now, we are 6 months past the time the man took up residence in the White House, and he is acting just like Obama did on Twitter. Anyone who dares criticize him or disagree with him are the recipients of his personal and often immature attacks on Twitter. The same conservative media, talk show hosts, and voters who took issue with Obama doing it are cheering him on and defending him no matter what he says on Twitter. They love the fact that he speaks his mind and tries to shut down any criticisms of himself. They seem to feel he is right in striking back.

 George W Bush was not a perfect president. I still believe he is one of the best we have had in my lifetime, and he stood tall in a couple of areas. One such time was on 911. I shudder to think how that would have been handled if Gore had won, or if it had happened under Obama. I'll never forget how Bush handled that, and handled it with class. The other area he stands tall in was how he handled the constant criticisms and hate. He ignored them. And even though Trump supporters keep claiming no president has ever  been treated as badly as Donald Trump, George W was treated far worse. (As were the 4 presidents who were assassinated). The man was like Teflon. Nothing stuck to him. He had class and dignity that Obama and Trump can only fantasize about having.

 And now I come to the crux of my blog post. We Christians are supposed to be different from the world. The Bible has a lot to say about how to treat people, and Jesus Himself often addressed that. Things such as "a soft answer turns away wrath", "turn the other cheek", "do good to those who despitefully use you", "love your enemies", etc.

 Now if God expects all of that out of us, how would He feel about us cheering on the opposite kind of behavior in others? If it is wrong for us to strike back, to hurl insults back, and to launch personal attacks on people who criticize us, then is it also not wrong to cheer on and defend that kind of behavior in others?

 But I am seeing that. I am disgusted at how many Christians cheer on Donald Trump as he gives liberals "what they deserve." "It is nice to see a president stand up to the media and liberals." But is it Christian to cheer that on? Would Jesus be cheering on Donald Trump's harsh words on Twitter?

 I can understand the people who voted for Trump because they viewed him as the lesser of two evils. What I can't understand is defense of every immoral and vulgar word and action, and the cheering on of him as he launches personal attacks at everyone who criticized him or hurt his pride.

 Support the man when he does and says something decent, but I don't believe any Christian should be cheering on his immature and rude Twitter comments aimed at people who hurt his ego.

 I fear too many people these days are putting politics above Christianity. We are not called to defend a president. We are not called to vote for a certain candidate. We are not called to browbeat those who won't vote for our candidate. We are called to serve God, to love others, to live like Jesus and to be Jesus to the world.