There seems to be substantial support for Donald Trump in the Utah LDS community. To me this is inexplicable. As LDS Church
members, we are counseled to support candidates who exemplify integrity,
wisdom, and other qualities of good leadership.
While both parties include principles consistent with church teachings,
neither has nominated candidates who fit this description. The Republican Party started with a promising
set of conservative candidates, plus Donald Trump. I was surprised to see him in the race and
couldn’t imagine he was a serious contender, especially as a conservative. But he managed to get the nomination, and I
knew I couldn’t vote for him – not just as a matter of conscience, but because
of the damage he could bring to our nation if he were president.
There are some basic principles we all believe in as
Americans, that are the bedrock of our nation.
These include the essential dignity of the individual, the right of
everyone to have fair opportunity without regard to race, religion, ethnic
background, etc; that integrity and honesty really are the best policy, that
‘liberty and justice for all’ should be a reality, not compromised by wealth,
rank or social position, bullying, or intimidation, and so forth. These ideals have never been fully achieved,
but ever sought after. At their best,
both liberals and conservatives are trying to move towards the American ideal,
even though they differ widely on how those ideals should be realized in
practical terms, just as the founders were in agreement on what they sought to
achieve, but differed widely on how to best bring it about.
But Trump exemplifies just the opposite: if you’re rich and
well-connected, you can bully, threaten, or buy your way to just about anything
you want, without regard to who you hurt or how many lives you destroy. It’s all for your taking – and if anyone gets
in your way, crush them without mercy so others will cave without a fight. We need look no further than his campaign to
see his leadership style: contentious, divisive, vengeful, unable to handle
criticism. He has repeatedly made
statements against Muslims, Hispanics, refugees, and other minority groups. He appeals to voters’ fears and capitalizes
on frustration and anger to gain support.
He is also no conservative.
From his conduct in business and during the campaign, it’s clear Trump
disdains basic constitutional principles, such as limited government power,
freedom of speech, freedom of religion, due process of law. Far from limiting Federal government power, he
wants to use it fully for his own purposes. His plans would increase government power
rather than returning it to the states.
Many have argued that voting for Trump is a necessary evil
in order to prevent Hillary from appointing liberal justices. Trump, they argue, will last only four years,
but the appointed justices will have influence for decades. But from Trump’s interactions with the legal
system, he sees law merely as something to be circumvented whenever it suits
him. Irrespective of political
philosophy, he would most certainly ensure that anyone appointed is beholden to
him. They would be different than
Hillary’s, but Trump would want to own the Judiciary just as surely as he wants
to control everything else.
So the choice seemed impossible: Hillary is thoroughly liberal
and corrupt, but Trump is no conservative, equally unethical, and loyal only to
himself. I planned to write someone in
or skip voting for president.
Then something unexpected happened: someone I had never heard
of, Evan McMullin, stepped in as a third-party independent candidate. My wife and I read his statements and learned
a little about him. He seemed to be the
kind of candidate we were looking for, so we invited one of his campaign
managers to hold a Q&A session at our home.
We were very favorably impressed and knew that this was someone we could
vote for in good conscience. Since then
we’ve been following his campaign, and I think we must have heard nearly all of
his speeches and presentations thus far.
We’ve found him to be competent, thoughtful, articulate, and fully
committed to conservative leadership.
Like us, he feels that the Republican Party has departed from its
principles and no longer resembles what it used to stand for. Certainly Trump doesn’t resemble Mitt Romney
even slightly.
But since McMullin has only the slightest chance of winning,
isn’t voting for him a wasted vote? Not
at all! Since both major candidates are equally unfit for the presidency, voting
third-party is the only vote that isn’t wasted.
Voting for McMullin makes it clear that you don’t approve either of the
major candidates. It reduces their
support and it lets national party leaders know you expect better choices. Even better, it adds to the political
presence of a new conservatism that I can believe in, that has a strong chance
of influencing our nation for good going forward.
But isn’t a vote for McMullin effectively a vote for
Hillary? No, not in Utah! In Utah McMullin has a good chance of winning
the state. That would really get the
attention of national party leaders and voters nationwide going forward. If neither Hillary nor Trump can gain 270
electoral votes, the election will go to the House of Representatives. The Republican-controlled House certainly won’t
vote for Hillary, but McMullin might have a chance. Since both Trump and Hillary have a reputation
for corruption and self-interest, McMullin might well be the most acceptable to
them overall.
What about the Supreme Court? Hillary would appoint liberal judges, Trump
would appoint whoever he thinks will do his bidding. McMullin has promised to appoint originalist
judges, which would be the best possibility of all. So voting for McMullin can’t increase the
chance for more liberal judges, but it does give our country a shot at getting
conservative judges who aren’t owned by anyone.
What about McMullin’s funding? Isn’t he backed by a small group of very
wealthy people with questionable motivations?
Most certainly not! All you have
to do is watch his rallies and speeches to see that this is a grass-roots
movement running on a very limited budget.
He is competing with some of the wealthiest people in the world with
almost unlimited resources. We have
participated as volunteers, and we know for ourselves how very home-made this
campaign is.
In the last week I’ve seen a lot of a pro-Trump argument
that goes something like this:
Prominent LDS members participated in a recent rally in Salt
Lake, and Mike Pence asked everyone to pray for Trump. Since then, McMullin supporters have been
told they should fast and pray to know Trump is God’s choice. Trump may have done things wrong in the past,
they say, but he can change. As
Christians we believe in repentance and that people can change through Jesus.
There is nothing in Trump’s life or campaign that suggests
strong devotion to or personal dependence on God. All indications are that this prayer request is
a cunning ploy to attract religious voters who are put off by Trump’s immoral
and self-absorbed conduct. Scripturally
we are warned to “beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing…
Ye shall know them by their fruits.” It’s
pretty easy to see the fruits of Trump personally and his campaign: continual
lying and deception, vindictiveness, immorality, belligerence, bullying,
stirring up to anger, inciting violence, playing on racial and other prejudices…
These are not the fruits of a
God-centered life.
As Christians we do believe that people can change radically
as they give their lives to Christ. His
mercy and power are extended to all, even to someone as perverse as Donald
Trump. So we look forward to the day
when Christ will personally reign as King of Kings. His ability to change those who come to Him
and repent is extended equally to everyone: me, you, Trump, Hillary. It does not uniquely qualify Trump for
leadership. However, Trump has stated
several times that he has never done anything really wrong, has no need to
change and has no intent to change.
Many of us have fasted and prayed about this election over
weeks and months. To me it was
miraculous that Evan McMullin stepped forward, and that his campaign, started
so very late with so very little financial backing – has progressed so
well. Why not hope for another miracle? We can’t actually create a miracle, but we
can facilitate one by voting for him, or we can prevent one by blocking him in
Utah.
