Donald Trump is often accused of dividing Americans through his name-calling and tough talk about women, immigrants, and President Obama. But he is succeeding in uniting one group in a way that I never dreamed possible: Christians.
I am a fairly progressive Presbyterian pastor, and often disagree with evangelicals and Roman Catholics about political and social issues. But I recently read the following in The New York Times: "This election has cast light on the darkness of pent-up nativism and bigotry all over the country." The author was not a liberal colleague, but was Russell Moore, the president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptism Convention.
Moore went on to say, "Many of those who have criticized Mr. Trumps's vision for America have faced threats and intimidation from the 'alt-right' of white supremacists and nativists who hide behind avatars on social media." His words made me want to shoot off a message of support to the Southern Baptists -- something I've never been inspired to do in 30 years of ministry.
In March, a group of Catholic leaders appealed to Americans to vote for candidates other than Donald Trump. "We urge our fellow Catholics and all our fellow citizens to reject his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination," said their letter in National Review. The primary authors were not the liberal Catholics you might expect, but conservatives Robert George of Princeton University and George Weigel of the Ethics and Public Policy Center.
From their perspective, Trump is unfit to be president and does not represent Catholic values. "His campaign has already driven our politics down to new levels of vulgarity," they write. "His appeals to racial and ethnic fears and prejudice are offensive to any genuinely Catholic sensibility." I would argue that Trump does not represent Presbyterian values either, despite his claim to be part of the denomination. His prejudices are offensive to any genuinely Christian sensibility.
As a Presbyterian pastor, I will continue to disagree with Southern Baptists about same-sex marriage and with Roman Catholics about the ordination of women. But Donald Trump has shifted the debate to issues that are more central to our shared Christian faith, such our belief that every human being is created in the image of God. In addition, Trump's candidacy inspires us to find common ground on theological tenets such as the sovereignty of God, the danger of idolatry, and human sinfulness.
"I don't like to have to ask for forgiveness," said Trump to CNN. "And I am good. I don't do a lot of things that are bad." In contrast, most Christians are united in their need for forgiveness, and are grateful for the pardon that comes through the death of Jesus on the cross.
There are certainly Christians who are voting for Trump, but not in the numbers you might expect. Christianity Today reports that in the March 1 "Super Tuesday" races, Trump failed to win a majority of evangelicals in any southern state, and on March 15 he won only 19 percent of voters who picked their candidate based on "shared values" -- a category that included both evangelicals and Catholics.
So thank you, Mr. Trump. Although you have divided our country, you have united the Christian Church.