One of my Facebook friends, a Trump supporter, shared this meme on his Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/levi.hombrelibre/posts/4918530741506195
I made my usual snarky comments, then got this in response:
Here is my reply:
Sorry for the slow response, as is typical in Facebook “argument” I am being tasked to reply to a lazy meme with detailed research. Oddly, a cursory Google search didn’t give me a lazy solution, because it seems few sincere Christians have previously endeavored to apply scripture to modern politics – only the insincere ones who reject Christ’s true teachings in favor of the Evangelical heresy.
Anyway, the first thing is that Biden, unlike Trump, actually knows the Bible. Here’s an article about Biden actually quoting scripture from memory, something Trump can’t do. https://religionnews.com/2020/08/06/biden-quotes-bible-at-black-church-meeting-while-trump-says-his-rival-is-against-god/ While Trump loves doing photo ops with closed Bibles, willing to engage in violence against American citizens to make that happen, there’s no indication he’s ever actually opened a Bible – he wasn’t able to name a favorite verse, or book for that matter. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERUngQUCsyE
Trump has also famously proclaimed that he doesn’t need God’s forgiveness, which is clear blasphemy and wholesale rejection of Christianity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKLVIm7Q0IQ so in light of that, I’m pretty confused how any Christian could vote for Trump over a confirmed Catholic who quotes the Bible at campaign events. Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.” Trump made it very clear that he is not saved by Jesus – he thinks he’s good enough on his own.
But anyway, to what you asked for. Let’s begin with 1 Timothy 2:1-2. “First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.” So, based on that, you should vote for the candidate who lives a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. That’s Biden, not Trump.
Proverbs 29:2, “When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.” So, don’t vote for a wicked man – an adulterer who blasphemes God (see above) and is cruel to immigrants.
Speaking of immigration, here are 22 verses on why you should reject Trump’s immigration policy if you are in fact a Christian (a claim I am less and less convinced of) https://sojo.net/22-bible-verses-welcoming-immigrants
Leviticus 19:34 “The alien who resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God.”
Leviticus 27:19 ‘Cursed is anyone who withholds justice from the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow.’
Matthew 25:37-45
“Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
On “America First” we have Acts 10:34 – America is not special to God, and it is heresy to put it before other nations. “Then Peter began to speak to them: “I truly understand that God shows no partiality, but in every nation anyone who fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him.”
The main issue that swung me from Republican to Democrat as a Christian was compassion, which admittedly is a pretty broad topic. I gather it really from the whole penumbra of the New Testament, but you’re asking for specific verses, because I guess you don’t really see the Bible as a coherent whole, which I guess is fine if that’s how your faith works, so here’s a few verses. For starters, perhaps my favorite verse, Matthew 22:39, with context from 34 through 40, “And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Colossians 3:12, “Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.”
There is no compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, or patience to be found in Trump or any modern mainstream Republican candidate. But it’s really not hard to find examples of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience from Biden. https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnbaldoni/2020/08/20/how-empathy-defines-joe-biden/#48a2fcfd75cf
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No response to that. But then I went back up thread and realized I’d misread the comment. He wasn’t asking for a Biblical argument for Biden, he was asking me to argue for Biden using the same cherry-picking of verses. So, I followed up.
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… I realize now I misread your comment. I thought you were asking for a Biblical case for Biden, not for me to take this cherry-picked list hand selected to make an argument counter to the main thrust of the Bible and apply it to Biden. Naturally, if you’re going to cherry-pick verses to invent your own religion in lieu of following Christ as a whole, it’s going to be hard for me to use that particular list to argue for a Christian over an anti-Christian autocrat. But sure, I’ll indulge you.
Pro-life: Trump is not pro-life. He has endorsed policies forcing women to carry pregnancies to term, yes, but that is not truly pro life. Here’s the full verse, ignoring the cherry picking that goes narrower even than a single verse:
There are six things the Lord hates,
seven that are detestable to him:
17haughty eyes,
a lying tongue,
hands that shed innocent blood,
18a heart that devises wicked schemes,
feet that are quick to rush into evil,
19a false witness who pours out lies
and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
So right here, in the FIRST verse you have cited, we have an indictment of Trump – God hates a lying tongue (Trump has told over 20,000 documented lies in his time in office, but even if you accept his backpedaling explanations on many of them, you can’t possibly deny that he’s a frequent liar). And as to hands that shed innocent blood, Trump has pardoned and praised war heros, including one who was convicted of murdering a prisoner – THAT is “shedding innocent blood.” God indeed detests shedding innocent blood. That’s why Christians can’t vote for Trump. Biden has never shed innocent blood; so on verse one, you need to vote for Biden.
Verse two: Genesis 12:3. Here as with the first verse, the meme author isn’t even quoting a verse in context; he’s adding his own interpretation to suit a narrative that is not Biblical. Here’s the full verse:
3I will bless those who bless you,
and whoever curses you I will curse;
and all peoples on earth
will be blessed through you.”
Okay, so how would a sincere Christian interpret this verse? I don’t know how a sincere follower of Christ would read into this a Biblical commandment to politically support every action of the modern Jewish state. There are other verses I could bring in here about God only being with Israel when they behave in a Godly fashion, and from that explain that Israel as it behaves today is not worthy of the support of Christians. Anyway, what this verse is really saying is that the People of God (NOT the political nation of Israel) will be blessed by God. So, if we are to apply this verse to politics, we should vote for the candidate who speaks well of Christianity, the one who professes sincere faith in God, the one who humbly seeks forgiveness, and not the one who blasphemes. That’s Biden.
Third cited verse: Proverbs 22:7 “The rich rule over the poor,
and the borrower is slave to the lender.”
Okay. Well as the meme author explains it, this verse should mean God is against debt. In that case, we have to vote for Biden. This one really isn’t at all ambiguous. Trump has grown the National Debt more in three years than any past President did except in time of World War. Even in his first two years, when America was at peace and prosperity, Trump and his budgets ran up record deficits and increased the national debt faster than his predecessors. But also, look at the person themself. Trump won’t release any info on his personal finances, but the one page of his tax history we have seen told us that he was at least a billion dollars in debt in the nineties, and we know from his personal lawyer and his bankers that he remains hundreds of millions if not billions in debt to foreign entities to this day. Biden has released decades of tax returns, and he has a positive net-worth and has never taken out a billion-dollar loan; and while he was never directly in control of the national debt, he served in Congress during the only years it shrank in my lifetime, and served as VP during six years of shrinking federal deficits. Biden is without a doubt the candidate to choose if you hate debt.
Onward. 2 Thess 3:10. “For even when we were with you, we gave you this rule: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat.”” I don’t really see how that has much bearing on either candidate. However, Biden voted for welfare reform in the 1990s, so if you were trying to argue that welfare somehow defies this verse, you would have to take Biden on his record on this issue and give him the vote. Trump’s record on this verse? He’s a trust fund baby who never worked a real job in his life, only gambling with inherited money. There is no way to make a pro-Trump argument with this verse.
Pro-marriage: I won’t even get into the verse. Both men have had multiple wives, but the details matter. Trump has been divorced twice and has had documented affairs on all three wives, including his current one, and has admitted on-record to paying off mistresses to stay silent. You cannot argue that Trump is pro-marriage, unless your definition of someone’s stance on marriage is based on how often they break the vows they take.
Next point: government’s purpose is to reward good & punish evil – I’ve seen this argument elsewhere in neocon politics. Again, this is one where we need to look at the whole reference given (Romans 13) and not just the meme author’s interpretation of it. I think the meme author is trying to make a “law and order” or really, authoritarianism, argument here. But this is the chapter that says:
“Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” This is an endorsement of “big government” and a contradiction of the Christian Right’s claim that government should be limited. Point to Biden.
“This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. 7Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.” Again, this verse favors taxation and government – point to the “tax and spend” liberals; point to Biden.
“Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.” Love one another? Point to Biden. Whoever loves others has fulfilled the law? Point against Trump, who spews hate with every tweet.
“12The night is nearly over; the day is almost here. So let us put aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light. 13Let us behave decently, as in the daytime, not in carousing and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and debauchery, not in dissension and jealousy. 14Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.” Do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh? Point away from the adulterer. Point to Biden.
Finally, “I will vote based as close as I can on God’s word.” Well, take this whole post for that one, along with my prior comment. But let’s look at the full verse as well, in the interest of completeness. “All scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” Okay. In that case, I will reiterate my original point: ALL scripture. Not just a cherry-picked listed with an anonymous author’s self-interested biased interpretation. You have to look at the whole of scripture, particularly the words of Christ.
My favorite passage of the words of Christ is Matthew 5. I will only quote selected lines from it, not to cherry-pick but because you’ve probably already stopped reading based on the length of my comment anyway. Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. I would say if we were to take that verse at face value as an instruction on how to vote, we should vote for the less wealthy candidate. Point to Biden.
Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. Did you catch the headline where Trump’s campaign took shots at Biden the other day for visiting his family’s grave while Trump golfed? Biden has suffered tremendous loss in his life – most of his family in a car accident at the dawn of his senate career, and his decorated veteran son a few years ago. Trump, when his brother died, posted pictures of himself smiling on the golf course.
Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy. I don’t think this one needs much explanation, but Trump is not known for being merciful. Rather, he is known for building concentration camps for children whose only crime was being brought to America by parents seeking a better life.
Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God. I’ve said it before, but Trump is not pure in heart; see my other comment for the video; he won’t even ask God for forgiveness.
So I’ll leave you with that. That is a short biblical case for why you, if you profess sincere faith in Jesus, should vote for Biden and not Trump.