OPINION:
Why are the media attempting to destroy both President Trump and the evangelicals who overwhelmingly support him? Because our coalition is obliterating their wicked agenda.
The path to our successes is reminiscent of the fight to abolish slavery in England. William Wilberforce and his evangelical friends, eventually known as the “Clapham Sect,” worked tirelessly for 18 years to end the slave trade.
Year after year they made the intellectual arguments in Parliament. They exposed the evil of the human chattel industry by taking officials to witness the grotesque treatment of the shackled victims languishing in their own vomit and excrement in the belly of ships.
But these righteous warriors did not work alone. They relentlessly fought for justice with other “co-belligerents,” some outside of their faith, to finally bring an end to the English slave trade, and eventually, slavery itself. Many Christians, moralists and slave lords rejected what they saw as an “unholy” alliance. The parallels to the scoffers of today’s evangelical alliance with Donald Trump are striking.
Jerry Falwell Jr. stunned the nation when he endorsed Donald Trump for the Republican nomination in 2016. Mr. Falwell, former Gov. Mike Huckabee, Franklin Graham and other early supporters of Mr. Trump were the American version of the Clapham Sect.
They too fight tirelessly, seeking to end the slaughter of the pre-born through sermons, speeches and working through the legislative process. Their efforts were righteous and courageous, but were not enough to ignite the beginning of the end of the murder of the innocents. They needed a co-belligerent force who shared their just goals, not necessarily their theology. They recognized this mighty force in Mr. Trump.
Liberals are now witnessing an alliance between evangelicals and the president that is crushing the “progressive” agenda, including the reprehensible practice of treating select human beings as a disposable commodity.
While some evangelicals were early adopters in embracing Mr. Trump, others took longer to get there.
We hoped against hope that the Republican nominee would be true to his campaign promises of only appointing originalists to the federal courts and the Supreme Court; of protecting life; of ending America’s dependence on foreign oil; of rebuilding our military; of reinvigorating our economy and creating jobs. We wanted to believe. We prayed that we could believe.
For Christians like me, when it came to a choice between a candidate who promised all of those things, and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton, whose policies would do the complete opposite, the choice was easy. And Mr. Trump did not make us wait long for solid proof of his intentions — he named Gov. Mike Pence, a William Wilberforce for our times, to be his running mate.
Evangelical voters rallied and turned out at the polls en masse, overwhelmingly voting for Donald Trump.
President Trump continues to deliver on his promises with courage and blunt force. The partnership between evangelicals and the White House is restoring morality, dignity and freedom, truly making America great again.
This unbeatable alliance is why the media both attack evangelical for practicing biblical truths and simultaneously assail the “immoral” behavior of the president. It’s why they mock Mike and Karen Pence for being happily married, and then try to portray and deride Donald and Melania Trump as anything but. The liberal elitists are falling all over themselves in chaotic madness because we are defeating them.
Their continued whining, arrogant piety and feeble attempts to destroy the president will fall flat in 2020, because the formidable alliance of co-belligerents is only growing.
President Trump now has a record of delivering on nearly every campaign promise that matters to evangelicals, and is in relentless pursuit of achieving victories on the others. Many Christians and conservatives who did not vote in 2016 now support the president based on the promises he has kept.
They realize that it’s wiser to be in the trenches with an irreverent bomb-thrower than it is to fight beside someone who may share their faith, but only replicates their battle strengths.
I’ve heard the president say that he is mystified by the love that evangelicals show him. Such an admission reveals a humility not often seen in this courageous hero who may not share our theology, but shares our love for those who have no voice, whether they are the pre-born or those hopelessly trapped in our inner cities.
Evangelicals and the president will never stop fighting for the forgotten man and woman. And, once again, a mighty band of co-belligerents will succeed.
• Rebecca Hagelin can be reached at rebecca@rebeccahagelin.com.
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