Christian conviction in the age of Trump

I have never conducted a survey of individual political preferences within my congregation. Yet after years of knowing these people, I believe that a 55/45 Democrat/Republican party split is a pretty accurate estimate. Many of my good friends told me they were eager to vote for Donald Trump, although they didn’t gain that enthusiasm from me. The gospel we preach has zero tolerance for bigoted speech or contempt for the weak, and no taste for vile conspiracy theories that promote fear. Xenophobic sympathies have no place either. 

The morning after Trump’s victory, church members began calling and emailing me for my reaction to the election. Could Trump realistically be the president of all the people whose fundamental human worth he has regularly insulted? Yes, that was possible, I suggested. I trust the conviction that hope consists of things unseen. I recognize that faith calls us to pray for reconciliation. But still, they persisted, could this man with a disordered personality, known for vindictiveness and a lack of empathy, not to mention an obsession with conquest and domination—could he be a president for all peoples? 

I admitted to some suspicion over Trump’s victory being pegged to people angry at globalization or at Washington’s elite messing with their lives. Surely there are reasons why a broad coalition of white voters were drawn to Trump’s fixation with the birther controversy and his disdain for immigrant and Muslim peoples. Does racism or “celebrated whiteness” still linger as our nation’s original sin?