Posted Jun 30, 2017 by Michael L. Brown

I’m all for defending our president when he’s the subject of unjust attacks. And as a follower of Jesus, I voted for him, despite my misgivings. I’m also very happy to point out the many good things he has already done as president. But I will not sacrifice my ethics and demean my faith to defend his wrongful words. To do that is to lose all credibility before a watching world.

Plenty of Christians and non-Christians had a hard time understanding how so many of us evangelicals could vote for a candidate who seemed to be so thoroughly un-evangelical. But when we explained that we were voting against Hillary, that Supreme Court appointees were important to us, and that Trump seemed to care about religious liberties, many of them understood our vote. They see we’re not whitewashing him or denying his faults. Some dissenters can even respect our choice.

But when we find it necessary to defend his every word, we discredit ourselves and tarnish our witness.

What prompted me to pen this article was the recent series of Trump tweets regarding MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough and Mika Brzezinski. The president wrote:

trump tweets

In response to this, I tweeted:

Really now, for the most powerful elected official on the planet to call liberal newscasters “Psycho Joe” and “low I.Q. Crazy Mika” is indefensible. (Let’s not even discuss the “bleeding” reference and where that leads.) And to defend him – I mean for us to defend him as Christian conservatives – is even less defensible.

We can be loyal to the president and still be ashamed of such language. We can support him and still say, “Mr. President, you demean yourself with such behavior, and you’ll never get the respect you desire if you sink so low.” In fact, that’s what really loyalty and support looks like.

But when we find it necessary to stand up for him, as if he’s the weak little victim being attacked by these terrible giants, we also demean ourselves. And what if it was your son or daughter or spouse or parent that the president was attacking with such language? How would you feel? When he does this, he ultimately hurts himself.

One man responded to my tweet saying, “This perfect Savior had a very blue collar flavor which we try to scrub away with our sensibilities.  Newscasters need accountability too.”

First, no one is denying that newscasters need accountability, and there are a slew of conservative newscasters blasting the liberals day and night (and vice versa). Second, and more importantly, it is ridiculous and almost obscene to compare our perfect Savior’s rebukes of sinners with the president calling TV journalists Psycho and Crazy.

But this man who tweeted to me was not the only one to make the Trump-Jesus comparison. At least two ministers defended Trump on my Twitter account, with one also comparing Trump’s words to those of Jesus and Paul. (I’m just referencing them here rather than posting their tweets here; perhaps they’ve had a change of heart. You know things are really bad when ministers of the gospel compare Trump’s words to those of Jesus.)

One Christian woman was indignant with me: “You've gone too far!  You Sir, are not God Almighty and do not speak for Him!”

I’ve gone too far by saying we ought not defend the president’s childlike words? I’ve gone too far in suggesting that the president would do well to read what Proverbs says about the conduct of kings? (I tweeted that out the Proverbs reference during the interaction.) I’ve gone too far in saying that we, as followers of Jesus, should find these tweets embarrassing?

Another wrote, “No need to be ashamed, hope he keeps it up.” Yes, I hope that the president keeps disparaging people in the crudest, most immature manner. I’m cheering you on!

Still another added: “Christians don't look at the faults of a person just the answer to them. Not ashamed of a person who doesn't hide their emotions.”

I wonder what these Christians would be saying if Hillary Clinton were our president and she was the one ridiculing conservative newscasters in such crass terms?

Then there were those who felt sorry for Mr. Trump. They tweeted that the media is not fair to him and that he gets death threats all the time. Surely he has to protect himself!

Once again, such responses boggle the mind. He is the most protected man on the planet, and to my knowledge, these newscasters are not trying to kill him. And how, pray tell, is he defending himself by calling them ugly names? If they misrepresent him, he can set the record straight, but he need not throw mud in their faces. The mud he throws will only splatter back. And the best way to push back against his critics is to push forward with the agenda they hate.

But for us to defend his every tweet is to make ourselves into stooges more than supporters, helping no one in the end.

This week, Ann Coulter attacked Sean Hannity, writing, “Sean Hannity, bless his heart, has the zeal of the late Trump convert. He would endorse communism if Trump decided to implement the policies of ‘The Communist Manifesto.’ (Which the GOP's health care bill actually does!)”

I will leave that battle to them, but the reminder for us is that loyalty does not require blind allegiance.

So, if you’re a Christian conservative, put the shoe on the other foot, and ask yourself how you’d be feeling had President Obama gone after, say, Rush Limbaugh and Laura Ingraham like this. Would you be defending him?

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Wafaring Stranger posted a comment · Jul 08, 2017
James Hiddle, not only are you not turning the other cheek, as you expect others to do, you are also judging Spacetrain and myself by stating lies about us worshiping President Trump. Do you not practice what you preach? With regard to me stating that you took a Scripture out of context, I would suggest that you do a study on the Greek word “ponērō” as it is used in Matthew 5:39 and you will learn that “turning the other cheek” is a conditional statement made by Yeshua. It is unfortunate that people like you use it to try and make all Christians a doormat for others.
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James Hiddle posted a comment · Jul 05, 2017
Wafaring Stranger first off I'm a Trump supporter but I don't put him on a pedestal like you and Spacetrain do and treat him like he's the Messiah Himself. That's what people did with Obama and seeing people like you put Trump as a guy who can't fault or sin is scary. Just because I support him doesn't mean I support everything he does and if he does something wrong like he did recently than I'm going to say something about it. And second I didn't take Scriptures out of context but it seems you don't understand what Jesus said about insults. But you must idolize Trump so much you like to gloss over things he shouldn't be doing as trivial. He acted unprofessional and unpresidental like and if you can't see that than I suggest stop worshiping the man and start worshiping God so he can show you the faults even those who we support.
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seesesay posted a comment · Jul 04, 2017
Have we ceased to be less Christians and more Trumpians? Where does our loyalty lay? More with POTUS than with Christ? We would do well to call out UnChrist-like behavior amongst ourselves than to support wickedness. What POTUS has said in many cases is unbecoming of a president and we need to speak the truth in ALL situations. We would do well to recognize his flaws, pray for him and ask that God teach him humility and wisdom to rule in the fear and way of God. Wisdom to answer not follies in their foolishness but take the path found in Christ's Word in the book of proverbs.
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Wafaring Stranger posted a comment · Jul 02, 2017
Spacetrain, I’m with you. People like James Hiddle and Michael Brown love to take Scriptures out of context in order to judge others. For them to get so upset with President Trump, over such a trivial matter, speaks volumes about how they truly feel about him. If this is not the case, then perhaps they never learned the old adage about sticks and stones.
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James Hiddle posted a comment · Jul 01, 2017
Spacetrain. The president showed very little class when he went on the defensive. I have no idea if you're a Christian but Jesus said to turn the other cheek if someone insults you. I get it that he gets bombarded with constant attacks by the MSM but he needs to be a bigger man than to stoop to their level. He needs to stop with his Twitter ranting and start actually running this country to make it great again.
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Spacetrain posted a comment · Jul 01, 2017
The common people, including myself, are happy to see the President defend himself tit for tat. His comments may beneath your idealistic view of the dignity of a U.S.A. president, and you may view his statements as repugnant, but he said nothing wrong. You and conservatives who attack him do more damage than his words. Our country is in dire straits. We had a smooth talking "dignified" acting president who set out to destroy our country. This president is working night and day to save our country. So get over your pompus attitude and stop undermining the man trying to help us. We have bigger fish to fry than judging and making an issue about tweets. Our country's survival is at stake.