Editor’s note: The following is the opinion of the author and not to be construed as that of the magazine. To read a contrasting opinion, see The Milk House: Trump and rural America: An exercise in facts over feelings.
As this election cycle draws to a close and we must decide who will lead this country for the next four years, I have taken time to consider my vote. In 2016, I held my nose and gagged as I cast my vote for Trump. I did not like his style. He was arrogant, outspoken and downright rude. I was a Ted Cruz fan. Cruz was smooth, kind and an obvious Christian with values to match. When it came down to the last day and every Republican candidate had fallen out of the race, I thought I was choosing the lesser of the two evils. I had prayed and done my homework, and I felt the country was on a downward spiral. I guess the Lord wanted me to look more closely at this Trump guy.
I decided to make my study of this man by not listening to what the media had to say about him, but what I heard from his own lips. I was shocked when he started to do exactly what he had promised. He went to work cutting taxes and cutting regulations on businesses. I saw him fight for the wall and start building it despite tremendous opposition. I saw him take charge of the military and start bringing our troops home. He dived into the VA and made it possible for those who were waiting months for care to see their own doctors.
His State of the Union address was filled with highlights of struggling Americans who were helped by his policies. I saw him donate his presidential salary to bless the lives of others and more recently to repair the hero statues the rioters have torn down. I saw him visit hospitals and make phone calls to those who had lost loved ones. I saw him make trade deals that helped Americans. He stood and saluted the flag and shook hands with the soldiers. He surrounded himself with competent individuals. He did not see color or gender in choices for Cabinet positions. He chose judges for the Supreme Court who embraced Christian values. He cut funding for abortion and made it a mission to stop human trafficking and the opioid crisis. He deported dangerous illegal criminals by the thousands. All I could see was a man striving to keep his promises.
All the while, the media and the left groveled and growled about how horrible he was. They screamed he was a white supremacist, a womanizer and a racist. They made it their mission to impeach him at any cost. They made every crisis an opportunity to batter Trump. They attacked his family and close associates. They found fault with every decision he made. Even when the economy was a roaring success, they hoped for an economic recession so they could blame Trump. They even stooped so low as to blame him for riots and destruction in cities where the governors and mayors allowed the so-called peaceful protests to take place. Even when he offered to help them stop the riots, state and city leaders refused, then blamed him for the devastation and asked that the government help rebuild their cities.
Even today, I cannot say I like President Trump’s personal style. I am bothered by his name-calling and the harsh rhetoric of his tweets, but I have concluded I would rather have someone say what he means in a barbaric way than someone who speaks honey-dripping promises, then twists the knife.
As I have faithfully watched President Trump over the last three-and-a-half years, I have seen the sharp contrast between two political parties, and I have realized this election is not just about two men sparring for the highest office in the land. This is an election about fundamental American economic values.
This election, we will be voting to save or destroy innocent life. The Lord has made it clear, “Thou shalt not kill,” yet millions of babies have been killed on the altar of self-indulgence. Body parts have been sold, and mothers have been maimed emotionally for the rest of their lives. If the left has their way, abortion will be legal even after a child has come out of the womb. There is no gray area. The answer is clear. We must vote for life.
If the left is victorious, our Second Amendment right “to keep and bear arms” will be gone forever. If a law is made to take away the guns, only criminals and the government will have guns. Remember: He who has the guns makes the rules. We have seen how leftist-run cities have controlled the riots. We have seen innocent people killed and businesses ransacked and destroyed by lawless anarchists and how the people who have defended themselves have been made to look like criminals. There is even a concerted effort to defund the police. Our Founding Fathers knew that a people who are not allowed to defend themselves against a tyrannical government are slaves to the will of that government. We cannot allow the government to be in control of our lives. Do we vote for total government control or our Second Amendment right? That is on the ballot this election.
Religious freedom is on the ballot. In leftist-run cities, we have seen churches closed in fear of the virus, yet so-called peaceful protesters have run rampant through the streets. Crowds throng the cities to loot and burn, but people are in danger if they sing in church. It is not the peaceful assembly that bothers the left; it is the talk of God and religion that bothers them. Marxist and communistic regimes always destroy religion because it runs contrary to their agenda to control society.
Freedom of religion is built on free thought and expression. The Founding Fathers knew that for a people to be free, they must be in control of their most intimate thoughts. They must have the freedom to assemble and pray as a group. Religion gives rise to creative thought, and creative thought breeds solutions to problems. If people meet, they are liable to create a solution to government control. This is true especially if they are praying as a congregation about the problems. There is power in synergistic prayer. The left does not want that. We have a choice this election to champion religious freedom and the right to assemble. How will we vote?
In communism, the government owns the tools, the utilities – and private property rights of citizens are rare to nonexistent. The government dictates the parameters of life. Which candidates are talking about communism in this election? Communism has always started with the promised blessings of socialism, a utopia of people working together for a common goal. There are no rich or poor. Socialism often turns to communism and ends with nearly everyone being equally poor, with the ruling class being the beneficiaries. History will bear me out on this statement. (If we are allowed to maintain our history.)
The Green New Deal advocated by the left is a cloak for communism and government control, though it sounds like they are promoting “Save the planet.” A clean and safe environment starts with individual responsibility, not government control. Individual property rights, the ability to drive the car of our choice, to fly anywhere we desire or to use as much electricity as we want hinges on this election. The left promises higher taxes and more regulations on individuals and businesses. Is that really what we want? We must do our homework. Our vote matters.
Donald Trump was not my choice for president in 2016, but I have skeptically watched him, through his presidency, keep his promises. I have seen him as a man who really cares about all people and their situations, and I have grown to trust his policies.
Watching his presidency and the left’s wild antics to try and destroy him, I have learned what kind of government I want and need. I want the Constitution of the United States of America. I do not want a leftist in charge of my grandchildren’s future. I may not like the way someone speaks or the way he tweets his mind from time to time, but if he is willing to walk the walk he has talked and keep his promises, he has my vote. He will take the country in the direction I want to go. I pray this election goes in favor of the American people and our time-honored Christian values.
