In an interesting development that has caused some consternation in Christian circles, the evangelical magazine Christianity Today founded in 1956by the late Billy Graham has come out with an editorial approving the impeachment of Donald Trump. It says that the fact that Democrats have been out to get him from the day he took office and that they support Trump’s pro-life and religious freedom positions is not enough to counterbalance the fact that he is unfit for the office he holds.
But the facts in this instance are unambiguous: The president of the United States attempted to use his political power to coerce a foreign leader to harass and discredit one of the president’s political opponents. That is not only a violation of the Constitution; more importantly, it is profoundly immoral.
The reason many are not shocked about this is that this president has dumbed down the idea of morality in his administration. He has hired and fired a number of people who are now convicted criminals. He himself has admitted to immoral actions in business and his relationship with women, about which he remains proud. His Twitter feed alone—with its habitual string of mischaracterizations, lies, and slanders—is a near perfect example of a human being who is morally lost and confused.
…To the many evangelicals who continue to support Mr. Trump in spite of his blackened moral record, we might say this: Remember who you are and whom you serve. Consider how your justification of Mr. Trump influences your witness to your Lord and Savior. Consider what an unbelieving world will say if you continue to brush off Mr. Trump’s immoral words and behavior in the cause of political expediency. If we don’t reverse course now, will anyone take anything we say about justice and righteousness with any seriousness for decades to come? Can we say with a straight face that abortion is a great evil that cannot be tolerated and, with the same straight face, say that the bent and broken character of our nation’s leader doesn’t really matter in the end?
In an interview, editor Mark Galli explained his action.
Galli said he doesn’t expect his editorial to change many minds and doesn’t believe many hard-line evangelical Trump supporters subscribe to his magazine. He added that he doesn’t belong to either major political party, and voted third party in the last election.
“People are going to think of it as if it’s partisan,” he said. “I’m not joining the Democratic Party to take Trump down.”
White evangelical Christians in particular still support Trump in large numbers. But asked if his editorial speaks to a minority of evangelicals who are unsettled by Trump’s presidency but unwilling to speak out, Galli said yes.
He said he understands why they haven’t been more vocal, however.
“I understand why they’ve been more quiet, because there are people I love and have relationships with who are deeply committed to supporting Donald Trump because of his views on abortion and religious freedom,” he said. “So naturally they’re hesitant to speak out too loudly or with too much condemnation, which will offend, hurt and maybe alienate people that are lifelong friends, people they deeply love.”
NPR’s Morning Edition also interviewed Galli.
Incidentally, Galli is retiring at the end of this year which may have made it easier for him to speak his mind regardless of the consequences and the predictable outrage from conservative quarters.
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Billy Graham’s son Franklin, who has his own scandals hanging over him, is an ardent supporter of Trump and has responded that his father would not have approved of this stance.
Trump, unsurprisingly, has responded via Twitter in his tpically childish manner.
A far left magazine, or very “progressive,” as some would call it, which has been doing poorly and hasn’t been involved with the Billy Graham family for many years, Christianity Today, knows nothing about reading a perfect transcript of a routine phone call and would rather…..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
….have a Radical Left nonbeliever, who wants to take your religion & your guns, than Donald Trump as your President. No President has done more for the Evangelical community, and it’s not even close. You’ll not get anything from those Dems on stage. I won’t be reading ET again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) December 20, 2019
He won’t be reading ET again? That must worry the people at Entertainment Tonight.
They probably just want their boy Pence to take over.
I would wager that The Orange Toddler-Tyrant had never heard of, or even seen, Christianity Today before this editorial came to light. And I would go all-in that he has never read it. Anyone who would call the magazine a far left or progressive publication is showing their true stupidity. I can only say that Franklin Graham, being the bigot and sycophant that he is, must not have editorial control of the magazine and did not know that the opinion piece would be published therein otherwise I am sure he would have raised quite a stink about it.
Either Trump doesn’t know how impeachment works or he thinks Pence is a radical left nonbeliever.
I wonder about the Christian backlash. But the reason for this post is what amounts to a Fixed That For You.
Speaking about the minority of evangelicals who are unsettled by Trump’s presidency but who are unwilling to speak out Mark Galli, editor of Christianity Today, said, “I understand why they’ve been more quiet, because there are people I love and have relationships with who are deeply committed to supporting Donald Trump because of his views on abortion and religious freedom.”
It’s understandable why Mark Galli would say “religious freedom”, rather than “Christian Privilege”.
Fred Clark at Slacktivist, unsurprisingly, wrote about this today as well:
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/slacktivist/2019/12/19/christianity-today-gets-off-the-sidelines/
Of course he said that. Franklin has been actively taking over his father’s media empire and turning it into his own personal army for years. There were a few years in the 2010s where the only public evidence that Billy Graham was still alive was the fact that his organization would have gone into public mourning at his death and they hadn’t yet; several people wondered if some of the later announcements that were said to be from Billy were in fact coming from Franklin.
Billy Graham had his own share of issues, but he understood that it was good to at least appear to be above the fray, including refusing to join in with Falwell’s Moral Majority; Franklin went full out culture warrior instead.