‘Did Americans vote to reject a failed administration or elect a president they believed would satisfy their hopes, both political and spiritual?’ asks Sharmila Meadows.
On Tuesday, Donald J Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President of the United States. The 60th edition of a ceremony that has witnessed giants of American history from Washington to Lincoln to Roosevelt to Kennedy installed in the highest office. How you responded to this inauguration may depend on what you were looking for: as a Christian, knowing that many American Christians look to Trump for hope, it felt a sobering reminder to seek God, and not man, for answers.
Any reflection upon the inauguration probably depends on your expectations and your vote.
Any reflection upon the inauguration probably depends on your expectations and your vote. Indeed, Trump spoke to groups of voters who had proffered him their support, promising to reward their trust: those in the auto-mobile industry; black and hispanic voters who shifted to him for the first time, and more generally, to the traditional American values and aspirations that had driven countless Americans to reject the Biden-Harris years in the hope of national renewal.
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If you were disenchanted with left-wing cultural intrusion, a diminished economy and had fears about job security, crime, immigration or globalisation, this inauguration ticked your boxes. Trump spoke of a new American golden age, laying into an outgoing administration that had “given unlimited funding to the defence of foreign borders, but refuses to defend American borders, or, more importantly, its own people”. He promised to shore up the southern border with Mexico and tackle drug cartels, categorising them as terrorist organisations to ensure the full force of the law and deportation where applicable. He sought to place America and Americans first.
Trump also captured the cry for freedom, which had carried his vote. A recurring theme in his speech, he spoke of freedom of thought and expression, acknowledging the cultural oppression that many, including the Church, had felt from the imposition ofsecular, left-wing ideologies, especially on gender. The headline celebration thus came in Trump’s announcement that he will end social engineering of race and gender into every aspect of public and private life and that the US government would henceforth recognise only two genders: male and female.
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This is biblical (Genesis 5:2) and good news for Christians and for women. For women worried about the indoctrination of their children, the threats to hitherto safe single-sex spaces and opportunities for women and girls, especially in women’s sport. More broadly for women, if Melania Trump is to pursue the causes she introduced during her last stint as First Lady, there will be an emphasis on children’s well-being through her BE BEST initiatives, which also include college-level scholarships for those exiting foster care.
But what of other biblical concerns, which influenced Christian voting; abortion, Israel, and the primacy of the God in whom America trusts?
But what of other biblical concerns, which influenced Christian voting; abortion, Israel, and the primacy of the God in whom America trusts? They were little mentioned. Although Trump said that America must not forget her God and there were several Christian prayers, only Franklin Graham’s prayer mentioned Jesus – with both closing prayers from Pastor Sewell and Father Mann quoting man over Scripture. If you were a Christian seeking reassurance about the biblical values you hold dear and which steered you at the ballot box, here was a sobering moment.
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Did Americans vote to reject a failed administration or elect a President they believed would satisfy their hopes, both political and spiritual? For there is a danger that, when our vote is shaped primarily by a push away from an administration we found ungodly, our euphoria at its removal from power can obscure careful discernment about our preferred choice. But we need to keep such wits about us, remain prayerful in our observations and discerning of the times. To ponder as Mary did.
The Book of Nehemiah teaches us that God can use anyone to achieve his purposes, in this case the heathen King Cyrus for the Jews to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem. It is of course too soon to draw Biblical conclusions on the Trump administration and only God knows individual hearts and his plans for each one of us – but if Christians sought reassurance that Trump would rebuild their foundational Christian walls, there was little here to convince. It was perhaps a timely reminder to the American Church that they must look to Jesus and not man for their nation’s answers and hopes.
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