Cedars, March 2019

N ew campaigns are starting again, and President Trump is preparing for re-election against a veritable slew of Democratic hopefuls. (Flip later in this issue to see a full rundown of all those running, written by yours truly.) This made me reflect a lot on the muck and mire leading up to November 2016. Reported- ly, 81 percent of white evangelical voters voted for Trump in the 2016 election. It’s been said many times that evangelicals are the reason Trump is in office. I’ve heard a lot of arguments about how Trump has the opportunity to put in place conservative Supreme Court justices; I’ve heard arguments about pro-life poli- cies, family values, religious freedom. I’ve heard “lesser of two evils” arguments over and over. Totally, those affected our decision-mak- ing, and I’m sympathetic to those reasons. I understand that a lot of people felt conflicted in casting their vote. Something we have to consider, though, is how Trump’s rhetoric propelled him to the Oval Office, and what that rhetoric means for us as Christians. Rhetoric, or the way someone speaks, inherently reveals how one thinks. (“For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks,” Matthew 12:34). This column will discuss his rhetoric and how it conflicts in several key ways with the gospel of Christ cru- cified. His rhetoric is important – we cannot throw it out because we “like his policies;” we have to reckon with how the world views America, and therefore Christianity, through the lens of Trump’s yuge voice. Trump uses a lot of racialized rhetoric. He labeled Mexicans as criminals and rapists as a block condemnation; he called a group of destitute South American migrants fleeing violence an “invasion.” The threat is always minorities: who are Trump’s two main targets for the United States’ debt and economy? Mexico and China. Immigrants are “stealing our jobs.” China is destroying our economy. Author Robin DiAngelo says, “The call to Make America Great Again” worked powerfully in the service of the racial manipulation of white people, diverting blame away from the white elite and towards people of color – for example, undocumented immigrants and the Chinese.” We know that the Christian faith, according to Galatians, is not a faith of racial division or tribalism. It is a faith of unity. Trump’s rhetoric also shifts the blame away from corpora- tions and the wealthy. Millionaires own half the global wealth. The corporations certainly want you, the average person, to blame the poor instead. They’ve done it historically – consolidating poor white voters with the rich white elite against minorities, and voting policies against social welfare that they actually need. (For more on this, check out the piece “I Know Why the Poor Whites Chant Trump, Trump, Trump” by Jonna Ivin.) Throughout scripture, we are called to associate with the lowly, to sell our wealth, to live without excess. The poor we will always have among us, scripture says – and we are called to help them, to bring them alongside, not build walls to keep them out of our country. Being “pro-life” includes the massacre of the unborn, but it also includes opposing policies that put migrant children in cages at the border, helping those in need and radical hospitality. Trump also used the rhetoric of fear to scare evangelicals. He said in an interview, “Look at Syria. If you’re Christian, they’re chopping off heads. You look at the different places. Christianity is under siege.” The overall feeling that Christians will lose their freedom to practice religion is what motivated a lot of evangelical voters. Surely nobody wants to be persecuted. But Jesus did not say, “Elect governors who support everything you stand against, as long as they will keep you from all harm.” He said, “ye shall be hated of all nations for my name’s sake” (Matthew 24:9). Trump says, “without a Christian state, we’ll all die and be persecuted.” Jesus said following Him would put us on the outskirts of society, would be like carrying a cross. Why does all of this matter? God has always identified with the marginalized, not the powerful. The nation knows that evan- gelicals are the major voting block who put him into power. I’ve talked with my non-Christian friends, who overwhelmingly tell me that in their minds, Christianity = Trump; therefore Chris- tianity = ignorance, hypocrisy, secret moral corruption, racism, sexism and more. It’s a Faustian bargain that evangelicals made; some feelings of security, some Supreme Court justices, for a huge blow to our reputation and a stumbling block to the gospel. I’ll be honest: I believe that a billionaire with a paper-thin veneer of religious zeal is the Oval Office, and he is methodically concentrating power in the hands of the white and the wealthy. I also believe that we (white evangelicals) helped put him there, and that’s something we should consider with solemnity. March 2019 3 Senior Spiritual Reflection Callahan Jones Senior Journalism student As a senior, looking back on my time here at Cedarville, there is easily one spiritual thing I’ve most gained: a reliance on God. When I was a high school senior, I basically dreaded coming to Cedarville. Sure, I was excited from some aspects. I’d finally get to spend a lot of time studying music (something I quickly became disillusioned with, as such I have been a Journalism major for the last three years). I had met a few cool incoming students online thanks to the Facebook group that admissions had set up (this group of friends just so happened to include the girl that has now been my girlfriend for over three years. Love you, Jen). However, I wasn’t excited about other things. I could list them all, but they basically boil down to one problem: I was terrified of not being in control. Throughout my life, I often have felt the need to be in control of situations. Almost all situations, actually. It has been, historically, a great cause of stress and anxiety for me. However, as I’ve navigated my time at Cedarville, I’ve learned that I have to let go and let Jesus take the wheel, to use an incredibly cliche phrase. The struggles of school have done wonders to make me rely more on him, whether it be because of the stress of school, challenges of balancing work and a social life, and many more things besides. Without him, I am absolutely nothing and would be able to do absolutely nothing worthy of anything. And that’s that. Just Sayin’ ... Alex Hentschel The Gospel According to Trump BEOC (Big Event On Campus) S pring P lay - ‘T he S pitfire G rill ’ April 4-14, DeVries Theatre Watch Cedarville’s performance of “The Spitfire Grill” by James Valcq and Fred Alley, based on the film by Lee David Zlotoff.