On the 4th of July, I wrote an article titled “Is This America Worth Celebrating?”, addressing my concerns over praising a nation that was muddled in chaos, deceit, and destruction. Consider this a slightly less cynical, if no less pessimistic, successor to that original post.
Joe Biden
The election of Joe Biden excites me. It means that we as a nation can make a concerted effort to do better. I don’t by any means believe that Joe Biden will be the perfect President. He’ll make mistakes. He’ll take some policies too far and he won’t take others far enough. In that sense, he’ll be like every other President that this nation has seen thus far. However, unlike the man currently golfing in Mar-A-Lago residing in the Oval Office, he’ll admit when he’s made those mistakes.
It brings me comfort knowing that Joe Biden is the current antithesis to Donald Trump. Whereas the incumbent chooses deceit, destruction, and derogation, Joe Biden has a proven record of truth, restoration, and inspiration. His past isn’t without mistakes, but along this campaign trail he’s proven that he is willing to accept those mistakes and to work to remedy them (on top of what he has done already).
Hope
As Donald Trump has been a catalyst for hatred and vitriol, I hope that Joe Biden can be the remedying agent that this nation desperately needs. I hope that he can tend to the wounds of racial discontent. I hope that he can address white nationalism with an attitude of rebuke instead of an attitude of self-aggrandizing enjoyment. I hope that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris can speak for the marginalized and the people of color who have for four years felt that the President would place a target on their back the moment he got the chance.
As this nation has stumbled blindly in the darkness for the past four years, I hope that Joe Biden can truly be the beacon that welcomes in the poor, the tired, the huddled masses yearning to breathe free and lets them know that not only do their lives matter, but so do their voices, their dreams, and their ambitions.
Disheartened
I’m pleased to see Joe Biden win with a record-breaking 74.8 Million votes and counting, but I’m disheartened to see Donald Trump turn up with 70.6 Million. It pains me to think about the fact that 47.7 Million Americans showed up to the polls and said, “I don’t care that this man is unfit to be a leader. I don’t care that this man actively preaches racism and calls directly to its followers. I don’t care that he applauds violence and steadily sows discontent. I don’t care that he lies. I don’t care that he steals. I don’t care.”
It sends a strong message in regard to who America really is. It lets us know that we’re not a “Christian nation”. We’re not even a nation of “good people”. We’re a nation of Judases, and we’ll happily sell out to whomever so long as we get the 32 pieces of silver we were promised. It pains me that 70.6 million people turned to their neighbor and said, “I don’t care that you feel endangered; because this guy might be hurting you, but he’s also giving me something that I want.”
My favorite personal maxim for America’s political climate is this: that the Left wouldn’t elect Jesus because they don’t think he’d do for them enough, and the Right would elect even Satan so long as he’d do them one favor. This election cycle it has felt bitingly true.
Christians, Do Better
More than anything, I have been absolutely disheartened by how Christians across the nation have composed themselves. Reading the Bible growing up, I was always astounded by how easily the Israelites would give up the faith and turn to the nearest god they could find. Be it a Golden Calf, a cowardly King, or the seemingly superior god of an invader, I never understood how the Israelites could fall so fully so quickly.
Yet I watched multitudes of the Christian body trade in the sign of the cross for an upper case T without a second’s hesitation. It didn’t matter that he mocked the teachings of Jesus with his words, or denied them with his lifestyle. It didn’t matter that he used the Bible as a prop, and the church as his theater. It didn’t matter that he got church leaders to stop preaching the Gospel of Jesus to their audiences and start teaching the Gospel of Trump. Millions of people that I form a divinely ordained body with abandoned the mission, desecrated the message, and fell face first towards the Orange Idol.
There’s a quote from Theologian Brennan Manning that comes greatly to mind. If you’ve listened to What if I stumble? by DC Talk, you’ve probably heard it before:
The greatest single cause of atheism in the world today is Christians who acknowledge Jesus with their lips and walk out the door and deny Him by their lifestyle. That is what an unbelieving world simply finds unbelievable.
The Modern Saul
When it was time for Saul to be crowned King, the Israelites had to go find him because he was hiding amongst the baggage. The Chosen King that the Israelites begged God for against Samuel’s advice was afraid of his own position. When it came time to fight the Philistines, Saul sat at the back of the camp and waited for a champion. Time and again Saul proved that he was not the man for the job. Yet that didn’t mean that the job could just be ignored. The Israelites clamored for a king, they had to be responsible for it.
Donald Trump is America’s King Saul- the grassroots leader who was going to make us great again. He was going to kick out the immigrants who’d taken our jobs, lower everyone’s taxes, and put prayer back in schools.
And as a nation, radicalized Trump voters were so worried about bringing prayer back to schools, that they never stopped to make sure that prayer was in their hearts. Much like the Israelites electing for King Saul to willfully lead them astray into delusions of grandeur, America elected for Donald Trump to do the exact same, and he’s done that.
What Happens Next?
King Saul was not the real problem in 1 Samuel, just as Donald Trump is not the real problem in America. Rather these two men are effects of a much deeper problematic cause. Donald Trump is a catalyst for hate, but he is not its source.
The fact of the matter is that the racial killings in the justice system, along with racial disparity in the legal system to back it up, were here long before him. White Supremasists and nationalists have been a fundamental part of this citizenry since 1607. The gap between rich and poor, the predatory organization of the banking industry, and disparities in affordability of and access to healthcare have been steadily growing since long before Donald took office.
These problems did not start with him; though he greatly contributed to their rapid expansion, and in the case of white supremacy and nationalism, acceptance. So what happens when the next Donald Trump comes along?
It might be in four years, maybe it won’t be for twenty, or maybe we’ll even get lucky and it won’t happen for one-hundred years. However, if the sinful nature of man is any reliable indication, there will be many more Donald Trumps down the road. And each time they come out of the woodwork, America will again have the same choice to make: Will we again choose hate? Will we again turn to the shiniest idol? Will we deflect responsibility and again embrace comfortable deception? How little of this world will we take in exchange for our soul?
True Colors
I hope, that we’ll learn the lesson. I hope that the same division and systemic issues in our society can be positively addressed by the incoming administration. I hope that we will choose love. I hope that we will choose to walk according to the direction given to us by Jesus Christ. I hope that when the next offering bucket comes around and we’re asked to contribute our jewels for the smelting of a golden calf, that we’ll say no and remember that God’s instruction is waiting for us on the mountain.
But our true colors have been exposed. They’ve been waved loud and proud from the rooftops as we assail our neighbor. They’ve been slapped on bumper stickers, embroidered into hats, and painted over the flag. Donald Trump may be leaving, but the beliefs that allowed his rise to power will not be so easily diminished. And until they can be abated, this will never truly be a nation worth celebrating.
To end this post with a Hamilton paraphrase, If you stand for nothing America, what will you fall for?
Collin Willis 