Once again in recent days our President has said something moronic. Telling some ethnically-inclined Congresswomen to go back to where they came from, not good. Call it conservative, call it Republican, call it wrong...but certainly don't call it Christian.
Of course, liberal America is going crazy about this...and what seems to be the story as we continue on into this increasingly terrible news cycle is the demand that Republicans call this 'racist'. Given Trump's history of comments, this is just another in a long line of comments that ought to have been buried long ago (and in fact, buried him). This isn't how we behave as Americans, and the need that many have to put a label on this is for some the tactic they keep trying to pursue in order marginalize and eventually remove Trump.
Of course, I'm not entirely sure he is a racist. I heard my grandfather, who otherwise was a kind and compassionate and educated and even enlightened man for his era say many worse things about 'the coloreds'. Trump is still a product of his age; even growing up in the north he likely inherited many of the implicit biases of his white privileged background. Is he truly a racist? Likely he would point to black friends or employees to say 'See? I have black friends too!' In truth, none of us really know what is in his heart...all we can know is what his public comments indicate...and on that basis, yes, he's probably a racist, albeit a mild one. Read much about our American history, and see what flaming 1950's Dixiecrat racists said, and Trump's comments pale by comparison.
Thing is, I think Trump knows exactly what he is doing. As he continues to try and maintain his rock-solid 38% support (of which many more vote than the rest of America), he continues to use these kind of dog-whistle comments knowing that he a)is is distracting everybody from more important failings b)is getting under the skin of his opponents, to his supporters' delight and c)is telling those supporters exactly what they want to hear. Most of us look at these things in disgust, but there's still a sizable minority of people who hear these things and nod, albeit silently. They don't really want this to be a multi-ethnic country. When they say they want to 'take our country back', they mean back to the days when white people ran everything. Much like the President, they will point to black friends and co-workers to say, 'See, I'm not racist!' but they are horrified at the thought of their children marrying somebody of a different race or not thinking that they are the ones in charge.
So maybe the tactic of Democrats ought to not be demanding that Republicans denounce this kind of racism. Expecting that one day Trump will learn his lessons and start taking the high road is a failing tactic, because he is what he is. He knows his base, and will continue to pander to their biases, no matter how bad or immoral it is. Instead, Christians who seek out the Kingdom of God need to simply be speaking of this in terms of the will of God. Is this how a Christian behaves? Do we really want a President on his third marriage who has had many affairs and (likely) at least a a few sexual assaults? Do we want to be a nation in which aliens and strangers will 'shake the dust off their feet'? Do we want to be a nation in which we glorify the wealthy and shame the poor?
It always comes down to the gospel and the Kingdom of God. Are we really putting our hearts in the right place? Or are we just going to point fingers while the President gleefully soaks up the pressure?
