LETS NOT KID OURSELVES. The Faith of Donald Trump Is Fake, But All Too Familiar

A new book on President Trump puts a bad gloss on a silly argument.

SOPHIA A. NELSON
02.24.18 9:29 PM ET

“I don’t want to see religious bigotry in any form. It would disturb me if there was a wedding between the religious fundamentalists and the political right. The hard right has no interest in religion, except to manipulate it.” — Rev. Billy Graham

As the world now mourns Billy Graham’s passing, and we here in the United States are still reeling from yet another mass school shooting, I think it is a good time for those of us of faith to reflect on just what it means to be a “Christian” in the public arena of civics, and civil discourse.

Say what you will about the Rev. Graham, he was a man who literally traveled the earth, in all her far corners, to spread the good news of the Gospel. He dined with the current queen of England, who if you believe Netflix’s hit series The Crown sought his religious counsel in private several times when he took his famous crusades to England in 1961.

More than that, however, Graham was an exemplary husband of over 60 years to his beloved wife Ruth, a devoted father and elder statesman. There were never rumors of marital unfaithfulness. You never heard him say an unkind word about his fellow human beings. He never took to Twitter or social media to blast or defame others. He had his beliefs, his religious opinions on gay marriage for sure. But he was a man who, despite his human flaws, walked the talk of faith. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was jailed in 1960, Graham bailed him out. And as far back as 1953, Graham personally moved “the ropes” that were in place to segregate his Crusade in Chattanooga.

Fast forward to present day 2018. One of the most heralded evangelical heroes of our day is none other than our nation’s 45th President Donald J. Trump.

Graham’s eldest son, Franklin has been a stalwart and vocal supporter of the president, as have a host of prominent evangelical leaders like Paula White, James Robison, Jentezen Franklin, and Jerry Falwell Jr. Franklin Graham said on the night of Trump’s 2016 election (in a Facebook post) that he believed, “God intervened” to elect Trump. And earlier this month at the 2018 National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., several speakers said that no president in American history has done as much as Trump to promote “religious freedom.”

Which brings me to the current occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. and his “faith.” President Trump’s faith has been a hot topic of discussion since he was a candidate for office in the 2015 primaries. It has been a point of vigorous public debate on whether the “Christian right” and the “political right” formed an unholy alliance (just as Rev. Graham feared) to propel Trump, who agrees with them on political issues, into the White House.

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