Trump’s stances on securing the border and recognition of only two genders are welcome news for Christians, but many were troubled this summer by the watering down of the GOP platform in advance of the convention. There was no mention of a need for congressional action on the abortion issue, of fetal tissue research or mention of God bestowing a right to life.
“Marriage and abortion – if you don’t have the right to life, that’s the most foundational right. The issue of life, the sanctity of human life, the fact that all of us are made in God’s image – that’s not an issue of Left or Right, progressive or conservative. This is a deeply biblical, theological issue,” David Closson, director of The Family Research Council’s Center for Biblical Worldview, said this summer.
Still, Christians voted for Trump in high numbers again. Data from the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University showed that Christians made up 72% of the electorate and gave Trump 56% of their vote.
They’re part of the mandate Trump claims as he rules mostly through executive order with mass deportations, protection of girls and women’s sports, and other decisions to appeal to conservatives.
But where do people of faith fit inside the new-look GOP? That was a topic of discussion Friday morning on American Family Radio with Blaze News contributor Delano Squires. The expanding conservative movement, according to Squires, “has brought in Libertarians.”
"Liberty means untethered choices, right? 'The government can’t tell me what to do, I can do whatever I want. Purchase the eggs of one woman and rent the womb of another woman to make a baby.' They’ll say the government has no place to tell them that they can't do that and that you, conservative Christians, don’t have any moral justification for telling them not to do it either,” Squires said on AFR.
Though he has campaigned on abortion as a states’ rights issue, not in need of a federal law, Trump’s early days have seen pro-life leadership such as his reinstatement of the Mexico City Policy, his demand for enforcement of the Hyde Act, and his appearance at the March for Life.
The cost of the 'big tent'
Still, the big tent – while politically expedient last fall – comes with a price tag, Squires told show host Jenna Ellis. The newcomers expect full benefits and privileges, and that could lead to the reshaping of the party.
“If they come in and say ‘No, I'm bringing all of myself, all of my views on these important social issues and now you all have to assimilate to us' … or 'You all have to conform your worldview to ours,' then you have a very different sort of political movement on your hands,” he illustrated.
Squires suggested it’s easy to find support on some issues like recognition of only two genders and a ban for biological males on girls’ and women’s sports teams and in their public spaces.
“But when it gets down to issues of the family, how we define it, what makes a marriage, issues around IVF around surrogacy … I think you're going to see a significant cleavage among people who all believe that they're under the same big tent,” Squires added.
The more conservative wing of the GOP – the people of faith – may need protections, written or unwritten, in the conversation. Trump, to that end, may have an easier time securing the border than security the party.
“There does need to be some gatekeeping now. It's easier in some respects to put gates up around a country than it is around a movement because we're talking about the free movement of ideas,” Squires said.
GOP Christians must fight for their beliefs
Squires emphasized that it’s important for Christians to continue to engage and not just walk away. “Christians should feel comfortable continuing to raise our voices and say, ‘No, look, we see where you all are going. We don't agree,'” he said.
Believers, he continued, need to push the conversation with data and well-thought questions on social issues like abortion and marriage.
“We should ask the new voices, the new arrivals into the movement, how they would handle those issues. My sense is that many of them haven't fully worked through where their worldview takes them,” Squires concluded.
