President Trump’s harshest critics and staunchest allies have one thing in common: They both believe that his presidency is of a monumental nature.
No matter the fact that his elected position will at most last eight years, we’re told that the president’s leadership is sure to bring this country to either greatness or ruination. This failure to look past the short-term afflicts both sides of the political aisle.
Many religious Republican voters view Trump’s win over Hillary Clinton as a divine appointment. After former President Obama, they say, our country desperately needed a change of direction. In their minds, Donald Trump was the answer.
Despite the highly questionable behavior the president exhibits on a daily basis, they believe he was meant to fill the role of commander-in-chief. In fact, Trump’s victory wasn’t just proof of a strong GOP, it was confirmation that God had orchestrated the win.
Earlier this year, former Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said as much during an interview when she stated, “I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times, and I think that he wanted Donald Trump to become president.” However, God allowing a political victory is not the same as Him endorsing the mission or man behind it.
Trump supporters are not the only ones who get carried away with equating spiritual matters to political ones. His detractors do it, too, and they are just as incorrect.
On Monday, the Washington Post published an op-ed by former Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake meant to encourage Republicans in Washington, D.C., and around the country to withhold support for President Trump’s reelection campaign. While that itself is not a problem, and hardly surprising given Flake’s history, he was mistaken in his use of permanent-sounding, spiritual language:
Our country will have more presidents. But principles, well, we get just one crack at those. For those who want to put America first, it is critically important at this moment in the life of our country that we all, here and now, do just that.
Trust me when I say you can go elsewhere for a job. But you cannot go elsewhere for a soul.
The former lawmaker pleads with fellow Republicans to refrain from casting a ballot in one election, while framing it as essential to the very life of our nation. Worst of all, his words are made even more extreme by referencing the purity of everyone’s soul in relation to their vote. Closing with this description turns an otherwise persuasive opinion piece into overly emotional nonsense.
Flake seems to view the upcoming election as the most important of our lifetime. But many use this tactic every four years as a way to spur interest in voting. Yes, the 2020 results will have a profound effect on the course of our nation, but this is always the case. Presidents will come and go, and the balance of power will continue to shift between Democrats and Republicans.
Even if President Trump wins a second term, his time on the national stage is limited. Americans should take voting seriously, but attaching catastrophic importance to elections fails to recognize the very finite nature of political power.
No matter what political angle you’re coming from, intertwining deep, spiritual, and long-lasting decisions to the vote for a temporary leader is a bridge too far. But this attitude is hardly surprising, given that politics has become a religion.
Regardless of the results of the 2020 election, neither Trump nor his Democratic opponent will have the final word on politics or morality, let alone determine the fate of one’s conscience. And Flake, whose own time and direct influence in Washington, D.C., have concluded, should know that best.
Kimberly Ross (@SouthernKeeks) is a contributor to the Washington Examiner‘s Beltway Confidential blog and a columnist at Arc Digital.
