THOU SHALT NOT VOTE FOR DONALD TRUMP - SAYS THE LORD?
Some days ago, the Salt Lake Tribune published an article titled “Thou Shalt Not Vote for Donald Trump. These Prominent Latter-day Saints View That As A Command From God.”
Right out of the shute, let me observe that, in sum, the Trib’s piece was a transparent liberal attempt, in cahoots with a small number of LDS liberals - and, whatever their party affiliations, they are liberals - liberals are as liberals do - to paint Donald Trump in hellish hues and prejudice members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints against the former president and current presidential candidate - and, implicitly, in favor of the disastrous wrecking ball and empty pants suit Kamala Harris. This done by means of the stereotypical liberal tactic of slander, calumny and ad hominem attack - personally attacking the messenger while ignoring the critical message.
The article begins with this:
“Four prominent and politically active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe they know whom God would not endorse for president: Donald Trump.”
These four purported “prominent” members of the LDS Church - they may have held noteworthy positions in the world, but what makes them “prominent” in terms of their LDS Church membership or their understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ? - think they know the mind and will of and presume to speak for God in passing dismissive judgment on another human being in this critical hour (the word “hubris” immediately jumps to mind). Christine Durham, Richard N.W. Lambert, James W. McConkie and Brent Ward claim to have made their divinely inspired case against Trump in an online petition.
The essence of the stereotypically liberal argument against Trump contained in both the Trib piece and the online petition is first to cite a few scriptures whereby LDS members are admonished to judge things in the world - which standards boil down to choosing the right, rejecting the wrong, as far as possible in an imperfect world. Then, in the warm glow of their self-styled brilliant Gospel lights, our “prominent” LDS quadrumvirate goes on to declare that Donald Trump does not measure up to those standards. They then proceed, in their petition, to lay out seven, longstanding liberal anti-Trump talking points they think support them in their supposedly inspired interpretation of the LDS faith and in their attendant condemnation of Donald Trump.
Here below are those seven points and my analysis:
His [Trump’s] public pronouncements in recent years are filled with falsehoods. At times he seems incapable of being honest or telling the truth.
[Just sayin’ it don’t make it so. Trump is here accused of being a liar, but, in a classic example of deceitful liberal tactics, no specific examples of his supposed lies or their baneful effects are provided. Because the accusers are “prominent” church members, LDS folks are apparently just expected to take their word for it.
[Sorry. No deal. Show us the lies - Trump’s deliberate intent to deceive and mislead, which is what a lie is. One cannot accidentally lie. One might accidentally or ignorantly say something not true, but that would not be a lie. It would be a mistake. Intent is everything. However prone to exaggeration and bloviating the man may be, show me anything Trump has said that was willfully deceitful and does not have the root of truth in it. See my earlier Substack piece “THE LEFT’S DECEITFUL WAR OF WORDS”]
An honest man or woman supports the Constitutional process of government, including the outcome of elections. Donald Trump did not accept the result of the last election and sought illegal means to subvert it.
[Liberals want to pretend that the 2020 was pristine - “the freest and fairest in American history”. In reality, as millions of Americans know, there were massive irregularities in the 2020 election witnessed and attested to by many - by many measures more than enough shenanigans to swing the election - irregularities that, to this day, have not been properly investigated - such investigations having been resisted tooth and nail by the Democrats who simply declare the irregularities do not exist and condemn as an “ELECTION DENIER!” anyone who raises an issue or points out a problem, no matter how well-founded.
[As Chief Executive and Chief Enforcement Officer of the United States, Donald Trump had the responsibility to ensure the 2020 election process was properly and legally conducted and to investigate issues that might impact the integrity of the election process. There was nothing illegal in what Trump did. Far from failing to support the Constitution, in seeking to cast light on those election “irregularities” - let’s be honest and call it what it was - election fraud - Donald Trump, far from betraying the Constitutional, was fulfilling his Constitutional duty.]
A wise person is not impulsive or habitually resistant to the counsel of experienced advisors.
[But what if the “counsel of experience advisors” is wrong? Where does the “buck” stop? With the advisors, or with the President? Do the people elect a President to blindly follow the dictates of his advisors? Obviously not. The President, by the very definition of his position and responsibilities given him, is not obligated to do what supposedly “experienced advisors” think he should do. If he blindly followed such advice and the result was disaster, could the President point to his advisors and say, “It’s their fault! Don’t blame me!”? Hardly. The President is, of course, well-advised to welcome and consider all the advice he can get - as many have testified Trump invariably did during his first term - but then he alone has the responsibility to make up his own mind and make his own decisions. The buck stops with him and nowhere else.
[Fortunately here, Donald Trump has a first-term track record chiseled in granite. If, as these “prominent” LDS people charge, Trump is not “a wise person” and was and is “impulsively and habitually resistant to” wise counsel (note again that in stereotypical leftist fashion, the accusers provide no actual examples of this or the negative consequences), the pernicious effects should have, must have been manifest during his first term , bringing disaster down upon the nation and the people (as has been glaringly true during illegitimate, disastrous Biden/Harris regime). But what does the record actually show? No such thing. What we did see during Trump’s first term was one of the most successful presidencies and one of the most prosperous and peaceful periods in American history.]
Numerous women and men of good will and ability who worked with Donald Trump as president attest to his immaturity, capriciousness, and lack of judgment.
[I am here reminded of all the people - purportedly “men of good will and ability” - the esteemed spiritual leaders and the very cream of the crop of Jewish society - who stood in the crowd arrayed before Pontius Pilate and shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!” The “him” here being the best man that ever lived on the face of the earth.
[These accusers “attest”? To what, based on what? Again, just sayin’ it don’t make it so - no matter who’s sayin’ it. In reality, what these people are likely attesting to is that Trump, as President, was his own man and did what he thought best, not what they thought best.
[Notice again the glaring absence of actual examples of Trump’s “immaturity, capriciousness and lack of judgment” and their implied negative consequences. Again, if such profound defects in the man had been real and substantial, they inexorably would have had baneful impact on the country during his first term. Instead, again, we saw the most prosperous and peaceful four years (until the Covid fiasco) America had experience in a generation. Once more, the venomous, irrational liberal characterization of Trump here is transparently biased and glaringly inconsistent with historical reality.]
A good person invariably treats others with respect. Even in disagreements, that person does not demean, belittle, or mock. Donald Trump continually speaks of others in disrespectful, derogatory words.
[What nonsense! Politics is a rough-and-tumble business. Bombast and exaggeration are pervasive in the game, and Donald Trump, to his credit and political success, is a master of such techniques. If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen! In any case, respect - especially in politics - is not a natural right but has to be earned - and even when it is earned, as Trump earned it in his first term, in politics it is rarely accorded.
Here is a better question: is Trump being unfair and deceitful in his colorful and memorable characterizations of his opponents and adversaries - people who call him “Hitler”, ludicrously declare him “a threat to democracy”, someone who “must be stopped”, and encourage people, as Biden did, “to put Trump in a bullseye” - all resulting in his near assassination - twice - or is there a root of truth in how Trump depicts his opponents and antagonists? That was a rhetorical question. I challenge any Trump-hater to demonstrate that any of his characterizations of his opponents and attackers has no truthful basis.
[Notice, too, that these “prominent” LDS accusers - and like-minded liberals, RINO’s and Democrats generally - take no umbrage at the ridiculous, intellectually insulting calumny regularly hurled at Trump. For them, it’s outrageous and disrespectful when Trump humorously but accurately demeans an opponent, but, when Trump’s vicious attackers ridiculously scream “He wants to be a king!”, “He intends to overthrow the Constitution!”, “He must be stopped!”, and “Time to put Trump in a bullseye!”, it’s all conveniently glossed over and ignored. This reckless, liberal Trump-hating blind spot has thus far resulted in at least two attempts on the man’s life.
[And, of course, in all their condemnations of the peccadilloes and imperfections of Donald Trump, these “prominent” LDS accusers and self-appointed prophets and theologians turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the intellectual, moral and spiritual catastrophe of the other side - the disaster that is Kamala Harris - her dreadful incompetence, lawlessness, anti-Americanism, willful deceit - she is a true liar - and the ongoing cataclysm wrought upon the nation by the illegitimate Biden/Harris regime - a calamity for America certain to continue should Harris be given the keys to the White House.
A good man or woman seeks to keep personal promises and covenants made with others and does not abuse other people in any way. A person is safe in the presence of a good man or woman. Donald Trump has not been a covenant keeper in some of his most important relationships. He has openly bragged about sexually assaulting women and has been found to have done exactly this by a jury of his peers.
[“…a jury of his peers”? In the judicially weaponized Democrat stronghold of New York? What a joke. Trump still denies the charge that he “sexually assaulted women”. And let me note here what two-thirds of Americans understand but Trump’s four “prominent” LDS accusers conveniently ignore:
[62 percent in new poll say federal charges against Trump politically motivated (thehill.com)
[Does Donald J. Trump walk on water? He does not - and I’m quite sure that neither do any of our four “prominent” LDS judgmental prigs who, turning a blind eye to the best interests of the country, presume to judge and pass sentence on Trump. To serve their ends, they quote a few scriptures, but ignore others:
“Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again... And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye” - Matthew 7:1-5.
“So when they continued asking him, he lifted himself up, and said unto them, ‘He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her’… And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last.” - John 8:7
“Dearly beloved, avenge not yourselves… for it is written, Vengeance is mine, sayeth the Lord. I will repay.” - Romans 12:19
“Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men”.
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Doctrine & Covenants 64:9-10
[Unlike these obviously self-congratulatory, self-righteous “prominent” LDS accusers - quick to judge and condemn the man by a set of standards he was never taught - Donald Trump, a man of the world, did not have the advantage of being raised in a pious Christian family and in some instances, unsurprisingly, has not conducted himself as if he had.
[Still, if the same standard of judgment these “prominent” LDS accusers are quick to apply to Trump were applied to previous presidents, what could be said of the likes of FDR (long-time affair with Lucy Mercer), Dwight D. Eisenhower (affair with Kay Summersby), Richard Nixion (he had a mistress in China), John Kennedy (numerous affairs) Lindon Johnson (numerous affairs), even the much-venerated Ronald Reagan (Hollywood affairs) - to say nothing, of course, of the sexual escapades of the alley cat Bill Clinton (many affairs)? A number of these men did not hesitate to conduct their sexual escapades within the hallowed walls of the White House. Also see this:
[By these historical standards of presidential behavior, Donald J. Trump is certainly no worse, and arguably much better than a number of other presidents.]
A good person is generally a law-abiding person. Donald Trump is a convicted felon.
[Is he really? Nothing is more obvious to a great majority - two thirds - of the American people than what our four “prominent” LDS accusers blissfully and conveniently ignore - the grossly unjust weaponization of the legal system against Donald J. Trump:
[62 percent in new poll say federal charges against Trump politically motivated (thehill.com)]
Thus, we see that none - not one - of the accusations leveled at Donald Trump in the above seven points offered by our “prominent” LDS accusers withstands careful, fair-minded scrutiny. We see here nothing but a rehash of the standard, slanderous, twisted, sniveling, Trump-hating fare the Democrat/RINO left has disingenuously served up since the day Mr. Trump came down the escalator in 2015.
Finally, for those LDS readers who, notwithstanding all the man actually did for the country during his first term and has promised to do again if re-elected, are convinced they cannot vote for an imperfect man like Donald Trump, no matter what it means for the country, let me recite again the Book of Mormon history of one Morianton, who fought a lengthy civil war, won that war and declared himself king. Surprisingly, having established himself in power by the force of arms, he immediately began to lighten the burdens of the people and improve their lot - so much so that the people freely chose to anoint him their king. He had a long and successful reign, and the people prospered. Nevertheless, Morianton was not a righteous man by religious standards. Here is the story:
“And it came to pass after the space of many years, Morianton, (he being a descendant of Riplakish) gathered together an army of outcasts, and went forth and gave battle unto the people; and he gained power over many cities; and the war became exceedingly sore, and did last for the space of many years; and he did gain power over all the land, and did establish himself king over all the land.
“And after he had established himself king, he did ease the burden of the people, by which he did gain favor in the eyes of the people, and they did anoint him to be their king.
“And he did do justice unto the people, but not unto himself because of his many whoredoms; wherefore he was cut off from the presence of the Lord.”
“And it came to pass that Morianton built up many cities, and the people became exceedingly rich under his reign, both in buildings, and in gold and silver, and in raising grain, and in flocks, and herds, and such things which had been restored unto them [under his reign].”
- Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Book of Mormon, Either 10: 9-11
Note that the people in this instance, by freely choosing to anoint Morianton their king after he had done right by them, chose to pass a judgment that was focused on their individual and national wellbeing, not presuming to stand in judgment of the personal life of their imperfect leader, but leaving that judgment where it rightly belonged - with God.
That is exactly the kind of choice the people of America - and the members of the LDS Church - will face on November 5th. The purpose of what will happen on that day is not, as our four “prominent” LDS accusers propose, to pass God’s judgment on an imperfect man, but to do what is in the best interests of our great country. The only relevant question is, which America do you want to live in? The sort that Trump gave us during his first term - peace, prosperity, security, international stature? Or the humiliating laughingstock of a country given us by Biden/Harris, certain to be continued by Harris if she is elected?
Will America priggishly cut off its nose to spite its face? To my way of thinking, the choice couldn’t be any clearer than it is. This, as I argued in a previous post, is truly a “NO-BRAINER”.
Think your way through it. Here, let me help:
TRUMP VS. HARRIS - REASON YOUR WAY TO THE RIGHT CHOICE (substack.com)
If you have eyes to see, see. Ears to hear, hear.
Right vs. wrong, truth vs. lies, reality vs. fantasy, knowledge vs. ignorance, order vs. chaos, law vs. lawlessness, justice vs. injustice, patriotism vs. treason, light vs. darkness, good vs. evil, happiness vs. misery, God vs. the Godless.
They day of choosing is nigh…
If you can be fooled, you will be.
These are the times that try men’s souls…
Torquemada