His article seems to be an attempt to rebut an article written by a Christian pastor that urges a vote for Trump. Take a look at the first paragraph as he quotes a statement from Mr. Gallup's that questions how a Christian can in good conscience allow Hillary to take the White House. Keyes then tries to put words in Gallup's mouth by suggesting that Gallup was advocating fear. No, Gallup was not advocating fear; he was questioning the workings of the consciences who would allow a Trump vote.
I don't have time to go through the whole mess, but I will focus on this question that he asks in the middle of the article: "So God will hold us responsible for Clinton's evil because we refused to embrace Trump's?" There are some key problems with this question.
- There is a tacit assumption that the evil of a Clinton presidency would be no worse than that of Trump. Anyone who believes that hasn't been paying attention to events of the past several years, or even of the past several weeks as Clinton's body count seems to be increasing. It's either that or they are engaging in intellectual dishonesty to justify their own irrational animosity towards Trump.
- In terms of Catholic moral theology, the question might be more accurately rendered, "Will God hold us responsible for Clinton's evil because we refused to do what we could to prevent it?" The answer is a resounding "YES".
- The question is followed by Jesus' admonition to "be perfect". That is one of many non sequiturs. "Being perfect" means, among other things, dealing realistically with situations that don't always offer clear black-vs-white options. It doesn't mean refusing to deal with these situations while attempting to absolve oneself of responsibility for the consequences of such abdication of Christian duty.
The Roman Catholic Church, in her wisdom, has always recognized that there are situations in which we must ponder carefully our choices. That is why she has given us guidelines to assist us in so doing, as I have attempted to do in recent posts. Keyes is Catholic, yet nowhere in his article do I see any reference to the principles on which I touched, or any other reference to Catholic moral theology for that matter.
Then there is another Catholic, news commentator Cokie Roberts. During an episode of "Morning Joe" this past Tuesday, she opined that those supporting Trump are "morally tainted". She said nary a peep about Hillary, save to warn that she might commit an error (like Bengazi, or the email deletions, support for baby-murder and sexual immorality, etc) and Trump achieve victory as a result. Some of my friends believe that Cokie Roberts is pro-life. I had my doubts then and now I'm left with no doubt that the unborn don't rate a blip on her radar screen.
Roberts' screed was none too surprising, but Keyes' was. I don't know how he jumped the tracks but I sure hope he corrects that.
Alan Keyes is speaking the language of a Christian. He is applying Christian principle to this sordid election choice.
ReplyDeleteRe-read his opinion through a Christian perspective, (God reigns; the Faithful are faithful), rather than a secular political advocacy perspective, and it will make perfect sense.
He is NOT speaking a particularly Christian language. He's simply giving his own opinion. It is convoluted for there is no logical basis to his claims.
DeleteThe media in the UK have abandoned all sense of balance with regard to Trump and that is an understatement.
ReplyDeleteKeyes has been trash talking Trump since Trump got in the race last summer. No surprise, Trump is not a Republican or conservative in many ways, but I am OK with that. I am fully #TrumpTrain and have been since last fall. I wanted Trump because I wanted him to blow up the GOP establishment so it could be rebuilt from the ground up. Trump has done that, by being a voice for fed up voters furious that the GOP refuses to listen to their voters decade after decade.
ReplyDeleteTrump is not going to be some great Christian president- neither is Hillary. But what Trump will be, is better than Hillary in every way that matters for a President. Mostly in naming not only Supreme Court justices, but also federal justices- who in years to come will be the next batch of Supreme Court justices. Trump will also create jobs and help get people out of poverty, rather than keeping them their and giving them "hand outs" rather than a "hand up" until they get on their feet. And then there is abortion...and the list goes on. With Hillary on the Dem ticket, Trump (IMO) is the only option.
For myself the over-riding consideration is that position on the respective tickets which once was described by Adlai Stevenson as "one heart-beat away from the Presidency of the United States".
ReplyDeleteTrump is the only candidate whose ticket is publicly and unabashedly committed to protection of the unborn. End of the matter then for me, at least as a pro-life Catholic. Mike Pence.
Trump may be better than Clinton, but not a solid choice.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.nj.com/opinion/index.ssf/2016/08/trumps_tax_break_what_are_friends_like_christie_fo.html?ath=7e0ac75230437cc842fb66a4632bb39a#cm
Be that as it may, he's the only choice right now.
DeleteHe ran against Pat Buchanan to split the pro-life vote away from Buchanan, no?
ReplyDeleteYes, I remember that race. Bob Dornan was in that race too. Three pro-life Catholics running against each other, of all the stupidity.
DeleteAlan Keyes was arrested at Notre Dame as he and other pro-life advocates protested Obama's appearance as the commencement speaker in 2011, I believe.
ReplyDeleteAs much as I admire and respect Ambassador Keyes, and understand the root of his argument, which is that he is pointing out that we are not actually voting for Trump, but the designated party electors that will cast their ballots on January 3...the Electoral College, what he fails to realize is that much of this mess was caused by the very administration he served under. I believe that Reagan made a huge mistake in allowing Bush on his ticket, as it allowed that particular group to recover after the rightful disasters that were Nixon and Ford.
ReplyDeleteOddly enough, after all of the shenanigans with the Reform Party in the early '00s, PJB has been one of Trump's biggest supporters, ideologically speaking. Must be the fact that PJB called it right back in the '92 R primary...
Who is PBJ?
DeleteThis election will likely be a close one. We need each and every vote. I live in Maryland and one could argue that it will go Democrat anyway (MD is a "winner-take-all" state in the Electoral College) but I think it rash to presume on that this time. Speaking of Nixon, in 1960 he lost by a margin of less than one vote per precinct.