October 20, 2020 by Dr. Peter Jones
How should genuine Christians vote in the up-coming presidential election? Recently a group called “pro-life evangelicals for Biden” sought to answer that question. The group includes many prominent evangelical leaders whom I respect who believe “that a biblically shaped commitment to the sanctity of human life compels us to a consistent ethic of life that affirms the sanctity of human life from beginning to end.”[1] Essentially in using the formulation, “from beginning to end,” they mean that (apart from abortion, which they oppose), the socialist state in Biden’s program is “pro-life,” supported by the Bible, whereas Trump’s system kills.
I will respond to four points held by this group and conclude with a theological critique of the whole. They state that…
1. Lack of state health care kills.
The Biden evangelicals argue that repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, which Trump desires to eliminate, is a “sanctity of life issue.”
Response:
Total state health care sounds biblical because it wants to reach everyone and understands the impossible situation of some who have long-term disease or extraordinarily expensive medications. I’m sure there are problems in our current healthcare system that need to be addressed. It is not clear, however, that a more socialist approach to healthcare will be any more effective or fair than the present system. Some find that the Affordable Care Act is not so affordable and does not meet their needs.[2] We can certainly analyze healthcare systems such as the National Health Service in the UK, which gives everyone medical coverage, and may have some benefits, but can we call it “biblical”? If so, it may have some verses missing. Like our spotty postal service (which recently delivered to my home a letter postmarked in 1994!), many state systems can be impersonal and inefficient, with waiting periods of months or years for elective interventions like knee and hip surgery. In such cases, citizens may pay high fees to be treated through “private” medicine, which, in the end, becomes a different sort of privileged medicine. Unfortunately, Trump has not, to my knowledge, provided any detailed healthcare proposal, though he has promised that his plan would cover patients with pre-existing conditions.
2. Poverty kills.
Biden evangelicals argue that people die of poverty and that providing “a minimum wage that lifts workers out of poverty” is pro-life and biblical.
Response:
Throughout the Scriptures, Christians are enjoined to show compassion for the poor. It is true that poverty increases mortality rates due to increased homelessness, limited healthcare, poor diet, inadequate housing, dangerous neighborhoods, and limited access to heating and air conditioning. The socialist plan, however, while purporting to lift people out of poverty, may actually lock people in a poverty cycle of welfare, laziness and entitlement. Both Christians and non-Christians give generously to help, but the question is how best to help them. Trump has done much to lift people out of poverty by providing jobs (pre-Pandemic). Hand-outs have their place, but they rarely lift people out of poverty. As the saying goes, it is better to teach people how to fish rather than providing free fish for all. Trump’s approach respects the creative image of God in people and begins to solve the endemic problem of poverty. This approach has biblical support: “Anyone who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing something useful with their own hands, that they may have something to share with those in need” (Eph. 4:28). The Apostle Paul created a rule in the church: “The one who is unwilling to work shall not eat” (2 Thess. 3:10). So job creation, though not the only tool, is a powerful one in lifting people from poverty.
3. Climate change kills.
The group states: “Climate change already kills untold thousands and will soon kill tens of millions unless we change.”
Response:
Climate change is another subject on which well-meaning Christians (and scientists!) disagree. It is important to examine the claims on which Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and others surrounding Biden have created plans such as the Green New Deal to rescue our world from ecological disaster. How do we prove or disprove the claim that “untold thousands” have been killed by climate change? Not all intelligent scientists accept the tenets of their more radical colleagues.[3] The Christian Post observes:“Noted environmentalists Bjorn Lomborg (who won the Nobel Peace Prize) and Michael Shellenberger (founder and president of Environmental Progress), claim that climate alarmism has done more harm than good. In fact, Shellenberger argues that some global warming may significantly reduce the world’s hunger problem by turning places like Greenland into a productive food-producing region.”[4]
Defining climate change science as a “pro-life” issue and the lack of it as a killer is not convincing. Even the official United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts that if we do nothing to slow global warming, the world’s poorest nations, thanks to the recent availability of electricity and fossil fuels, will be many times wealthier by 2100. If fossil fuels and easy access to electricity are removed from poor nations, they are more susceptible to disease and death than they would be from climate change.[5] The Green New Deal endorsed by Biden promises to put an end to fossil fuels around the world, which would greatly add to the impoverishment of all peoples.
Moreover, climate changes constantly. In the 1970s, we were fearing another ice age. Human beings have adapted to climates as different as those found in deserts or the Arctic Circle. Even those most serious about affecting our climate favorably, estimate that the goal of avoiding a 3 degree rise in the earth’s temperature will not occur before AD 2100. By that time, we will all be “killed” by old age. Life itself is a killer. Here the verb to “kill” is misused. Comparing what some might define as climate malfeasance with slicing up a baby in the womb is a misuse of moral reasoning that seems to function as a way to ease our conscience. The satirical Babylon Bee calls this group “Evangelical worshipers of Moloch”![6] There is truth in the satire, however. Moloch was a pagan god to whom worshipers sacrificed their children, a practice that Israel not only failed to wipe out but even practiced (including its kings).
4. Racism kills.
The ideological commitment of my evangelical friends is evident when they call racism “a killer.” They state: “African-Americans are several times more likely than white Americans to be killed by the police.”
Response:
This claim that white police are systematically accomplishing black genocide has been statistically disproven, but if news outlets quote Black Lives Matter often enough, the populace doesn’t hear those statistics. Even the mistreatment of George Floyd was done by one black, one Asian and two white officers. The Marxists running Black Lives Matter follow their ideological forefathers in a holistic racist attack on America.[7] Evangelicals for Biden argues that Trump stokes racism rather than uniting the country to struggle against it. But such an accusation seems quite subjective. Biden has made many anti-black statements in his long career and, by their socialism, the Democrats have, unwittingly, broken up and impoverished the black family.[8] At the same time, Trump has improved the conditions of the black community, as a growing number of blacks testify.[9] An unprecedented 24% of black men seek to escape the Democratic plantation and say they will vote for Trump.[10] Since taking office, Trump has funded historically black universities, raised the median wealth for black families by 33 percent, brought about criminal justice reform, and created “Opportunity Zones” for economic development in low income districts. Also, as the most pro-life modern president, he has sought to discourage abortion in the black community. Trump recently said in a public speech: “Every child is made in the image of God with a sacred right to life. This is our moral duty.”[11] “Biblical Biden” has never said this. Thanks to Roe v. Wade, in the last 47 years 19 million black babies have been aborted. This is the killer. And in the name of freedom, the Biden/Harris team will certainly add to this number. So who is racist?
My pro-life, pro-Biden friends fail to make a convincing case for the biblical character of Biden socialism. Can we bear the effect on our conscience if we facilitate the scandalous practice of infanticide?
A Theological Critique
I know and respect many of the evangelical scholars who have put out this statement. It is hard for me to suggest that these deep-thinking scholars and leaders naively fail theologically. But I do believe they fail to understand the godless ideology that drives Biden’s progressivism. Behind Biden, who is perhaps as naïve as Trump, is not the Bible but the most radical view of American culture that any party has put forth since the inception of the nation. Democratic progressivism is out of control in some of our cities. The debate between Republicans and Democrats is no longer about tweaking our democratic republic in economics or international relations. The Left now proposes a Sanders Socialist Marxism that will leave our borders uncontrolled, replace law and order [defund the police] with mob rule, pass the Equality Act imposing the LGBTQ agenda on everyone, promote “critical race theory,” reject nature and nature’s God, promote transgenderism (even in young children) and pack the Supreme Court with radical lawyers, who will destroy the carefully poised structure of American democracy. This governmental and cultural makeover is funded and promoted by billionaire and anti-American George Soros[12] and the hi-tech monopolies of Silicon Valley, like Twitter and Facebook. Ominously, these monopolies threaten freedom of the press and freedom of opinion, as evidenced by the recent suppression of a newspaper article proving the vast financial corruption of Joe and Hunter Biden.
Where this will go I do not know, but I have little faith in an amoral progressivism that no longer believes that liberty comes from God. In this system, the end justifies the means, and if the end is power then power also becomes the means to achieving power. This election is an attempt at a cultural revolution. If Biden wins, we will be forced to live in a society made up of endless irreconcilable identity groups whose rule depends upon pure power. The power grab will define America’s political past as evil, impose a cancel culture package that will undo the created structures of family and sexuality, protection of the unborn, the practice of Christian religion, everyday fair play based on the Constitution, and free speech. It should be clear that the accusation of systemic racism now coursing through the veins of many of our institutions and corporations, is actually a call for the overthrow of the so-called corrupt American system and the way of life that made America the most civilized nation in human history. Newt Gingrich, speaker of the House from 1995 to 1999 calls this cultural moment the end of civilization as we have known it. Others believe it is an election comparable to that of 1860, when Lincoln fought to hold the states together as a slave-free nation. Evangelicals for Biden, I beg you to reconsider.
Much of the opposition to Trump is to his instinctive, often naïve opposition to the radical program that seeks to describe the nature of America’s past and present as irredeemably evil. Many of us are offended by his populist/crude language, but then, he is, after all, a NY businessman. But we must guard against allowing a dislike of his style to become a form of superficial self-righteousness. Like every past president, Trump is a sinner. So is Biden, whose financial corruption is unfolding daily. We cannot vote based on personal likes or dislikes. We must vote on policies, which are passed into law and remain. Should our dislike of Trump’s superficial idiosyncrasies lead us to vote for a party that vehemently endorses no-limit abortion? Should Trump’s bombastic and somewhat megalomaniacal style cause us to invite into the halls of the White House socialistic progressive policies from which we may never recover?
My evangelical friends for Biden conclude: “For these reasons, we believe that on balance, Joe Biden’s policies are more consistent with the biblically shaped ethic of life than those of Donald Trump.” Will we cheer on a progressive movement that dresses itself in Christian garb, yet builds a self-defined, anti-theistic, anti-Creator politico-religion?
In thinking of the future of our children and grandchildren, we must ask if a political movement that integrates into its system without difficulty the wholesale slaughter of babies can be represented as a “biblically-shaped ethic.” Abortion is not an efficient solution to unwanted pregnancy. This ethic is shaped by the rejection of God the Creator. Whenever and wherever such policies have been systemically employed, those in power quickly rid society of the Bible, biblical Christians, and the Twoist worship of “the Creator who is blessed forever” (Romans 1:25) requiring, rather, that all bow in Oneist worship to nature and to the pagan god, Moloch whose heated bronze body was a furnace for the sacrificing of children.
Friends, is Biden’s worldview worth your evangelical vote?
[This article is adapted from the truthXchange.com website and is used by permission.]
[2] https://www.healthaffairs.org/do/10.1377/hblog20150625.048781/full/
[3] See cornwallalliance.org, and their videos Climate Change and the Christian and Where the Grass Is Greener 2: Helping the Poor Amid Climate Confusion.
[5] https://cornwallalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/2014-Call-to-Truth-full.pdf
[6] https://babylonbee.com/news/pro-life-evangelical-group-endorses-moloch
[8] Peter Jones, Only Five Black Lives Matter? TruthXcahnge.com (July 14, 2020).
[9] https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3894098/posts. In 2018 the influential Kanye West tweeted, “I love the way Candace Owens thinks.”
[10] https://www.vox.com/2020/3/9/21151095/black-women-trump-gop-conservatism-gap-2020
[11] https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-47th-annual-march-life/
[12] www.SorosWatch.com
Peter, you are in serious and grievous error. Your endorsement of Biden calls into question both your spiritual maturity and lack of wisdom.
Encouraging a vote for Biden will be damaging to our country and it is based on grossly inadequate and faulty biblical exegesis and reasoning.
You WILL be held accountable…you will reap what you have sown.
“Pro-Life Evangelicals for Biden” is a group of evangelicals who support Biden for President. Dr. Jones is arguing against their position.
Yes, Michael,
I must blame my union, the National Education Association, and other such “professional” [actually communist] organizations for your lack of ability to comprehend what you read.
Peter is arguing AGAINST any sane person who thinks that Biden’s agenda is more biblical than the Republican agenda.
Seriously? Did you read this piece? I don’t see an endorsement for Biden here, just a thorough analysis of the progressive ideology and why it’s not biblical. He specifically stated that we should not look at the personalities of these men, but at the policies.
These “Evangelicals” are trying to justify their support/votes for Biden thru a phony Pro-life support stance that is clearly political in nature in appeasing those who support them financially and from behind the mic. You can re- define the “pro-life” stance anyway you want. It doesn’t change its original purpose and intent. There is no rocket science here. There are clear lines of distinction between Democrat and Republican, liberal and conservative. Just examine the voting records of both platforms on two (2) issues. Abortion and Israel. On these alone an average person of intellect can distinguish the difference between the two. Democrats in the last 12 years have supported the most liberal laws regarding abortion on demand and in specific states the most liberal on the planet. Democrats also hit an all time low in support for Israel during the Obama administration. The current administration has reversed that trend. You Can’t separate these records from their platforms. A vote for Biden is a pro
Democrat platform and a vote for continued and progressively liberal laws on Abortion and a return to an anti stance on Israel. If that’s your stance say it. Don’t hide behind a made up definition of what pro life represents. Pick up the Bible, King James or NAS – not BillyBob’s version, God is fairly clear on both issues. While you are reading examine the character of Jesus and what that represents on some of the other important issues like marriage, prayer in our schools and in public, law and order, discrimination against Christian viewpoints and the name of “Jesus”, and what’s taught in our public schools. That should give a good foundation by which to vote.
Great article. But PLEASE stop saying America is a democratic republic. We are not. We are a constitutional republic. There is a big difference. The former is rule by man’s whims. The latter is rule by the people’s laws, the US Constitution. (Republic here simply means we vote for people to represent us.) Please learn the difference. Progressives have used the former term to move the populace toward full democracy. Don’t be their tool.
Leftists have stolen the word democracy and have changed its meaning. They want everyone to believe communism is democracy. However, American Republicanism is a form of democracy, and it is the highest form of democracy. American Progressivism, Socialism, and Communism are the lowest forms of totalitarianism, and they use any means necessary to fool the people into believing the opposite. Also, Leftists like to call themselves liberals, even when they could not be further from the many liberals involved in the founding of this country. Unitarianism is in the Christian church today and this is what we are hearing in the form of social justice. A liberal Christian is a Unitarian in Christian garb.