Just like many around this land we Americans call our home, I am slowly waking up out of my “Donald Trump Slumber.”

The last 8 months or so I have heard conservative, moderate, and progressive Christian leaders, that I look up to, publicly condemning Trump’s behavior and presidential plans, but I believed Trump was sort of a joke and would be out of the race in no time.

I guess I underestimated Donald Trump, and I never dreamed that evangelical Christians (my posse) would actually vote for him.

Like many, I have started to scratch my head and search my soul for answers. What is happening to this country? Is evangelicalism falling? Is America falling? Are they both falling? Is it time for me to walk away from the term “evangelical” altogether? Do evangelicals even know Jesus Christ and His teachings anymore, or do they simply not care?

Yes, I get it, pickings are slim and many conservatives deeply fear having Hillary Clinton as our next president. I know because I am sort of one of them. In my opinion, Hillary embodies dishonesty and a “far” left agenda that I don’t typically agree with, but at least she is a serious candidate. At least, she seems to have a grasp on policy and presidential composure.

And while there is no doubt in my mind that Hillary may sometimes struggle to listen to advisers (as most strong personalities do), at least she does not personally attack everyone who disagrees with her.

Possibly the scariest attribute of Donald Trump is his inability to take any criticism.

Good leaders must be able to engage with those who don’t see things their way and consider what they are saying. I imagine that the President of the United States must have thick skin and not be ruled by his or her emotions.

Donald Trump has even been criticized by Pope Francis, a pope who is respected among many evangelicals as truly Christlike and relatable.

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian,” Francis said when a reporter asked him about Mr. Trump on the papal airliner as he returned to Rome after his six-day visit to Mexico (Source).

If the pope was publicly questioning my salvation, I think I would at least stop and listen to what the man has to say.

No, not Donald Trump. He responds by attacking, demonstrating no humility and grace whatsoever (See Video).

As Christians, we are called to model our lives after Christ.

If we don’t model our lives after Christ, then we should not be curious when people question our faith. It is troublesome how much American politics and Christianity go hand in hand. It’s like we cannot even see a difference between the two anymore.

Further, we evangelical Christians generally believe the Bible to play a primary role in every believer’s life. It is highly questionable if Donald Trump can even quote one Bible verse. In an interview, Trump was asked his favorite Bible verse and he dodged the question by stating that the question was too personal for him to directly answer (Source).

Yet, “Trump has become unexpectedly popular with evangelical voters even though he has been married three times, does not regularly attend church, once posed on the cover of Playboy and recently described Holy Communion as “the little cracker” (Source).”

Are we Christians first, or are we Americans first?

I stand with the pope on this one; I don’t believe Donald Trump does know Jesus Christ as his personal Lord and Savior.

Jesus said, “By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another (John 13:35).”

Just because Donald Trump says he is a Christian, this does not make him a Christian. Let’s take a look at the fruits that come out of a Christian’s life:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).

Now, if you were a fly on my wall, you would find that I don’t always “walk in the spirit” of these Christian attributes, but I certainly try to! We should never expect Christians to be perfect, as we are all human, but if one is claiming Christ, should they not replicate Christ even half of the time?

The “fruits of Donald Trump” are the opposite of the fruits of the Spirit of Christ.

Trump’s statements are often described as hateful, fearful, racist, arrogant, inconsistent, immature, untrue, and sexist. Never do we hear anyone (even those who are supporting Trump) say that Donald is loving, joyful, peaceful, long-suffering, kind, good, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled.

Instead, supporters often make humanistic comments about him such as, “He says it how it is,” and “He’s made a fortune.” Even if both of these things were true (which many doubt), they are far from the most basic of Christian thought and life practices.

As Christians, we can’t just go around saying whatever we want to say, and financial wealth is not our goal.

There is certainly nothing wrong with financial wealth, but if we love it more than we love Christ and people, then we certainly have made money an idol.

Jesus said, “You can’t worship two gods at once. Loving one god, you’ll end up hating the other. Adoration of one feeds contempt for the other. You can’t worship God and Money both (Matthew 6:24).”

Lastly:

If you follow this blog, I imagine you care at least a little about women being respected as equals and not objectified by men in power. Donald Trump has made outrageous comments to and about both “conservative” and “liberal” women during his presidential campaign.

Trump has called women he doesn’t like ugly, fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals. He also made a comment that insinuated Megyn Kelly was “angry” because she had “blood coming out of her wherever.”

To make matter’s worse, Trump has literally objectified his own daughter in the past, carelessly commenting on how she has a nice figure and he would date her if she wasn’t his kid.

It genuinely doesn’t make sense for a Christian woman to vote for Donald Trump and, in reality, it doesn’t make sense for any active follower of Christ to vote for Trump.

I hear what some of you are thinking: It makes no sense for Christians to vote for Hillary Clinton either!

I understand the reluctance; I really do. I am “pro-life” because I believe women deserve better than abortion. However, I don’t think Donald Trump really cares all that much about unborn babies.

The truth is that Donald Trump has claimed to be both “pro-choice” and “pro-life (Source).” Common sense tells us that Trump has not been passionate enough about this issue to take a hard stance either way.

Trump is an opportunist, not an advocate for life.

If current stats indicate the future, we will have to choose between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton. Sure, one could vote for someone else or not vote at all, I guess, but the reality is that one of these two candidates will probably be our next president.

Let’s face it, both are probably not Christians and neither have a real plan or passion to advocate for unborn babies.

I don’t recall times being tough under Bill Clinton. I do recall Bill Clinton being a womanizer, but Hillary cannot be held responsible for her cheating husband. I do wonder how Hillary has treated Bill’s victims, but a lot of the speculation out there seems to be just that – speculation.

As an evangelical Christian feminist (who has never voted for a democrat), I will take my chances on Hillary if the vote comes down to her or Trump. In my view, at least Hillary will move girls & women forward. If Trump wins, I truly believe female progress will take a major hit.

Though I don’t agree with some of the ways Clinton moves girls & women forward, I have no doubt that she does have a plan and a passion for girls & women to be given equal rights, equal respect, and equal opportunities.