Donald Trump

Supporters for Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump hold signs during a South Carolina Republican primary night event Saturday, Feb. 20, 2016, in Spartanburg, S.C. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

(Paul Sancya)

J. Pepper Bryars grew up in Mobile and is now a writer living in Huntsville. You can reach him at mail@jpepperbryars.com

After an unexpectedly large number of evangelical Christians voted for Donald Trump in last weekend's South Carolina Republican primary, movement conservatives like me are beginning to seriously question the motives of our fellow GOP voters.

We've spent decades waiting for an authentic conservative candidate for the presidency - someone who truly believes in individual liberty, limited government, and the free market, and who will be an uncompromising fighter for those principles.

Many of us believe we finally found those qualities in two young conservative senators: Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida - both children of the Reagan Revolution. Yet some of our friends seem willing to squander this exceedingly rare opportunity by giving their sacred vote to an imposter, a tourist in the conservative movement who has spent his entire life supporting our opponents.

I understand why Trump became a popular candidate - conservative voters like me are done with being manipulated and betrayed by the Republican Party establishment, and his unfiltered and unapologetic message was initially music to our ears. But what I fail to grasp is why, after we've had plenty of time to examine Trump's liberal record and even his current big-government proposals, some of us continue to support him and ignore the once-in-a-generation candidacies of Cruz and Rubio.

So, in an attempt to shake awake those who are voting for Trump, I offer the following 10 questions:

Do you believe in individual liberty, and think that private property ought never to be seized by the government and given to other citizens for their personal use? Do you believe in limited government, and think that Obamacare is based on an unconstitutional notion that people can be forced to purchase something, and therefore the entire law should be repealed? Do you believe in the free market, and think that it's unethical to contribute to politicians so they'll "do whatever the hell you want them to do" in favor of your business? Do you believe in traditional family values, and think that it's immoral to rent your property to strip clubs, thereby making money from the sexual exploitation of vulnerable young women? Do you believe that those who say Planned Parenthood does "wonderful things" are advancing a shameful lie that's used to conceal the fact that it's our nation's largest killer of unborn babies? Do you believe that someone who once said that a radical pro-abortion judge would make a great Supreme Court justice cannot now be trusted to nominate a replacement for Justice Antonin Scalia? Do you believe that the government lacks the authority to ban your preferred firearm simply because it might "look" dangerous to some bureaucrat? Do you believe that someone who funded the campaign committees overseen by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, and who gave a small fortune to Bill and Hillary Clinton, unquestionably holds liberal views? Do you believe that America should firmly stand with Israel in its ongoing struggle against Islamic terrorism?

Trump's record shows he could answer "no" to each of those questions. So if you answered "yes" to all or even most - and still plan on voting for Trump - then I have one final question:

10. Are your principles for sale, or are they just for rent?

It's been written that the sting in any rebuke is the truth, so I sincerely hope that question stung like a bucket of bees.

The truth is this: Trump isn't one of us. If elected, he won't fight for the pro-life cause. He'll ignore it, eventually saying it's a distracting social issue. He won't stand-up for individual liberty, much less religious liberty, because it's never mattered to him. Trump won't shrink the size and scope of government authority, because he's hungry for even more executive power than is being currently abused.

Israel will be abandoned, and he won't build that wall.

Instead, Trump will make deal after deal with the establishment, compromising our values - they're ours, not his, by the way. And when we complain and remind Trump of all his lofty campaign promises, he'll throw that tell-it-like-it-is attitude right back at us.

"Stupid conservatives," Trump will say.

And he'll be right.