Conservative Christians continue to try to convince themselves to mount a full-throated support of Donald Trump against the ‘unholy’ prospects of Hillary Clinton and liberalism winning another four years in the White House. Look no further than

Father Frank Pavone’s disturbing remarks

in the aftermath of Trump’s scandalous sexual assault remarks.

 

In responding to the question of how Christians should respond to Trump’s claim that he forces himself on women he has just met (claims which have been corroborated by a multitude of sources), Father Pavone tells the faithful not to fear– Trump’s comments should “not affect pro-life voters at all.”

It should come as little surprise that a member of an institution that is STILL sweeping sexual assaults committed by their clergy under the rug would take such a cavalier attitude towards Trump’s grotesque behavior. Who cares if children or adults are raped by powerful men? There are unwinnable battles to fight over the sort of healthcare the state legally allows to be fought!

Pavone (I have trouble using his title– this man has no honor and should be speaking for no god) goes on to explain that Trump’s misogyny and SEXUAL ASSAULT pale in comparison to the sins of voting against him. He warns that a vote against the Donald is a vote in favor of an army of cabinet members, political appointees, and justices who would tear babies apart limb by limb.

To recap: Abortion is bad. Rape is not only forgivable, it basically is no big deal at all.

In case you were not convinced, and who but the single-issue “pro-life” radical would be, Pavone has a few other explanations for you.

Voting for someone isn’t a score on a personal virtue test; it is a transfer of power in order to qualify someone to do a job, which includes signing bills into law and nominating judges. The ability to do that does not diminish because of sins committed in the past.

It doesn’t matter if the man you transfer power to is a rapist who incites violence against minorities and wants to persecute, at home and abroad, a religious group as long as he promises that he will sign bills banning abortion and appoint justices who would uphold the constitutionality of those bills.

Either we have a religious test for office or we don’t. A religious test doesn’t only mean that the candidate does not have to adhere to any particular confessional creed; it also means that the candidate does not have to have lived up to one.

We do not have a religious test for office. No one is suggesting we do. What non-conservative Christians (religious and secular alike) are suggesting is that if you claim to vote based on your religious beliefs (you do) then your candidate and platform should probably reflect that. No one is suggesting the candidate need be Christ-like. But you are supporting one who lines up opposite your savior on nearly every issue. You have to own that.

What an incredible reparation Mr. Trump is making now for any past faults by the very fact that he is running as the Republican nominee for president and is ready to nominate the right kind of judges and sign the right kinds of legislation, which will steer our nation away from so many morally corrupt public policies. A penitent sinner could hardly have a more substantial opportunity to make reparation.

Running for office as a Republican and putting up a list of pro-life judges washes away your sins? Which morally corrupt public policy is Trump’s willy-nilly deportation of suspected immigrants steering us away from? (Too bad Donald wasn’t around to make sure we got rid of all the papist back in the early 20th century, eh ‘Father’?) How does abandoning refugees in their time of need because we are a nation of feckless cowards stack up on your morality test? Stripping millions of the poorest Americans of health insurance steers us to a more moral future? Oh, you just meant abortion. Carry on.

Repentance for the past is Mr. Trump’s current stance (as that of so many Americans!); continuing in a morally corrupt policy posture is the current stance of the Democrats.

Not once in Donald Trump’s campaign, or his life it seems, has the candidate actually shown repentance. Not when he mocked a disabled reporter. Not when he instructed his followers to attack protesters. Not when he suggested Megyn Kelly didn’t like him because she was on her period. Not when he called a woman fat and suggested we all watch her sex tape. Not when he got caught saying he sexually assaults women. Never.

 

You juxtapose this with the notion that all current policies of the Democratic party are immoral. Because what could be more immoral than securing women’s rights to be treated fairly in the workplace and public. Or fighting for equal rights for blacks. Or trying to reduce gun violence. You don’t say what you disagree with, but I already know what it is: abortion and LGBTQ rights. I get it– these positions run counter to the church’s stance. We are not a theocracy. If you want to live in a papal state, I suggest you move to Vatican City.

It takes a great deal of moral courage, actually, to take the step Mr. Trump is taking by running for public office. He knows his past and knows what will be brought up about it. Yet he is willing to move forward both personally and professionally for the good of the country. The Lord is the one who says, ‘Your sins I will remember no more.’ The one who is known as the ‘accuser’ is the devil.

Not only should you not be disgusted by Donald Trump, you should view him as having a great deal of moral courage? He didn’t run this campaign knowing the smut of his past (and present) would be aired for the world to know. Nor did he at any point move forward– that would require admitting things happened, showing that he was contrite, and taking real steps to fix the problems. He has never done any of that.

Where was that line about the Lord and the accuser just a few sentences ago when you declared Hillary Clinton and the hordes of Democrats who would fill our government to be immoral and corrupt?

It is particularly hypocritical for the other side, whose policies and worldview (like that of Planned Parenthood) destroy and distort any meaning that human sexuality has, to be concerned about sexual behavior and comments. Sins of the past are one thing; embracing a bankrupt view of sexuality today, and in public policy, is worse.

The coup de grâce for what little respect one might have had for Frank Pavone’s intellectual integrity. If you support the right for abortion to exists, as it is currently protected by the United States Constitution, you forfeit the right to complain about rape? If you think that gays are entitled to the same rights outlined in the Constitution that straight people are you have no right to set standards on what consent means?

Donald Trump’s sins are not about his past. They are about his present. He is as he was– a greedy, lying, self-centered, narcissistic, racist, sexual predator. If you think it is morally just to elect a man with his traits and his hideous policies (which would physically harm millions of men, women, and children in this country and around the world) because he “promised” to get rid of abortion and gays, so be it. I’d remind you that all those governors, state legislators, Congressmen, and President’s you elected earlier to do this found it tough sledding, given more than half of the nation does not agree with you. Keep on trying to build that Christian utopia your little heart desires!

But you don’t get to preen about pretending you stand on some sort of moral high-ground. You have to own up to what you are saying, which is that these two issues (and the horrifying consequences of what they entail) mean more to you than the lives of women, blacks, Muslims, and Latinos. Your coalition of angry, white, conservative Christians is running out of time. Don’t worry– we’ll throw it a nice mass when it passes on.