A Letter to My Evangelical Friends about Donald Trump

Dear friends (and please believe me when I say that I do see you as my friends), I am not one of your flock, but I am somebody who respects you and believes that your voice is important to our public discourse. I admire your faith and your passion. It is part of the richness that makes our Republic grand.

But let’s talk about Donald Trump. Yes, you are correct, I didn’t vote for him, and I don’t think he is a very good president. But that’s not what I want to talk about. Like most people who follow the news, I know that many of you did vote for him and do support him — more than just about any other quantifiable demographic in the United States. A lot of people are confused by this, given the fact that he is not the sort of person who would normally appeal to a religious audience.

But I think I understand why you support him — or, at least, why you could not support his opponent. The culture wars of the last 20 or so years have been brutal, and you have taken a lot of hits for your beliefs — beliefs that, not too long ago, were right in the center of the American mainstream and have now become less popular and less accepted. And I will acknowledge that a lot of the abuse you have received has been unfair and, quite frankly, inconsistent with the values of pluralism that many on the left hold. It is understandable that you think…