2020

Theologian John Piper’s

Case Against Trump Is
Intellectually And Morally
Bankrupt
Piper's argument boils down to this: It’s crazy for Christians to think Trump's
sins are less serious than Biden's policies. Here's why he's wrong.

John Piper, in an article last week exploring “Paths to Ruin” in the 2020
election, didn’t so much tell Christians who to vote for as much as he
projected guilt and shame onto those who support Donald Trump for
president. Piper is “baffled” that Christians could think one candidate’s
immoral character is less deadly than another candidate’s pro-abortion
policies.

The famed pastor and theologian’s purported purpose in writing the article
was “to point to a perspective that seems to be neglected.” His musings,
however, are far from a “neglected” perspective. They fill every column of
NeverTrumper David French and litter the smooth rhetoric of Democratic
Mayor Pete Buttigieg — and they merit a response, especially coming from
such an influential evangelical figure.

Piper’s article was not explicitly about Trump and Joe Biden. In a tweet, he
later declared he would not be casting his vote for either of the two men.
Still, the implications of his writing weren’t ambiguous. He set up a clear
dichotomy: One candidate displays the character traits of pride, vulgarity,
and sexual immorality, and the other candidate supports the policies of
abortion, LGBT, and socialism. I wonder who he could be talking about.

Piper later removes all doubt he’s contrasting Trump and Biden when he
brings up the appointment of judges, one of Trump’s most notable
accomplishments, and when he refers to the societal “infection” of the “last
five years,” which is when Trump entered the political arena.

I’m “baffled,” Piper said, “that so many Christians consider the sins of
unrepentant sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness
(alazoneia), unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), unrepentant factiousness
(dichostasiai), and the like, to be only toxic for our nation, while policies that
endorse baby-killing, sex-switching, freedom-limiting, and socialistic
overreach are viewed as deadly.”

His argument boils down to this: It’s crazy for Christians to think Trump’s
sins are less serious than Biden’s policies.

Piper Compares Apples and Oranges

Piper’s framing is at best problematic and at worst intellectually dishonest,
for he doesn’t make an appropriate comparison. Piper doesn’t juxtapose
Trump’s character with Biden’s character or Trump’s policies with Biden’s
policies. Instead, he compares Trump’s immoral character with Biden’s
immoral policies.

It’s here that he finds himself “baffled” that Christians don’t take Trump’s
character seriously. Many Christians, however, refuse to equate these two
unequal realms. Character should be weighed against character, and policy
against policy. Piper’s value judgment comes at the disposal of Trump’s
policy victories, many of which are advantageous to those pursuing
godliness, and at the oversight of Biden’s demonstrably depraved character.

Perhaps Piper compares Trump’s character with Biden’s policies because his
analysis is based on typical media characterizations rather than the men’s
actual merits. In Piper’s article, Trump’s character is a caricature, and
Biden’s character isn’t covered at all — on par with the mainstream
portrayal. Although Piper insists it’s OK to disagree with him and concludes
he will vote for neither candidate, his entire piece maintains the same
flavor: condemnation for Trump and implicit commendation for Biden.

Everything Comes Back to Trump’s Sins

In one section, Piper signals he is about to cover the left’s errors when he
asks, “Where does the wickedness of defending child-killing come from?”

Just as fast as he pivots to Biden’s pro-death policies, he returns again to

Trump’s character. This “wickedness,” Piper says, “comes from hearts that
are insubordinate to God. In other words, it comes from the very character
that so many Christian leaders are treating as comparatively innocuous,
because they think Roe and SCOTUS and Planned Parenthood are more
pivotal, more decisive, battlegrounds.”

This is interesting. It reveals that Piper does, in fact, see a connection

between character and policy. Instead of exploring the depths of Biden’s
character unto death here, however, Piper immediately uses this as another
opportunity to dunk on Christian Trump supporters for valuing pro-life
policies too highly.

“I think Roe is an evil decision. I think Planned Parenthood is a code name

for baby-killing and (historically at least) ethnic cleansing. And I think it is
baffling and presumptuous to assume that pro-abortion policies kill more
people than a culture-saturating, pro-self pride,” Piper says. “When a leader
models self-absorbed, self-exalting boastfulness, he models the most deadly
behavior in the world. He points his nation to destruction. Destruction of
more kinds than we can imagine.”

Notice once again that Piper isn’t using the discussion about Biden’s policy
as a doorway to talking about the sinful hearts that led to those policies.
Instead, he repeatedly juxtaposes the Biden, pro-abortion crowd with the
evil character of the other side: Over here is Biden supporting baby-killing.
And over here is Trump being self-absorbed and boastful. And Christians are
nuts if they think the intentional killing of babies in the womb is more lethal
than a single narcissist. It’s absurd.

If Piper Wants to Talk About Character, Consider Biden’s

Equally absurd, however, is that Piper overlooks or denies that the “pro-self
pride” of which he speaks is manifested just as strongly in the party that
champions pro-abortion policies. This is true based on what Piper himself
acknowledges: Pro-death policies come from hearts that are insubordinate
to God. Biden’s pro-death policies don’t appear ex nihilo. They are the
natural byproduct of his abysmal character and wicked heart.

The Christian voter’s choice, then, is not between one man of bad character,
Trump, and another of bad policy, Biden. It is a choice between a man with
poor character and another man with both poor character and deadly
policies.
Consider the sins Piper highlights as being biblically deadly: “unrepentant
sexual immorality (porneia), unrepentant boastfulness (alazoneia),
unrepentant vulgarity (aischrologia), unrepentant factiousness
(dichostasiai).” Now, Trump, a presumably unregenerate man, does display
these qualities, among admirable traits. But is Biden above them?

We’re talking about a man who was also accused of sexual assault (porneia),
who has spent an entire campaign boasting about his political
accomplishments of the last 47 years (alazoneia), who told a voter he was
“full of sh-t” and insulted others (aischrologia), and who repeatedly divides
people into factions, specifically stoking racial strife (dichostasiai). This is
just from the list Piper provided, and is to say nothing of Biden’s character as
it relates to habitual lying, exploiting his positions of influence for personal
gain, undermining God’s design for marriage and families, attacking people
of faith, and instilling fear to obtain power, just to name a few of the many
more obvious strikes against Biden’s character. For an example of “bad
company [that] corrupts good character,” look no further than the woman
he chose as his running mate.

It is conceivable that a Christian could say that she could not in good
conscience vote for Trump because of his character. But what is truly
baffling, to use Piper’s word, is that a Christian could, with intellectual
honesty, say that Biden’s character is better.

Are Conservative Values ‘Baffling’?

In a final blow to the religious right, Piper trivializes their deeply held
convictions to two simple catch-phrases: “freedom and life.” He writes:

Freedom and life are precious. We all want to live and be free to pursue
happiness. But if our freedoms, and even our lives, are threatened or taken, the
essence of our identity in Christ, the certainty of our everlasting joy with Christ,
and the holiness and love for which we have been saved by Christ — none of
these is lost with the loss of life and freedom.
Therefore, Christians communicate a falsehood to unbelievers (who are also
baffled!) when we act as if policies and laws that protect life and freedom are
more precious than being a certain kind of person. The church is paying dearly,
and will continue to pay, for our communicating this falsehood year after year.
Is it not baffling, then, that so many Christians seem to be sure that they are
saving human lives and freedoms by treating as minimal the destructive effects
 of the spreading gangrene of high-profile, high-handed, culture-shaping sin?

It is only “baffling” if one first reduces conservatives to pro-life freedom-

lovers and then decides human life and freedom are dispensable. Freedom
and life, however, are not abstract, and they are not simply a means to
accomplish earthly goals or gain temporal wealth. Freedom and life are part
of our Imago Dei. They are gifts from God that we are to steward, and we use
them in myriad ways to advance God’s kingdom.

So is it “baffling” that a Christian would think God-given sex distinctions are

important? Is it baffling that a believer would want to protect his family
against the racially charged attacks of a violent mob? Is it baffling that a
Christian would desire that his children learn truth, rather than
government-sanctioned doctrine — not walking in the counsel of the
ungodly? It is baffling that a Christian would desire for men to keep the
hard-earned fruits of their labor, giving charitably to the poor and needy? Is
it baffling that a believer would value the biblical family structure over the
state? Of course, it’s not.

Furthermore, if Piper believes this immoral gangrene that spreads

throughout our country is a result of one unregenerate man instead of the
result of the wickedness in the hearts of every sinful citizen, he is a fool.

Vote with a Clear Conscience

Piper leaves us with an important question, one that all Christian Americans
should ask regardless of who is in office and whether it is an election
year: “Have you inadvertently created the mindset that the greatest issue in
life is saving America and its earthly benefits?”

Eternity is more important than Election Day, but it is wrong to assume that
Christians who would maintain a zeal for the preservation of the freest
country on Earth would do so at the expense of eternal joys. It is likewise
wrong to assume that the two cannot go hand in hand, for to save America
and her benefits is to perpetuate a cultural climate in which the gospel can
go forth freely, family structures are prized, children learn truth, and life is
valued.
It should baffle no one that I will be casting my vote for Donald Trump on
Nov. 3, and my conscience is clear.

Kylee Zempel is an assistant editor at The Federalist. Follow her on

Twitter @kyleezempel.
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