Why many Christians support Trump

The head cleric of the Church of England says he still doesn’t understand why Christians support President Donald Trump.

Now under normal circumstances, this off-handed comment by a religious leader in a foreign country would go virtually unnoticed.

But the British and American people have a special bond unlike any other nation. And as head of the Church, Justin Welby, Archbishop of Canterbury, has a true bully pulpit to share his thoughts.

The Rev. Welby is joined in his concern for Trump by none other than Pope Francis.

I won’t pretend to speak for all Christians when it comes to supporting the President, but let me give it a shot.

Most Christians hold fairly simple views on the role of government in our lives.

We believe in charity for the less fortunate, we believe in personal responsibility, and we believe in treating others as we would want to be treated.

We believe it is not the role of government to pick winners and losers in society.

We believe in the hope our children’s lives will be better than our own.

We believe any nation has the right to defend herself against those who seek it harm.

We believe in the respect of authority and the laws that govern society.

We firmly believe in fairness and justice. And we are willing to lay down our lives to protect those we love.

And right now — in this interesting and critical juncture in American history — we believe our elected president has the right policies to enact those ideals on which we stand.

I’m all but certain the Archbishop of Canterbury shares those very same views.

And as much as he cannot understand why Christians would back this president, I am equally puzzled why this church leader holds such disdain for the will and wishes of the American public.

Christians everywhere hold all sorts of beliefs. To Christians, those beliefs stem from the Bible and are implemented in a changing world with new challenges each and every day.

I had an interesting conversation with a liberal Christian friend this past week. I told my friend I have adopted a new approach of listening more and speaking less.

But I cautioned that listening does not automatically equate to agreement.

In keeping with that new approach, I listened to the archbishop, but I can’t agree.

I would suspect this learned man of God holds almost identical views as most American Christians.

Perhaps if Rev. Welby had lived under the controlling central government regime of our former president, he would better understand why voters here opted for a new direction.

Michael Jensen is the publisher of the Standard Democrat in Sikeston, Missouri.