Dear Editor,

I write in response to Raulston Nembhard’s column ‘White evangelicalism and the Trumpian menace’ published on January 25 in the Jamaica Observer.

What would Christ have said about so-called Christians who, for example, seem to unconditionally support former US President Donald Trump, a superfluously rich man who has never behaved in a manner remotely resembling Christ-like conduct?

I’m talking about Jesus through his teachings and practices — not pragmatism, politics, or conservative/liberal goals. I’m talking about the Saviour who can hardly be imagined rolling his eyes and then saying, “Oh well, I’m against everything the man stands for, but what can you do when you dislike even more some of what his political competition stands for.”

While many Christians have rejected Trump and his politics — though mostly quietly — regardless of his tempting conservative politics and pro-life professions, there nonetheless remains a vocal and politically active Christian element celebrating Trump conservatism.

Yet that blatant contradiction appears to take a muted back seat to Trump’s successful nominations of three conservative justices for the US Supreme Court. And from my understanding, he was strategically doing likewise with a number of lower courts. There also was his politically/diplomatically destabilising (fire-stoking?) move of the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

Though no pushover, Jesus fundamentally was about compassion and charity. His teachings and practices epitomise so much of the primary component of socialism — do not hoard morbidly gratuitous wealth in the midst of poverty. He clearly would not tolerate the accumulation of tens of billions of dollars by individual people, especially while so many others go hungry and homeless.

Interestingly, Canada’s previous leader Stephen Harper was a thinly veiled theocrat, especially unrelenting in his pro-fossil fuel/anti-natural environment war against science.

As prime minister he took a group of 208 people with him to the Holy City, Jerusalem. The entourage included 21 rabbis, along with some representatives from Crossroads Christian Communications, Trinity Bible Church, the Fellowship of Evangelical Baptist Churches in Canada, and Canada’s ambassador for religious freedom.

Frank Sterle

fgsjr2010@hotmail.com