{"id":13309,"date":"2019-11-25T13:37:42","date_gmt":"2019-11-25T18:37:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=13309"},"modified":"2020-09-17T11:35:53","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T15:35:53","slug":"trumps-values-not-christian-values-care","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2019\/11\/trumps-values-not-christian-values-care","title":{"rendered":"Trump\u2019s Values Are Not Christian Values, But Do We Care?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Christopher<\/a>
Christopher Halloran\/Shutterstock.com<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By Kenneth Foard McCallion<\/p>\n

Impeachment has often been described as a political process. But the current impeachment inquiry unfolding in Congress is also, in a fundamental sense, a moral and ethical challenge for all Americans. Before we can take a position as to whether a sitting president should be impeached and removed from office, we first must answer the question of what common core values we share as Americans, and what common ideals and principles we have that we are willing to fight and, if necessary, die for. Only when we know the answer to these questions can we decide whether President Trump has so violated his oath of office and the bedrock values and principles upon which this great country was founded that he should be removed from office before the 2020 election.<\/p>\n

In the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution, the Framers set forth the core values upon which this nation was based. It reflected the universal longing for liberty, justice and opportunity, and the demand for human rights and dignity that springs naturally from the hearts of all men and women of goodwill. Our nation\u2019s traditional motto emblazoned on the Great Seal of the United States since 1782 \u2013 E Pluribus Unum (\u201cout of many, one\u201d) \u2013 reflects our commitment to stand united in the cause of liberty and justice. Similarly, the words \u201cIn God We Trust\u201d are etched on U.S. currency to remind us that the moral and ethical values permeating our country\u2019s democratic institutions spring from the deep faith of the many Christian religious sects who came to these shores to seek safe haven from the persecution and religious intolerance to which they were exposed in their native European lands.<\/p>\n

Yet despite the close linkage between Christian values and U.S. democratic values, many prominent Christian leaders in this country who promote Christian values at Christian Values Conferences and Values Voter Summits are silent when confronted with the daily stream of lies, bigotry and decidedly un-Christian and un-charitable vitriol spewing from the White House.<\/p>\n

The seven Christian virtues have been noticeably absent under the current president\u2019s watch, particularly the virtues of temperance, charity, diligence, patience, kindness and humility, and the seven deadly sins \u2013 particularly wrath, greed, sloth, pride, lust and envy \u2013 have dominated the daily agenda at the White House. Yet the leadership of the Christian evangelical movement, the so-called \u201cChristian right,\u201d and most of the mainstream Christian churches have declined to speak out against this president even after Charlottesville and subsequent incidents of un-presidential and un-Christian hate mongering and demagoguery.<\/p>\n

Every American president, with the possible exception of the current one, has at least given lip-service to our shared American ideals and values. They also gave allegiance to the U.S. Constitution itself, even in the most frustrating and trying of times, including the basic constitutional provisions relating to the separation of powers among the three branches of government, the rule of law, an independent judiciary, freedom of the press (never before attacked by a sitting president as \u201cthe enemy of the people\u201d), and the impeachment process.<\/p>\n

Donald Trump and his enablers in Congress have, for the first time in American history, called into question the legitimacy of constitutionally-authorized impeachment proceedings in the House of Representatives by referring to it as an \u201cattempted coup\u201d or \u201ca sham.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Founders felt it necessary that the Constitution they drafted contain an impeachment clause, since there was a strong sense that Congress must have the ability to oust a sitting president if he \u00a0might, in the words of Gouverneur Morris of New York, \u201cbetray his trust to foreign powers.\u201d As a result, treason \u2013 defined as the giving of \u201caid and comfort\u201d to an enemy of the United States \u2013 is the first of three bases in the Constitution for impeachment.<\/p>\n

Which brings us to Ukraine. Official U.S. policy is \u201ccentered on supporting Ukraine in the face of continued Russian aggression, as it advances reforms to strengthen democratic institutions, fight corruption, and promote conditions for economic growth and competition.\u201d Which is why Congress appropriated about $400 million in desperately needed military aid, to help Ukraine defend itself against further Russian annexation.<\/p>\n

But in Trump\u2019s mind, Russia and Vladimir Putin are his friends, and the enemy of his friend is his enemy. U.S. policy be damned. If Ukraine wanted to receive American military aid, or if the Ukrainian President wanted to meet with Trump at the White House, it would have to help Trump\u2019s re-election campaign by announcing a renewed investigation of Joe Biden and an investigation into rumors that it was Ukraine, not Russia, that interfered in the 2016 U.S. election. Trump was using the power of the presidency for personal political gain while at the same time providing \u201caid and comfort\u201d to an arch-enemy of the U.S., i.e., committing treason.<\/p>\n

The impeachment proceedings pose fundamental questions. What values are we and our elected representatives willing to fight for? At what point do we decide that enough is enough such that the extraordinary constitutional remedy of impeachment must be invoked? If the president fails to uphold the same American values that every other president before him has at least tried to do, and if the president fails \u201cto defend the Constitution and the laws of the United States from all enemies, foreign and domestic, and bear true faith and allegiance to the same,\u201d then he should be impeached and removed from office as expeditiously as possible. It is time for my fellow American Christians to speak out in defense of the core values and beliefs that are being rapidly eroded.<\/p>\n

____________________________________________________________
\nKenneth F. McCallion is a former federal prosecutor, attorney, and author of \u201cTreason & Betrayal: The Rise and Fall of Individual-1.\u201d He and his family are active members of Christ Church in Greenwich, Connecticut.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Kenneth Foard McCallion Impeachment has often been described as a political process. But the current impeachment inquiry unfolding in Congress is also, in a fundamental sense, a moral and ethical challenge for all Americans. 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