Editorial
Dealing with Trump
A Comfort Zone for Christians Remains Elusive by James Hitchcock
At the conclusion of my book, Abortion, Religious Freedom, and Catholic Politics, written in the spring of 2016, I finally saw that Donald Trump was likely to win the Republican nomination for president. But I also predicted that he would be defeated by Hillary Clinton, the Republicans might lose control of the Senate, and the Democrats would therefore be able to cement in place a pro-abortion judiciary that would last for decades.
On the other hand, I said, in the unlikely event that Trump should defeat Clinton, he appeared to lack both the knowledge and the will to address pro-life concerns, thereby bringing to a tragic end the courageous pro-life battle that had been waged for over four decades.
By the summer of 2017 the Trump presidency had proven to be as troubled, even chaotic, as the most negative prophets could have foreseen, with one significant exception. The appointment of Neil Gorsuch to the Supreme Court went far towards restoring a responsible constitutionalism. Subsequently the Republican-controlled Senate has been steadily confirming various lower-court federal judges.
Before 2016 Trump himself had never shown interest in pro-life issues and even gave signals that he was on the wrong side. But in a paradoxical way this might have had good effect—possibly because he was uninterested in the subject but recognized its political importance, he seems to have simply relied on the recommendations of groups like the Federalist Society. Not being an "establishment Republican," he also did not reach for "moderate" nominees like John Paul Stevens, Harry Blackmun, and Anthony Kennedy.
Even more paradoxically, although Trump is perhaps the least devout president within memory, early in his administration he began rescinding various measures, enacted by his predecessor, that were in effect anti-religious, such as requiring religious institutions to provide their employees with insurance that includes coverage for contraceptives.
Religious conservatives' support of the Republican Party is motivated not by faith in the free market or aversion to higher taxes but by a realistic understanding of the ways in which the centralized welfare state, in which most Democrats have an unshakable faith, steadily undermines both religion and the family.
The Affordable Care Act, which Republicans almost to a man want to rescind or drastically amend, is bewilderingly opaque. But one thing is certain—it would give the federal government control of health care to a degree that would leave religious institutions with little room to maneuver without betraying their faith.
Liberalism in general, and the Democratic Party in particular, has made an unreserved act of faith in the enlightened state, to which vital churches are seen as a rival authority. Religion is regarded as a malign influence that must be curtailed, as in Senator Dianne Feinstein's recent attack on the personal faith of a Catholic nominee for a judgeship. In 2012 the mention of God at the party convention was jeered by many of the delegates.
Serious religious believers cannot support a party and a movement that, if it consolidates its power, will move steadily to exclude believers from meaningful participation in public life. But that does not imply an obligation to support the Republicans. Not voting is a legitimate alternative, if the innumerable failings of President Trump and his party strain the conscience.
But believers must recognize that they are indeed between a rock and a hard place, and there is no satisfactory escape.
James Hitchcock is Professor emeritus of History at St. Louis University in St. Louis. He and his late wife Helen have four daughters. His most recent book is the two-volume work, The Supreme Court and Religion in American Life (Princeton University Press, 2004). He is a senior editor of Touchstone.
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