Do Your Ears Itch? - Intentional Conservative

The above title refers to II Timothy 4:3: “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” I was raised in churches where the old King James Version was used, and that translation says, “after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.” So I always had this idea that it was the teachers who had the itching ears. But no–it’s the listeners. They want to hear whatever scratches their itch, as we might still say today. I love the way The Message translates verses 3-5:

You’re going to find that there will be times when people will have no stomach for solid teaching, but will fill up on spiritual junk food—catchy opinions that tickle their fancy. They’ll turn their backs on truth and chase mirages. But you—keep your eye on what you’re doing; accept the hard times along with the good; keep the Message alive; do a thorough job as God’s servant.

What on earth does all this have to do with politics? If you’ve read much at all in this blog you probably have a pretty good idea: that far too many conservative Christians have thrown their support behind Donald Trump because he tells them what they want to hear, or, to put it more clearly and more bluntly, he tells them what they choose to interpret as what they want to hear. Now, to be fair, there may indeed be conservatives and/or Christians out there who, after a thoughtful examination of the two candidates, have decided that a Trump presidency would be better for the country than a Clinton one. I have no problem with that decision (and who’s asking me, anyway?) as long as it’s arrived at honestly. The problem is that we (and this would include all human beings, so I’m not beating up on conservatives) hear what we want to hear. This tendency is called confirmation bias: that we pay more attention to ideas that reinforce what we already think and believe. And especially in this election, when the alternative to the Republican nominee is someone whose platform is so repugnant to conservative Christians, it’s tempting to just get on that train and ride it. The problem with that attitude is that the train is heading for a cliff. I can’t recommend highly enough this article from The Federalist, written in July: “The Moral Collapse of the Republican Party” by Paul David Miller, which makes the case I’ve been pounding on for months, namely:

If Trump loses—which he probably will—the Republican Party will lose with him, and it will deserve its loss. The down-ticket damage will be all of Trump’s doing, with the party’s open complicity, and much of the gains at the state and local level in recent years will be undone.

It is worse if Trump wins (and I think he has a higher chance of winning than most polls say): a Trump victory vindicates Trumpism—already dangerously on the rise—and permanently transforms the Republican Party into the party of white grievance, nativism, and belligerent nationalism. America will no longer have a party of limited government and classical liberalism. Losing the presidency but recovering a party dedicated to the ideals of ordered liberty is far preferable.

Preach it, brother!

Nowhere is this itching ears syndrome more evident than in the rush by evangelicals to endorse Trump because of his supposed Christianity. I am appalled and embarrassed that men whom I respect, such as James Dobson, would assert, on the flimsiest of evidence, that Trump has accepted Christ as his Savior. Of course we as Christians want every soul to be saved. Of course it would be great if Donald Trump (or Hillary Clinton, for that matter) were to come to faith. That’s totally not the issue. What is the issue is that Dobson is willing to write this letter on his website in which he basically admits that he really has no clue as to whether or not Trump is a Christian, but that Hillary scares him to death, so he’s supporting Trump. But it is far scarier to put your trust in someone who will change his message at any time if he thinks that will get him attention and votes. You have no way to fight someone like that. Last week’s immigration imbroglio is only one such example of Trump’s utter unreliability. And, in describing Trump’s answer to his question about how the candidate would support and enhance religious liberty if elected, Dobson says, “Donald Trump was very sympathetic to the concerns I expressed, although I can’t remember his precise words.” What? You can read the full article here. (I will re-direct you to another excellent article on The Federalist, one that I posted back at the beginning of this blog: “5 Most Sickening Parts of Trump’s Meeting with Evangelical Leaders” and a followup post, “It Doesn’t Matter If Trump Is a Christian.” Both of these articles were written by a young woman named Rebecca Cusey, who is clearly a Christian and knows exactly what she’s talking about.)

Well, that’s enough for one day. Tomorrow I want to address the astonishing, astounding op-ed written by Jerry Falwell, Jr., and published earlier this month in the Washington Post no less on how Trump is comparable to Winston Churchill in his leadership capabilities. Somebody hand me the smelling salts, please!