Trump, Division, and "Political Violence"

Do you see it now?

We were about an inch away from living in an entirely different world.

One small turn of former President Trump’s head, or one tiny twitch the other way by the shooter, and the consequences are beyond any of our ability to imagine. Thanks be to God it didn’t happen, and may we all pray this doesn’t happen again—to Trump, or anyone else.

Here in the world of what did happen, there were primarily four responses.

1. “I can’t believe the shooter missed! He had one job!”

2. “We need to calm down the hate from both sides and heal our divided country.”

3. “I wasn’t voting for him before, but I am now.”

4. “Don’t be surprised, the Dems and media have wanted this for years.”

We can write off the first group as truly evil people. The fourth group can feel vindicated—small comfort though that may be. I mainly want to talk to the second group, with the hope that some of this also further helps the third group continue down their current path.

First of all, this is not just a Trump issue.

Yes, group 1 hates him most because he’s the figure head. Yes, they call him Hitler. But they hate anybody who agrees with him even slightly. They called milquetoast moderates like Mitt Romney Hitler before Trump even entered the fray.

Go back and read the vitriol dripping off the page on all the Rush Limbaugh obituaries. Go back and look at what people wanted to do to people who didn’t want to wear masks or get shots. Look at how they talk about Christians, homeschoolers, non-feminists, anti-LGBT “bigots,” etc. They hate you.

Trump didn’t divide us. He just pulled back the curtain on how much the ground had already split beneath our feet.

Our country is an abusive relationship in which one side controls the news media, the universities, and the unelected bureaucracy, insuring that your interests are never protected. The minute someone points that out, those in power call him divisive. In classic abuser technique, they will make extreme accusations and insinuations and even resort to violence, and when you have a problem with it, they ask why you don’t want to be united.

If they had taken him out, do you really think all the people who drummed up the rhetoric for it and all the people who cheered it on were ready to be cool with you once again?

Second, if you’re still “bothsidesing” the political conflict at this point, it’s time to wake up.

All the billions of gallons of digital ink spilled performing moral equivocation just got obliterated. And yet still, many took to social media while the blood was still wet on Trump’s ear to say “the hateful rhetoric from both sides needs to stop.”

This is the favorite tactic of preachers who don’t want to get their hands dirty, pick a side, and possibly alienate contributing members. John Piper famously wrote before the 2020 election that Biden is a gigantic abortion proponent and Trump is prideful so Christians should avoid both. Very cool, Mr. Ivory Tower. But one of them was going to be president, and if you don’t think the bad guy with some good policies is better than the bad guy with all bad policies, you’re not living in reality.

Again, it’s the abusive relationship. “We shot bullets, he has mean tweets. I guess we all need to change.” Trump is a deeply flawed individual, the GOP is a deeply flawed party, and the conservative right is a deeply flawed movement. January 6, while overblown and ultimately nonviolent, was incredibly dumb. Showing up with a mock guillotine was wrong. But when one side just made their fourth assassination attempt in 7 years, an honest person doesn’t say “Both sides did this.”

Third, unity is an admirable goal… for another day.

We should all pray for and work toward unity, but we have to realize a lot of difficult work has to be done before we can even talk about uniting.

You cannot be united with the kind of people who are cheering on a near-assassination. That is the fault of group 1 (see above), not group 4. Group 2 is the biggest problem because, rather than standing against group 1, they equivocate and scold group 4 for not getting along with group 1.

Many understood this before, but for anybody who didn’t, now you don’t have an excuse.

You could have seen that they are willing to let grown men follow your daughter into the bathroom. You could have seen that some of them advocated internment camps, prison, fines, and travel bans for people who had the gall to say they didn’t want to take an experimental medical treatment. You could have seen that they gave hours of prominent screen time and countless book sales to Robin DiAngelo and Ibram X. Kendi to screech that all white people are irreparably racist. You could have seen that they instituted gay marriage against the will of the people and then used your tax money to light the White House up in rainbow colors to shove their victory in your face.

But if none of that showed you where things stand, hopefully the bullet did.

Your Christian duty

A lot of people live under the illusion that if everybody was as nice as they’re supposed to be, the division would go away. Many Christians especially assume that if we silence ourselves, step aside, and let it all play out, the division will be healed and people will come flocking to us because of how nice we are.

That’s not going to happen. There is no “agree to disagree” unity to be had here. We cannot be united with evil. There are two radically different ideologies, and despite what pluralism told you, they can’t COEXIST. Somebody’s ideology is going to win, and history tells us that if theirs does, things could get very grim, very fast. We have truth. It’s time to use it.

To that statement I can already hear some Christians wringing their hands, to which I would point back to equivocation. Being more concerned with people like me pointing out evil than you are with people like them actively promoting evil is the kind of habit a lot of people need to break.

The Bible tells you to love your enemies and bless those who curse you (Matthew 5:44). It does not tell you that you don’t have any enemies. The Bible tells you to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:39). It’s time we start looking at our neighbors as our neighbors and our enemies as our enemies. Both are to be loved. But the way we act toward them in these situations is quite different.

Similarly, we are commanded, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:18). I’m telling you, the division in this country does not depend on you. Do your part as far as it depends on you, absolutely. But people who want their political opponents killed have taken that decision out of your hands.

Pietistic religion tells you to pretend that’s not the reality. Jesus never asked us to bury our heads in the sand and stop living in the real world. A lot of people want to be harmless as doves and think that means we’re not allowed to be wise as serpents (Matthew 10:16).

Be realistic. Take evangelistic opportunities as they arise, but remember that evangelism isn’t everything. Protecting your family is good. Advocating for your neighbors’ quality of life is good. Supporting government that stops evil is good. We should be hoping for and working toward each of these things.

Now what?

The assassination attempt revealed just how close we are to our situation taking a truly dark turn. What can you and I do?

Pray, first of all. For Donald Trump, for Joe Biden, for all in authority, and for the country. Pray exactly what 1 Timothy 2 tells you to pray. Pray that further violence is averted, and pray that those who would create more are put down hard.

Abandon equivocation. Downplaying Trump’s many sins is not something any Christian needs to do, but when the teams and the playing field have been so clearly demonstrated, there’s nothing holy about pretending not to see what’s really there. There is true evil out there, and it wants to eradicate me and you. Acknowledging that isn’t a sin.

Pursue unity… where possible. Again, sometimes it does not depend on you. But a lot of this division is in places where we should be able to get along, like in the family and in the church. Speak the truth, and speak it lovingly. If you do that and it drives people away, it wasn’t your fault. If we can only have unity so long as one side keeps their mouths shut, it’s not going to last very long.

Love your neighbors. Start with kids and other family members first, then your church family, then your friends and immediate community. Start building true connection because there’s truly no telling where things are headed. Looking out for the people closest to you and doing what you can to create a safe haven from a dark world is one of your biggest ways to make a difference. It might even be your best way to reach lost people who are looking for answers in all of this.

The stakes just got raised. The time for convenient half-truths and staying above it all just ended. It’s time to acknowledge what’s really going on.