Introduction:
In times of uncertainty, it’s the natural human response to seek out and cling to any form of stability where it can be found, like searching for water in an arid desert. The desperation can become such that a person will hold to whatever source of relief can be found, even if the water has been fouled. After all, when push comes to shove, (for most) even polluted water is better than going thirsty. And if the situation is dire enough–such as the state of the world at present–it can lead off in directions they may never have thought they would tread: to compromise in order to feel the slightest amount of ease with all the goings on around the globe.
Where Is The Line
There is a question raised in the field of ethics, centered around the premise of where is the line that would cause someone to compromise on their moral code or beliefs. The question is, “Would you steal a loaf of bread to feed your family?”
As a husband and father myself, I must admit it would shock me if other fathers and husbands like me did not offer an emphatic “YES” as the initial response. However, what would the answer become once the knee-jerk, instinctive response had withered, and there was time to consider the proposition? I suppose if we are to examine the notion properly, it might be prudent to ask, “What led me to believe I had no other option but to steal or let my family starve?” That, to me, seems the more interesting starting point.
Let Me Ask You
Questions:
- What leads a person to believe they have no choice but to compromise on a position to which they had previously held so ardently?”
- If such a position is right and true and good in all other situations, why should this one situation be any different?
- Is the pressure to relinquish your grasp on this tenet coming from internal or external sources?
- And if this assuredness is so easily abandoned, was it as deeply held as previously asserted?
Now, I know it is an easy thing to ask such questions when I do not find myself in such dire straits at present. Indeed, it may be a form of naivety from which I comfortably pose these questions, but I do so with the hope that my own convictions are made of sterner stuff; that my metal has been tempered so as not to break.
Test Your Mettle
That is the whole purpose of that old phrase, “test your mettle”; to see if it holds up. For when a blacksmith forges a sword, if the metal has been improperly treated, or what is more commonly referred to as “tempered”, it becomes brittle and prone to breaking easily when pressure is applied. When too many impurities are left in the steel, the final shape it takes is weak. However, if the steel is properly tempered when the sword takes its final shape, it may flex and bend under pressure. But once that pressure is alleviated, the steel will return to true. That is why the heat in the kiln, and time between the hammer and the anvil are so important, as it allows the smith time to remove any of those impurities which would weaken the temper; thus giving the steel the ability, as the Scriptures say, “to be pressed but not crushed…”; to withstand blow after blow from all directions without losing its form.
How great would it be that men who had been tempered as such went into politics. However, it would not do for me to drone on and on, as many are wont to do, about the many broken promises in the political arena, the pieces of which seem to pave the very streets of Washington D.C., trod upon by the very people who broke them. Those promises made with full vigor and enthusiasm on the campaign trail, only become quite inconvenient where the agendas and narratives of the prevailing powers are concerned.
The Wisdom Of Baldwin IV
I am reminded of a scene from the film “Kingdom of Heaven”, when a naïve young knight sits down to play chess with King Baldwin IV, and the king says this: “None of us know our end, really, or what hand will guide us there. A king may move a man, a father may claim a son, but that man can also move himself, and only then does that man truly begin his own game. Remember that howsoever you are played or by whom, your soul is in your keeping alone, even though those who presume to play you be kings or men of power. When you stand before God, you cannot say, ‘But I was told by others to do thus,’ or that virtue was not convenient at the time. This will not suffice.”
Too often the priorities of those in the political sphere are shaped and influenced by others who would rather not be bothered by doing that for which they were elected. They had not the temper to withstand the fight. It is a rare thing indeed when someone comes on the scene who seems to be on the same page as the rest of us. Someone who is made of something different: something better than what has been on offer. Someone who might actually keep his word. That is the hope at least.
So now, let’s discuss Donald Trump.
Let’s Discuss Donald Trump
I shall make no effort to deny the sense of vindication I felt when he was elected nearly a decade past: a sentiment that was, by no means, exclusive. He made promises, which were largely kept (as best he could, that is). Not the least of which was the appointment of the three Supreme Court Justices who were instrumental in overturning Roe v. Wade; a triumph to be certain. I would’ve preferred that the overturning had gone further and removed the pestilence of abortion from this country entirely, but that was not to be.
2020 saw another come into occupation of the Oval Office, and the man known as Trump did anything but quietly go away. Those who see him as a threat to their grip on power have since done everything they can to keep him from reassuming the presidency. As a result, the Trump we see today is a very different man from the Trump who was elected back in 2016, and we who supported him then are all the poorer for it. This Trump, though he says he is driven by a love of country, seems to be more driven by a desire for personal justice. As a result, he is much more willing to compromise on issues against which he once claimed to stand opposed. The issue of abortion is one such issue, and by no means the least important.
Not long after the start of the New Year, he was prompted to address the issue while out on the campaign trail, and Mr. Trump said something to the tune of, “…finding the right number of weeks that will make everyone happy.”. Then, just a few weeks ago, during his debate (if you can call it that) with former Vice President Joe Biden, he was again asked to address his stance on abortion. He responded with, “leave it to the states”, effectively washing his hands of the matter, in a manner not unlike Pontius Pilate. (So much for being “…the most pro-life president in U.S. history”, a boast he touted in 2023. How quickly things can change in a year.)
Doubtless his defenders will say he is doing so in an attempt to unify the country. To such people, I must ask: What indications have you seen in the last decade that tell you the supporters of this heinous and demonic practice are willing to unify with those of us who wish for its decimation? In my own life, I have dealt with my fair share of bullies, and the more concessions you grant them, the more they will demand. It is not a matter measured in weeks or months, it is, “I will have my own way, or else.”
Let me pose another question: Are the countless innocent lives that will be ended in utero worth the miniscule gains to be had if Mr. Trump is reelected?
I am astonished by the speed with which others are so willing to sacrifice the well being, even the lives, of others so that they may sit comfortably and say, “So long as there is no trouble in my day.” Such people, like a sword poorly tempered, are brittle and prone to breaking at the slightest amount of pressure. If such people were faced with stealing a loaf of bread to feed their families, doubtless we would have anything but empty bakeries at the supermarket.
Mr. Trump has allowed the once strong metal, which made him formidable, to weather and rust. He has compromised sure footing in order to obtain a killing blow. And the innocent lives affected in his wake?; I doubt if we shall ever know the full measure.
It may seem overly obvious to state outright, but I must. The enthusiasm with which I supported Donald Trump in 2016 has waned, and his shift as a presidential candidate from “the most pro-life president” to one who seeks consensus on “the right number of weeks” has lost him my vote.
My vote is my trust.
My vote is my choice.
My choice is life.
