Confronting the Lie of Sinless Conservatism

what good is a Christian mind, corrupted?

I first encountered President Trump years before he was president. I was a student at Liberty University when he spoke in our convocation (the famous “Two Corinthians” speech, during which he advised us all to get a prenup). He was in a line of Jerry Falwell Jr. picks for convocation: confusing at the time but understandable in light of later events.

As the years unfolded and he - to my shock - made it through the primaries, I felt trapped. Despite the defense of evangelical leaders, I had a creeping feeling Christians were being used. Trump wanted our votes and promised to protect our interests, but in no way was he a Christian himself (“weak” or otherwise). But with Hillary Clinton on the ballot, I felt I had no other choice but to vote for him. During the second Trump election, I waffled between an independent vote and a Republican one. In the end, Kamala Harris’ aggressive pro-abortion stance pushed me over the edge and I voted for Trump a second time. I regret that vote.

Obviously, I am politically conservative. I am conservative because of what conservatism once was and could be again; because I believe the conservative mind reflects a stronger grasp of global history, American culture, and the preservation of liberty for all. But I am not a political commentator; I am a Bible teacher and homeschool mom.

So why am I writing about this? Precisely because I am a Bible teacher and homeschool mother, because I voted for something and it wasn’t this; because conservatives have abandoned logic for emotion; because Christians have rejected accountability and have adapted to the prevailing winds of doctrine. And because the word of God can only be blasphemed so much.

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During the first primary in 2015, I wrote a blog post addressing Falwell Jr’s endorsement of Trump. I called it a compromise.

In 2018, I wrote an article called “More American Than Christian” in which I said:

…the lines between biblical and conservative quickly become blurred. To follow Jesus is to adhere to a particular political agenda: Social, fiscal, and otherwise. And while I firmly believe that our values should dictate our political views and actions, it’s far too easy to reverse priorities. Pretty soon your political views are dictating your values, and you’ve got to come up with biblical reasons to defend the choices you’ve made… To be free to bring faith into the political arena is a profound privilege that many Christians around the world will never experience… [but] when church and state become so intertwined, what used to be “influence” can quickly merge into a quest for power. Contrary to what Jerry [Falwell] thinks (as quoted in this article), the Protestant Reformation did not occur because Reformers were “anti-establishment”; it happened because the Catholic Church of the day was morally corrupt and theologically compromised. That’s what happens when you use biblical truth to further a political agenda. Somewhere along the way, “truth” becomes whatever is needed to push the agenda through.

In early 2025 I wrote:

If it had gone differently – if the American presidential election had turned a different way – the emotions would be the same, centered in a different party. Our emotions reveal our fears, our priorities, our hopes, our dreams… and our idols. Idols, the physical representations of intangible gods, were in ancient times a visible way for people to interact with deities they believed could save them. Israel felt comfortable building a golden calf not because they wanted to worship the calf, but because they saw the calf as a mediator between them and Yahweh…

In 2021 CPAC (Conservative Political Action Conference) unveiled a golden statue of Donald Trump complete with star-capped scepter and American-flag-themed shorts. Constitution in hand, the golden Trump stood next to a red sign advertising “LOOK AHEAD AMERICA”. Not many conservatives talked about the statue. It was as if a Donald Trump made of gold were a run of the mill occurrence, just a prop, harmless in its message. But the message was clear: we are okay with idols if they come in the right shape.

Fast forward to 2024 at the Democratic National Convention (DNC) in Chicago, IL. The Harris campaign made abortion rights a central tenet of the election, and the DNC was no exception. Planned Parenthood set up a mobile clinic providing abortions, vasectomies and birth control onsite in an RV close to the convention:

“It’s a great opportunity for us to show how when you have a state like Illinois that prioritizes healthcare access and passes good policy that you can be creative and innovative in how you meet people’s healthcare needs,” Dr. McNicholas said of the clinics presence near the convention.” Source: NPR

In the closing speech of the DNC, given by my governor, Gretchen Whitmer, Whitmer proclaimed Harris was the right person for the presidential job because we needed someone who would “tell the truth, and bring people together”. The child sacrifice on the DNC’s doorstep was sanctioned, it seems, if it accomplished other goals in immigration policy, gender and race issues. Once again – we are okay with idols if they accomplish our purposes.

Today, many conservatives support the actions of our president because he is not a Christian (the “weak believer” concept is indefensible at last). It’s as if, rather than seeking a moral high ground, we’ve settled for simply being less bad. Is this the bar now? In Trump conservatism, it is. I talked about this in 2025:

I can already hear some conservatives saying “There is a big difference between abortions and a golden statue” – so let me ask you this: What started the slow descent into accepting abortion as a sacrament of the state? This did not begin with a desire to murder the unborn. It began with an idol of freedom: Self-actualization, self-achievement, self-centeredness. It began by worshiping personal rights. It began with the pursuit of personal wealth, success and individualism. We hear it already in the American church: the view of children as a financial burden; the radical acceptance of hormonal birth control and vasectomies; the questioning of historic Christian sexual ethics. Abortion rights are not an isolated issue. They are not immaculately conceived. Such policies begin with idolatry of personal freedom, until unborn humans who get in the way of such freedom must be eliminated.

All child sacrifice revolves around an idol. But not all idols begin with child sacrifice.

If being truly conservative means ignoring blasphemy, dissension, rage, wrath, envy, factions and selfish ambition, I guess I don’t know what today’s conservatism is. We were once the Helms Deep of western culture. Now we’re accepting orcs into our ranks because they might help us win the battle.

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As a Christian, I hold two things in tension: My belief that [pre-Trump] conservative values best reflect the ethics of the Christian faith, and that the truths of Jesus, as articulated in the Bible, have greater authority than conservatism does. My political beliefs must bow to my spiritual ones.

This is why I cannot ignore the below photo, posted by my president:

Though shocking, this is just another instance in a long line of such choices. The president’s rage, dissension, division, wrath, malice, greed, envy, and misrepresentation of Christianity are not new. Elected officials continue to twist Scripture for political ends. And while I expect some of this from a pagan king, I didn’t expect it to be defended.

In Daniel 3, Nebuchadnezzar — the powerful, pagan king of Babylon — creates a golden idol of himself. Everyone in the region is commanded to bow down to this idol. Only three men resist: Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, peers of Daniel and leaders within the king’s government. Because of their rebellion/conviction they are thrown into a blasting furnace. Miraculously, the men are preserved from the flames by a fourth Man in the fire (likely a Christophany, an OT appearance of Christ). Nebuchadnezzar is impressed:

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, “Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king’s command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own God. ²⁹ Therefore I decree that the people of any nation or language who say anything against the God of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego be cut into pieces and their houses be turned into piles of rubble, for no other god can save in this way.”

³⁰ Then the king promoted Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego in the province of Babylon. (Daniel 3:28-30)

The power of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego’s God (not to mention the strength of the three men) resonated with Nebuchadnezzar. I find the king’s response rather humorous; anyone who disagrees with the power of Yahweh will be “cut into pieces” and “turned to rubble”.

Nebuchadnezzar’s reverence is short-lived. Only a chapter later we find him calling Daniel for the interpretation of a dream. Daniel is visibly disturbed by what the king tells him, unwilling at first to share the interpretation. When he finally does, it’s pretty bad news:

“This is the interpretation, Your Majesty, and this is the decree the Most High has issued against my lord the king: ²⁵ You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like the ox and be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all kingdoms on earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. ²⁶ The command to leave the stump of the tree with its roots means that your kingdom will be restored to you when you acknowledge that Heaven rules. ²⁷ Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.” (Daniel 4:24-27)

Nebuchadnezzar ignores Daniel’s advice:

Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, ³⁰ he said, “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?” (Daniel 4:28-30)

Instantly, Nebuchadnezzar is struck with insanity. He is given over to the depravity of his own mind (Romans 1) and remains this way for years. His “mighty power” and “glory of majesty” are erased in a moment and he spends his days eating grass like an ox.

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In all my years teaching the Bible, I have never compromised my pro-life position. I have taken a stance above and beyond most evangelicals, opposing elective vasectomies and surrogacy, questioning (and personally abstaining from) IVF, standing against euthanasia and assisted suicide, parlaying with both sides of the immigration conversation, speaking out against racism while rejecting Marxist frameworks of history. I have done my level best to stay true to Scripture’s truths. Despite this, I’ve been accused of “third way-ism” (didn’t even know what it was), becoming a liberal (what liberal do you know who voted for Trump?) and promoting feminism (show me a fourth-wave feminist with four homeschooled children) whenever I confront the eisegetical, blasphemous nature of the Trump administration’s “Christianity”.

I am astonished at the fragility of my fellow conservatives. They argue from emotion rather than logic. They measure sin on a sliding scale while condemning progressives for doing the same thing. They live in a retributive attitude that hopes for destruction. This only happens when I dare to confront the sins of the Right.

But what good is a Bible teacher if she only confronts the sins of the other party? What good is a Christian mind, corrupted and compromised by blindness to its own pride?

Josef Pieper, in Abuse of Language, Abuse of Power, says this:

There are not only sex, sensuality, vanity, nosiness, and sentimentalism, there are also cruelty and indeed “schadenfreude”, the vicious enjoyment of others’ misfortune. There are the obsession with slander, the frenzy to destroy, and the readiness to accept radical answers , to go for the “final solution”.

Pieper later states that by changing our ideas of truth — but compromising what is actually true — we become unable to search for truth itself:

“People become unable to search for truth because they are satisfied with the deception and trickery that have determined their convictions, satisfied with a fictitious reality created by design…”

My Gen Z friends tell you to “touch grass” when you’re online too much; to get out of the virtual world and into the real one. I think conservative Christians need to touch grass in regard to this administration. We are satisfied with deceptions that determined our convictions, accepting a “fictitious reality” that Trump’s ongoing behavior is representative of Christian life, belief, and values. We HAVE to acknowledge the undeniable ways Trump’s conservatism departs from Scripture. This is not compromise; this is integrity. We cannot use leftist policies on sex, gender, euthanasia/assisted suicide, abortion, surrogacy, etc. to downplay the sins of the Right. Any conservative worth her salt will object to the aforementioned unethical, dehumanizing policies. I think Paul says it best in Galatians 5 when describing the works of the flesh as “obvious”:

The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; ²⁰ idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions ²¹ and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)

To a believer, it is obvious that sexual immorality, impurity, witchcraft, hatred and drunkenness are wrong. The work of the Spirit is less obvious and harder to attain. It is the work of a submitted, humble heart, one interested not in its own majesty and glory but in the majesty and glory of God:

Galatians 5:22-25:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, ²³ gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. ²⁴ Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. ²⁵ Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. ²⁶ Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.

We all know the list of fruits. We even know that little verse about “keeping in step” with the Spirit (a phrase which means to “follow in another’s footsteps”). But we leave out that last part. Do not become conceited. Do not give into pride.

Conservatives are excellent at pointing out the obvious. We are not so excellent at recognizing the blasphemy and pride in our midst. We live in a fictitious reality that conservatism has no sins. As a collective, we stopped searching for truth; we stopped standing up to the king. We are okay with idols if they accomplish our good, holy, Christian purposes.

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Acknowledging the sin within — like Daniel did to Nebuchadnezzar — is not weakness. It does not mar our witness. It proves it. It shows that we really believe what we say we believe. Daniel trembled to tell the truth; it wasn’t easy. But he knew something many of us have forgotten: We can’t make concessions to sin because the sinner advances our cause. We must be willing to go to the furnace for truth. And we can’t be confused about what the truth is.

Francis Schaeffer once wrote that we cannot do the Lord’s work in man’s way — human methods, human action — or our buildings will die with our generation. We must do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way. The submitted way. The sacrificial way. The humble way. We cannot fight a culture war with un-sanctified hearts. The conservative effort to bludgeon culture into submission, to elevate America into glory, will absolutely and terribly fail. The only way to change the world is to live the Scriptures we say we believe even when they pit us against power. The way to live the Scriptures is to submit to them even when they call us to smash our favorite idols. This does not make me less conservative, in the pre-Trump sense of the term. It means my conservatism must take a knee before Christ’s intentions for me, my community, my nation and my world.

Nebuchadnezzar blasphemed the Lord by equating himself to the God of the universe. His allegiance to the Lord was lip-service alone. Because of his pride, he was handed over to a depraved mind. His humiliation could have been avoided. He chose to live in a lie rather than submit to God.

Christian conservatives need to touch grass — acknowledge the reality of the new Right and call it to repentance — or like our president, we might eat it.