Major evangelical leaders such as Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr. defend Trump and see him as an ally in the culture wars.
By GREG GARRISON/ALABAMA MEDIA GROUPUpdated: SEPTEMBER 2, 2018 11:09
(TNS) — As he travels to preach at small country churches across Alabama, former State Baptist Convention President John Killian hears a lot of talk about President Donald Trump."I see overwhelming support," Killian said.Many Southern Baptists - who number more than a million in Alabama - tend to like Trump and believe he's God's man for the job. Exit polls in 2016 showed that about 80% of white evangelical Christians voted for Trump.That support is still solid, said Killian, a former pastor and now director of Baptist missions for Fayette County.But why? Trump is twice divorced, and his attorney claimed to have paid adult film star Stormy Daniels to keep quiet about having an affair with Trump. He's been caught on tape speaking in foul-mouthed terms about women. His character flaws could have derailed almost any other politician trying to court the religious right."Everybody knows if Barack Obama had done one of these things, he would have been skewered by these folks as unfit for office," said church historian Bill Leonard.But major evangelical leaders such as Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell Jr. defend Trump and see him as an ally in the culture wars."Issues matter more than a person's personal life," Killian said. "The two issues that come up are pro-life - appointment of judges (who oppose abortion), and support for Israel."King Cyrus and King DavidIn defending Trump, religious supporters cite a recurring theme in the Bible that God uses flawed leaders.In the Book of Ezra, Persian King Cyrus the Great issued a decree to liberate the Jews after the Babylonian captivity and rebuild the temple in Jerusalem. "King Cyrus was a friend to the people of God, but he was a heathen king," Killian said.Alabama Pastor John Kilpatrick, whose call for prayer to stop the spirit of witchcraft attacking Trump went viral on social media, compares Trump to King David, who committed adultery with Bathsheba and had her husband killed."David committed adultery and had a man killed," Kilpatrick said in his sermon on Aug. 26 at Church of His Presence in Daphne. "God left him as king of Israel."God is using Trump for his own purposes, Kilpatrick said. Evangelical supporters of Trump hope he will appoint US Supreme Court justices who may overturn the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion."He has defended the womb," Kilpatrick said. "The president has taken a stand for life. Second, the president has taken up for Israel and has declared Jerusalem the capital of Israel. Third, he has chosen Supreme Court justices - that's going to turn this nation around. Those three things are why the spirit of Jezebel hates him and wants him out. We may be on the verge of the greatest revival this world has ever seen."A street fighter The very soul of America is on the line, Kilpatrick said."If we are where I think we are spiritually, we need a street fighter in the White House," said Kilpatrick, who said in an interview with AL.com that he voted for Trump in 2016."There's much at stake," Kilpatrick said. "A lot of people are concerned about America right now."Kilpatrick is not vouching for Trump's faith. "I don't believe Trump is a man of God," he said. But he believes the 2016 election was miraculous. "I have to believe it was the Holy Spirit that turned it," Kilpatrick said. "If the Lord put him in an office, the Lord will sustain him in an office. You better be careful that you don't lay a hand on him."That's a reference to Psalm 105:15, "Touch not my anointed ones; do my prophets no harm."Kilpatrick quotes 1 Timothy 2:2, which calls on believers to pray for "kings, and for all that are in authority," as a reason to pray for Trump."That doesn't mean I'm a Trump fan," said Kilpatrick, whose congregation is affiliated with the Assemblies of God denomination. "I love him, and I pray for him because he's our president. What God has raised up, you don't want to oppose. Do I believe he's an adulterer? I do. Do I believe he's had these affairs? I do. Do I think he's a liar? I do. If God raised him up, my job is to pray for that man. That's what we're going to do."Framing a Christian nationOn the campaign trail, Trump often trumpeted support for framing the United States as a Christian nation, staking out an issue that resonates with the same people who supported Judge Roy Moore's refusal to take down his hand-made plaque of the Ten Commandments in his Etowah County courtroom, and later his refusal as chief justice to remove a 2.6-ton monument of the commandments he had installed in the state judicial building. Many evangelical Christians also yearn for the return of Christian prayer to public schools. It was banned in a 1963 US Supreme Court decision.In 2016 at the Family Research Council Values Voter Summit, Trump sounded that theme. "A Trump administration, our Christian heritage will be cherished, protected, defended, like you've never seen before. Believe me. I believe it. And you believe it. And you know it. You know it."