The near total silence of the Christian community on the Baltimore controversy is a concern that I must address. Silence sends the wrong message, and undermines the ability of Christians and other conservatives to remain a credible force in our society.

“Rep, Elijah Cummings has been a brutal bully, shouting and screaming at the great men & women of Border Patrol about conditions at the Southern Border, when actually his Baltimore district is FAR WORSE and more dangerous. His district is considered the Worst in the USA.....” – Pres. Donald Trump

Trump then followed up by saying that Cummings’ District is…

“a disgusting rat and rodent infested mess”.  

How are Christians and other conservatives to respond? Do we take sides? Do we condemn the President? Do we stay silent, and wish he didn’t say that? Or do we explain our teachings, and pray for a more spiritual direction from the White House?

The following is a list of spiritual values copied from the left column of the Welcome Movement home page https://www.thewelcomemovement.com/

To be modest and to express humility
To be a peacemaker, and to bring harmony into all situations
To be a genuine person, and to be at peace with oneself
To be trustworthy, sincere, and honest
To be truthful and to speak candidly, but reserved in tone
To be kind and joyful
To be patient, tolerant, and full of forgiveness
To be steadfast and to persevere, to have a sense of duty
To be open-minded, just and fair
To exhibit a sense of moral rectitude, but not be judgmental of others
To be courteous, thoughtful, loving and considerate
To be free of prejudice
To be empathetic and compassionate
To be clean in all aspects of body, mind, and standard of living
To be generous and hospitable
To express loyalty and honor, and to be courageous but never dogmatic
To respect and associate with the followers of all religions and fellowships, including non-believers
To care for children and the elderly, and honor ones parents
To study the arts and sciences as they benefit mankind
To be faithful if married, and to be chaste if single
To refrain from gossip and backbiting
To engage in mature consultation with others to resolve issues and concerns
To honor your parents and grandparents
To not be promiscuous. Instead marry young, and have many children.

These are conservative values. Let’s cut right to the chase; this is how people should be. It’s not easy; I am still working on it myself. This is how a Christian should present himself or herself. Dare I suggest that a socially conservative member of any other major Faith would find little fault with this list.

The best response to the Baltimore controversy is to lay out our spiritual value system, and then folks can decide if the President’s comments are consistent with our worldview.

Just because I am a Republican, that does not mean I must march in lock step with every move or mis-step taken. I speak my own mind, and I am not a parrot for anyone.

The purpose of the Welcome Movement is to nudge the Republican Party in some desired directions, especially with regard to populist economic themes and the idea of embracing socially conservative minorities and immigrants into a new and broader mainstream. Other folks can and should work to clean up the Democratic Party. Broadening the conservative base and bringing minorities into leadership positions is essential if America is to resist the rise of the gender-neutral movement and Socialism over the long term. This is not accomplished by making negative comments about African-American neighborhoods.

My eyes are looking far beyond 2020, and what I see is terrifying. Eventually the Left will win the Presidency and maybe even the House and Senate, and there’s a good chance they’ll come after tens of thousands of political opponents with trumped up hate-speech charges, round us up, and ship us off into re-education camps. That’s what’s coming. That’s exactly the kind of chaos and turmoil that Russia wants for America, and that’s why Russia has been meddling in our elections and trolling on social media.

Let’s get back to Trump. It is also fair to say that damage has been done by the Baltimore comments. This damage is on several levels.

First, the President calls himself a conservative, but the very essence of being conservative is in stark contrast to his comments. Instead, his comments confuse people’s idea of what being a conservative is about.  Similar comments were made last year about several Third World countries.  He’s harming his own branding, the branding of the Republican Party, and the branding of “his base” that he’s accused of pandering to. More importantly, he’s harming both the Christian brand and the conservative brand.

Is it enough to kill his re-election? Probably not. He’s keeping the country out of major military conflicts, and the economy is solid and roaring. Those are the two major measures of a successful presidency. Results do matter more than words.

I believe the comments reflect a personal philosophy of SOCIAL DARWINISM, which is a philosophical perspective that people and whole groups have the right to rise and fall based on their own competitiveness and aggressiveness. It’s a “survival of the fittest mentality”, and the fittest people are the people who have money, who have amassed money, and who know how to work the system to gain more money and power.

Donald Trump himself has risen to the top, and his entire career has been an exercise in Social Darwinism. He appears to be a pure believer.  I say this because the purest believer in Social Darwinism will belittle those who have fallen behind, whether it is a city, an ethnic or racial group, or an entire country. I think it’s beneath him, and beneath the dignity of the office of the Presidency, to speak in such fashion.  All of the pundits who are commenting that the President’s comments on Baltimore are true are basically promoting Social Darwinism.

The answer is to help Baltimore, not to ridicule them, or kick them while they are down. Some of my housing reforms could work miracles for the Baltimore area, if I ever had a chance to advance them. https://www.thewelcomemovement.com/housing

Social Darwinism is completely and totally incompatible with Christianity. Christianity is about love and goodwill towards all, prayers for all, and unifying all. Jesus did not lay out a detailed economic order, but it’s not a stretch to say that socioeconomic development of all peoples is consistent with Christian thinking. Cities and countries that are poor and struggling need to be uplifted. War and international conflict needs to be stamped out.

Christianity most certainly is not about merciless competition, and different groups rising over others, and berating others. I had enough of this as a tenant leader in Newark, and dealing with domineering slumlords and mega-landlords. Social Darwinism is the ultimate landlord philosophy. And Trump started off as a mega-landlord, so we are coming full circle.

Trump is a Christian in the sense that he has made a deal with Christian leaders for their support for his Presidency. He has promised to appoint socially conservative judges, and to oppose the movement of this country towards Socialism and atheism.  All of this is great, but is Trump personally a Christian? Or is he just a Christian in name, or in group identity circles? I wish he would move further in the true direction of Christianity.

Is Social Darwinism Racist? Well, it most certainly can be. Group conflict is often about race. But it doesn’t have to be.

For all we know, Trump could be of the mindset that a group of successful African-Americans such as athletes and entertainers have every right to rise to the top, to succeed, and to flourish. Indeed, he has made statements to that effect.  Statements that also reflect a philosophy of Social Darwinism.

People who has been in business for over 50 years generally come to the understanding that there are strivers and slackers in every ethnic and racial group. I sold copiers in Newark for Konica-Minolta for 5 years, and I’ve been a home improvement contractor for 12 years. I’ve seen it all.  I’ve seen all kinds of people successful as homeowners and business owners. I’m in business for far fewer years than Trump, and I don’t see a correlation with race.