Written by Kristi Rolf
On September 30th, I mailed my ballot to my hometown office of elections. I had processed enough information by September to be certain of my choice, but I know that there are many voters who had decided their vote even before the primaries in March.
Because of growing up in an Evangelical Christian community, I know many people whose vote is determined almost exclusively by one single issue: abortion. Nearly every adult I grew up around consistently votes for Republican candidates because of their pro-life position. As a young teenager, I admired their moral conviction, but in recent years I have become disillusioned with these supposedly devout Christians. Throughout the Trump Administration’s tenure, I have witnessed Evangelicals have pro-life political tunnel vision. They can be so hyper-focused on one political issue that every other topic escapes their concern. I find such single-issue voting disturbing. It seems much more prudent to consider the ethics of all the positions a candidate represents. Voters who make their decisions based only on reproductive rights do so because they firmly believe that this issue is intrinsically moral, and therefore voting against their conviction compromises their morality. When this morality stems from a Christian worldview, the mindset is even more rigid because these voters believe their position reflects God’s, Divine Will.
So, while I’m disappointed that many voters did not shift their loyalties away from President Trump, it is not shocking when their support lies with his pro-life agenda. Taking a step which to them could be an act of defiance against God is a risk they are not willing to take. This link between evangelical Christians, abortion, and the republican party explains how religion is at the root of many Americans’ political loyalties.
