Erick Erickson, the conservative talk show host on News AM 750 and 95.5 WSB, is holding fast to his "Never Trump" stance despite pressures from pastors and listeners who support Donald Trump for president.
He made his case on his site The Resurgent, an essay reprinted today in The Washington Post.
Erickson wrote in his essay that he had been "actively" reconsidering his position, talking with friends and pondering in prayer. But he couldn't overlook Trump's faults.
One thing is clear: he won't vote for Hillary Clinton. He called Clinton "anti-American" because of her approach to government, which he described as a "leviathan nanny state," predicting "the devastation to our social fabric will know no end." In his mind, she would support "the individual prurient interests of deviants against the church in ways the founders would not have anticipated and no rational person would think wise."
He added: "Further, she should be in jail."
But he said Trump is fundamentally "un-American." Why?
The American spirit eschews the idea of a strong man in Washington fixing all our problems. We are supposed to be against the imposition of values set by Washington and instead should embrace our heterogeneity as a people. Not only does Donald Trump not do that, but his views pervert the liberal order of things as much as Clintonian illiberalism. Clinton offers a tyranny of the minority and Trump offers a tyranny of the majority. Clinton offers neither safety nor freedom and Trump offers safety at the expense of freedom. While I see Clinton as having no virtue, I see Donald Trump corrupting the virtuous and fostering hatred, racism, and dangerous strains of nationalism.
And while he sees Clinton damaging the country, he believes Trump will damage the "the church, which must be my chief priority."
He wrote that he has seen many of his Christian friends embrace Trump and his "deviancy" and fall to anger and despondency in social media. To him, supporting Trump "reeks of desperation," placing their faith in one strong man instead of God. He wrote, "more and more Christians are championing his stains while staining themselves."
In Trump, he sees a man who has sinned but is not repentant. Trump, in Erickson's view, "sees no need to be saved and has no understanding of a faith he professes."
In conclusion, "his victory would have lasting, damaging consequences for Christianity in America."
Erickson said he is now a man without a candidate.
On The Washington Post site in the comments section, not surprisingly, Erickson didn't exactly receive a hero's welcome.
One commenter dubbing himself "Afghanistan Vet 713" wrote: "Mr. Erickson seems to be missing the point that the United States of America is a secular nation. He is free to believe what he wants, but, according to our Constitution, the State does not favor any particular religion. It seems to me that he would be more comfortable with a theocracy rather than a constitutional republic, like Iran, for example."
Another wrote: "These Christians are such strange people. Do they think 'god' is going to be hovering above the voting booths and shouting in a voice of thunder how they should vote? Is god going to destroy your churches if the wrong person gets in office? I'm willing to bet your churches will still be there after the election regardless of who wins. Why not just go outside and enjoy nature. Become enlightened."
Erickson is off today but he did post this on Twitter after Ted Cruz today endorsed Trump in a reversal.
"Shame on you," said Neal Boortz at 5:17 p.m. today, subbing for Erickson on WSB. "You are a political slut. You want to continue with some sort of viable political future."
WSB Radio and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution are both part of Cox Media Group.
By RODNEY HO/rho@ajc.com, originally filed Friday, September 23, 2016
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