Informed by Faith

As political campaigns evolve and mature, as the factions become hardened and the number of people who will determine the election becomes a smaller fraction of the electorate—who could possibly be in the middle or undecided at this point in time in our country(?)—the words of my mother who ran many political Statewide election campaigns in Ohio come to mind. During the last debate between Hilliary Clinton and Barrak Obama in 2007, there was a break in the questioning. When the cameras came back to the debaters, Hilliary was just reentering the room and Barak stood up and held her chair as she sat back down. My mother who was watching the debate with me said—Mr. Obama just won the election.

Sometimes a gesture of kindness especially when it is natural and spontaneous can be the best way to convey a sense of a person’s spirit. More so than any set of words can convey. Only great authors and great wordsmith can create pictures without a visual image. Rightly or wrongly an image of kindness or a glimpse into a candidate’s heart and soul can be more influential than any amount of punditry or wordsmithing. Ronald Reagan had the almost unique gift of being able to speak words, and with his body language at the same time create an emotion in those listening to him. They say that Abraham Lincoln had a high-pitched nasal voice, but when one watched him speak, through his body language he could create great emotion. None of the candidates running for President or Vice-President today, have that quality.

Hopefully, we all go through a “process of discernment” before making decisions—big or small in our lives. Certainly, determining who will be our next President will be a very important decision—not the way the Founding Fathers envisioned. Both candidates at the top of the Presidential ballot have led less than virtuous lives in the past—that certainly needs to be said, about almost all of us, I am sure.

Many people have had trouble coming around to accepting Mr. Trump because of his sexual escapades as a young adult. Everything else that has been said about him from Russian Collusion to the Peepee tapes, to” Insurrection” have been fictions created by his political opponents that have been incorporated into a false political narrative i.e.. FAKE NEWS. Even today we are hearing of DJT and Putin communicating through back channels and DJT sending Covid test kits to Putin. Has anyone asked if the Obamas who are pulling the strings in the executive branch of our Federal Government, are having similar conversations with the Iranian Mullahs or the Peoples Republic of China?

My personal process of DISCERNMENT involves prayer, contemplating scripture, integrating the writings of The Church Fathers, examining my own life experience and common sense, and finally feeling my own emotions. The last two items on that list are the most likely to misinform us—especially the last. So many times, when I talk to people—many of them well educated and coming from the privileged classes, they tell me they don’t like Trump, but they can’t tell me what policies they don’t like. I always point out the security issue to them. Peace in the world and peace and security at home for their families. The comparison between the Obama—Biden—Harris administration of the last four years is incontrovertible. Same with the economy when one mentions inflation, interest rates, the cost of a mortgage or a college education. What about all the issues—economic, security, cultural, educational and involving health care that surround our open border? All the “Rumpists” as opposed to “Trumpists” have to say is something along the lines of “Orange man Bad”

So, without I believe being overly emotional, we caught a glimpse into not only the heart of Donald Trump, but also into the heart of his supporters at the second Butler Pa. Campaign rally. After paying homage to Corey Comporatore, a moment of silence to honor the brave man who died shielding his family from the assassin’s bullets, was offered by the speaker—Mr. Trump. Then without introduction Christopher Macchio the renowned Opera Tenor sang the Ava Maria. 100,000 people listened in silence and millions of more across the country. Most of us cried . Finally, a gesture from a political campaign, from a man with all his flaws and shortcomings, of his witness to his faith.

We are a country Founded by a Christian People. Our Founding and indeed our existence over all the years has been always informed by our Biblical and Natural Law ideals that form the bases of our political philosophy. We have one candidate in this very important race to be President who is not ashamed to witness his allegiance to those principles and most importantly to his God.

Do you think the Kamala-Harris campaign would embrace the words of the AVA Maria? What do you think the people supporting them would think if they did?

Remember Mary said “YES”.

I want a President whose discernment process will be informed by his faith.