Henk Jan van Schothorst Trouw, 11 September 2020
Faced with massive and ruthless opposition, President Trump has unswervingly committed himself to his goals in the US. With the elections in sight, the results will be weighed. In doing so, it is good to look more at the policy being pursued than at the person. And also, to try to identify core differences between Democrats and Republicans. For us in Europe, too, it is not a matter of how the situation develops with our irreplaceable ally. We see a country in which progressives and conservatives are diametrically opposed to each other. Trump is not the cause of that. His election as president was democratically legitimate and no coincidence. What did he accomplish? Viewed from a Christian and conservative perspective, issues such as pro-life, pro-family, and freedoms such as the freedom of religion and education, and security in a lean government model are important touchstones. Right to free choice of school Looking at the results of Trump's presidency in this light, many positive things have been achieved. With the appointment of about 200 conservative federal judges and two at the Supreme Court, the (ground) law remains leading and protected against interpretation to the delusion of the day. This has consequences for decisions on the protection of life, marriage, and family. In the field of education, a lot of hard work has been done towards a right for parents and children to enjoy a free school choice. The role of the government was limited by a major tax reform. Matters such as recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, denouncing the nuclear deal with Iran, tackling China and reinvestment by NATO partners will be left aside for a moment. It was typical that from day one, the deployment of American foreign aid funds also protected unborn life. Obama's 'toilet law' was also repealed, so that boys and girls in shower and changing rooms in schools could no longer be exposed at any time to someone who identified themselves as of the opposite sex. Certainly, these last points touch on the deep divisions of the country, and the conflicting and opposing values and worldviews of progressives and conservatives, of Democrats and Republicans. Their recently held national conventions clearly reflected these differences. Democratic speakers first divided society into groups such as: blacks, whites, natives, Latinos, Asians, but also teenagers, women, LGBT. Such groups would lack equal rights before the law. Systematic racism and inequality would affect many of them. The Black Lives Matter card was used by almost all Democratic speakers. Trump opposed it with: "We are one national family. And we will always protect, love and care for each other." In doing so, he united all Americans as equal before the law. Inconvenient truth Trump and his people seem to assume a world view in which a human being on the one hand has inviolable dignity with equal claim to fundamental rights. On the other hand, there is the recognition that man is imperfect, and prone to evil and the abuse of power. This uncomfortable truth is also the reason for introducing checks and balances through the separation of powers. Among Democrats, these core truths seem to be rejected, exchanged, or redefined in such a way that every group or individual has the right to decide for itself what its own truth is. These claimed or experienced truths must then be accepted by everyone. Those who do not go along with this identity policy are dismissed as xenophobic, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, right-wing extremist, and deplorable. Thus, under the cover of social justice 'for all', lack of freedom is imposed. A cancel culture, in which the entire system must be dismantled, and an end must be put to supposed white supremacy. However, the problem is not in the system, but in people.