Original article online Dutch Newspaper Reformatorisch Dagblad
Henk Jan van Schothorst
26-09-2020
Opinion
Theme: Elections USA 2020
The presidential elections in America are also keeping the minds occupied in the Netherlands. Even though we are not allowed to vote, many have an opinion. Also in this newspaper, with solid articles and room for diversity. President Trump's personality and past are often point of debate. He himself has contributed a lot to that. For example, his direct way of communicating broke through the mores of the elite in Washington DC and the US.
In general, compared to the little attention paid to other, equally scratchy prominent figures in the U.S., and especially in view of the meagre interest in today’s authoritarian leaders, the attention paid to the person of Trump is remarkable. You don't hear much about a leader or elections in a country like communist China, for example. Indeed, two years ago the presidential terms were cancelled, and Xi Jinping can remain President for life. We saw similar developments recently in Putin's Russia and Erdogan's Turkey. There is hardly any debate about these people (there nor here), no election battle, no real freedom for the people to make a choice. But this also happens closer to home. When choosing a president of the European Council or Commission, we stand by and look at it at the most. We have no influence on it, hardly anyone knows who Charles Michel is, what he stands for, and how far his mandate extends.
Whatever they are, in the US people do have influence. They do have the democratic right to choose their representatives. As a voter, you don't have to deal with the person as such, but with the direction of his plans and the laws you have to abide by.
Policy starting point
After four years of Trump, we can take stock. It's good to look more at the implemented policy than at the person Trump. And also, to identify basic differences between Democrats and Republicans.
We in Europe do care how the situation with our irreplaceable ally develops. 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 is no coincidence.
Before we try to get to the heart of the differences, we first look at what the president has achieved. If you think from a Christian and conservative perspective, issues such as pro-life, pro-family, security, and freedom of religion and education (in a lean government model) are important touchstones.
Colliding values
Looking at the results of Trump's presidency in this light, many positive things have been achieved, some of which I would like to mention.
With the appointment of more than 200 conservative federal judges (out of a total of 870) and two or possibly even three out of a total of nine judges appointed for life at the Supreme Court, the (ground) law remains leading and protective 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 to create a right for parents and children to freely choose schools. The plan is for parents to be able to redeem government-funded vouchers at a school of their choice and that of their children. Biden, on the other hand, is in favor of maintaining the obligation for parents to send their children to the public school of their postal code area for paid public education.
Matters such as the recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, the denunciation of the unholy nuclear deal with Iran, the approach of China and the reinvestment by NATO partners are left aside for a moment. It was typical that on day one of Trumps presidency the use of US funds for foreign aid also protected unborn life. Also significant was the repeal of President Obama's 'toilet act', which allowed boys and girls in shower and changing rooms in schools to be exposed at any time to someone who identified themselves as being of the opposite sex. Things that Biden would reverse instantly. He would immediately implement the Equality Act now pending in the 'Republican' Senate. It aims to rewrite an all-state non-discrimination law, adding sexual orientation and gender identity to all federal legislation when it comes to protected groups.
Certainly, these last points bring us back to the deep divisions of the country. And to the conflicting and opposing values and worldviews of progressives and conservatives, of Democrats and Republicans. In their recent national conventions, the differences were clearly expressed. Democratic speakers first divided society into groups such as blacks, whites, natives, Latinos and Asians, but then also teenagers, women, LGBT’ers... 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." With this, he unites all Americans as being all equal before the law.
Unfreedom
Finally, it goes deeper. Trump and his people seem to start from a world view in which a human being on the one hand has inviolable dignity, with an equal claim to fundamental rights for everyone. On the other hand, there is the recognition that man is imperfect, and prone to evil and abuse of power. This uncomfortable truth is also the reason for the introduction of "checks and balances" through the separation of powers, through the executive, legislative and judiciary powers that have been in force since 1789, and which control each other.
The Democrats seem to reject, exchange, or redefine these core truths in such a way that each group and each individual has the right to decide for himself what his truth is. These claimed or experienced truths must then be accepted by everyone. Those who do not go along with this politics of identity, which leads to yes-men political correctness, are dismissed as xenophobic, racist, homophobic, Islamophobic, right-wing extremist and deplorable. Thus, under the cover of social justice, unfreedom is imposed 'for all'. A culture of settlement with the wrong past, in which the whole system must be dismantled and reformed, and supposed 'white domination' must come to an end. However, the problem is not in the system, but in the human being.
Solution
But why then so much European attention for America? First of all, and that is a good thing, because it concerns our irreplaceable ally. But perhaps also because such a system change is not only being pursued in America but also (even accelerated) in Europe. In EU member states, the control and grip of the electorate on national policy and national sovereignty is increasingly being dismantled by constant transfers of power to democratically insufficiently controlled and secular international organizations, such as the European Union and (for the time being to a lesser extent) the United Nations. But even a utopian transnational system of global governance, without civilian control, will not bring sustainable world peace and universal social justice. It is not system change and globalization that are the solution, but a (return of) constitutionally anchored decision-making power to people and families. And the recognition of truths such as the biologically inherited male-female distinction, the sinful nature of man, the curbing of evil by the rule of law (which itself is also subject to control), and the prospect of reconciliation through Christ, Son of God.