Hillary Clinton is not the devil

Hillary Clinton is the devil?

Really?

That’s what Donald Trump has said repeatedly, including at the last presidential debate, when Trump allowed he was surprised to see Clinton primary rival Bernie Sanders “sign on with the devil.”

That’s a fairly powerful, if theologically inaccurate, charge.

But judging from the number of evangelicals who are opposing Clinton and supporting Trump, the Republican nominee may not be alone in his aversion to Clinton.

“I was at a Christian apologetics conference and every time [Hillary Clinton’s] name would come up, everyone would boo,” said Rachel Held Evans, a religious speaker and author. “A friend of mine said, ‘Christians aren’t allowed to say “bitch,” but they make an exception for Hillary.’ She was the first woman I remember being described as a feminazi.”

That moniker likely came from talk radio host Rush Limbaugh, who, believe it or not, is not the most obsessed or deranged of Clinton’s critics. That would probably be Alex Jones of the conspiracy-mongering website Infowars. On his own show, Jones claims a source confirmed to him that Clinton was either a demon or possessed by one.

Gee, you’d think she’d have been powerful enough to keep all those emails from coming out, huh?

Leave it to pastor Franklin Graham to correct the record: “Donald J. Trump has said Hillary Clinton was the devil, but I can assure you that’s not the case,” Graham wrote on Facebook. “The devil is real. Hell is a real place.”

Still, Graham urged Christians to vote for the candidate who promises the better future for America, and will make better appointments to the Supreme Court. How many of you think he’s referring to Clinton?

So a solid majority of Christians appear ready to vote for a foul-mouthed, twice-divorced TV reality show host who fails to render unto Caesar that which is Caesars, who boasts in private about having tried (and failed) to violate the Seventh Commandment and revels in the fact that stardom apparently gives him free reign to assault women.

Sounds reasonable.

Not that Hillary Clinton is without sin: According to FBI director James Comey, Clinton allegedly bore false witness about her use of a private email server during her time as secretary of state.

So, what’s a good Christian to do? True followers of Jesus wouldn’t be comfortable in either political party. On the one hand, they’d be called to minister to the poor and immigrants (legal and otherwise). They’d be expected to care for the planet and all God’s creations. But they’d also be expected to stand up for moral principles such as the sanctity of life and the dignity of the person. (Think Pope Francis, and you’re on the right track.)

Part of the problem is that the Bible is many things — history, prophecy, poetry, a repository of great moral wisdom — but a political guidebook it is not. Jesus Christ took an active disinterest in temporal politics at every turn, and taught his followers that he’d come to build a kingdom based on love, forgiveness, worship of God and service to each other, leading to eternal peace in the next life. The politics of the day wasn’t even an afterthought for him. So trying to pound the square peg of the Good Book into the round hole of politics is a fool’s errand.

Yet, it happens every day, with Republicans claiming more believers, mostly because of their stances on social issues.

“Evangelicals are simply not going to vote for Hillary Clinton,” said David Lane, founder of American Renewal movement. “Donald Trump’s comments were stupid and they were awful. The question is, where is he now? Donald Trump is moving. He was on national television, he apologized, he said he was wrong.”

Well, he’s got the forgiveness part down, at least.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated how many times Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump has been divorced. He has been divorced twice.

Steve Sebelius is a Review-Journal political columnist. Follow him on Twitter (@SteveSebelius) or reach him at 702-387-5276 or SSebelius@reviewjournal.com.