Trump’s ‘You don’t have to vote again’ line mocks voting rights battles | Opinion

Now I urge you, brethren, note those who cause divisions and offenses, contrary to the doctrine which you learned, and avoid them. For those who are such do not serve our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly, and by smooth words and flattering speech deceive the hearts of the simple.

Romans 16:17-18, New King James Version

A few weeks ago, during a conservative Christian summit in West Palm Beach, former President Donald Trump told the audience they would never have to vote again if they voted for him in November.

“Christians get out and vote. Just this time,” he urged. “In four years, you don’t have to vote again. We’ll have it fixed so good, you’re not going to have to vote,” he told the crowd at the Turning Point Action Believers Summit.

The entire tone of Trump’s words seemed to mock the Christian faith. And yet some who call themselves Christians seemed to drink the Kool-Aid — in large gulps.

READ MORE: Talk of divine intervention as Trump speaks at Florida summit for the religious right

My question is: If what Trump says is true, that is, about never having to vote again if he were elected, just what does that mean? Is he telling us that if he were elected in November, he would see to it that he is President for Life? If that is what he means, dear friends, American democracy is doomed and God forbid, our nation would be led by a dictator.

As a child, I used to hear my mother praying a simple prayer, “Lord, keep me in my right mind.”

I didn’t understand who she was praying to, or why. But as I got older, I began to understand her prayer. And I learned that God is faithful and answers our prayers, and Momma was in her “right” mind up to the minute the Lord called her home.

If she were alive today, she would say, “If Christians fall under Trump’s spell and believe his false rhetoric, they have lost their ‘right’ mind.”

I’m thinking a lot about the prayers of our mothers, and the faith that they had in a God they could not see. I believe that it was their faith and perseverance that saw them through the times when the cupboards were bare and when the rent was due and there was no money left in the coffee can.

It was their faith, too, that saw us through the dark days when America was going through its growing pains, when life for people who look like me wasn’t worth a plugged nickel.

It was the faith of our mothers who fed and hid the poll workers in the deep South while we Blacks longed for the opportunity to simply vote in an election. It was their faith and being in their “right mind” that kept us together when one of our own was killed just for casting a vote.

Now, Trump is telling some of us Christians that to vote for him means that we won’t ever have to vote again. I don’t like it. Not one bit. Too many of us have died for the privilege to vote. And might I remind you, not all were Christians who died.

Tough times are here again. Although a bit different from the days of the Freedom Riders during the early days of the civil rights movement, we are living in tough times.

Tough, but not hopeless times. We are just going to have to put on our battle garments and be ready for war. I am not talking about carnal warfare; I am talking about spiritual and mental warfare.

There is political fighting — and spiritual fighting — in high places. There are lies being circulated and somebody, somewhere has set off a hate bomb. The fumes from that bomb are permeating the very soul of our country.

It seems to me that it would be a good thing, for us as a nation, to take a cue from my mom and ask God to give us a stable and good mind. A right mind. What do we have to lose?

We are living in a world where true believers must stand up and be counted. We must not be afraid to speak out against bullies like Donald Trump. He is like a bad child, whose parents have spoiled him to the point that he thinks he can get away with anything. We can’t let that happen.

As a nation, we have come a long way. In my lifetime, we have made many positive strides. The very fact that I, a Black woman, am free to write this column for a major, white-owned newspaper is proof of how far we have come. We must continue to build on our accomplishments.

Yet, I fear that if we are not careful and watchful, all the progress we have made, all the blood that was shed to get us to this point, will have been in vain.

We are about to go to the polls to elect a new president. Already I hear rumors of a war brewing if the “right” person — meaning Donald Trump — isn’t elected. Do we want to live in a country where people will once again be afraid to go to the polls to vote? I don’t think so.

I am not trying to tell anyone how to vote. I am simply saying, we don’t want to go back to those days. We want to make America Greater, not just Great Again.

So, we must move forward in a decent and respectful way. We must clear the cobwebs from our brain and and ask the lord to keep us in our “right” mind. That way, we will do the right thing at the polls.

A momentous milestone

Congratulations to the Miami Oratorio Society, a classical musical group celebrating its Golden Anniversary.

The group was founded in 1974 by the late Victor Kelly. Kelly, a baritone concert soloist, had moved here from New York and wanted to expose the community to the choral works of the great composers such as Handel, Bach, Mendelssohn, Rossini and others.

Over the past 50 years, the group has performed in churches, libraries, schools and auditoriums throughout South Florida. The Society will celebrate 50 years of bringing the classics to the people at a banquet at 7 p.m. Sept. 13 at Club 19 Pembroke Lakes, 10500 Taft Street in Pembroke Pines.

Tickets are $100 each and are available at www.miamioratorio.org or by calling Lorraine J. Forbes at 305-915-9024.

This story was originally published August 15, 2024 at 12:06 PM.