Against "Doomsdayism"
Let's not freak out over this election.
I’m getting tired of everyone saying that this is the most important election in our lifetimes. We kept on hearing from Democrats that democracy was at stake in this election. Thankfully, Democrats have toned down that kind of rhetoric and have now been mostly talking about “freedom”—albeit a progressive, Rooseveltian kind of freedom. Meanwhile, Trump for a long time has been saying that we “won’t have a country anymore” if he loses the election. One does not have to spend much time on social media to see that his supporters believe this “doomsdayism."
Look, I for one don’t like any of the candidates running in this election cycle. I think both Harris and Trump will be bad for the country if either one of them gets elected. That said, I refuse to declare that the end of the world is coming because I’m not going to get what I want. I get the critiques that Harris is most likely a radical leftist who will try acting like a queen in office and that Trump is a unique threat who could try to become a dictator if elected. There’s substance to both those points, but I think they go too far. It will be vey hard for Harris if she tries doing crazy things since she may very well face gridlock if Republicans gain control in Congress. Also, Harris has been avoiding policy debate nearly like the plague, so it’s not like she will be able to claim that she has a “mandate” to push a radical agenda. Trump will very likely receive a lot of pushback from the courts and maybe even from Congress if he starts doing that which is not constitutionally permissible for him to do. I also really doubt that he has it in him to become Mr. Authoritarian and somehow refuse to leave office.
We need to take a sober-minded minded approach as we analyze politics and current events. More often than not, we just need to calm down. This is especially true if you call yourself a Christian. We need to be active, but ultimately the battle belongs to the Lord (1 Samuel 17:47). As Doug Wilson wisely pointed out, “Without an eschatology [understanding that we are not at all at the end yet and that Christ has already overcome the world], every battle is the whole war.” This election is not the war itself, it’s just another stage of this long, drawn out war that has been fought forever. And they’ll be more elections down the road, despite what some grifters want us to believe.
So, reject all the doomsday talk. In all likelihood, you’ll still be going to work and raising your family once everyone’s cast their ballots.