West is displaying Christian values

Evangelical voters beware: Donald Trump is not the quintessential Christian presidential candidate.

Kanye West, a Wyoming multi-billionaire running for the highest office in the land under the Birthday Party, has made Christian values much more of a priority in his campaign than Trump.

Comparing their agendas, West has completely modeled his platform based on verses from the Bible while Trump mentions vague platform points with goals to “protect unborn life through every means available” and “defend the freedoms of religious believers and organizations” as the only examples of what are commonly believed to be Christian values in his second-term agenda.

Trump as president called for a total ban on abortions and punishment for anyone who has one. West, exemplifying a more Christian approach, told the New York Times in an interview last month he recognizes that it’s impossible to stop all abortions and wants to lead with love rather than punishing anyone who has to or chooses to get an abortion.

West’s newly formed party reflects his Birthday Lake eco-village plan he tweeted in August. According to the plan, he wants to provide families with a safe option to give birth in addition to education, health care and employment opportunities for families that need it the most.

In the past, Trump took advantage of those less privileged than him through the now-defunct Trump University and wants to raise the price of rent by 30% for federal subsidized housing. West, however, is in the process of building a Christian academy and affordable housing for those who need it.

Citing Proverbs 22:6 in his 10-point agenda as president, West wants to “provide leadership to restructure our country’s education system to serve the most at-risk and vulnerable populations.”

Comparatively, annual budget requests from the Trump administration called for cuts to programs designed to provide health care, housing and education for low-income families.

Protecting the provided earth, West wants to invest in renewable energy and make clean air and water a national security priority. Trump has demonstrated no regard for environmental measures, heralding non-renewable energy sources and choosing not to believe in climate change.

Abiding by one of the Ten Commandments, West wants to end the death penalty while Trump’s Department of Justice performed seven executions this year in Terre Haute, the first of their kind since 2003.

Of course, a lot of West’s platform points resemble those of presidential candidate Joe Biden. And truly I don’t believe it is in our power nor is it healthy to gauge the Christian-ness of a political candidate.

However, according to poll numbers, Trump is leading the race among evangelical voters, many of whom claim to be single-issue voters. But when comparing the two candidates on many of those issues, particularly abortion, it’s clear West has more of a plan and cares more about issues on the minds of Christian Americans than Trump, who has little to no plan on what he aims to do as president for another four years.