Kent Nelson, Sartell
I am 78 years old and have learned a few lessons throughout the years. One of the most important includes the following: never argue politics, never argue religion and never argue with a drunk. Ignoring my own advice, I would like to propose the following arguments as to why Trump lost the election. Let’s start with religion.
God is omniscient and omnipotent we are taught. There is also the idea of the will of God. This suggests God can judge and determine cosmic outcomes. Sixty percent of the residents in Stearns County voted for him. Coincidentally, 45 percent of the residents in Stearns County are Catholics bound by the teachings of “pray, pay and obey.” This aligns with his demand for loyalty and obedience to him. Now, Trump’s lists of failures include the following: he lies and has a total disregard for the law, bungled the covid pandemic, behaved poorly toward women and minorities, disrespected the presidency, insulted world leaders, cozied up to dictators and ignored the teachings of Jesus by insulting and demeaning people. The obvious conclusion to the mess Trump has created is God in his/her infinite wisdom is now punishing the United States with Covid-19 and has caused his defeat for re-election. If one believes in religion, then one has to believe this is God’s will.
Now let’s move on to politics. He and his lawyers have lawsuits rejected, proposed outlandish claims of fraud and conspiracy theories of dead people voting, rigged voting machines, fraudulent mail-in ballots and rejected the results of the elections all without proof. As of this writing, Biden has won 290 electoral votes to Trump’s 232 and won the popular vote by more than five million votes. Now for a secular reason. The scientific principal of Occam’s Razor can explain his loss. It states, “The best explanation of an event is the one that is the simplest, using the fewest assumptions or hypotheses.” Judging by his loss, it’s plain the simple reason people didn’t vote for Trump is they didn’t like him or his behavior.
The two aforementioned reasons for Trump’s failure has little to do with reality or have any truth behind them. They are mere speculations that even a person who has had too much to drink couldn’t accept. So there you have it: don’t argue religion, politics or with a drunk. But, there is an abiding reason for his failure that combines both religion and a secular explanation. And after four years of Trump, his loss is best explained by Martin Luther King Jr.’s declaration that, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”