Every election is important. This one is off the charts. I cannot lie; I was utterly dismayed by the first presidential debate. It was ugly and discouraging. The tendency is to blame the candidates, but in truth we are to blame. The fact that we have put ourselves in a position as a nation that we are choosing between two highly inadequate candidates, is our sole responsibility.

So, here we are. What do we do now?

The choice between these highly flawed candidates is much clearer than one might think. The challenge is seeing through all the smoke and mirrors that is the basis of every political campaign. Aside from the rhetoric and political speech, here are the choices.:

1) The protection of free speech in all its forms: protesting, the press, worship OR use of the cancel culture’s methods to shut down speech, remove differing opinions from college campuses, supporting rioting and looting as a political weapon and shutting down churches in the name of “safety”.

2) The protection of 2nd amendment right to bear arms and the enforcement of existing gun laws OR the never-ending effort to make gun ownership more difficult and more expensive for law-abiding citizens.

3) Protect the lives of the unborn as reflected by the majority of Americans: severely limited abortions. No abortions as birth control, no abortions for minors without parental notification, no abortions by doctors without hospital privileges, required ultrasound before any abortion procedures and NO late term abortions OR abortions provided at tax-payer expense, abortions available up to the moment of delivery, fetal tissue being sold by Planned Parenthood for medical experimentation, abortions for minors without parental consent or notification, abortion as birth control for minorities and the poor all of which is labeled as “women’s health”.

4) Returning our nation to a rational, adult approach to the dangers of COVID: protecting at-risk groups of all ages while allowing adults to make informed decisions for their families and businesses, re-opening schools to children who have almost no risk and a functioning society based on medical science, not fear-mongering OR a promise for national mask mandates, nationwide shut-downs, politicizing a disease and peddling fear in an insatiable thirst for power.

5) Economic growth fueled by lower taxes, higher wages and the steady elimination of bureaucratic red tape that stifles businesses and the entrepreneurial spirit of America OR a promised gigantic tax increase which in partnership with COVID will destroy what is left of our fragile COVID economy.

6) Welcoming legal immigrants who wish to become a contributing part of the American melting pot OR open borders which flout the rule of rule, legalize all who are here illegally, buy votes with promises of a Democrat nanny state at the expense of citizen taxpayers.

These are just a few obvious examples of Trump OR Biden. This election is less of an election about the candidates and more of a time for Americans to decide what kind of country they want to live in. Either we will live in a country that is governed by the people and our inspired Constitution OR we will be subject to the destructive whims of power-grabbing Democrats. The Democrat Party has sold its soul to socialism. They hate the Constitution and the restrictions it places on their power. Their first priority is always their own power and advancement; for all their pretty speeches, their actual concern for Americans doesn’t even register as a priority. You need look no further than the minority communities the Democrats profess to love for proof. For 60 years, the Democrats have promised the moon to poor minority communities and have delivered worse than nothing. Not only have their situations not improved, they have worsened under decades of Democrat “leadership” in such Democrat strongholds as L.A., San Francisco, Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Baltimore, Washington DC, New York City, Philadelphia and Detroit, to name a few. These cities have been run into the ground by unsustainable fiscal policies, hollow promises and the oppression of the Democrat plantation. For the first time in my lifetime, pre-COVID, minority communities had begun to prosper under Donald Trump’s fiscal policies: record employment numbers, record wage increases, record job creation. What terrifies the Democrats the most is that all of those things lead to freedom. As minority communities become financially free, they suddenly realize that the Democrat Party has been playing them for fools and using them for their own selfish advancement for decades. They realize how capable they are and that Democrat policies have kept them in poverty and ignorance; the preservation of their votes as Democrats more important than any actual advancement. If you wish to see our nation’s future under the current Democrat Party you need look no further than your closest “blue” stronghold.

I am not here to extol Donald Trump’s virtues as a spiritual leader or a consistent example of perfect personal comportment. That is not his purpose. I look to God and my Savior for spiritual leadership. I have many, many examples in my life whom I can look to for personal comportment. I would prefer that the President of the United States were one of those, but I am enough of an adult that I can determine when any President’s behavior is worthy of emulation or not. For those who use morality as a justification to vote against Trump, your hypocrisy is dangerous to the future of the nation. No one can make the argument with a straight face that Joe Biden is your guy based on moral grounds. Joe Biden has spent forty-seven years suckling at the public teat, enriching himself and his family, flip-flopping on every major political issue, sexually harassing women left and right while accomplishing essentially nothing for America. The fact that the mainstream media will give him a pass and give him cover does not excuse us for doing so. You may not like Donald Trump, I totally understand that. I was an EXTREMELY reluctant voter the first time around. But he now has a record in office. And although I don’t love everything that comes out of his mouth, I very much like the policies that have come out of his administration. That doesn’t mean he gets a free pass. Our national debt is out of control and his policies have significantly added to that. Not good. There are other things. But overall, he has defended and stood for the principles that I stand for: religious freedom, economic freedom, sanctity of life, America first (so that we can then help the rest of the world in various ways), a strong military as a deterrent and love for a flawed country filled with flawed people trying to do their best every day. The alternative in Biden is unthinkable. I cannot live under socialist policies. Having been raised in a free country, I will not last under the oppressive policies the Democrats propose. The economy will be destroyed and the collapse to follow will make the Depression look like the County Fair. If we elect the Democrats this time around, I warn now of the cataclysmic effects to freedom and our future. If that happens, don’t complain to me because I will say, with no glee, “I warned you.” Socialism is only ever rooted out by civil war and bloodshed; that is not a future I want a part of.

Here’s what I am certain of. Donald Trump is a highly flawed man who loves America and Americans. He wants to improve our country in a way that will benefit every single citizen. The Presidency has changed him and given him a perspective he never had before and his concern for America is real. As a Christian, I believe in forgiveness, I believe that change is not only possible, but necessary. We all need God’s grace as we stumble through life, make mistakes, dust ourselves off and try again. God’s grace is also available to our President. Only one perfect man has ever walked the face of this earth and he was not a politician. Jesus isn’t running for any political offices in this election or any other. Therefore, I will gladly choose Trump, knowing he is representing, in his own flawed way, my political desires. I will leave his judgement to God and pray that our country survives this election.

-Burns is a conservative blogger who lives in Spokane, Wash.