'How Do These Candidates Compare to My Father'?

By J. WILLIAM BOWSER

Recently a local newspaper (the Altoona Mirror) featured a full-page advertisement, which insisted that a vote for Donald Trump is a vote for Christianity and a vote for Joe Biden is a vote for the forces of evil. Tactfully put, I think that is a most interesting opinion. My father was a pastor in the Church of the Brethren for 71 years, and what I find myself asking is, “How do these candidates compare to my father?”

One of my earliest memories is when Dad sat me on his knee and said, “What do you know about Santa Claus?” I was very young, so I answered, “Nothing,” even a...