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Television viewers sho see the single letter “F” on the screen followed by three dots immediately get the speaker’s sanitized message and often chuckle. Add just one extra dot and they’re completely confused. That’s because the speaker may be planning to explain why the most important F words in the English dictionary may soon become “Facts” and “Faith.” Both of these well-known F words require an extra dot.

The upcoming 2024 presidential election and the future of American democracy will likely be determined by the number of voters on Nov. 5 who’ll cast a ballot based on facts or faith. Republican candidate Donald Trump knows evangelical Christians are his most loyal supporters, and loss of this important base would guarantee another loss to President Joe Biden. Trump won the faith of evangelicals and the presidency in 2016 by often claiming “he was one of them.” To show the continuing depth of his religious beliefs and raise money to pay mountain legal bills, Trump just promoted the sale of a “new Bible.” He declared it’s the only Bible that has his endorsement and obviously hopes the new Bible will strongly appeal to evangelicas. This could backfire as many evangelicals have already lost faith in master salesman Trump and even more are perfectly satisfied with their old Bibles.

President Biden is confident his campaign will again be successful if voters base their votes on facts and compare his lifetime record with Trump’s. Voters are unnecessarily concerned about the age difference, because the gap hasn’t changed since he defeated Trump in 2020. Biden’s sincere belief in democracy is his main strength. He’s counting on a majority of freedom-loving Americans to reject this GOP MAGA candidate based on many facts, including Trump’s indictments for more crimes than most mob bosses.

Sandy Jones

Baker City