Every four years, Americans are tempted toward myopia. Each election is the “most important election in our lifetimes.” Each election is the election that will decide whether America stands or falls; if the wrong man or woman wins, then we will “never recover.” So the pressure builds to take sides. After all, with the fate of the nation at stake, who wants to be on the sidelines?

But there’s another view, one that holds both that politics is downstream from culture and that culture and politics aren’t dictated by any single election but rather by countless people, events, and ideas interacting in unpredictable ways. Elections are important, to be sure, but they aren’t as important as ideas and character when it comes to shaping the destiny of a nation.

Ideas matter, and supporting Trump means advancing ideas I find not just wrong, but destructive. I’ve defended the unborn my entire career; he praises Planned Parenthood. I believe that marriage is a sacred covenant between husband and wife; he’s a serial adulterer. I believe America should lead the world in defense not just of its territorial integrity but also of civilization itself; he would retreat into glorified isolationism. I believe that free trade has made America more prosperous and enriched the lives of its citizens; he threatens to start ruinous economic conflicts. I believe that a core American value is that we can and must judge our citizens by the content of their character, not the color of their skin or their families’ roots; he attacks a federal judge because of his parents’ Mexican heritage.

So Trump has profound differences not just with me but with Americans like me. And we’re not willing to lift a single finger — not even in the voting booth — to advance his ideas, even if his opponent’s ideas are also repugnant.