Do you think trump and many republicans have chosen their poor moral positions?Truth is relative to our chosen state of our conscience.
If so, what is the nature of these choices?
Actually a rational mind comes when a person learns reasoning skills. Some are naturally gifted, but it is largely a skill that has to be learned.A Rational mind is a gift humans share.
Basic thinking comes with language acquisition, and many confuse basic thinking as reasoning or being rational. If more people were skilled at reasonings, and had better self-awareness, there would be fewer theists. I say this because theism is a social phenomenom where a member adopts the basic cultural tenets of their social experience. And this includes religious concepts and related behaviors like belief in a god. Are they choking this? No. Much of this happens subconsciously, and at such a young age that their brains are not fully developed. Most citizens end up mimicking what their social experiences teach them.