Trump Demeans the Pope

Photo by Ajayjoseph Fdo

When I am at breakfast, I normally go to the news on my computer just to keep up with the chaos. We have all said it or felt it. Could Trump go any lower in his actions and words? Yes, he did it again. He posted a pic of himself as Jesus. He said that the Pope should stay out of politics and is not against crime. Earlier the Pope indicated that Trump and Hegseth’s War in Iran was not morally right. Trump has a lot of “firsts,” but this was the first time that a U.S. President has threatened the Pope. Pope Leo’s response was that he was not afraid of Trump and would continue to preach the Gospel of Peace and Justice.

Of all the Christian leaders in the world, Pope Leo stands out as the person who has been most vocal in holding Trump accountable. No one in the Episcopal Church or any other Protestant denomination comes close to his statements. It should be noted that the evangelical church, with some exceptions, is getting bad press by never taking him on. Silence is approval. The bottom-line issue is that there is a subset of evangelicals who are interested more in power than they are interested in morality. The same can be said about the Republican Party who recently had a convention in Pennsylvania. On each issue that was raised in the gathering, they had an excuse for Trump’s action and how he was right.

JD Vance’s response to the post said, “It was a joke. Get over it.” This coming from an administration that is thin skinned about any humor about them.

Coupled with all the above is the rise of Christian Nationalism which is neither Christian nor unifying for our nation. Notice what Trump said to explain why he would not apologize for the posting he made. I thought to myself how is he ever going to explain this latest post to make it right. How could he possibly lie about it? He is clever because he said that he wouldn’t apologize because he thought the image was an image of a doctor who makes people better, and I make people better. Someone said after hearing that he now lies about his lies.

There is an article in The Atlantic Monthly that deals with the historical context for all the above, so I am going to share ideas from the “Real Jesus by” Peter Wehner. We are aware that Kristi Noem quoted biblical texts in her PR program. One video is from Isaiah 6:8: Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send and who will go for us?” I said, “Here I am, send me!”

The Trump administration uses biblical passages that include the righteous prevailing over the wicked in their recruitment materials for ICE. Come join a “Holy Campaign.” Many recruits for ICE are Christians whose values line up with Trump. Don’t ask me how except they are a cult.

Tobias Cremer in his book, The Godless Crusade states that “right wing populists don’t view castability as a faith; rather they use Christianity as a cultural identity marker of the pure people against the external others while in many cases naming those disconnected from Christian values, beliefs, and institutions.”

Along with Trump, Hegseth is holding Christian prayer meetings at the Pentagon.  He prayed that every bullet would find its mark.  He framed the war in Iran as a war with Christian moral underpinnings. He said that the war was preparing for the return of Christ. We have seen this phenomenon before.

The Christian Church was highjacked by Hitler and the Nazis. Hitler was a Christian who privately despised the weakness of the religion but used Christian history as a basis for Jewish people’s actions against Jesus by their biased antisemitic reading of the Gospel. It became a tool along with other reasons for actions against Jews. The people were encouraged to read some of the antisemitic writings of Martin Luther. He did write some.

But there was a Christian movement in Germany that stood against Hitler. They were called the Confessing Church that included Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Niemoller. Bonhoeffer was part of the underground movement to kill Hitler and was hanged at the Flossenburg concentration camp. Niemoller is famous for his words that others did nothing to stop Hitler and finally they came for those who stood by and did nothing. Where are those in Congress that were written about by John F. Kennedy in his book, Profiles in Courage?

The words of the theologian, Kierkegaard, ring so true today that “Christianity has in many cases stopped being the home to Jesus.”

Trump’s post of himself as Jesus seems to have gotten more response than I usually see from many people. Although I have seen posts by evangelicals reminding us that “Trump was ordained by God.”

Trump depends on several things. First, in the past people have forgotten his many terrible words and actions. He depends on time lessening the seriousness of his infractions and so do members in Congress. But I think that there is more than that. He reads the expectations of others. All anger is based on expectations that are not met.

Think of the last time that you were angry. I bet that your feelings stemmed from someone’s failure to meet an expectation.  Trump has set the bar for his behavior at the lowest possible level. We don’t expect much from him. He has lulled in us “that’s Trump being Trump.” He is mentioned thousands of times in the Epstein files and no one from his administration has been charged or convicted of anything.

David Callahan’s research in his seminal work, The Cheating Culture, seems to be true. People will choose money over ethical behavior. Trump does it every day. H.e is a great example