Oh my, thank you Diana for your well-spoken words. We all carry God’s loving light inside. But some of us choose to ignore it. Instead we bully, prevaricate, and denigrate what is in our midst thinking we are powerful. We become the snake.
I think that tonight's Town Hall pretty much proved my contention that Trump is an unrepentant sinner.
Also, that's about the kindest thing I can think of to say about him. To re-victimize a person you raped, to defend war crimes in Ukraine, to lie over and over and over about the 2020 election, to deceive and deflect and deny. . . it was vile.
I have struggled now many years concerning Trump and his horrors. He is a child of God as are we all. From reviewing his past as well as present he had never known nor felt love. God resides in him as in us but he has no ability to recognize this Eternal Beloved. CNN and the Catholic university will not reach an audience that might be moved to find Trump unworthy of the office of President. This only will move those of us who already know the man to feel more anger, pain and frustration. Enough. Thank you for speaking so clearly.
I am a Christian Educator in the NH Conference, UCC. Although I believe everyone needs to be heard, unfortunately Donald Trump and his comments do not give our young people a good moral compass at a time when our churches are under attack by various forces.
Reminds me of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's discussion of how "stupidity" of the people, including the church, contributed to the rise of hitler's nazism, atrocities. There is no way it would be an "honest and informed interchange of ideas and perspectives". I hope the college changes their decision and cancels. Yes, welcoming the stranger is a virtue, but then there is evil. CNN is counting on the ratings and potential profits hoping that viewers will watch like people rubberneck a freeway accident.
Thank you for your words and congratulations for boldly speaking out about St. Anselm’s poor choice in this instance. Will they give a free platform to other candidates?
The Universalist in me says that God's love can touch and reach anyone, regardless of their behavior, pathology, unrepentant history, and so on. He can see his image in their souls. But I'm not God. Jesus said 'by their fruits you shall know them" and my limited human vision sees little to none of God's image in Donald J Trump; it's hidden from view. From what I see in his behavior I might think he sold his soul a long time ago, or, more charitably, someone or some system stole it from him. But even if we charitably should feel empathy for his condition (surely he's miserable...), from what I see of him, yes, we should as humans be wary of him. And given his proximity to power structures, we should be very, very wary.
I appreciate this perspective and the thoughtful exploration of what is at stake and how we should view such unprecedented situations. I am a UCC clergy in New Hampshire, and St. Anselm and other NH colleges and universities have often been the sites of debates and campaign events. I have also been a chaplain at a University for 22 years and know how challenged administrators can be when faced with decisions that require moral clarity and integrity and will invariably result in viscious outcries from the extreme right and its bullies and demagogues. I agree with where you come down on this, Diana, and contemplate how refreshing it would be to have an insitution take the position of "no more" and stop participating in giving Mr. Trump a platform, again and again, when he can't honor even the most basic tenets of civil discourse.
In general, I'm a big fan of grace/compassion for sinners. But I've always felt the clear line in any sort of moral enforcement the church should do is behavior that directly harms/abuses others. So many church cultures and leaders seem to do the opposite, policing morality with little or no obvious harm to others while giving abuse a pass, if it's committed by the powerful. Brian Klaas talks about this phenomenon in secular contexts-many organizations misguidedly save the their most stringent accountability mechanisms for people whose behavior matters the least in real terms (I wrote a post about this https://hollyberkleyfletcher.substack.com/p/what-makes-the-church-uniquely-corruptible.) Hospitality is definitely not required in this case, and in fact, hosting him will only misinform citizens. Take a pass, St. Anselm!
Indeed, the snake poem was perfect for the dangers of hospitality to evil. I confess in way back machine I was a proud Lincoln Republican. How a party with an origination story founded on godly principles has such a person as its candidate (again!) I still do not understand in my heart.
Oh my, thank you Diana for your well-spoken words. We all carry God’s loving light inside. But some of us choose to ignore it. Instead we bully, prevaricate, and denigrate what is in our midst thinking we are powerful. We become the snake.
I think that tonight's Town Hall pretty much proved my contention that Trump is an unrepentant sinner.
Also, that's about the kindest thing I can think of to say about him. To re-victimize a person you raped, to defend war crimes in Ukraine, to lie over and over and over about the 2020 election, to deceive and deflect and deny. . . it was vile.
Trump's response to yesterday's events: https://twitter.com/MikeSington/status/1656238710177021954
Not a guy who is in any way sorry for sexual assault and lying.
I have struggled now many years concerning Trump and his horrors. He is a child of God as are we all. From reviewing his past as well as present he had never known nor felt love. God resides in him as in us but he has no ability to recognize this Eternal Beloved. CNN and the Catholic university will not reach an audience that might be moved to find Trump unworthy of the office of President. This only will move those of us who already know the man to feel more anger, pain and frustration. Enough. Thank you for speaking so clearly.
I am a Christian Educator in the NH Conference, UCC. Although I believe everyone needs to be heard, unfortunately Donald Trump and his comments do not give our young people a good moral compass at a time when our churches are under attack by various forces.
Reminds me of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's discussion of how "stupidity" of the people, including the church, contributed to the rise of hitler's nazism, atrocities. There is no way it would be an "honest and informed interchange of ideas and perspectives". I hope the college changes their decision and cancels. Yes, welcoming the stranger is a virtue, but then there is evil. CNN is counting on the ratings and potential profits hoping that viewers will watch like people rubberneck a freeway accident.
Thank you for your words and congratulations for boldly speaking out about St. Anselm’s poor choice in this instance. Will they give a free platform to other candidates?
I agree the moral issue should take precedence. If only the media would learn from 2016 and stop giving Trump airtime.
Thank you Diana. Your words are wise and true. I know you are ready for the opposition, I see it already in the comments. I love your bravery.
The Universalist in me says that God's love can touch and reach anyone, regardless of their behavior, pathology, unrepentant history, and so on. He can see his image in their souls. But I'm not God. Jesus said 'by their fruits you shall know them" and my limited human vision sees little to none of God's image in Donald J Trump; it's hidden from view. From what I see in his behavior I might think he sold his soul a long time ago, or, more charitably, someone or some system stole it from him. But even if we charitably should feel empathy for his condition (surely he's miserable...), from what I see of him, yes, we should as humans be wary of him. And given his proximity to power structures, we should be very, very wary.
I appreciate this perspective and the thoughtful exploration of what is at stake and how we should view such unprecedented situations. I am a UCC clergy in New Hampshire, and St. Anselm and other NH colleges and universities have often been the sites of debates and campaign events. I have also been a chaplain at a University for 22 years and know how challenged administrators can be when faced with decisions that require moral clarity and integrity and will invariably result in viscious outcries from the extreme right and its bullies and demagogues. I agree with where you come down on this, Diana, and contemplate how refreshing it would be to have an insitution take the position of "no more" and stop participating in giving Mr. Trump a platform, again and again, when he can't honor even the most basic tenets of civil discourse.
In general, I'm a big fan of grace/compassion for sinners. But I've always felt the clear line in any sort of moral enforcement the church should do is behavior that directly harms/abuses others. So many church cultures and leaders seem to do the opposite, policing morality with little or no obvious harm to others while giving abuse a pass, if it's committed by the powerful. Brian Klaas talks about this phenomenon in secular contexts-many organizations misguidedly save the their most stringent accountability mechanisms for people whose behavior matters the least in real terms (I wrote a post about this https://hollyberkleyfletcher.substack.com/p/what-makes-the-church-uniquely-corruptible.) Hospitality is definitely not required in this case, and in fact, hosting him will only misinform citizens. Take a pass, St. Anselm!
Indeed, the snake poem was perfect for the dangers of hospitality to evil. I confess in way back machine I was a proud Lincoln Republican. How a party with an origination story founded on godly principles has such a person as its candidate (again!) I still do not understand in my heart.
When have you ever not asked the right question?
Thank you Diana for your always thoughtful, intelligent, compassionate reflection. I so appreciate this post and all your posts.
Hospitality yes; stupidity, no.