Addendum posted January 13. 2021: It's been a bit over 4 years since I wrote this post, and, during this time, a lot has changed. The entire world has been dealing with the unexpected travails of the novel coronavirus we call COVID-19. And the United States has again struggled with an election where a man named Donald Trump has forced a debate about the soul.
I'm writing this addendum on the day the U.S. House of Representatives is going to vote on a motion to impeach Trump for inciting insurrection. I hope the vote succeeds.
Over the past four years, Trump has shown with increasing clarity that he has no courage. He doesn't have the courage to listen to his own soul, let alone the souls of millions of Americans who needed a courageous leader during the 2020 pandemic, but instead found themselves saddled with someone who could only think about his own loss of Happiness when he lost the fall election.
On the plus side, people from both the
Democratic and Republican parties have been appalled by the barrage of
lies spewed by Trump and his closest supporters, lies that directly
incited violence on Capitol Hill on January 6, 2021. America has been
forced to see the ugly side of rhetoric, personality cults, and
dualistic political mongering -- all negative aspects of System 2 when
left unchecked by System 1.
It's a lesson we all should have learned from 20th century history, but apparently we needed a refresher.
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Addendum posted January 3, 2024: Because of recent changes in how individuals tend to read online posts and use -- or rather, misuse -- posts (by taking bits and pieces out of context and using catchy phrases to support their personal crusades), I want to say right up front, before you get to the paragraphs I wrote in November 2016, that I do not support former President Donald Trump in any way on any topic. Nor am I likely to ever change my mind. He is a coward -- a bullying, narcissistic, selfish coward.
In 2016, I didn't have the evidence to support or condone a flat out, across the board denunciation of the personality and policies of Donald Trump. But since the January 6, 2021 violence on Capitol Hill, Trump has, through his own words and actions, provided abundant proof about the kind of man he really is. Today, I wouldn't vote for him if he were the last person in Christendom.
Following this addendum is the post I originally wrote over seven years ago. You can decide for yourself whether Trump believes he's been elevated to the status of God.
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Addendum posted November 2, 2024: Today, I'm doing something I've never done before. I've decided to delete the entire post I originally wrote on November 11, 2016. I'm deleting it because the election campaign of 2024 has taught me that vehement supporters of Donald Trump are willing to embrace any lies he tells them. These supporters have abandoned their own conscience and their own inner voice. They've decided they shouldn't have to take personal responsibility for their own choices. Many seem happy to follow any conspiracy theory rather than do the hard work of finding meaning through the Soul's courage.
If I leave the original post intact, it will be misused. And those who want to misuse it will get away with it because far-right Trump supporters aren't interested in the moral code taught by Jesus. They're trying to grow a very different kind of religious tree, one rooted in purity, piety, and perfection. They believe the glorification of Trump will bring about some sort of utopian restoration. They believe all their lies and all their violent, misogynistic rhetoric are justified because their goal is so worthy.
They are wrong.
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| In 2021, after I moved into a new home, I discovered this plaster plaque had snapped in half during the moving process. I reminds me of what happens inside the biological brain of someone who has abandoned his or her own conscience. Angels stop gathering with you. Angels still love you and forgive you, but angels aren't obliged to help you if you're voting for the world leaders who know only Hate. Angels have Free Will, too. Photo credit JAT 2021. |
Addendum March 1, 2025: I wrote this short piece for an online forum. I decided it expresses how I'm feeling, so I'm adding it here:
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So yesterday afternoon, I decided it would be nice to lie down on my
sofa and have a bit of a rest after lunch. The sun was peeking out after
a long, heavy, winter rain, and I thought, "Yes, it can't hurt to have a
nap."
And while I was sleeping, Trump and Vance decided it was a good time to try to wreck the whole world.
I'm tired of hearing Trump say he wants the war in Ukraine to end
because "millions of people of dying." If he cared at all about the
lives of regular people, he wouldn't have chosen the dogs of hellfire to
be his closest advisors.
The lies, the hypocrisy, the projection onto others of all his own venom
-- these are the traits of a human being who has given up any semblance
of decency, compassion, courage, and self-awareness.
Some commentators have suggested it would have been better if the
conversation between Zelenskyy, Trump, and Vance had taken place behind
closed doors. I disagree. Bullies, narcissists, and psychopaths adore
secrecy, because secrecy allows them to deny they ever violated anyone.
Because it was all caught on film, individuals can now decide for
themselves what they saw, what they learned, and what side of the debate
they resonate with. Regardless of what one believed the day before
yesterday about these three men, there's no unseeing the real intents
that emerged in the Oval Office yesterday.
It's better that we know and keep remembering what we all saw (even though it's triggering for far too many people).
