Donald Trump is Evil

Donald Trump is evil.  I hereby judge him so.

Yes, yes, I know, Jesus said we should not judge others lest we be judged.  But the quote doesn’t end there, and leaving it there takes it out of context and destroys what Jesus was saying.   Jesus was not against judging others; after all, Jesus himself judged hypocrites and Pharisees, among others, quite harshly.  No, we all must judge others in order to get through any day.  The rest of Jesus’ quote is that before we take the speck out of another’s eye, we should first take the log out of our own eye.

OK, I’ve taken enough of the log out of my own eye that I’m able to match the definition of an evil person with a person, and therefore I can say – judge, if you will —  without any fear of contradiction that Donald Trump is evil.

The definitions of evil and evil persons come from Dr. M. Scott Peck, the late prominent American psychiatrist who took a deep dive into the study of evil for his classic 1983 book People of the Lie.  Peck defines evil as “that which does harm to life or liveliness,” and he defines evil persons as those who attack others instead of facing their own failures, and who construct layer upon layer of self-deception in order to avoid the pain of self-examination. He says they are driven by a deep sense of inferiority and self-hatred that makes them feel inadequate, so they lash out at others in an attempt to feel better about themselves.

Does anyone exist who fits those descriptions better than Donald Trump?

Of course not, so it raises an obvious question:  Since Trump so obviously fits the definition of an evil person, why do millions of good, non-evil people follow him so slavishly?

Peck explains:  The danger of studying evil up close, as he learned first-hand from doing his own deep research into evil – and as I uncomfortably learned from merely reading his book — is that evil can pull you into it if you get close to it.  I remember when I read the book some 40 years ago I had to put it down several times and walk away from it.  It’s hard to explain, perhaps impossible to explain, but if you’ve read the book you’ll understand.  Evil pulls you into it if you get too close.

So that explains how someone like Trump pulls so many good people into his orbit: “Evil people often succeed in deceiving others” (Peck’s words, my italics).

Jim Wallis, founder and editor of Sojourners magazine, sees that same power in Trump, that power to suck others into his evil.  Wallis writes:

“Trump has led and continues to lead a very dirty life. He is a moral degenerate. Corruption isn’t even the right word, because Trump has never shown any morals to corrupt.

“Trump has spent his whole life in filthy dirt – personally, sexually, relationally, financially –  in  business and politics. And Trump has pulled everything and everyone around him into the ugly mud of his own existence.  The dirtiness of Donald Trump’s life and world is like a quicksand that sucks people in until they become dirty too. Perhaps the only thing that this famously greedy man shares is his filth. Donald Trump makes everyone around him dirty” (italics mine).

That is exactly, precisely what Peck is saying.  Study evil and it sucks you in.  Get too close to Trump’s evil and he sucks you in.

Wallis continues. “And as far as lies go, it isn’t the record number of lies that Trump has told as a candidate and president, but that his whole life is a lie, built and sustained on lies. Trump’s lies are all to serve his own success and power. Trump regards the truth as his enemy, and it is. His former White House chief of staff, retired Marine Gen. John Kelly, told friends that: ‘The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship. … He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.’”

And so it makes sense why the Republican Party wants him to be president.  His minions have paid such close attention to him – believed in him so unquestioningly, so blindly – that they have been sucked into his evilness and therefore have been made a part of it.

I mean, what can you say about someone who devotes his Memorial Day message to condemning his perceived foes as “Human Scum,” lashing out at Judge Lewis Kaplan, writer E. Jean Carroll, CNN’s Anderson Cooper, and Judge Arthur Engoron, whom he described as a “wacko,” without ever mentioning American servicemembers who died defending their country?  Remember when he was president and  toured Arlington National Cemetery and wondered aloud why those in the graves gave their lives for  their country?  “What was in it for them?” he memorably asked while standing among them.

A big problem with changing the minds of Trump’s followers is that most people find it hard – many find it impossible — to admit a mistake, especially a mistake as big as being fiercely loyal to Trump for so long.  They’d rather stick with an evil loser like Trump than admit they were wrong.

But there may be some good news here.  A few days ago, 12 persons who Trump approved of quickly and unanimously convicted him of committing 34 felonies that involved creating fraudulent business records to illegally influence the 2016 election.  Trump and his followers can be expected to cry foul and claim the trial was fixed, which they are doing, but anyone who looks at the evidence objectively knows he is guilty as charged.  And do they really want a would-be fascist dictator who has been convicted of 34 felonies to be the president of the United States?  Really?

If they won’t listen to the  jury, maybe they’ll listen to Donald Trump himself.

In 2016, Trump accused Hillary Clinton of committing crimes and said that “therefore she shouldn’t be allowed to run” for president.  If she should win, he said, “it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis.  In that situation we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and, ultimately, a criminal trial.  It would grind government to a halt.”

And don’t forget, Trump still faces more than 50 other felony charges, all of which, legal experts say, will be much easier to prove than the 34 he was just so easily convicted of.

Maybe, just maybe, over time, before the November election, enough of his followers will be forced to take the logs out of their eyes and see Donald Trump for what he is, an evil person who will destroy America and much of the world if he is elected, and vote him out.  We can hope they will open their eyes and bid Donald Trump goodbye.  There is always hope.