{"id":495,"date":"2024-06-07T16:57:20","date_gmt":"2024-06-07T20:57:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/growpurpose.com\/skipjack\/?p=495"},"modified":"2024-06-07T16:57:20","modified_gmt":"2024-06-07T20:57:20","slug":"donald-trump-is-evil","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/growpurpose.com\/skipjack\/2024\/06\/07\/donald-trump-is-evil\/","title":{"rendered":"Donald Trump is Evil"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donald Trump is evil.\u00a0 I hereby judge him so.<\/p>\n

Yes, yes, I know, Jesus said we should not judge others lest we be judged.\u00a0 But the quote doesn\u2019t end there, and leaving it there takes it out of context and destroys what Jesus was saying.\u00a0\u00a0 Jesus was not against judging others; after all, Jesus himself judged hypocrites and Pharisees, among others, quite harshly.\u00a0 No, we all must judge others in order to get through any day.\u00a0 The rest of Jesus\u2019 quote is that before we take the speck out of another\u2019s eye, we should first take the log out of our own eye.<\/p>\n

OK, I\u2019ve taken enough of the log out of my own eye that I\u2019m able to match the definition of an evil person with a person, and therefore I can say \u2013 judge, if you will —\u00a0 without any fear of contradiction that Donald Trump is evil.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 <\/em>Peck defines evil as \u201cthat which does harm to life or liveliness,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n

Does anyone exist who fits those descriptions better than Donald Trump?<\/p>\n

Of course not, so it raises an obvious question:\u00a0 Since Trump so obviously fits the definition of an evil person, why do millions of good, non-evil people follow him so slavishly?<\/p>\n

Peck explains:\u00a0 The danger of studying evil up close, as he learned first-hand from doing his own deep research into evil \u2013 and as I uncomfortably learned from merely reading his book — is that evil can pull you into it if you get close to it.\u00a0 I remember when I read the book some 40 years ago I had to put it down several times and walk away from it.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to explain, perhaps impossible to explain, but if you\u2019ve read the book you\u2019ll understand.\u00a0 Evil pulls you into it if you get too close.<\/p>\n

So that explains how someone like Trump pulls so many good people into his orbit: \u201cEvil people<\/em> often succeed in deceiving others<\/em>\u201d (Peck\u2019s words, my italics).<\/p>\n

Jim Wallis, founder and editor of\u00a0Sojourners<\/em>\u00a0magazine<\/a>, sees that same power in Trump, that power to suck others into his evil.\u00a0 Wallis writes:<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has led and continues to lead a very dirty life. He is a moral degenerate. Corruption isn\u2019t even the right word, because Trump has never shown any morals to corrupt.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrump has spent his whole life in filthy dirt \u2013 personally, sexually, relationally, financially \u2013\u00a0 in\u00a0 business and politics. And Trump has pulled everything and everyone around him into the ugly mud of his own existence.\u00a0 The dirtiness of Donald Trump\u2019s life and world is like a\u00a0quicksand\u00a0that 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\u201d <\/em>(italics mine).<\/p>\n

That is exactly, precisely what Peck is saying.\u00a0 Study evil and it sucks you in.\u00a0 Get too close to Trump\u2019s evil and he sucks you in.<\/p>\n

Wallis continues. \u201cAnd as far as lies go, it isn\u2019t 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\u2019s 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.\u00a0John Kelly,\u00a0<\/a>told friends that:\u00a0\u2018The depths of his dishonesty is just astounding to me. The dishonesty, the transactional nature of every relationship. \u2026 He is the most flawed person I have ever met in my life.\u2019\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n

And so it makes sense why the Republican Party wants him to be president.\u00a0 His minions have paid such close attention to him \u2013 believed in him so unquestioningly, so blindly \u2013 that they have been sucked into his evilness and therefore have been made a part of it.<\/p>\n

I mean, what can you say about someone who devotes his Memorial Day message to condemning his perceived foes as \u201cHuman Scum,\u201d lashing out at Judge Lewis Kaplan, writer E. Jean Carroll, CNN\u2019s Anderson Cooper, and Judge Arthur Engoron, whom he described as a \u201cwacko,\u201d without ever mentioning American servicemembers who died defending their country?\u00a0 Remember when he was president and\u00a0 toured Arlington National Cemetery and wondered aloud why those in the graves gave their lives for\u00a0 their country?\u00a0 \u201cWhat was in it for them?\u201d he memorably asked while standing among them.<\/p>\n

A big problem with changing the minds of Trump\u2019s followers is that most people find it hard \u2013 many find it impossible — to admit a mistake, especially a mistake as big as being fiercely loyal to Trump for so long.\u00a0 They\u2019d rather stick with an evil loser like Trump than admit they were wrong.<\/p>\n

But there may be some good news here.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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.\u00a0 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?\u00a0 Really?<\/p>\n

If they won\u2019t listen to the\u00a0 jury, maybe they\u2019ll listen to Donald Trump himself.<\/p>\n

In 2016, Trump accused Hillary Clinton of committing crimes and said that \u201ctherefore she shouldn\u2019t be allowed to run\u201d for president.\u00a0 If she should win, he said, \u201cit would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis.\u00a0 In that situation we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and, ultimately, a criminal trial.\u00a0 It would grind government to a halt.\u201d<\/p>\n

And don\u2019t 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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0 We can hope they will open their eyes and bid Donald Trump goodbye.\u00a0 There is always hope.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
A FEW RELATED READINGS
\nprovided by the folks at GrowPurpose.com<\/strong><\/p>\n