Today, as I’m writing this is Good Friday, the day Christians commemorate as the day Jesus was hung from a cross. I, as usual, went to the Good Friday service at the church I attend on a regular basis. It was a powerful service and I spent a good amount of the time in deep thought regarding my history of attempting to point out what a disgusting person Donald Trump is and questioning why so many Christians make up his so-called base. I have to look inward at my own beliefs as I seem to be so obsessed with wanting to make sure Trump, in the words of Liz Cheney, never gets close to the “Oval Office” ever again.

My previous post was motivated by my disgust as I watched Trump being Trump – which is always dishonest, and this part of his schtick was him – on a (un)Truth Social video hawking bibles. It was the “God Bless The U.S.A.” Bible – “The only Bible recommended by Trump.” He said, “I have many Bibles in my home” – undoubtedly another in his LONG line of LIES he spews to his minions. I find myself unable to “love my neighbor” if that means it could be Trump. To me, based on my searches (which I gave some examples of in my previous post), Trump is no Christian. But, then I thought, what if?????

I mean, Trump, himself, has clearly said he NEVER admits to doing anything wrong. He calls EVERY phone call which has either got him IMPEACHED or INDICTED (Georgia) “a perfect phone call.” When he was asked if he felt any responsibility to all the people DYING from COVID 19 due to his ineptitude, he responded “no, I don’t.” He’s facing FOUR indictments with (now) 88 FELONY charges and, in each case – contrary to what is public evidence already – he says, “I did nothing wrong.” He’s denied he ever knew E. Jean Carroll, despite EVIDENCE to the contrary, and couldn’t stop DEFAMING her until a unanimous jury decided he owed Ms. Carroll OVER $83 MILLION in a judgement. He was found to have sexually assaulted her aside from the defamation. To me, not the actions of a Christian. But, what if????

As he was hawking the Bibles on his (un)Truth Social website he made all kinds of claims about his belief in “God.” Of course, the claims rang TOTALLY hollow to me – leading to my previous posts. But, let’s just, for example, take a look at the Ten Commandments to get a more complete picture of what I’m getting at in this posting. And, keep in mind, there’s no one who’s capable of living up to the “law” as it was written in the time of Moses. That’s exactly why Jesus appeared and ultimately was crucified on the cross for all of us SINNERS who just can’t manage to live perfect lives. But, there’s one thing those of us who are Christians have done which I’m confident is near impossible for Trump. However, what if?????

How about the first Commandment, “Thou shall have no other Gods before me.” I can’t help but think of that one when Trump suggests he’s the modern example of Jesus – because, in effect, he’s suggesting (apparently) due to ALL the CRIMINAL indictments that he’s being “crucified.” I always think he can’t make me more disgusted, and then, well, he does – every time. Violating that commandment would make it difficult for me to believe Trump is actually a “Christian” by itself. But, what if????

Remembering the Sabath day to keep it “holy” does not mean that’s the day for playing golf. (full disclosure – I’m not so good on this one myself, but I digress) As I pointed out in my previous post, when I did a bit of searching, I could find no example of Trump even getting near a “house of worship” on the Sabath. I know many Christians who don’t go to church, but they’ve all done one thing I can’t picture Trump doing. But, what if????

Thou shall NOT commit adultery. I’m listing the commandments I can easily remember here – and, this one is easy to point out Trump has a huge problem with. For heaven’ s sake (pun intended) the FIRST of Trump’s FOUR criminal trials has to do with at least TWO instances of Trump committing adultery – one with a Playboy model and the other with a “porn star.” These alleged adulterous affairs happened while his present wife was either pregnant with Trump’s final son or shortly after his birth. Plus, his failed marriages were the result of alduterous relationships – at least in part.

I’m not squeaky clean (based on my early years) in regard to my relationships with women but, there’s a huge difference between me and Trump. (And, I point out my own issues, which seem minute to me in comparison to Trump, but I believe God doesn’t differentiate) It says in the Bible “don’t look at the spec in the other person’s eye until you take care of the log in your own.” But, I just can’t help myself. Once again, I say, what if????

Along these lines Trump was caught on Tape BRAGGING about being a sexual predator and, his BRAGGING was followed by something like 25 women coming forward claiming Trump sexually abused them. Of course, Trump denied everything and accused every one of these women of LYING. This was during his first run for the “White House” and, in the one case where he was taken to court over his denials he was found by, as I said earlier, a unanimous jury to not only have defamed Ms. Carroll but to have, in the words of the judge, to have “raped her.” (What about all the others?) That makes it hard for me to believe Trump is a “Christian.” But, as I’ve been saying, what if????

How about this commandment: “Thou Shall not bear false witness against thy neighbor.” In every day language that means DON’T LIE. Well, during Trump’s four years as our TWICE IMPEACHED so-called two time popular vote LOSING four times indicted (ex) president he was credibly found to have committed over 30,000 LIES! Whenever I can stomach listening to him in a public venue it doesn’t take long before his constant LYING makes me a bit sick to my stomach as I have to wonder why Christians would allow someone to LIE to their faces and still support him. Obviously, the pathological LYING makes it difficult for me to consider him a “Christian.” But, what if????

There’s another commandment which states “Thou shall not covet…..” (actually, there’s – I believe – maybe three commandments regarding “don’t be covetous.” (Don’t covet you “neighbor’s” wife, his house, or – in essence – your neighbor’s “stuff.”) As I watch/listen to Trump basically idolizing, for example, Vladimir Putin as he commit’s murder and war crimes I have a hard time bringing myself to believe Trump to be a Christian. (Actually, well before his “White House” years I heard him on the radio being covetous about his own daughter! Eewwwe! But, you’re correct, what if????

The final commandment I’ll include in this rant says, “Don’t steal.” Of course, one of Trump’s CRIMINAL trials (well, now that I think of it, you could say two of them) is the result of him STEALING sensitive government documents, then LYING about it to federal authorities, and even LYING to his own attorneys in an attempt to hide some of the documents from the FBI. (And, I actually believe he succeeded in that with documents we may never know where they ended up) The other thing I thought of was his impending trial regarding January 6th, 2021 is due to him attempting to STEAL the 2020 election. Neither of these examples would be the work of someone considering themselves a “Christian.” But, what if???

People who do “stuff” like Trump, or support people who do “stuff” like Trump, meaning MAGA minions, don’t seem to me to be actual “Christians.” It is, based on my small amount of research, a really bad “witness” in regard to how others view “Christians.” (This reminds me of a story I heard about Nick Saban, the longtime football coach at the University of Alabama when he chided some of his players for actively “taking a knee for God” during their games’ warmups during the day and then, that night, going out drinking and chasing women)

In fact, my own mother was unable to consider Christianity because she was convinced she would have to become a republican. She passed away long before Trump was on the political scene, but I know many other people who are turned off to Christianity based on their viewing the actions of those of us who proclaim to be Christians. I can’t tell you how many people I know from my own church (I’m in the old person category) who say “my son/daughter/children is/are not “walking with the Lord.”

I try to tell them there’s a good reason why – but, the conversation never goes much further because they don’t want to hear what they know I’m going to say. But, the fact I consider Trump the epitome of a pagan (and many of these church members are part of his cult), there is one aspect of Christianity that I’ve learned from speakers who are devout Christians which they express frustrations with. It’s as if they don’t want to believe some of the realities of the “Teachings of Jesus.”

I’ll give a quick example: I once listened to a speaker who was the head of a large Christian organization who’s father-in-law was constantly criticizing both him and his wife – this person’s daughter – for their devout Christian beliefs. This went on for years. Then, about three days before this man died he changed his tune, asked for forgiveness, and expressed repentance for his life of sin. In the eyes of Jesus, just like the criminal on the cross next to him who did the same, AND the eyes of Christians, this man was “saved” – a couple days prior to his death. According to his son-in-law, at the time, it didn’t seem “fair.” It seemed as if he got away with creating a lot of grief for the family of the speaker while ultimately “going to heaven.” Well, what if????

Of course, I’m referencing Trump here, every time I say “what if????” While I don’t believe it’s happened and I don’t believe it’s going to happen – and, I SHOULD be praying for it to happen – I can’t bring myself to believe Trump has repented nor will he. But, based on my reading of the Bible – I’ve read it through twice along with parts of it many times (my wife says I SHOULD read it more regularly) if Trump were to somehow bring himself to repent, ask for forgiveness, and commit to living according to the teachings of Jesus, he WOULD be forgiven and destined for heaven. Instead of hawking Bibles, he would need to be reading one. I don’t see that happening and I’m not sure how I’d react if it did. (I would have to see the change in conduct before I could believe it had happened – and, sadly, I don’t think I would be able to forgive him)

If Trump actually committed his life to Jesus would I consider that a cause for celebration? I honestly can’t say I would be able to respond that way, but it actually would be a cause for celebration. We would see it in his behavior. However, I wouldn’t be one to excuse his previous behavior, should he actually become a “believer” but, if his future behavior indicated he had actually admitted to his life of SIN and started living a life progressively getting closer to Jesus’ teachings that would be, in my view, an actual MIRACLE we could all see. But, I have to say once more, I don’t believe that will happen. In my view, Trump is incapable of publicly admitting he’s ever done ANYTHING wrong.

I say, regarding his present campaign to get back behind the resolute desk in the “Oval Office,” God help us. And, this Easter weekend my prayer is that those sucked into Trump’s CULT would come to their senses and realize they’re following what amounts to – in Ten Commandments “lingo” – a “graven image.” The dichotomy for me is, I know I’m not supposed to “judge” but, when it comes to Trump I can’t seem to help myself. And, it seems almost impossible for me to stop wishing to see him behind bars. The reality, for me – as it says in the Bible and I said earlier – “stop worrying about the spec in the other person’s eye until you take care of the log in your own.” I’m going to work on my own conduct, but, I thought it would be worthwhile to think about “what if” Trump actually fully accepted Christ? Stay tuned………..

I have to add: Trump’s followers who claim to be all about Christ while they’re packing an AR-15 and making threats to FBI officials, Judges, and members of Congress with whom they disagree come across as totally disingenuous tp me. “Chrsitians” ???

Final Thought: What motivated this post and MY previous one (I put one of Thom Hartman’s in between the two) was watching Trump hawking a Bible on his Social Media platform – during “Holy week.” So, it has taken me a few days to post this (Easter was last Sunday) and, as always seems to be the case, the “stuff” just keeps happening. And, this time, the news today regards the Israeli’s using “precision munitions” to take out three vehicles of aid workers in GAZA from “World Central Kitchen” (I just sent money to them last week) killing SEVEN aid workers. This debacle just keeps getting worse and worse and it’s high tide President Biden make a public stand against Bibi Netanyahu – a WAR CRIMINAL similar to Vladimir Putin.

As I was taking in the info regarding this attack on these aid workers I saw the statistics where the number of AID workers killed in GAZA is nearing 200 with something like 175 coming from the United Nations. I started writing before Israel had actually physically entered GAZA that Netanyahu would keep this “war” going indefinitely because he knows the day after it ends he will be out of office and forced to face his OWN corruption charges. Netanyahu will NEVER be a supporter of President Biden and Biden seems to be a bit slow to figure this out. (And, I’m a strong Biden supporter) Well, he’d BETTER figure it out and act decisively sooner rather than later as the slaughter of Palestinians MUST stop.

Not only do “we the people” have a responsibility to help make the slaughter STOP, but we will then be required to help rebuild GAZA which the Israeli’s have turned into a pile of shattered concrete. To me, this is a moral IMPERATIVE and Biden is helping to re-elect Trump by giving a policy of mixed messages while civilians are DYING by the THOUSANDS – mostly women and children. And, here’s something I believe with all my heart. Israel will NOT “extinguish” HAMAS – there are likely to be MORE members of HAMAS when the “smoke clears” than when this all started.

One more Thing: Now, Israel has attacked the Iranian Embassy in Syria – killing a few Iranian leaders – with more precision weapons coming from the U.S. Here’s the thing, while I “get” why the Israeli’s want to go after Iran, Embassies are universally considered “off limits.” It will be interesting to see if the only support Israel gets from this action continues to be from the U.S. Here we go! Stay tuned………..