The Old Testament writes of Yahweh, declaring, “I, the LORD, your God, am a jealous God.” Yahweh then has Moses give his 10 commandments to the people. Afterward, Moses says, “Fear the LORD, your God, and keep, throughout the days of your lives, all his statutes and commandments.’” “Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength… — lest the anger of the LORD, your God, flare up against you and he destroy you from upon the land.”
I could be entirely wrong about this, but it is my thought that Donald Trump never wanted to be President of the U.S. in 2016. Nor does he necessarily want to be President of the U.S. in 2024. He ran for the office then and is running for it now because he wants the attention, not the job. He has a job – to operate scams: Trump University, casinos, coins, watches, a Bible, and so forth. His biggest scam has been running for President. Having had the job once enables him to form groups that spend millions at his properties. Groups like Donald J. Trump for President $15,552,928; Trump Victory $4,947,439; Republican National Committee $3,033,167, and dozens of others. Getting the job of President in 2016 was a surprise to Trump. It took him, and other narcissistic fraudsters, a little while to realize the vastness of the scams available to him from the Oval Office. He did his best, adderalled-brain and all, to make the position work for him. But the job was also a bit of a bother. He might prefer not to have to bother with the job again. Is he thus doing everything he can to lose? His sociopathy is so extreme. Can he possibly have that many supporters who are also sociopaths, or supportive or naïve about sociopathy? All his nonsense then and now about a rigged election and stop the steal, is cover for his ego. But he is using it to make a fortune bilking his supporters and getting considerable attention from it all. If Trump loses, setting aside potential violence by his supporters, he might be able to work the scam for another election cycle. But MAGA seems ready for its next grifter, perhaps J.D. Vance or Lt. Gen Michael Flynn. As to prison, it is a possibility but seems unlikely, to him, since Trump has spent his entire life paying lawyers to work every angle of the wealthy white man’s legal system to escape accountability. If Trump wins, the easy grifting is over and he is bothered with the job again. Worse, Trump will win and not be bothered with the job again, just its scams. His cohort of more intelligent sociopaths will exercise the vastness of their sociopathy available to them from the Oval Office. They will do their best, steam-roller intentions and all, to make the presidency work for them. They will: cut social security; decimate Gaza; destroy the press; dismantle the Administrative State which means privatize as much government as possible, as well as eliminate personnel and departments or agencies beneficial to community like the CDC, Education, EPA, FEMA, HUD; enact shoot to kill orders for police and military personnel on U.S. streets; exit NATO to ally with Russia and other dictators; fire senior staff and underlings at the FBI, DoD, DoJ; jail opponents like Biden and Harris, Alvin Bragg, Leticia James, Jack Smith, Fani Willis; put tariffs on overseas imports; outlaw unions – especially the teacher’s union; pardon January 6th insurrectionists; reinvest in fossil fuels for the GOP donor class; round up ‘illegals’ and ‘legals’ too in detention camps to await deportation; rollback rights like assembly, speech, and voting; and ultimately keep causing the chaos the sociopaths claim they are overcoming with order. Together these sociopaths will destroy us. And yet, white self-titled Christians will keep loving the cohort and its head sociopath. He is their jealous God whom they love with all their heart and soul, and strength – because they too are jealous Gods, angry, wanting to ‘flare up against us and destroy us from upon the land.’ When Jesus retells the “greatest commandment” for an inquiring scribe in the Gospel, Jesus omits the Old Testament deity, its jealousy and the anger, and replaces it with love thy neighbor. It would be helpful if this era’s self-titled Christians were not worshiping an ancient angry deity and were instead following Jesus.
“Turn off the news, the TV, your cell phone, the internet,… Facebook, gossip, and just love thy neighbor… put your guard down, and just love they neighbor. We don’t have to be right, we don’t have to be wrong, to love thy neighbor. We don’t have to be happy, we don’t have to be angry, we just have to be, to love thy neighbor.” (Love Thy Neighbor – Timothy Mcguire)
Prayer: Jesus, keep helping me love my neighbor.
Question: What do I do when I find myself getting angry and want to become more loving?
November 3, 2024 Gospel Mark 12:28b-34 Thirty First Sunday in Ordinary Time