Papal Bully

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Trump's claim to want to be the next Pope certainly is a joke. A bad joke, but that's to be expected.

Trump doesn't want to be Pope; he wants to be God. The ancient Pharaohs got away with it, and Roman emperors claimed deity, so Mr Trump is just trying to catch up. (Those earlier examples of deification were in the context of polytheism, so they might not suit Trump.)

Trump's ambitions come as no surprise.

What is surprising, at least to me, is how many people have already bestowed godhood on him, already worship him. For him they give up their morals, and reject their former gods. Christians reject the teachings of Jesus. Supreme Court justices reject the Constitution. Senators and Representatives in Congress reject governance. All in obeisance to a bully.

If Trump somehow represents God to all these people, I guess it says something about their view of God. Perhaps they have always worshiped, and aspire to live like, some divine asshole.

Little wonder the church is in decline.

Matter of Fact

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The most telling statement of the vice-presidential debate on Tuesday was, "You guys weren't going to fact-check."

Nothing these days says Republican like "We lie. The truth is not in us. And don't you dare hold us accountable."

Much of the church I have known and participated in all my life has enthusiastically said, "Yes, this is who we are!" I had thought that truth was a major tenet of my religion. I was wrong. Maybe truth is defined only as what one believes in spite of reality.

I may also be wrong about the mark of the new Republicans. What defines today's Republican Party could well be not falsehood but cruelty.