Ten out of 10 Commandments, not exactly presidential
You shall have no other gods before me – Trump puts money on the top of his list, not God. Examining any year of his adult life you notice him flaunting wealth and bragging he has the most, illegally attaining it, and placing it at the forefront of every transaction and interaction.
No false idols – In Trump’s world, his favorite idol is himself, hence having Trump plastered on his buildings, naming a university after himself, commissioning paintings of himself. His most recent demonstration, that some call blasphemous, is his marketing of his and singer Lee Greenwood’s version of the Bible, the God Bless The USA Bible, that they are selling for $59.99. Using Trump’s name, it includes the King James Bible, the chorus of Greenwood’s song “God Bless the USA” and some documents like the Bill of Rights. Trump will get royalties from the sale, not for his campaign, but for him personally.
Taking the name of the Lord in vain –
Evangelicals have complained about Trump doing this at his rallies, combining God and the word damn in sentences.
Keep the Sabbath day holy – if he attended a religious service, it would be major news – his Sabbath idea, and example, are 18 holes of golf where those who play with him make sure they lose.
Honor your father and mother – When Trump’s business was failing and he needed bailing out he tried to trick his father into changing his will. His father had to take legal action to prevent it from happening.
You shall not murder – The hints he makes to incite violent acts against his so-called enemies are, to them, life threatening. Some died in the attack on the capitol, more, like Mike Pence might have been killed. Consider how he tried to cover up the danger of COVID in its early stages even though he had been briefed that it would cause many deaths (millions) – because it might make him look bad. You wouldn’t want to be waiting in line at the Pearly Gates if you were Trump.
Do not commit adultery – Not only is he a notorious adulterer, he is proud of it, and then on the seedier side there are over 20 women who have accused him of sexual attacks and rape.
Do not steal – he tried to steal an election, but in this case it refers to money. He stiffed many of his contractors, and his company, with him at the head, has recently been convicted of “stealing” through fraud. He also lost in the case brought against him of defrauding students at Trump University. It would be interesting to total up all the people over the years he owes money to that were never paid, and there is no evidence that it is ending. He still owes several cities for expenses of when he held campaign events going all the way back to the 2016 election.
Not bear false witness against your neighbor – It took a court and a fine of nearly a $100 million to stop Trump from defaming E. Jean Carroll. He manages to bear false witness several times a day, nearly any time he has an audience, and late at night on his Truth
Social account. Anyone who does not fall in line with his needs is attacked with falsehoods.
Those are just a few examples of what demonstrates that he does not adhere to the 10 Commandments. It suggests an immoral person, but to be immoral one must believe that things like the Commandments are a guide. Trump is amoral, does not have a conscience. What those who spend any time with him, or what psychologists suggest, is that he is on the spectrum for narcissistic personality disorder. His minute-to-minute actions/decisions are not based on a moral code, they are all to meet his immediate needs/desires.
Many of his cabinet members and advisers, and his vice president, have stated that they believe he is unfit for the job of being president having witnessed how he, self-indulgently, makes decisions.
His enablers, like Paul
Manafort, Steve Bannon and Vladimir Putin, know how easily they can court favor from a transactional narcissist, one who puts money first, what in Russia is termed a puppet-stooge. A more recent example is how after parroting the far-right attack on Tik-Tok, Trump reversed his position. Then the major Tik Tok investor, Jeffrey Yass, created a merger with Trump’s money losing Truth Social company to enormously benefit Trump.
How can the so-called Christian Right continue to support an utterly immoral acting person for president?
(Tim Willoughby moved to the Eastern Sierra more than 10 years ago after a 30-year career as a teacher and principal. He was the Democratic candidate for the 25th Congressional District in 2004. Willoughby also pens a weekly local history column for the Aspen Times.)