Just give it up already!
NYers quit bickering about politics for Lent
President Trump is Lent’s lightning rod.
He’s fired up so many people on both sides of the aisle that many Christians have given up talking politics — rather than pizza or pie — for 40 days.
Staten Island lawyer and Trump supporter Bill Dertinger (inset) exited Facebook to avoid the tedious “time suck” of political back-and-forths.
“Hopefully, others will follow suit because life is way too short to engage in repetitive, senseless debates where neither side is really going to change the others’ minds,” he posted. “So perhaps I will see you all after Easter.”
The online rancor over Trump got so bad that his own Aunt Louise had unfriended him.
It will be the first time in 20 years that Dertinger, 48, has not given up Entenmann’s doughnuts, apple puffs or crumb cake for Lent, a 40-day period of self-sacrifice when many Christians give up a small vice or indulgence.
He had his Lenten epiphany last month while lounging on a Costa Rican beach.
“It was just so peaceful and you realize how much time you waste” talking politics, he said.
“The purpose of Lent is sacri- fice. Something that’s important to you. And it’s a double bonus if you can give up a vice. I’m going to miss Facebook,” he said, wishing he could “push a button that could filter out the politics.”
Greg McPolin, 43, a lawyer, deleted Facebook from his phone on Ash Wednesday because its “political nonsense” had become “digital crack” during his 50-minute ferry commutes to and from Manhattan.
“You can go to a dinner party and everybody knows that politics and religion are off-limits, but on Facebook those restrictions don’t apply,” he said. “Everyone seems to be fighting.”
McPolin, of Navesink, NJ, posted: “Goodbye Facebook friends . . . see you in 40 days.”
McPolin said his sacrifice is that much harder because he owns Facebook stock.
Tom Morrison, 45, a libertarian and Wall Street banker, said he is making his first-ever Lenten sacrifice. “I got tired of seeing posts about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump instead of cats and dogs and kids,” the Fair Haven, NJ, resident said.
Father James Cuddy, of St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village, gave his blessing to those leaving politics behind for Lent.
“Stepping away from this fighting isn’t just a 40-day break. This isn’t just a cease-fire. It’s an opportunity for rebuilding and repairing relationships,” he said.
Manhattan psychologist Tiffany Miller called the Lenten blackout “self-preservation and good mental health.”