Stephan: One of the things that fascinates me about the current political landscape in America is how people who say they are evangelical, Mormon, or Jehovah's Witnesses, men and women who wear their religion on their sleeve and vocally claim to be guided by Jesus' teachings, have completely abdicated those teachings in support of Donald Trump.
I understand that when you get to the lick log this is mostly about their fears and racism. And I understand that if you challenge them on this they will deny it. I have had a number of conversations, most recently with a Mormon when we were both at the hardware store, and have listened to the most amazing rationalizations. But what I don't get is the emotional place you have to get to in order to sustain these rationalizations. I think it is one of the most important social trends in the U.S. today.
Here's the latest example of what I mean. How does one reconcile Trump's lechery and molestation of women with one's faith? In the toxic miasma of scandals, corruption, and incompetence, Trump's lechery has more or less gotten lost in the noise in the U.S. But not in Europe. The BBC -- the BBC! -- has just issued a report on a whole new dimension of Trump's sexual predation.
Aren't you proud to have an American president most people wouldn't leave alone in a room with their young daughter.
Donald Trump, left, and Miss Universe, Gabriela Isler, of Venezuela
Credit: AP/Wilfredo Lee
A few days before President Trump heads to the U.K. to meet the queen and the prime minister, a BBC investigative program has revealed fresh allegations of sexually inappropriate actions by Trump during the 1980s and 1990s, comparing him to a “predator” at parties with girls as young as 14.
The report featured Monday on the BBC Panorama investigative documentary series, entitled “Trump: Is the president a sex pest?” included testimony from two women who said they encountered Trump at parties during his time as a real estate magnate and operator of beauty pageants.
Trump’s behavior toward younger women was described by a man who attended the same parties as like that of a “predator.”
One of the women, Barbara Pilling, said she met Trump at a party in New York in the late 1980s while she was a young model. She alleged that then-businessman Trump asked her how old she was and approved when she said she […]
There is an old play on words that says “Denial is the biggest river in the world.” Unfortunately it flows through the land of Great Hypocrisy.
Every religion has off-shoots that are fudamentality in denial of basic tenants of their faith. Muslims killing Hindus. Buddhists killing Muslims. Christians killing mostly Muslims and their own. Jews killing Palestinians. Etc,
Not just limited to religion, denialism and hypocrisy run much deeper.
How can a rich person claim to be of good heart when so many others are dying of poverty?
It’s a big river running through an ugly land.