SDG, I’m going to try to correct you in love, and if I’m wrong, you’re welcome to do the same. I believe writing articles like this is unnecessarily wounding to the body of Christ. I’ve followed your writing because you are thoughtful, openminded, and offer a palliative to Jansenistic Catholic attitudes towards the arts. I kept an open mind to your Harrison Butker article because the point of it was not to pass judgement on Butker, but to say that whatever his motives, his words convey a common mistake that is in part the fault of the Church—a nuanced take that opened onto a wider vista. This article I take to be solely for passing judgement on a person’s motives and mind/soul.
A Trump voter can take a reasoned and responsible stance to say that whatever comes out of Trump’s mouth, what came out of his presidency was a wealth of policies both sane and just. In destroying Isis, in defunding Iran, in brokering the Abraham Accords, in making funding for HBCUs automatic and annual so that they would no longer have to petition the government for support, in championing school choice and parental rights, in bringing more jobs from overseas to America, in keeping us out of war, in nominating sound justices who have overturned Roe and taken on government bureaucracy, a Trump voter can point to effects healthful for our country that could have gone so much the opposite under Hilary Clinton, and most of which did go opposite under Biden. If you want to challenge these or other policies, I wish you would do so rather than attempting to pass judgement on Trump's mind or soul.
When you link to a Scientific American article that describes Trump voters as psychotic, looking for a “parental figure,” and all the other abuse Trump voters are used to, when the thesis of your own article is to argue for psychosis, although you may not see it, it is unnecessarily hurtful for people who otherwise are your brothers and sisters. Apparently you helped the commenter Marsanne, and to you that may be worth whomever else you might disappoint. You could justifiably say, “Every word I wrote I believe to be true. If Trump voters find offense, that is not my intention and that is their own insecurity and problem.” You could say that but I believe you to be a deeper mind and warmer heart than that. If you truly don't understand why an article like this might be hurtful in its suggestions and implications to one of your brothers in Christ, I believe you're the type of person to ask questions and listen, to step into your brother's shoes and look at it from another perspective.
I am grateful for your thoughtful comments, Hunter. I have rethought my comment and my link to the Scientific American article, and I have removed them. It is not the kind of thing that I would write in a post—and, in case there is any lack of clarity on that point, it is not the thesis of my “Very fine people” post that Trump is psychotic! Nor do I mean or wish to alienate Trump voters as such, who are indeed my brothers and sisters. That was an unguarded comment made to a reader who, FWIW, is my actual mother. Speaking to my parents—my father, who was a Trump supporter until his death in 2021, and my mother, who is not a Trump supporter—I might speak in ways I would not to other people, but in this case these are public comments, and what I wrote is not the message I want to send.
In regard to the larger issues you raise of Trump advocacy, there is a fine line to be walked, at least for me. Perhaps I will have more to say about that later. Thanks again.
Trump doesn't really harbor anything like what we would conventionally call racism. He really isn't that different than Hillary... a New York style liberal. Good evidence of this can be seen in his quite tolerant acceptance of sexual deviancy and their associated lobby.
His real character flaw consists in his pandering and absolute lack of moral principle on any matter other than what will elicit press coverage and attention.
The fact that he has attracted so many Christians who apologize for him and make excuses for him is traumatic but helpful. It certainly is separating the sheet from the goats.
Thanks for your thoughts, Susers. FWIW, I’ve been writing about politics literally for decades, on blogs and on social media. In 2008 I published thousands and thousands of words on a prominent Catholic blog, passionately arguing against Catholics voting for Barack Obama and defending voting for John McCain. I also blogged about politics for many years at the National Catholic Register website, most recently in 2021 when I preached about the dangers of politicized faith. I have criticized Joe Biden for many years, about many things. I try to be fair in everything I do. I don’t claim I succeed all the time, but it’s always the goal.
To the point you’ve raised, here’s how I see it: Democrats in large numbers are very publicly and openly panicking about Joe Biden’s alarming debate performance. Not only have several New York Times opinion writers called for Biden to step down, the NYT editorial board has officially backed this position. In the Washington Post they’re calling it the “Great Democratic Freakout.” High-ranking Democratic politicians are talking about it both publicly and privately. I could go on and on. Heck, even Biden himself essentially admitted that it could have gone better. Biden’s poor performance is a fact virtually universally acknowledged.
If there were a massive leftwing propaganda machine claiming that Biden’s performance was actually strong, and my Democratic friends and neighbors were loudly repeating this falsehood and calling the idea that Biden had actually performed poorly “fake news,” believe me, I would be writing about it! I’m not writing about it, because I don’t see a need to argue what is already clear to everyone I know.
By contrast, there’s a reason I’ve been writing for years about the Unite the Right rally and “very fine people.” The “commentary” sections in the current post are basically lifted from a Facebook post I wrote in 2020. I don’t keep writing about this because I like the subject so much, or because I just want to dump on Trump. I write about it for one simple reason: because so many people I know continue to deny that Trump said what he said. Trump himself denies it—he says his response was “perfect,” because everything he does is “perfect”—and many of his fans support everything he says and consider anything different fake news.
If all my right-leaning friends and neighbors were saying “We are holding our noses and voting for Trump because we believe that Biden’s positions on issues like abortion make Trump the lesser of two evils, but we don’t harbor any illusions about Trump’s lies on subjects like Unite the Right and ‘very fine people,’” I would not be writing this today. There would be no need. Hope that makes sense.
P.S. Oh, and by the way, Susers, if you really are only interested in my movie reviews and don’t want my writing on other topics—homilies, discussions about the Bible like my post about “the Jews” and Bible translation, and occasional political posts—you might want to subscribe to my other Substack, https://decentfilms.substack.com/, which is only about my movie writing!
This was much worse than I knew. The event so appalling, and DJT what? Ignorant? Stupid?
[redacted]
SDG, I’m going to try to correct you in love, and if I’m wrong, you’re welcome to do the same. I believe writing articles like this is unnecessarily wounding to the body of Christ. I’ve followed your writing because you are thoughtful, openminded, and offer a palliative to Jansenistic Catholic attitudes towards the arts. I kept an open mind to your Harrison Butker article because the point of it was not to pass judgement on Butker, but to say that whatever his motives, his words convey a common mistake that is in part the fault of the Church—a nuanced take that opened onto a wider vista. This article I take to be solely for passing judgement on a person’s motives and mind/soul.
A Trump voter can take a reasoned and responsible stance to say that whatever comes out of Trump’s mouth, what came out of his presidency was a wealth of policies both sane and just. In destroying Isis, in defunding Iran, in brokering the Abraham Accords, in making funding for HBCUs automatic and annual so that they would no longer have to petition the government for support, in championing school choice and parental rights, in bringing more jobs from overseas to America, in keeping us out of war, in nominating sound justices who have overturned Roe and taken on government bureaucracy, a Trump voter can point to effects healthful for our country that could have gone so much the opposite under Hilary Clinton, and most of which did go opposite under Biden. If you want to challenge these or other policies, I wish you would do so rather than attempting to pass judgement on Trump's mind or soul.
When you link to a Scientific American article that describes Trump voters as psychotic, looking for a “parental figure,” and all the other abuse Trump voters are used to, when the thesis of your own article is to argue for psychosis, although you may not see it, it is unnecessarily hurtful for people who otherwise are your brothers and sisters. Apparently you helped the commenter Marsanne, and to you that may be worth whomever else you might disappoint. You could justifiably say, “Every word I wrote I believe to be true. If Trump voters find offense, that is not my intention and that is their own insecurity and problem.” You could say that but I believe you to be a deeper mind and warmer heart than that. If you truly don't understand why an article like this might be hurtful in its suggestions and implications to one of your brothers in Christ, I believe you're the type of person to ask questions and listen, to step into your brother's shoes and look at it from another perspective.
I am grateful for your thoughtful comments, Hunter. I have rethought my comment and my link to the Scientific American article, and I have removed them. It is not the kind of thing that I would write in a post—and, in case there is any lack of clarity on that point, it is not the thesis of my “Very fine people” post that Trump is psychotic! Nor do I mean or wish to alienate Trump voters as such, who are indeed my brothers and sisters. That was an unguarded comment made to a reader who, FWIW, is my actual mother. Speaking to my parents—my father, who was a Trump supporter until his death in 2021, and my mother, who is not a Trump supporter—I might speak in ways I would not to other people, but in this case these are public comments, and what I wrote is not the message I want to send.
In regard to the larger issues you raise of Trump advocacy, there is a fine line to be walked, at least for me. Perhaps I will have more to say about that later. Thanks again.
Cynical
Trump doesn't really harbor anything like what we would conventionally call racism. He really isn't that different than Hillary... a New York style liberal. Good evidence of this can be seen in his quite tolerant acceptance of sexual deviancy and their associated lobby.
His real character flaw consists in his pandering and absolute lack of moral principle on any matter other than what will elicit press coverage and attention.
The fact that he has attracted so many Christians who apologize for him and make excuses for him is traumatic but helpful. It certainly is separating the sheet from the goats.
Disappointed to see you writing about politics, which of course you have every right to do, however I’m really here for your movie reviews.
If you chose to be even handed and next write a critique on Biden’s ramblings at the debate I may continue to read. Will see what the future holds.
Thanks for your thoughts, Susers. FWIW, I’ve been writing about politics literally for decades, on blogs and on social media. In 2008 I published thousands and thousands of words on a prominent Catholic blog, passionately arguing against Catholics voting for Barack Obama and defending voting for John McCain. I also blogged about politics for many years at the National Catholic Register website, most recently in 2021 when I preached about the dangers of politicized faith. I have criticized Joe Biden for many years, about many things. I try to be fair in everything I do. I don’t claim I succeed all the time, but it’s always the goal.
To the point you’ve raised, here’s how I see it: Democrats in large numbers are very publicly and openly panicking about Joe Biden’s alarming debate performance. Not only have several New York Times opinion writers called for Biden to step down, the NYT editorial board has officially backed this position. In the Washington Post they’re calling it the “Great Democratic Freakout.” High-ranking Democratic politicians are talking about it both publicly and privately. I could go on and on. Heck, even Biden himself essentially admitted that it could have gone better. Biden’s poor performance is a fact virtually universally acknowledged.
If there were a massive leftwing propaganda machine claiming that Biden’s performance was actually strong, and my Democratic friends and neighbors were loudly repeating this falsehood and calling the idea that Biden had actually performed poorly “fake news,” believe me, I would be writing about it! I’m not writing about it, because I don’t see a need to argue what is already clear to everyone I know.
By contrast, there’s a reason I’ve been writing for years about the Unite the Right rally and “very fine people.” The “commentary” sections in the current post are basically lifted from a Facebook post I wrote in 2020. I don’t keep writing about this because I like the subject so much, or because I just want to dump on Trump. I write about it for one simple reason: because so many people I know continue to deny that Trump said what he said. Trump himself denies it—he says his response was “perfect,” because everything he does is “perfect”—and many of his fans support everything he says and consider anything different fake news.
If all my right-leaning friends and neighbors were saying “We are holding our noses and voting for Trump because we believe that Biden’s positions on issues like abortion make Trump the lesser of two evils, but we don’t harbor any illusions about Trump’s lies on subjects like Unite the Right and ‘very fine people,’” I would not be writing this today. There would be no need. Hope that makes sense.
P.S. Oh, and by the way, Susers, if you really are only interested in my movie reviews and don’t want my writing on other topics—homilies, discussions about the Bible like my post about “the Jews” and Bible translation, and occasional political posts—you might want to subscribe to my other Substack, https://decentfilms.substack.com/, which is only about my movie writing!