Jesus was undeniably a very cool dude. His life and teachings are the foundation of all Christianity which today represents thirty one percent of the world population or two point two billion people. If you don't happen to totally believe that he was divine and the son of God and sent here to guide us, teach us and ultimately die for our sins, that's fine. The historical records (as best they can be extruded) do tell us that his life was extraordinary and that he taught a philosophy that all of humanity can benefit from. "Love thy neighbor as thyself", "Turn the other cheek", "blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth" are a few quotes I remember from Sunday school. The bottom line is that this guy wanted us to love and care for each other no matter who we were. It mattered little to him if someone was different, poor, neglected, scorned by society, or otherwise didn't conform to the customs of the time. In fact, those were the people he most sought to comfort and help. He taught peace and goodwill, not war and distrust. He preached that those who are blessed with health, status, wealth, and material possessions should seek to assist and help those who are not.
Unfortunately the teaching and philosophy of this extraordinary man are not always represented by the people in many (in my opinion most) of today's organized religions. Personalities often seem to usurp principals. When Jesus said love thy neighbor I don't think he qualified it with a " unless they're gay" or "unless they are a different color" or " unless they believe in science" or on and on add infinitum.
This basic hypocrisy has always troubled me however it has not really had a direct impact upon my own life until now. This leads me to the current political climate in America and the inexplicable phenomenon known as Donald Trump. Trump seem to appeal to a swath of middle white America; mostly blue collar, working class with a professed religious belief and a deep dissatisfaction for "the direction that our country is going". It strikes me as profoundly ironic that many so called Christians, who would theoretically follow the teachings of Jesus would support a man who so diametrically opposes those same teachings. Trump's mantra has never been " love thy neighbor", on the contrary, his motto is "Fuck Thy neighbor"! By every appearance and shred of evidence, he has lived his life to this motto and then some. Clearly someone who belittles and insults parents of a United States solder killed in the line of duty or a journalist with physical handicaps has some serious issues. Clearly a man who would profess that Mexican immigrants are all rapists and murderers or that an American born Judge with 30 years on the bench can't do his job because of his Hispanic heritage, must possess some inherent racism. Of course I could go on and on, but the bottom line is that Trump displays absolutely none of the ideology taught by Jesus. So why are these people actually supporting him to become their leader. It just seems so mind boggling.
I can only come up with one theory, so I will make my case in light of the afore mentioned hypocrisy where the teachings of Jesus seem to come with multiple caveats. First, we must recognize that Trump is a narcissist and a pathological liar. His entire life is proof that he will do or say anything regardless of consequence in order to get attention. His slogans play to a broken and desperate America that only he can fix. It matters little if he has any viable realistic plans, or that little of what he says is true. All that matters is that he gets the attention. He clams to possess the ability to "make America win again". Of course this is a preposterous proposition, presupposing that "winning" is a zero sum game, and that if the United States is "winning" than someone else is losing and visa versa. This is the attitude of a simpleton and an egomaniac best reserved for the 8 year old school yard. Geo political diplomacy does not work that way, but Trump seems to have convinced much of this disenfranchised middle America that he can make them happy.
All of this begs the question: why is this segment of white, mostly male, mostly Christian middle America feeling disenfranchised? What the fuck do they mean "take America back again"? When questioned most allure to some bygone era, some "leave it to Beaver" America of the fifties. Some are simply angry because that's the band wagon to jump on while politicians and conservative media convince them how awful thing are. I do not disparage the real unfortunate workers who have lost their place in the work force due to technology, automation, or cheap overseas labor, but that situation can only be remedied by training, education and a true recognition that the nature of labor in America (and globally) is shifting and we need to adapt. Playing the blame game and singling out scapegoats as Trump is incredibly good at does nothing positive but serves him well by further fueling the anger and even turning it into hate....He claims it's the Mexicans fault or the Chinese, or the Muslims, and he does a pretty darn good job of stirring the pot. The bottom line is that Donald Trump has a portion of America that feels they have "lost" something eating right out of his hand. But once again, what have they lost? I propose that White, Anglo, Christian males have been in a position of privilege for most of American history. Without a doubt, even if you were working class, even if you were downright poor, you still held privilege in 20th century America. No one in their right mind could argue, a white Anglo Saxon Christian man had privilege that was not enjoyed by Blacks, native Americans, Hispanics, Asians, women, Arabis, Jews, Mormons, not to mention Gays, lesbians and transgender's. There is a quote, I'm not sure who coined it but it goes like this: "When one is accustom to privilege, equality feels like oppression".
I think this quote goes a long way in explaining the feeling of disenfranchisement by many Trump supporters. It might not be that they are "losing" something, but that other once marginalized segments of society are "gaining" something. America has moved in the proper direction regarding equal rights and equal treatment and equal opportunity. It is by no means prefect but progress has been made. Unlike Trump would have us believe, it is NOT a zero sum game. Just because someone is "gaining" in equality and opportunity it doesn't mean that someone else is "losing" theirs. Of course they will lose some of their "privilege" but that is a good thing because we are a country that believes that all people are created equal.....not privileged!! Equality can feel like oppression. But it’s not. What they are feeling is just the discomfort of losing a little bit of their privilege — the same discomfort that an only child feels when she goes to preschool and discovers that there are other kids who want to play with the same toys as she does.
And here we are back at the playground where the school bully wants the swing set all to himself. I think Jesus would want us to share. I think Jesus would want us to love and respect each other, not try to cling to a position of privilege at the sacrifice of others. I think Jesus would want us to be compassionate and tolerant of all human beings. Hopefully some Trump supporters will come to understand the incredible irony and extreme conflict between their moral values and the self serving ideology of Donald Trump.
