One of the most extraordinary developments of recent political history is the loyal adherence of religious conservatives to Donald Trump. Trump won four-fifths of the votes of white evangelical Christians. This was a higher level of support than either Ronald Reagan or George W. Bush (an outspoken evangelical himself) ever received.
Trump’s background and beliefs could hardly be more incompatible with traditional Christian models of life and leadership. Trump’s past political stances (he once supported the right to partial-birth abortion), his character (he has bragged about sexually assaulting women), and even his language (he introduced the words pussy and shithole into the presidential discourse) would more naturally lead evangelicals toward exorcism than alliance. This is a man who has cruelly publicized his infidelities and made disturbing sexual comments about the size of his penis on the debate stage. Yet religious conservatives who once squirmed at PG-13 public standards now yawn at such NC-17 maneuvers.
Evangelical used to denote people who claimed the high moral ground; now, in popular usage, the word is nearly synonymous with “hypocrite.”
Ron Lowe
Nevada City
Warning Signs
Since our basic human nature is compassionate, why is it that the practice of altruism is viewed by some as non-American? How can people support leadership that thrives on incivility, tribalism and business intentions disguised as government? It seems to me, when people are socially and economically disrupted, they become more vulnerable to being radicalized thus falling between the cracks. Warning signs against partisanship are being offered to us all, and like persons rowing upstream, they must heed the warnings, move forward, or fall helplessly and hopelessly behind.
Dennis Kostecki
Sausalito
Peace Plan
The following plan for world peace is my alternative to the dangerous and provocative atmosphere of anger in the United States that has created the widespread paranoia of Russian interference and collusion with President Trump. The current “balance of terror” with Russia, China, and North Korea demands that our nation abolish all of our nuclear weapons by totally transforming our dangerous and hostile rivalries with our current competitors into peaceful, cooperative and friendly alliances, alliances that will no longer keep the world fragmented into opposing camps of enemies, all of whom must continue to waste trillions of dollars and indispensable human energy in maintaining huge military forces and arsenals of thousands of absolutely destructive and suicidal nuclear weapons. These nuclear arsenals and other war preparations, if not ended, can only eventually result in a nuclear holocaust that will completely destroy the entire human race.
This would be an intolerable tragedy and absolutely must be prevented. And this nuclear holocaust can only be prevented by creating a cooperative and loving international community of harmonious, non-competitive nations that share the same planet through sharing our planet’s land and natural resources for the equal benefit of all people from all nations of the world.
Therefore, we in the United States must see that our patriotism and “making America great again” now mean exactly this change from the present state of international struggle and the continued danger of nuclear war to our becoming friends and allies with all the other nations of the world.
Rama Kumar
Fairfax
