The New York Times reported today that Pope Francis suggested that Donald Trump is not a Christian. Returning home to Rome after a six day trip to Mexico, the Pope told a reporter, “A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges, is not Christian.”
Earlier that day, Pope Francis presided over a huge Mass in the border city of Ciudad Juárez. As the US Border Patrol watched from the other side with machine guns, the Pope carried flowers to edge of the Rio Grande to place them at a new memorial for those who’ve died trying to come to the U.S.
Donald Trump immediately responded on Twitter with sarcasm. “The new Pope is a humble man, very much like me, which probably explains why I like him so much!” OK, so that was a Donald tweet from December 25, 2013. And Trump was being serious in calling himself humble.
But this week, Trump responded like he normally does by chastising the Pope for doing something that Donald does all the time. Trump said, “No leader, especially a religious leader, should have the right to question another man’s religion or faith.” Yet Trump has challenged the faith of Ted Cruz in his statement about he didn’t know any evangelicals that came out of Cuba.
This is an example of the new verb I’m creating – “trumpify”. It’s accusing someone of something that you’re guilty of yourself. The noun for this is hypocrite, but there’s no verb in the English language that means to make one’s self a hypocrite. I think “trumpify” is needed.
Christians need to be more vocal in this election. Not by trying to impose their brand of religion on the rest of the nation, but by calling on candidates to promote the values that make Christianity a faith of worth. Best summed up in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have them do unto you. Pope Francis should be commended for calling out Trump. He has every right to question Trump’s sincerity as a Christian.
The Donald says the Bible is his favorite book, along with his own The Art of the Deal, but he can’t name a Bible verse. When appearing alongside Jerry Falwell, Jr., at Liberty University, Trump was asked to read from the Bible and called it TWO Corinthians instead of SECOND Corinthians. A person with any knowledge of the Bible would know how to say the books of the Bible.
It’s time for Trump to come clean. He doesn’t read the Bible. He’s not a Christian. And he’s certainly not humble. He thinks that he is the Messiah, sent here to make America great again. Let’s hope the voters of my state tell him that it’s been fun, but the circus is over and pick a different Republican candidate. But it’s not likely.
I’ll be praying extra hard this weekend. And I bet the Pope will be too.