The Apostle Paul, Charity, and President Trump©
In October 1975, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley in a conference talk titled “Opposing Evil,” said among other things: “I am one who believes that we should earnestly and sincerely and positively express our convictions .... Let our voices be heard. I hope they will not be shrill voices, but I hope we shall speak with such conviction that those to whom we speak shall know of the strength of our feeling and the sincerity of our effort. I think the Lord would say to us, “Rise, and stand upon thy feet, and speak up for truth and goodness and decency and virtue.” God give us the strength, the wisdom, the faith, the courage as citizens to stand in opposition to these and to let our voices be heard in defense of those virtues which, when practiced in the past, made men and nations strong, and which, when neglected, brought them to decay.”(1)
In that spirit I again speak out as strong as I am able against the evil, total corruption, wickedness, felonies, liability for sexual abuse (rape), mysogny, illegal actions, abuse of power, perversity, petulance, pettiness, hostility, continual anger, monumental hubris, hypocrisy, indecency, vulgarity, hate, vengeance, meanness, rudeness, cruelness, ignorance, and perpetual lying of the President of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump.
One can look in vain through the history of the American presidency for a president who has a larger list of former supporters who, after working with him, then reject and oppose him as has President Trump. We might add the large and growing list of members of the administration who subsequently write books exposing and/or opposing him or warning the public about him. I’ve pondered why this unprecedented avalanche doesn’t disturb the MAGA folk, but I stand totally bewildered by the phemenon.
So I speak out in opposition to the President today, with a simple comparison you may make for yourselves.
In 1Corinthians13:4-7 the Apostle Paul identifies 15 elements of the Christian attribute of charity, which he portrays as the supreme Christian characteristic–one without which we are “nothing.” I will list them in order from the King James Version, with several alternatives from modern translations to help with some clarity. (The verse in 1 Cor 13 where they are found is enclosed in parentheses. They are:
KJV NIV NET
1. Is long-suffering (4) patient patient
2. Is kind (4)
3. Does not envy (4) not envy not envious
4. Vaunteth not itself (4) boast brag
5. Not puffed up (4) proud puffed up
6. Not behave unseemly (5) dishonor others rude
7. Seeks not her own (5) not self-seeking self-serving
8, Not easily provoked (5) not easily angered not easily angered
9. Thinks no evil(5) keeps no record not easily resentful
of wrongs
10. Rejoices not in
iniquity (6) delight in evil glad about injustice
11. Rejoices in the truth (6) rejoices with the
truth
12. Bears all things (7) protects
13. Believes all things (7) trusts
14. Hopes all things (7) hopes
15. Endures all things (7) preserves
Christian charity is a very high bar indeed. Paul even says if one understands all mysteries and has all faith sufficient to move mountains, but does not have charity he is “nothing.” If we give all of our goods to feed the poor, or our bodies as martyrs to the flames, and have not charity “it profiteth me nothing.” (1 Cor. 13:2-3) This kind of Christianity is serious business of the first order.
Of the 15 elements Paul gives us, how many fit the President’s character? Actually, he is almost the exact opposite of two-thirds of them. There was a day in this country when the public would not brook his kind of behavior, but today apparently millions not only tolerate it, but encourage and applaud it. I find it extremely hard to believe that any decent mother holds him up as an example for her children to follow.
Some argue that his character and personal failings don't matter. Again, I turn to the word of God and the teachings of living prophets.
Scripture: Wherefore, honest men and wise men should be sought for diligently, and good men and wise men ye should observe to uphold; otherwise whatsoever is less than these cometh of evil.(2)
David O. McKay: No nation will become great whose trusted officers will pass legislation for personal gain, who will take advantage of a public office for personal preferment or to gratify vain ambition, or who will, through forgery, chicanery, and fraud, rob the government, or be false in office to a public trust.
Honesty, sincerity of purpose must be the dominant traits of character in leaders of a nation that wold be truly great.(3)
Neal A. Maxwell: All about us we see hypocrisies as between public and private behavior, as if God had issued two sets of commandments—one for indoors and another for out-of-doors.(4)
Gordon B. Hinckley: It is not wise, or even possible, to divorce private behavior from public leadership–though there are those who have gone to great lengths to suggest that this is the only possible view of “enlightened” individuals. They are wrong. They are deceived. By its very nature, true leadership carries with it the burden of being an example. It is asking too much of any public officer, elected by his or her constituents, to stand tall and be a model before the people–not only in the ordinary aspects of leadership but in his or her behavior? If values, aren’t established and adhered to at the top, behavior down the ranks is seriously jeopardized and undermined. Indeed, in any organization where such is the case–be it a family, a corporation, a society, or a nation–the values being neglected will in time disappear.(5)
I pray regularly, and invite you to join me, that the Lord will protect the Constitution of the United States with its separation of powers and the freedom and rights it guarantees us, and to preserve our inspired democratic heritage and protect us from Donald Trump's corruption, authoritarian tendencies and apparent desire to be our king.
Let’s think together, soon.
Notes:
1. Gordon B. Hinckley, "Opposing Evil," Ensign (November 1975):38-40.
2. Doctrine and Covenants 98:10.
3. David O. McKay, Pathways To Happiness, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1957, 3.
4. Neal A. Maxwell, If Thou Endure it Well, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1996, 16.
5. Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something: Ten Neglected Virtues that Will Heal Our Hearts and Homes, New York: Random House, 2000, 170.
