MAD ENOUGH TO GO NUCLEAR?
Total depravity displayed. The devil is in the details.
“I am thinking about bringing the number one attraction anywhere in the world the man who gets much larger audiences than Elvis in his prime, and he does so without a guitar, the man who loves our country more than anyone else, and the man who some say is the greatest president in history”. Donald J. Trump.
This is one of the many quotes Trump has made of ‘self-praise’. The Dutch have a saying: Eigen Roem, Stinks, or, “Self-Praise Smells”. The stink in Washington is overwhelming the world, witness the Iran invasion: Trump’s hubris and stupidity, arrogance and foolishness displayed to the world for all to see. His rashness and lack of judgement have caught up on him, and now his ignorance has become an object of universal ridicule.
It all would be a bad joke, if only Trump would suffer humiliation. The problem is that his actions have consequences far beyond a blow to his supersized ego: millions if not billions will suffer and die.
The portal to the Delphi Temple had one inscription: Gnooti Seauton: Know Thyself.
To “know thyself” is to gauge core values, and, more difficult, is to recognize blind spots. It means examining what drives one’s actions, and seeing limitations. With Trump? He certainly is a case study of the opposite.
I often turn to the Bible to seek my guidance. Solomon was a wise ruler. Trump would benefit from reading Solomon’s Proverbs.
Here is one:
“When a man’s folly brings his way to ruin, his heart rages against the LORD.” Proverbs 19: 3
My background.
Born and educated in the Netherlands, its language is still part of my make-up.
“Wie God verlaat heeft smart op smart te vrezen” teaches Psalm 32: 5, translated as “Abandoning God, harming his Creation, poses pain upon pain”.
When in a Christian elementary school, in grade 3 – 5, every Friday we were assigned to memorize a rhymed Psalm verse, to be recited and sung in class every Monday morning. I remember my mother helping me to drill them into my brain over the weekend. The long-lasting benefits have been that I have a repertoire of Dutch Psalm verses that now, after almost 90 years, is still a constant source of edification for me. Often, first thing in the morning, I wake up singing one of these songs. Also, a sign of senility?
Back to Trump.
Trump is a symptom, not a cause. Why he was elected by the American people, portrays their mentality, dominated by “The American Religion”, which Dr. Harold Bloom, the eminent religious scholar, states that it has ceased to be ‘Christian’, dominated as it is by Gnosticism, an ancient Greek heresy. It teaches that “Spirit is good, and that the human body, which is matter, is evil”. This falsehood is reflected in the church’s ‘heaven’ teaching, and in Trump’s efforts to curtail or even abolish healthcare and climate saving measures, of which his followers approve.
Here is a ditty that Trump and his true believers would underwrite:
Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump
A name that makes you jump,
The greatest ruler yet
His wisdom’s a sure bet,
His IQ of the highest set. (2X)
Donald J. Trump, Donald J. Trump,
He’s the champ, not a mere chump
The wisest man around,
No smarter can be found
His clever actions do abound. (2X)
(there is a tune to these verses)
Boredom is dangerous.
However, it seems that Trump is bored. It looks that he has given up on governing — even governing aimed at consolidating his own power and legacy. He increasingly wants to punish everyone whom he imagines has wronged him, but has lost all interest in making the government work. His new, detached attitude, is even more dangerous than his hands on involvement.
Back to naked reality.
This man, on the throne in the White House – color his soul black – reminds me of a book I translated, written by the late Dr. J.H.Bavinck, professor of Missions at the Free University in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. It deals with the Bible’s last book: Revelation.
It was written after World War II, when the memory of Nagasaki and Hiroshima – both destroyed by atom bombs – was still fresh on his mind.
Writers often are prophetic, and, when open to Scripture, there too prophecies are evident. Take the section on “The Fall of Babylon”, dealt with in Revelation 19. Here is Bavinck’s comment: “The Empire is cursed with insanity”. (Now evident in its President.)
Prophetic Bavinck writes: “There is in Babylon (read the present world) a simmering spark of resistance (now appearing), that can burst into a full-fledged revolution. …….There is only one solution, one radical and total cure: a nuclear bomb.” I wonder: Will that happen in Iran?
Both Bavinck’s and Revelation, affirm: “The final judgement is upon the world in the form of natural disasters, earthquakes, pandemics, no human technology can prevent.”
There is a MADMAN IN POWER. Be prepared for mad actions.