The Pope and the Dope

[babylonsister]

Found on FB~

Michael Jochum
is in Arvada, CO.

The Pope and the Dope

When a man like Donald Trump starts taking swings at the Pope, it’s not politics, it’s pathology. It’s the sound of a hollow ego rattling around inside a gold-plated echo chamber, desperate for applause it can no longer command, so it settles for outrage instead. Because outrage, for Trump, is currency. It’s oxygen. It’s the only thing keeping the bloated carcass of his relevance upright.
This is what it’s come to. Not policy. Not leadership. Not even the cheap theater he usually peddles. Now it’s spiritual drive-by shootings, lashing out at a man of faith because he dares to represent something Trump has never understood and never will: humility, compassion, and a moral center that isn’t for sale to the highest bidder.

Trump doesn’t attack strength. He attacks decency. Always has. Because decency exposes him. It stands there, quiet and unshaken, and by its mere existence reveals him for what he is: a petulant, grievance-soaked narcissist who confuses cruelty with power and noise with authority.

Pope Leo, whether you’re Catholic or not, isn’t playing that game. He doesn’t need to. Men like him navigate storms with steadiness, not tantrums. With conviction, not cheap insults. He doesn’t have to scream to be heard, and that alone is something Trump cannot comprehend.

I’m not Catholic either. But I recognize courage when I see it. I recognize sincerity. And right now, in a world being dragged through the mud by ego and ignorance, the presence of someone grounded in truth and moral clarity isn’t just refreshing, it’s necessary.

Trump can keep barking at the heavens all he wants. It won’t make him taller. It won’t make him wiser. And it sure as hell won’t make him relevant in any way that history will remember kindly.

—Michael Jochum
Not Just a Drummer: Reflections on Art, Politics, Dogs, and the Human Condition

[Irish_Dem]

1. Trump must destroy any thing good, decent, respected, admired.

He cannot stand anyone else getting attention or accolades.
He cannot stand people loving or emotionally attached to ideas, people, objects.

One reason he is destroying the White House, the Pope, etc.

[sop]

2. "Trump doesn't attack strength. He attacks decency."

Great observation...

[Goonch]

3. ;-{) FEARLESS

[Fla Dem]

4. Very thoughtful and on point characterization of Trump's ego vs the Pope's humanity.

[JohnnyRingo]

5. "...humility, compassion, and a moral center that isn't for sale to the highest bidder."

That line stood out as a good summation.

[Wild blueberry]

6. I recognize courage too

Thank you, Pope Leo.

[Auggie]

7. Reminds me of the Great Karnak ...

“Lifebouy, Leo I, Donald Trump …

Name a soap, a pope, and a dope.”

Johnny Carson, from many moons ago. I changed it a little.

[Martin Eden]

8. Best thing I've read about the Pope and the Dope

Thanks for sharing.

[Mr.Bee]

9. trump's religion is GREED

He has no honor, doesn't know the meaning of the word.

[wnylib]

10. Pope and the dope. Good word combo.

[kentuck]

11. Charlie Daniels

[bmichaelh]

12. Some Kierkegaard, Bonhoeffer and Shakespeare

I seriously doubt Trump has ever been a Christian, at least in an orthodox sense.

His childhood pastor was Norman Vincent Peale.
Peale defended capitalism.
Never mind all the books that have compared a corporation to a sociopathic individual.
Peale taught an early version of Prosperity Gospel called Positive Thinking.
It is no surprise that Trump surrounds himself with teachers of Prosperity Gospel and himself engages in magical thinking.

The philosopher Kierkegaard wrote that one of the earlier stages of life is driven by immediate gratification to avoid boredom.
That sounds a lot like Trump.
Kierkegaard loved the opera Don Giovanni and the prototype of that stage of life is the main character from that opera.
And Trump does not repent much like Giovanni does not at the climax of the opera.

Trump has never made sacrifices like Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
Bonhoeffer wrote about "cheap grace"; person who does not offer repentance.
Bonhoeffer was a student at Union Theological Seminary in NYC and taught Sunday School at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.
Bonhoeffer returned home to Nazi Germany and was murdered in a concentration camp.

And then when a minister encourages Trump to practice mercy in his new term, he is offended an wants an apology.
This happened at one of the inaugural services.

From Shakespeare:
GLOUCESTER
Name not religion, for thou lov'st the flesh,
And ne'er throughout the year to church thou goes
Except it be to pray against thy foes.
--Shakespeare, 1 Henry VI 1.1.41-43

[MW67]

13. Who remembers Sinead O'Connor ?

For those who do, enough said, career changing decision to go there the wrong way, also there's gotta be good joke material in there as well , maybe Maga's theme song should be " Nothing Compares to You" , or something like , What do trump and Sinead O'Connor share in common? Idk, both of their careers are over and nobody wants to hear them anymore?