College was a wonderful place. If I, or anyone for that matter, spoke up with a thought that wasn't developed fully, professors would ask questions to help. And in a classroom setting, we got to challenge each other's ideas.
The most awkward and most important classroom experiences happened when we would say something so off-the-wall that the professor would flatly refuse to entertain it, and choose instead to call the idea what it is ... Stupid. I graduated in 2006, and back then, we didn't have "safe spaces", so we were forced to have to wrestle through ideas that made us uncomfortable because they contradicted our previously constructed worldview. It was a wonderful time.
You know what isn't wonderful? Social media. Unlike a college classroom, people can say pretty much anything, and then curate a friend's list that cheers them on, and utterly ignore dissenting views.
For the last week, I've had a news feed that has been crammed full of bad logic surrounding the now infamous "Trump Tapes", in which Trump brags about kissing and groping beautiful women simply because he's famous, so they let him. Some of the strangest posts have come in defense of Mr. Trump's words, actions, and continued candidacy after-the-fact. So I thought it best to challenge a lot of these ideas. And please, if you want to challenge mine, feel free in the comments section. Unlike some, I don't shy away from being contradicted.
Let's have some fun.
"Trump's 'locker room talk' and the behavior it exposed shouldn't be a big deal because..."
... Bill Clinton did worse.
Worse? I don't know about that. He certainly did the same. He used his power and influence to sexually proposition women, and if all accusations are taken into account, some were consensual and others were not. But what does that have to do with Donald Trump?
If you remove Bill Clinton out of the picture, Trump still sexually assaulted women, and felt it was so normal that he was bold enough to brag about it to a TV show host. Clinton's actions don't excuse Trump's, or somehow open the way for him to keep running for president. If Clinton's affairs and sexual indiscretions came to light before his presidential bid, I suspect he would have had the good sense to bow out.
Donald Trump acted out of his own character and perversions. It doesn't matter if other people did the same or worse. He's still a dirty old man.
... the Supreme Court nominations are all that matter.
So let me get this straight - Trump supporters are so scared of Hillary's pro-choice platform that they are willing to turn a blind-eye to a letch groping and harassing women at will, before, during and after his presidency, as long as he promises to appoint the Supreme Court Justices who share their ideology and will legislate their particular morality? Really?
What exactly about Trump gives his supporters any confidence that he will keep his word? He hasn't; not in his business dealings, not with his contractors, not with his wives, not in the debates ... he is as big of a liar as anyone in Washington. So why in God's name does anyone actually buy what he says, rather than seeing him for what he is - a man who will say anything to get elected?
It isn't righteous, moral, ethical or logical to say "We are comfortable with Trump sexually assaulting women as long as he helps us save unborn babies."
... Fifty Shades of Grey was popular.
Whoo boy, this one has been all the rage. Listen, I get that most Christians haven't read the books or seen the movies, and those who have wouldn't be bold enough to even admit it. So because they don't know what the book is about, it boils down to, "the book is naughty, and Trump is naughty, so give him a break." I can minimalize too, and it makes as much sense. Let's give it a shot: "Jesus never sinned, and the tree in my front yard has never sinned, so the tree in my front yard is Jesus." (I'm being sarcastic, fanatics, stay off my lawn)
First of all, it's a terrible parallel. Here are just a few of the most important differences between Christian Grey and Donald Trump:
Christian Grey is fictitious, Donald Trump is, unfortunately, an actual person.
Christian Grey is single, Donald Trump was and is married.
Christian Grey required consent, Donald Trump did not. "I don't even ask, I just kiss. They let you do anything. Just walk up and grab them by the p*ssy."
Christian Grey is not running for President of the United States, while Donald Trump, unfortunately, still is.
See, if Donald Trump WASN'T running for President, this would be a much smaller issue, though the offense would be just as repugnant. Then he's just another rich, powerful tycoon trying to live out his perverted little fantasies. But the moment he decided he wanted to be President, he voluntarily opened himself up to the scrutiny he's receiving, and rightly so. And while many Presidents have not been honorable during their time in office, that doesn't mean we should expect less than honorable men and women to pursue the office. And we, the people, need to insist with our votes that lesser men and women, like Donald Trump, step aside, so that their shame won't become all of ours.
Listen, "Taken" was a popular work of fiction enjoyed by many women. That doesn't mean that women inherently approve of being kidnapped, sold into the international sex trade, or raped. To say our culture shouldn't be offended at Donald Trump's lewd advances because a briefly popular book talked about BDSM makes exactly zero sense.
... America is sinful and depraved, so we shouldn't be surprised now.
This is about the most hypocritical things I hear being said. In saying the above, the one defending using this rationale implies:
Leaders shouldn't be held to a higher standard.
Believers can choose to crucify Clinton for her failings but are allowed to write off those displayed by Trump.
The sins of one (or many) pardons the sins of another.
None of the above are Biblical. It's that simple.
... he apologized.
I'm going to do another blog on this soon, because I think people sincerely believe that the only requirements of an apology is to use the words, "I'm sorry". That's sad.
So Donald Trump said the words, "I'm sorry". There are juuuuuuuuuust a few things that completely negate his "apology". Here's the short list:
He did it in a national statement in order to put the scandal behind him.
He immediately shifted the focus to Bill Clinton.
He didn't actually address any of the women who he admittedly harassed.
He blamed the media for exposing the tape.
I, through being mentored and married, have learned what a real apology looks like. Folks, this ain't it. He said the words, because that's pretty much what he does - say words that he thinks people will believe. He doesn't mean or even remember most of the words he uses, because they are so very voluminous. If he were sincerely remorseful, apologetic and repentant, he would be able to use all those many words to convey it. Unsurprisingly, he didn't.
... he is a new Christian, so we can't hold him to high standards.
The New Testament is clear on this: don't promote new believers to positions of authority or prominence, because they would be tempted beyond what they can handle and fall into the sin of pride. It goes on to say that those who would serve the church ought to exemplify certain marks of character before being appointed.
If American Christians really cared about the welfare of Donald Trump's soul, they would encourage him to drop out of the race (and his very public lifestyle) to allow him to start bearing fruit in keeping with repentance. But as you may have guessed, they don't care about his soul. They only care about having a say in the legislation of a powerful man who can help them enforce their own moral standards on their society.
... all guys talk that way.
No, they don't. Granted, some guys talk that way. Maybe guys in a strip club. Not in locker rooms (at least not high school, college, gyms, or the YMCA). Not at water coolers. Not via messenger. Not via text.
Good men speak respectfully of women. And even the men who are comfortable enough to objectify women do so about women with whom they consensually "scored" with. Vile, evil men brag about sexually assaulting women. It's really that easy.
... Hillary Clinton did worse to Bill's mistresses.
Again, as with Bill Clinton, Hillary's treatment of Bill's accusers and mistresses does not excuse Trump's.
And perhaps you don't remember how riled up the religious right got when Bill confessed to having an inappropriate relationship with Monica Lewinsky. He was put up for impeachment. The news wouldn't let it go. They blasted him for going to church and holding a Bible. It was ugly. Where was all the "let he who is without sin cast the first stone" talk back then? It seems as though the church would rather play Pharisee than Jesus in the narrative of the woman caught in adultery. Stone Bill. Pardon Donald (without even having the courtesy to implore him to "go and sin no more"). What a shame.
... Obama is bad.
This tape was from 2005. Obama was elected in 2008. Stop it.
You disagreeing with Obama's policies has literally nothing to do with the validity of Trump's misdeeds.
... the liberal media is biased.
Is a lot of the media both liberal and biased? Yes of course they are! And while I'm not excusing that, it's also important to point out that some media is also conservative and biased. Unfortunately, the news is not what it used to be. In my father's generation, the media's duty was to report the events and facts of the day, and they trusted the people to interpret it accordingly. That is no longer the case. News agencies are little more than storytellers. And that is unfortunate.
So, of course those liberal news agencies are trying to assassinate the character of Donald Trump in favor of Hillary Clinton. But here's the thing, and you can't really get around it: Donald Trump is providing the ammunition. He has been churning it out for his entire adult life. To put it more explicitly, if he didn't want people attacking him about his treatment of women, he shouldn't have treated women this way. It's not complicated.
It's important to note at this point that we know a great many things about Hillary Clinton because of the biased media as well. We know about her health issues. We know about the Clinton foundation. We know about Benghazi. We know about the Democratic national convention. All of these things have been reported because of the conservative media. That doesn't make them wrong.
So while the media may be making a big deal about Donald Trump's words and deeds, he's the one sending the tweets. He's the one making the speeches. He's the one scheduling the interviews. He's the one censoring his taxes. At the end of the day, he is simply reaping what he has sowed ... and he doesn't like it.
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