As part of engaging in a dialogue in the wake of Trump being elected, I've written up a compilation of where Donald Trump has broken the Ten Commandments to engage with my fellow Catholics. Shared here in case others find it useful. Take care of each other out there. And if you are in the trenches, just know that I am right there with you.
#1 - I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me
How can you be a Christian if you never go to church? (he also broke #8 on this one)
"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he attends a church in Manhattan, but the church released a statement saying the real estate developer is not an "active member." http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/politics/donald-trump-church-member/
Also, what kind of Christian doesn't believe in the need for redemption and forgiveness from the Savior....what kind of Christian doesn't bring God into the picture of forgiveness?
"I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so," he said. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."
Trump said that while he hasn't asked God for forgiveness, he does participate in Holy Communion.
"When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed," he said. "I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.'" http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/
#2 - You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain
Well, this one is easy thanks to the interwebs...you can see him say it himself...
[Read more below the jump]
#1 - I, the Lord, am your God. You shall not have other gods besides me
How can you be a Christian if you never go to church? (he also broke #8 on this one)
"Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump told reporters Thursday that he attends a church in Manhattan, but the church released a statement saying the real estate developer is not an "active member." http://www.cnn.com/2015/08/28/politics/donald-trump-church-member/
Also, what kind of Christian doesn't believe in the need for redemption and forgiveness from the Savior....what kind of Christian doesn't bring God into the picture of forgiveness?
"I am not sure I have. I just go on and try to do a better job from there. I don't think so," he said. "I think if I do something wrong, I think, I just try and make it right. I don't bring God into that picture. I don't."
Trump said that while he hasn't asked God for forgiveness, he does participate in Holy Communion.
"When I drink my little wine -- which is about the only wine I drink -- and have my little cracker, I guess that is a form of asking for forgiveness, and I do that as often as possible because I feel cleansed," he said. "I think in terms of 'let's go on and let's make it right.'" http://www.cnn.com/2015/07/18/politics/trump-has-never-sought-forgiveness/
#2 - You shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain
Well, this one is easy thanks to the interwebs...you can see him say it himself...
[Read more below the jump]
#3 - Remember to keep holy the Lord's Day
See #1 for the Church he said he attended saying he's not an active member. Also, there's the eyewitness who remember the era of when the Trumps went to Church:
"Christina Ferro, 96, is the oldest member of First Presbyterian Church, and one of the only people around who still remembers the Trumps. She and her daughter, Holly Hladun, are also among the few white people who attend. Although things have changed a lot, “it’s always been good,”.....
Ferro joined the church as a young woman in 1945, one year before little Donald was born. At the time, that area in Queens was dominated by Western European immigrants—including people like Trump’s mother, Mary, who came to the United States from Scotland in 1929. Ferro taught young kids in Sunday School, but says she never had the middle Trump boy; her now-dead husband, Jim, taught Donald when he was a teen, according to her daughter, Holly Hladun.
“He was one of the boys I just never went anywhere near, because he scared the crap out of me,” said Hladun, who is a few years younger than Trump. “There was just something about him.”
According to Ferro, the Trumps sat up in the balcony on the righthand side of the sanctuary; many families at First Church, as in other congregations, have a particular section where they like to sit."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/trumps-sunday-school/492653/
#4 - Honor your father and mother
Donald Trump took the opportunity to make a self-centered joke in his father's obituary:
In fact, every aggressive word Donald Trump ever directed at his father seems to have been about business. When Fred died, Donald Trump gave a cheerful quote for his father’s New York Times obituary, focusing on the way his dad had never wanted to expand into Manhattan. “It was good for me,” he said. “You know, being the son of somebody, it could have been competition to me. This way, I got Manhattan all to myself!” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/26/donald-trump-fred-trump-father-relationship-business-real-estate-art-of-deal
#5 - You shall not kill
Donald Trump advocated for a war crime - killing civilian families of suspected terrorists
"Donald Trump says the United States should kill the family members of terrorists, and not to do so is just being "politically correct."
"The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families," Trump said on Fox and Friends on Dec. 2, 2015. "They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/17/rand-paul/rand-pauls-right-geneva-conventions-bar-donald-tru/
Also, I find it deeply troubling that the example by which he talks about his supporters loyalty is "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and they would still support me". Not a very Christian example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmiLWDpCno
#6 - You shall not commit adultery
He had a very public extra-marital affair with Marla Maples (cheating on Ivana)and actually gave birth to his daughter Tiffany by his second wife out of wedlock:
After meeting Marla at a tennis tournament, he started flirting with her at a Manhattan church, Marble Collegiate. That’s where he eventually married her, the great passion that blew up his family, but he waited for two years after his divorce, and even for two months after she gave birth to their daughter. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-history-women-adultery-objectification-article-1.2604073
...and then he created a fake PR person which was really him to brag to the media about his sleeping around on Marla Maples (you can listen to the tape yourself)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/trump-files-listen-donald-brag-about-his-affairs-while-pretending-be-someone-else
and then there's the fact that he said adultery is not a sin during this period:
“Do you think adultery is a sin?” Trump was asked in the February issue.
“Very good question,” he responded. According to the report at the time, Trump paused and then said:
“I don’t think it’s a sin but I don’t think it should be done.”
The reporters pressed: “Would you do it?” After which, Trump coyly responded “I’ll let you guess.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/30/donald-trump-in-1990-adultery-is-not-a-sin.html
#7 - You shall not steal
He stole from his non-profit to pay his legal fees:
Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump’s charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against “self-dealing” — which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html
More importantly, he stole from hundreds of regular Americans who he contracted with and then refused to pay them and threatened to sue in order to pay less than the cost of the products and services:
"At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
Via testimonial of one of his victims who Trump didn't pay $30,000 on a $100,000 bill and almost lost everything (had 5 kids, family business):
See #1 for the Church he said he attended saying he's not an active member. Also, there's the eyewitness who remember the era of when the Trumps went to Church:
"Christina Ferro, 96, is the oldest member of First Presbyterian Church, and one of the only people around who still remembers the Trumps. She and her daughter, Holly Hladun, are also among the few white people who attend. Although things have changed a lot, “it’s always been good,”.....
Ferro joined the church as a young woman in 1945, one year before little Donald was born. At the time, that area in Queens was dominated by Western European immigrants—including people like Trump’s mother, Mary, who came to the United States from Scotland in 1929. Ferro taught young kids in Sunday School, but says she never had the middle Trump boy; her now-dead husband, Jim, taught Donald when he was a teen, according to her daughter, Holly Hladun.
“He was one of the boys I just never went anywhere near, because he scared the crap out of me,” said Hladun, who is a few years younger than Trump. “There was just something about him.”
According to Ferro, the Trumps sat up in the balcony on the righthand side of the sanctuary; many families at First Church, as in other congregations, have a particular section where they like to sit."
http://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2016/07/trumps-sunday-school/492653/
#4 - Honor your father and mother
Donald Trump took the opportunity to make a self-centered joke in his father's obituary:
In fact, every aggressive word Donald Trump ever directed at his father seems to have been about business. When Fred died, Donald Trump gave a cheerful quote for his father’s New York Times obituary, focusing on the way his dad had never wanted to expand into Manhattan. “It was good for me,” he said. “You know, being the son of somebody, it could have been competition to me. This way, I got Manhattan all to myself!” https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/mar/26/donald-trump-fred-trump-father-relationship-business-real-estate-art-of-deal
#5 - You shall not kill
Donald Trump advocated for a war crime - killing civilian families of suspected terrorists
"Donald Trump says the United States should kill the family members of terrorists, and not to do so is just being "politically correct."
"The other thing with the terrorists is you have to take out their families, when you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families," Trump said on Fox and Friends on Dec. 2, 2015. "They care about their lives, don't kid yourself. When they say they don't care about their lives, you have to take out their families."
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/dec/17/rand-paul/rand-pauls-right-geneva-conventions-bar-donald-tru/
Also, I find it deeply troubling that the example by which he talks about his supporters loyalty is "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and they would still support me". Not a very Christian example:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMmiLWDpCno
#6 - You shall not commit adultery
He had a very public extra-marital affair with Marla Maples (cheating on Ivana)and actually gave birth to his daughter Tiffany by his second wife out of wedlock:
After meeting Marla at a tennis tournament, he started flirting with her at a Manhattan church, Marble Collegiate. That’s where he eventually married her, the great passion that blew up his family, but he waited for two years after his divorce, and even for two months after she gave birth to their daughter. http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/donald-trump-history-women-adultery-objectification-article-1.2604073
...and then he created a fake PR person which was really him to brag to the media about his sleeping around on Marla Maples (you can listen to the tape yourself)
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/09/trump-files-listen-donald-brag-about-his-affairs-while-pretending-be-someone-else
and then there's the fact that he said adultery is not a sin during this period:
“Do you think adultery is a sin?” Trump was asked in the February issue.
“Very good question,” he responded. According to the report at the time, Trump paused and then said:
“I don’t think it’s a sin but I don’t think it should be done.”
The reporters pressed: “Would you do it?” After which, Trump coyly responded “I’ll let you guess.”
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/10/30/donald-trump-in-1990-adultery-is-not-a-sin.html
#7 - You shall not steal
He stole from his non-profit to pay his legal fees:
Those cases, which together used $258,000 from Trump’s charity, were among four newly documented expenditures in which Trump may have violated laws against “self-dealing” — which prohibit nonprofit leaders from using charity money to benefit themselves or their businesses. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-used-258000-from-his-charity-to-settle-legal-problems/2016/09/20/adc88f9c-7d11-11e6-ac8e-cf8e0dd91dc7_story.html
More importantly, he stole from hundreds of regular Americans who he contracted with and then refused to pay them and threatened to sue in order to pay less than the cost of the products and services:
"At least 60 lawsuits, along with hundreds of liens, judgments, and other government filings reviewed by the USA TODAY NETWORK, document people who have accused Trump and his businesses of failing to pay them for their work. Among them: a dishwasher in Florida. A glass company in New Jersey. A carpet company. A plumber. Painters. Forty-eight waiters. Dozens of bartenders and other hourly workers at his resorts and clubs, coast to coast. Real estate brokers who sold his properties. And, ironically, several law firms that once represented him in these suits and others.
Trump’s companies have also been cited for 24 violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act since 2005 for failing to pay overtime or minimum wage, according to U.S. Department of Labor data. That includes 21 citations against the defunct Trump Plaza in Atlantic City and three against the also out-of-business Trump Mortgage LLC in New York. Both cases were resolved by the companies agreeing to pay back wages."
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/06/09/donald-trump-unpaid-bills-republican-president-laswuits/85297274/
Via testimonial of one of his victims who Trump didn't pay $30,000 on a $100,000 bill and almost lost everything (had 5 kids, family business):
#8 - You shall not bear false witness
Inventing a near-death experience in which three of his executives lost their lives: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/donald-trump-files-helicopter-crash
Lied about giving to charity: https://www.propublica.org/podcast/item/fact-checking-donald-trumps-charity-claims
He is "Pants on Fire", "False" or "Mostly False" 70% of the time out of 334 assessed statements:
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
Inventing a near-death experience in which three of his executives lost their lives: http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2016/07/donald-trump-files-helicopter-crash
Lied about giving to charity: https://www.propublica.org/podcast/item/fact-checking-donald-trumps-charity-claims
He is "Pants on Fire", "False" or "Mostly False" 70% of the time out of 334 assessed statements:
http://www.politifact.com/personalities/donald-trump/
#9 - You shall not covet your neighbor's wife
The woman who he refers to in the tape below right away (from the "Trump Tape" with his really indecent "grab them by the pussy" comment) is his neighbor and is married. There's more if you "want" to watch the whole video of how he demeans and insults women.
"I moved on her and I failed. I did try to fuck her. She was married....and I moved on her very heavily in fact I took her furniture shopping....I moved on her like a bitch but couldn't get there. And she was married."
The woman who he refers to in the tape below right away (from the "Trump Tape" with his really indecent "grab them by the pussy" comment) is his neighbor and is married. There's more if you "want" to watch the whole video of how he demeans and insults women.
"I moved on her and I failed. I did try to fuck her. She was married....and I moved on her very heavily in fact I took her furniture shopping....I moved on her like a bitch but couldn't get there. And she was married."
#10 You shall not covet your neighbor's goods
Too easy!
"What is the worst example of shameless materialism that you have ever seen?" Donald Trump
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/4p3kim/what_is_the_worst_example_of_shameless/
But seriously: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/donald-trumps-extravagant-gold-rimmed-nyc-penthouse-is-amazing-pics-20151111
Also:
“Now, I’ll tell you, I’m good at that – so, you know, I’ve always taken in money,” he said at a rally in Iowa. “I like money. I’m very greedy. I’m a greedy person. I shouldn’t tell you that, I’m a greedy – I’ve always been greedy. I love money, right?"
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/265335-trump-im-very-greedy
Too easy!
"What is the worst example of shameless materialism that you have ever seen?" Donald Trump
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/comments/4p3kim/what_is_the_worst_example_of_shameless/
But seriously: http://www.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/donald-trumps-extravagant-gold-rimmed-nyc-penthouse-is-amazing-pics-20151111
Also:
“Now, I’ll tell you, I’m good at that – so, you know, I’ve always taken in money,” he said at a rally in Iowa. “I like money. I’m very greedy. I’m a greedy person. I shouldn’t tell you that, I’m a greedy – I’ve always been greedy. I love money, right?"
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/gop-primaries/265335-trump-im-very-greedy
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