Words from the Diary of Anne Frank in 1943

History has repeated itself, but this time the horrific is not happening on foreign soils. The horrible is in the USA..

I’ll never understand why so very many people in this country elect not to see–to not care.

But behind that, I have no feelings but contempt for the nasty bigots who are delighting in Trump’s cruelty to an element of humanity.

The Cruelty of Donald Trump

“It is no longer news that former President Donald Trump takes great delight in ridiculing political opponents and anyone who crosses him. With a mix of derisive nicknames, mockery, insulting physical descriptions and baseless accusations, he has turned transgression into an art form.

“Yet, millions of Americans remain captivated by his displays of cruelty. Attendees at his rallies laugh and cheer − disparaging not only political adversaries but also ethnic groups, disabled individuals, undocumented immigrants, women who call out abuse and others. Conservative media outlets relish replaying the clips” Metzger and Mikva, USA Today, February 15, 2024.

The Maga Cruelty Is the Point

“But in the case of Trump and many of his most ardent supporters, “the cruelty is the point”: “Somewhere on the wide spectrum between adolescent teasing and the smiling white men in the lynching photographs are the Trump supporters whose community is built by rejoicing in the anguish of those they see as unlike them, who have found in their shared cruelty an answer to the loneliness and atomization of modern life.”  Adam Serwer. The Atlantic

We need to reject the politics of cruelty

“It’s not about Trump. It’s about us − if we don’t reject the politics of cruelty. Our parents and schools teach us not to bully others but to report bullies, stand up to them and build people up rather than tear people down, even people we view as different.”Metzger and Mikva, USA Today, February 15, 2024.

Paul Louis Metzger is an evangelical Christian professor at Multnomah University & Seminary. Rachel S. Mikva is a Reform rabbi and professor at Chicago Theological Seminary.\\

The Book of Proverbs on Cruelty

^6bThe getting of treasures by a lying tongue
    is a fleeting vapour and a snare^[a] of death.
⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.
⁸ The way of the guilty is crooked,The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
    is a fleeting vapour and a snare^[a] of death.
⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.
⁸ The way of the guilty is crooked, getting of treasures by a lying tongue
    is a fleeting vapour and a snare^[a] of death.
⁷ The violence of the wicked will sweep them away,
    because they refuse to do what is just.
⁸ The way of the guilty is crooked,
. . .
¹⁰ The souls of the wicked desire evil;
    their neighbours find no mercy in their eyes

^{. . .
13} If you close your ear to the cry of the poor
    you will cry out and not be heard. Proverbs 21:13

The Opposite of Cruelty is God’s Light

Cruelty Is Darkness Without God’s Light–It is an Everlasting Night Without Stars or a Moon–Without the Hope of Day.