The following is the opinion and analysis of the writer:
Michael A. Chihak
Michael A. Chihak
The president says he is a Christian whom God spared from assassination. No, he’s a hypocrite.
“I was saved by God to make America great again,” he said in his Jan. 20 inaugural speech. If a merciful god saved him, he rejected the example on Jan. 21 by deriding a Christian bishop after she asked him at a National Prayer service to “be merciful to the people.”
In April, he doubled down on hypocrisy, saying, “We’re going to honor Jesus Christ very powerfully throughout our lives.”
Scripture exposes his hypocritical words vs. his actions in flouting Christian teachings. The first book of John, Chapter 3, Verse 18: “... let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth.” The president’s “actions and truth” are the antithesis of Christianity and of any religion.
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In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus told his followers how to act. Matthew 25:35-36: “For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.”
Taking one phrase at a time:
- “I was hungry and you gave me food ...” The president’s budget cuts $1.3 billion in fresh fruit and vegetable money for 5 million recipients of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children and nearly $300 billion from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities reported.
- “I was a stranger and you welcomed me.” The president banned most refugees, including tens of thousands already approved for immigration, refugee support group Church World Service reported. He also wants millions of immigrants deported and joked that those going to a Florida Everglades detention center would have to outrun alligators to escape
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- “I was naked and you gave me clothing.” He cut $54 billion in global aid for millions of poor people.
- “I was sick and you took care of me.” His budget cuts Medicaid for 11.4 million people, the Congressional Budget Office estimated, and he allows his secretary of Health and Human Services to roll back programs that keep Americans healthy.
- “I was in prison and you visited me.” The president’s “visit” was reinstating the federal death penalty. And his immigration policies put more than 59,000 immigrants in detention the week of June 23, CBS News reported from federal figures. That was 42% above capacity, so many immigrants were likely in unsafe, unsanitary environments.
Does any of that “honor Jesus Christ”?
Other noteworthy biblical teachings that the president’s actions betray:
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Michael A. Chihak is a retired newsman. He lives in Tucson.
