General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region Forums"My Words Led to Violence. Now Trump's Are Too"
Rev. Rob Schenck is an evangelical minister and former activist for Operation Rescue and other national anti-abortion groups. He is president of The Dietrich Bonhoeffer Institute in Washington, D.C., and author of Costly Grace: An Evangelical Ministers Rediscovery of Faith, Hope and Love.President Donald Trump has called Mexicans rapists and killers. Hes warned that people coming across the southern border are bringing drugs. He has claimed that Mexican officials are cunning, and they send bad ones over because they dont want to pay for them. And he has tweeted, We cannot allow all of these people to invade our country. By saying these things, Trump dehumanizes and vilifies his subjects and leaves them fair game for a depraved mass shooter like the one in El Paso who killed 22 people, injured even more and traumatized an entire community.
Trump may think hes clever in capturing the anger, seething resentment, fear and hatred harbored by certain segments of the electorate, but hes not clever, hes dangerous. We dont know for sure, but his irresponsible, unwarranted and contemptible denunciations of Latinos and others may have motivated the El Paso shooter to drive more than eight hours to the border to find the dangerous invaders the President warned about. The shooter wrote in a manifesto that his views predate Trump, but some of his language was strikingly similar to that of the President: This attack is a response to the Hispanic invasion of Texas, he wrote. At the very least, Trump gave presidential affirmation to this shooters dark and evil intentions. One thing we can be sure of is that the President will continue to stoke and unleash murderous impulses in crazed minds if he keeps disparaging brown and black people.
https://time.com/5645371/trump-rhetoric-violence/
sinkingfeeling
(51,478 posts)dalton99a
(81,635 posts)ehrnst
(32,640 posts)calimary
(81,523 posts)Atonement is going to take the rest of his life.
This whole sorry era makes a legitimate mockery of the old cliche sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me.
Words can kill.
Perseus
(4,341 posts)The creature has opened the flood gates of White Supremacy, he has enabled them, like roaches they have come out from under the rocks feeling empowered.
The creature has asked of is followers during his rallies to get violent, that he will take care of their legal fees, he has called the migrants "invaders" and has told his followers "we have to get rid of the invaders", that may be open-ended but to a sick and fragile mind with AK-45 at their homes that mean "exterminating them".
I believe that taking Vincent Bugliosi's approach to prosecuting Charles Manson and delivering the blueprint to prosecute GW Bush, Chaney and the rest could be used to prosecute the murderous creature, he may not have pulled the trigger but he surely incited those who did.
SCVDem
(5,103 posts)Religion brings out the worst in people.
Maybe that is why we have the Separations Clause!
Religion will not cure gun violence and hate, it will make it much worse as they add "Religious Discrimination" to the list of grievances.
The xians may start yet another religion: the worship of Trump. Well on their way come to think of it.
raccoon
(31,126 posts)What a dick.