The second term of Donald Trump’s presidency of the United States has begun. Half of the American population is elated. The other half is anxious, angry and fearful. In an article in America Magazine (January issue), Bryan N. Massingale (professor at Fordham University) writes an in-depth reflection on the meaning of all this in the light of the beliefs and teachings of Martin Luther King.

Philosopher Baruch Spinoza had said: “What Paul says about Peter tells us more about Paul than about Peter.” In a democratically held election, voters speak by voting. Through their voting they tell us who they and their values are. This is what the Americans did.

Massingale says: “Tens of millions were willing to overlook or disregard his (Trump’s) criminal convictions, his denigration of the judicial system, his adjudicated abuse of women, the litany of racial and gender insults, his refusal to accept his 2020 election, as well as the cruelty of his separating children from their parents in the name of national security.”

Massingale insists that the problem is not Trump but those who elected him. What made them choose him?

The answer to this question is what they expected him to deliver. As most populist politicians do, Trump promised the Americans that he would free them from all that which, logically or illogically, they perceived as being oppressive, frightening and making their lives difficult. At the top of the list came immigrants and coloured people, whom he maliciously accused of all the misfortunes of the nation and the cause of their suffering. His message implied that “these are not us”.

They were deterred neither by his anti-human values nor by his corruption of which they must have been aware. Corruption, which is stealing from the nation and depriving the people from important and essential services, is often tolerated.

Analysing the result of the election it was found out that most white Christians and Catholics voted for Trump. Massingale comes to this point too. Together with King, he wonders what God and Christianity mean for these white Christians. During the campaign, most Catholic bishops and clergy were conspicuous by their silence.

The way people vote speaks volumes about the ‘soul’ of the nation- Fr Alfred Micallef

Pope Francis had advised the Americans to vote, because not voting is voting for the greater evil, and to vote for the lesser evil. This is an important principle of morality. When evil cannot be avoided, at least work toward the lesser evil. However, it seems that his advice was not emphasised enough by the Church authorities and, consequently, it did not reach the ordinary Catholics.

King had criticised the beautiful churches in which white Southern Christians worshipped and rightly asked: Who is the God whom they worship and who is Jesus Christ hanging on the cross for them? Maybe he should have also asked: How could they be satisfied with their singing and other devotions if they cannot accept coloured people as their brethren?

Trump’s election is not only an expression of the values of so many Americans. Many European nations are freely opting for dubious governments. The rise of the far right and the predilection for populist talk is impressive. Voters make such choices only because they see these candidates as saying the things they themselves believe in which, in turn, betrays what their own values are. They also tell us who they are when they condone corruption.

Often, we blame the government for immoral choices but, since we are the ones who elect our governments, we are the government. The way people vote in a democratic nation speaks volumes about the ‘soul’ of the nation because, as King put it: “a nation is not a collection of individuals but a moral and spiritual entity in itself.”

Fr Alfred Micallef

Fr Alfred Micallef is a member of the Society of Jesus.