Earlier this week, Hillary Clinton secured her position as the presumptive nominee for the Democratic Party for President of the United States. From now until November, our airways and social media feeds will be flooded with coverage as she battles Donald Trump for the White House.
For a year now, Donald Trump has positioned himself as the Republican front-runner, and has done so on a platform claiming he is a Christian. Yet throughout the primary season, he has made some of the most outlandish and offensive comments that are contrary to the life of Christ.
Trump's ideals and hateful rhetoric stand in direct opposition to that of the Jesus of the New Testament. As part of the Sermon on the Mount as depicted in Matthew's Gospel, Jesus gives his listeners eight sayings, a series of blessings focused on those who, in that context, would not be considered powerful or worthy. These are exactly the demographics Trump seemingly finds deplorable.
To show just how anti-Christian Donald Trump is, I present, in contrasting form, Jesus' Beatitudes and real quotes from Donald Trump.
Jesus: Blessed are the poor, for they will inherit the kingdom of heaven.
Trump: "My entire life, I've watched politicians bragging about how poor they are, how they came from nothing, how poor their parents and grandparents were. And I said to myself, if they can stay so poor for so many generations, maybe this isn't the kind of person we want to be electing to higher office. How smart can they be? They're morons."
Jesus: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
Trump: "I will build a great wall - and nobody builds walls better than me, believe me - and I'll build them very inexpensively. I will build a great, great wall on our southern border, and I will make Mexico pay for that wall. Mark my words."
Jesus: Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Trump: "When people wrong you, go after those people, because it is a good feeling and because other people will see you doing it. I always get even."
Jesus: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
Trump: "My life has been about winning. My life has not been about losing."
Jesus: Blessed are the merciful, for they will find mercy.
Trump: "We should go for waterboarding and we should go tougher than waterboarding."
Jesus: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.
Trump: "I could stand in the middle of 5th Avenue and shoot somebody and I wouldn't lose voters."
Jesus: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.
Trump: "When you get these terrorists, you have to take out their families. 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"
Jesus: Blessed are those who are persecuted, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Trump: "I'm putting the people on notice that are coming here from Syria as part of this mass migration, that if I win, if I win, they're going back."