An Open Letter to Mr. Trump

Dear Mr. Trump:

Happy New Year. In the coming year I continue to hold you in prayer. As the leader of the free world, the pressure of making good decisions for the world is heavy upon your shoulders. There are three prayers I offer for you.

First, I pray you learn the value of listening. All the great spiritual teachers of the world’s religions speak to the power of listening. We have much to learn from others. Always. Mr. Trump, I believe you could learn from climate scientists and others who speak to the need for environmental protections and immediate action to curb emission of greenhouse gases. You can deny climate change is real, but you would do well to listen to those who know a great deal about this important topic. Our planet depends on it.

I also believe you would benefit from listening to humanitarian workers from around the world who work in areas of privation and need as a result of wars we have participated in or begun. I am not commenting on the veracity of those wars, that is a letter for another time. However, as we teeter close to the edge of another war that is of our making, I recommend you listen to those voices sooner rather than later. I am praying you have the wisdom to listen to those who are suffering.

Listening to voices other than those who agree with us opens us to different opinions and understandings. It is crucial to our growth as human beings and our decision making as leaders. We always stand to learn something from those whose views differ from our own. I prayer you will learn to listen.

Second, I pray you will learn the rich truths of the Judeo Christian tradition. These are not the views of the white evangelicals who are the loudest voices around you. They are a political voting block with conservative values that could turn back human rights and women’s rights for decades. You carry water for them as you appoint conservative judges who will do your bidding and make promises in return for their vote. This has nothing to do with Christianity; it is political theater pure and simple.

The teachings of Scripture are grounded in peace, love and justice for all. Sure, there are wars aplenty and lots of violence. Those stories, however, require an understanding of biblical history to interpret faithfully. I am available to tutor you in biblical literacy. I hope you will take me up on my offer. It gives me great joy to open the eyes of others to the richness of Scripture. I depend on a large number of biblical scholars to inform my teaching and assure that I am not only listening to the voices in my own head.

Finally, Mr. Trump, I pray you will strengthen your moral conscience. I don’t believe your moral conscience is the dominant voice of your words and actions, but it can be. Through listening, prayer and study you can be guided by the Spirit to deeds that please God and make the world a better place.

We live in a global society. What we do affects the rest of the world. The United States cannot be an island unto itself. The world desperately needs the United States to put people before profits, oil, border walls and so many other things to which you give your time and energy.

It is time we stopped measuring how well the economy is doing by the wealthiest Americans. The economy is not working for those who have two or three minimum wage jobs and still live with food scarcity. Your proposal to cut SNAP benefits means more Americans will go hungry or live with food scarcity. The ripple effect of such a decision is far beyond what can be stated here. In brief, those ripples will be found in increased health care costs as chronic diseases are aggravated by poor nutrition, increased work absenteeism and more Americans living with food scarcity.

The United States, with its vast resources, is able to alleviate so much human suffering.  As the richest country in the world, where less than ten people control a staggering amount of the world’s wealth, this is morally unacceptable. Instead we contribute to it through these morally bankrupt policies.

Mr. Trump, I pray for you, that you will learn to listen, mine the treasures of the Judeo Christian tradition and strengthen your moral conscience.