In which circle of Hell does Trump belong? Trump’s sins in a Dantean perspective - From John Ciardi’s translation.
Dante says:
“...where the instrument of intelligence/
Is added to brute power and evil will/
mankind is powerless in its defense. “
Our President was elected to a position of Trust. Some Americans trusted him enough to believe he would use his God-given intelligence for the Good of the nation, for the Good of the people. However, there has been a type of irreligious EVIL being committed by our President and his minions; it is most evident in the Trumpian government’s inaction. It’s found in Trump’s use of power consisting of abstaining from its complete application. In other words, through a paradox. One salient example is seen in Trump approving disaster relief in his declarations at the federal level, but not enforcing the logistics necessary to complete the assistance.
What would the Poet Dante Alighieri say about this? As he has done since he became President, Trump has been creating smoke and mirrors in his briefings to keep us from pursuing the path of Good and instead has to lead the nation down a Path of Evil. He’s kept the truth at bay. Like Dante who in the middle of his life’s journey changes his path, Trump must change his pathway before he loses his soul to Evil. The liars and sycophants who use whatever means are available to push the conspiracy theories promulgated by Evil must also change their ways. The Devil nips at their heels in the middle of life’s journey, and they too must turn to Divine Love.
Let me explain how Dante’s theology may explain what is presently happening as the result of the COVID19 pandemic. One evil choice which Trump and his followers have forced upon the people who elected him to a position of Trust is that by abstaining from helping the States Trump is making good people of this world —doctors, nurses, and even those who deliver our foodstuffs and stock our supermarket shelves— impose a piecemeal-type of Sophie’s Choice.” Do we take care of ourselves and our families first, or selflessly sacrifice all that to offer a helping hand to others in need?
Trump has delineated in one of his briefings the class distinction that money and power create. Power and money are what his family and friends have. People who have both, he said in so many words, will be better equipped to survive. Richness and power, Trump claims, is the Truth underlying the meaning of life, and the governing Truth of the world itself. By that statement, Trump’s end game appears to be the elimination of the poorest and most helpless of our citizens, particularly those who are sacrificing their well being to extend helping hands. So recently the Trump administration has ordered the closing of testing sites by rescinding their funding! He has done that just as the epidemic is being reduced by the governors. One must actively oppose Evil. One must remain vigilant.
A person could infer from the words of Trump that in his thinking he has already marginalized the have-nots and meekest in society. Trump has favored the less populous red states over the urban blue states, thusly actively encouraging his followers to assail the latter more aggressively. Within their population, one finds more minorities who would certainly oppose Trump and his followers in the coming election. It’s the poorest of the poor everywhere in the world who can not afford to observe six-feet distances or else who cannot segregate themselves from their families who may end up paying with their lives during these pandemic times. When Trump says anyone can get tested he means only those whom he chooses to test. After all, he gave the test to the heads of industry who recently met with him in the White House!
In his daily briefings, we have observed that Trump is the type of helper who races to a cliff to offer a helping hand to someone hanging from the ledge, but he’s also the type who, while no one is directly looking, instead of extending a helping hand, uses his fist to knock the cliffhanger to his death.
What would the Poet say about such behavior?
In the ninth and Central Pit of Hell Dante and Virgil, his guide and a symbol of Reason in the Divine Comedy, enter Cocytus. This is Hell’s last circle where the damned pay for their most heinous sins. There one finds the traitors to kin and country.
The Divine Comedy offers us important principles to live by. One of these principles is derived from Dante's idea about Scholastic Philosophy; it is found in the teachings of Saint Thomas Aquinas. In essence, Scholastic Philosophy is the application of Aristotelian logic to Christian Principles. One important principle is that Reason is God-given. God has given us Reason to be able to differentiate Good from Evil and to be able to pursue the former to the detriment of the latter.
The analogy of the helping hand helps us to understand this principle. We are God’s creation. God made us physical beings with a reasonable mind, so we could choose to follow either Good or Evil, among other things. He gave us the ability to use our intelligence to reason. Reason tells us to give others a helping hand and not to use our God-given hand to kill or maim, or punch. It is the reason that allows us to make the distinction. Thus, according to Dante, we fall into sin when we misuse Reason to permit or to commit evil. That is, instead of using our hands to help, we use them to slap, punch, stab, or kill.
It is so sad that someone who has been placed in a position of Trust has never compelled his followers to be kind, or that no one has been able to compel Trump to be kind, compassionate, and loving with his people. According to Dante, Reason is not enough to enter Heaven. One must receive the grace extended by God. One can earn it through one’s actions. Divine Love comes to us through our kindness and our compassionate behavior. In his position of Trust, Trump has not used the powers given to him by the people to create more tests for COVID19 or to provide more vaccines, respirators, and beds. Instead, Trump and his minions have been using God-given Reason to help themselves, their families, their friends, and to re-elect Trump. For example, the President is not helping Michigan because the governor, Gretchen Whitmer, has opposed him.
By misleading Americans and blaming others while he pushes us all into the abyss when no one is looking is how Trump uses his Evil against mankind, and thus he proceeds to destroy the world.
Rather than to save people and then use his God-given to assist them, he uses his Reason to damage others and then blames the others for his own Evil actions, allowing for maximum deniability on his part. During the campaign, Trump WILL point to his executive actions and claim that they were not carried out by those who should have fulfilled them. He has already blamed some governors, several hospitals for being unprepared and also the World Health Organization.
On the other hand, we have seen good people —the doctors and nurses, truck drivers, service workers, and the many essential workers who carry the load of society— sacrificing their own welfare to feed and to save us. They exercise the Divine Love of Him who died for us. Therefore, I am hopeful that they together with us can thwart Trump’s designs.
What’s the solution?
We must all pull together to help others survive. My wife of many years has offered me the simplest answer: “We must all self-sacrifice.” We must seek long term Good for all, rather than the immediate good of temporary gratification. However, although it may seem that the Divine Truth of sacrificing oneself so that others may live is a concept inimical to Mar-a-Lagosians and that Love of mankind may not be within the realm of possibilities to Trump’s followers, we must accept that self-sacrifice for a Greater Good leads us down pathways of love and compassion. It is that journey which will save our world. It was Dante’s journey.
I hope ALL of us can move forward with enough Love and Compassion this Good Friday to save OUR world.
By - The Professor
