On his first visit overseas, Trump will be visiting several nations including Saudi Arabia, which is very odd given that, according to Wikipedia
Islam is the state religion of Saudi Arabia and its law requires that all citizens should be Muslims. Public worship by adherents of religions other than Islam is forbidden [and the] distribution of non-Muslim religious materials such as Bibles, is illegal.
Of greater concern is a visit to the other religious monarchy, the Vatican, where Trump will be visiting with their “elected” leader, Pope Francis. To put the Vatican on his A-List of places to visit, while at the same time trying to turn the US in a theocracy is more than a little troublesome. The mainstream media, most likely, will fail to the note this serious breech of ethics and instead focus on the more juicy areas of disagreement between the Vatican and the Trump administration.
Since Trump’s inauguration this year, Pope Francis has continued to criticize the president and his agenda, if indirectly. In February, he urged an audience at the Vatican “to not raise walls but bridges, to not respond to evil with evil, to overcome evil with good” and again suggested that Trump’s behavior was not in line with the values of Christianity.
“A Christian can never say: ‘I’ll make you pay for that,’” Francis said, according to the Guardian, in remarks interpreted as a reference to Trump’s claims that Mexico will pay for his proposed border wall. “Never! That is not a Christian gesture. An offense is overcome with forgiveness, by living in peace with everyone.”
Yes, it is nice to hear criticism of Trump, but it does little to address his continued alienation the 25% of Americans who are non-religious, including many who label themselves as explicitly atheist or agnostic. For example, in a recent speech at Liberty University, he falsely stated that in America “we worship god.” Such a ridiculous statement is not only false, but goes against the long-standing principle of the separation of state and church. Of course, this simple idea was put forth by one of the greatest thinkers of the 18th Century, Thomas Jefferson, whose thoughtful words never seem to make into a Trump speech or tweet. It makes you wonder.
