I am one of many Americans who are worried about the inauguration day of Donald Trump for a second time tomorrow, January 20th. As with many Americans, I cannot respect a man who has promised things that will destroy this country economically, politically, and spiritually. He wants to remake the rules of law to his own desires, and his wishes were granted by a Supreme Court, some members who were placed in the court by himself. He is trying to uproot every tradition and every value that America has stood for since our very birth in 1776. Why half of America voted for him with his lack of character and narcissistic love of himself will forever trouble me. Our Constitution and Bill of Rights are in grave danger, and I fear that he has promised revenge  against anyone who has or will disagree with him. He already told us that he will be a dictator on day one. Day one will turn into many days, I fear. Maya Angelou once said, “When a person tells you who they are the first time, believe them.” There is no question what he will be like as president; he’s already told us who he is and what he will do.

Respect is something Trump knows nothing about. He is flat out angry that flags will not be raised for his inauguration because of the death of former president Jimmy Carter. Some governors are bowing to him by raising their flags for one day. What are these governors asking for in this defiance of President Joe Biden’s ruling of respect? Although Jimmy Carter had a troubled presidency with crisis after crisis, he more than made up for those troubled years after he walked away from the White House. He knew what respect and caring meant for the common man, both here in America and around the world. He was a man of God who believed that his responsibility was to take care of the world God gave him. He understood that “to be true to ourselves, we must be true to others.” Being “true to others” has never been a part of Trump’s life. It has always been  and will continue to be what he can get for himself. Do not be persuaded by his supposed love of Americans; he is only interested in building his own kingdom.

He will unveil a fifteen foot statue of himself tomorrow, made in bronze,  to be placed somewhere in Washington, as a tribute to himself! Every pompous dictator in the history of the world has done that exact same thing, Caesar, Napoleon, Hitler, Bismarck, Hussein, Assad, and now Trump, to name a few. In his unholy “Pay-to-Pray service” tomorrow, he will allow you to attend a service with him in a church, when you provide money to support him. It was blasphemy when he used an upside down Bible for a publicity stunt in his first presidency during the Black Lives Matter protest in Washington. Tomorrow’s stunt will parallel what Jesus Christ found in the temple. Moneylenders were using the temple for personal gains; Christ angrily upset the tables and called them idolators. Let us not even mention that tomorrow is Dr. Martin Luther King day, a man who more than walked a mile in his shoes for his fellow man. He gave his life for them.

I do not believe in Donald Trump; I believe in God. No matter where I am, what time of day it is, or what event is occurring, God’s holy Spirit will always be by my side. He will never abandon me or try to tell me, like Trump, that he, alone, is capable of making America great again. God made me to have a loving and caring relationship with Him, and He will never leave my side. I believe as Jimmy Carter believed, “to be true to myself, I have to be true to others.” As Jesus Christ said, “Love one another as I have loved you, even your enemies.” I pray for those who voted for Trump because their eyes have been blinded by his narcissism. Mine are not, and I pray that God will walk with all people of faith who believe only God can make our country better.

Anna Hartt