#Nevertrumpers - Channelling The Petulancy Of Jonah

Most people are aware that Jonah is the prophet who spent a few days inside a whale's belly, but that is just one part of the story.  To understand this post, you will want to grab a Bible and read the book of Jonah.  It's not a long read, and quite interesting.

During a facebook discussion, I asked a rather adamant #nevertrumper if his conscience would allow him to do anything that would ease the way for Hillary to ascend to the White House, since he professed to be Christian and pro-life.  He replied "yes, because our nation needs to be punished."  Let that sink in, for I think his attitude is quite pervasive among the #nevertrumpers.

Now let's go back to Jonah.  After some initial rebellion, Jonah does go to Ninevah and proclaims "yet forty days more and Ninevah shall be destroyed".  After that, he goes to the hill and sits there, waiting for Ninevah to be destroyed.  From the Bible, it appears that Ninevah's conversion and repentance was rather immediate, so it's hard to imagine that Jonah was unaware of it.  When Day 40 had come and gone and Ninevah still stood, Jonah was quite displeased.  Was his disappointment rooted in the fact that what he said to the Ninevites did not occur?  Did Jonah entertain a "holier than thou" attitude against the Ninevites (forgetting his own prior rebellion)?

When I saw that facebook reply, my first thought is that "this guy is channelling Jonah in all his small-minded vindictiveness".  But I see hints of that in many of the prattlings of the #nevertrumpers, from their cavalier disregard of the consequences of denying Trump their votes to the outright vindictiveness and self-righteousness displayed by my facebook opponent.  They really don't have the good of the nation at heart; they'd rather be proven "right" than have the tide of evil at least slowed down in the country.  Perhaps that's why they spend so much time railing against Trump while scarcely uttering a peep regarding Clinton.

I don't think my facebook opponent is Catholic so it would have been pointless to invoke principles of Catholic moral theology.  Those principles would have made plain the inherent sinfulness of his attitude, and I'm thinking primarily of the principle of double effect.  One of those principles is that evil cannot directly be willed; I'm speaking of allowing the havoc of a Hillary presidency to "punish the nation", and that punishment is most likely not even a good in and of itself.  Hillary is on record of declaring that "relgious beliefs have to be changed" to accomodate baby-murder and other sins.  Sounds outlandish?  Consider what is happening in Massachusetts.  Under a Clinton presidency, we can be very certain this  will spread nation-wide, as she bestows upon Christians the status of "niggers of the new age".  (To those squeemish about that term, why not? We're already in a "basket of deplorables"!)

I've made my position before in this post (and others, see links) that to deny a vote to Trump is immoral.  I posted the episode above to get a glimmer as to what makes these #nevertrump people tick.  It certainly isn't reason and logic.  For many of them, certainly for the person quoted above, it most likely isn't good will.