By Hal Brown, MSW, About me
I am writing this in response to the diary “Don’t be a jerk about Trump Getting Covid” which has at last count 1001 comments. It is by Eric Stetson.
(He is the) “founder of the CUA and author of Christian Universalism: God’s Good News for All People. He served as the CUA’s Executive Director 2007-2010. Eric is a Unitarian Universalist, social justice activist, and founder of a charitable alternative currency called Manna (formerly Grantcoin), which is distributed to thousands of people in need in over 90 countries according to universalist principles.” Reference.
Here's his Twitter page:
Stetson begins his diary writing.
Articles on progressive websites about Donald Trump testing positive for the coronavirus are filled with comments of brutal mockery and schadenfreude: “Karma!” “I really don’t care, do you?” “It is what it is.” “I hope he has a really bad case of it and ends up on a ventilator.” Some people are even openly wishing for his death.
There are three reasons not to talk this way, and certainly not to hope for the president to die from the virus.
He then explains these reasons:
- It makes Democrats look like assholes.
- It is spiritually dangerous to take pleasure in the suffering of others.
- It would be better for America if Trump is soundly defeated at the ballot box in an election untainted by a last-minute sickness, death, or resignation.
I agree with number 1, disagree with number 2, and agree with number 3. Not everybody is as spiritually inclined as Eric Stetson who has written several books on Christian Universalism.
I am not religious or spiritual. I do not think there is any danger to me if I take pleasure in the suffering of evil people.
As I listen to all the talking heads on MSNBC I hear each and every one of them wish the president and everyone in his circle the best wishes for a quick recovery.
Of course they will say this whether or not they really aren’t playing out dark scenarios in their mind and putting metaphorical pins in a Trump voodoo doll.
I understand that there are many people who believe that karma is a real phenomenon and that even if they think it is operating on Trump now, if they will him ill (literally and figuratively) they believe karma will eventually turn on them for having evil thoughts. I respect them for their beliefs, but even they may find dark thoughts intruding into consciousness.
I was a therapist for over 40 years and know full well the deleterious effects that guilt can have on a person. I can't begin to count the number of clients where the primary focus of therapy was on helping a client understand the roots of their guilt and working on ways so it didn’t torment them in their real life or negatively effect the decisions they made.
Lots has been written about guilt so I will only offer one 2014 article from Psychology Today:
10 Things You Didn't Know About Guilt — In small doses, guilt can benefit us. But when it runs free, it can cause havoc.
If you look over these 10 things you’ll see that you can simplistically break down guilt into two kinds. They can be called good guilt and bad guilt. Good guilt is something a person experiences over something bad that they actually did. Good guilt leads a person to change for the better. Bad guilt in general comes about because of something a person thinks. It isn’t healthy.
If you are having dark thoughts about Trump’s fate, as many of the commenters to Eric’s dairy express to having, there is no reason to feel guilty. It is normal.