Obama calls for mutual respect

I thought the Bible would burst into flames when dt laid his hand on it for the inauguration.

It didn't.  

In Jesus' parable of the sower, the slaves want to go and pull the weeds sowed by an enemy, but the master says no: 

"Let both of them grow together until the harvest; and at harvest time I will tell the reapers, 'Collect the weeds first and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn.'" (Matthew 13:30)

God tolerates the weeds, and so must we for four years or perhaps less.

In his farewell speech to his staff, President Obama said that we must "listen to each other and argue with each other and treat each other with respect."

He modeled this tolerance perfectly during the transition of power from November 9 through January 20.

The United States of America are showing the world what democracy looks like.  We are handing our government over to a pack of fools, racists, and misogynists because they were chosen by a minority of voters but a majority of the Electoral College.  (It's going to be a while before I can treat dt and his cabinet with respect.) 

We are following the rules, not arming ourselves with AK-47s to overthrow the government.

dt did not speak about the need for mutual respect in his inauguration speech.  

He had the temerity to quote Psalm 133:1 "How very good and pleasant it is when kindred live together in unity!"  --New Revised Standard Version.  He changed "kindred" to "God's people."  Wonder what he means by that.  Are "God's people" Americans, all peoples of the earth, Judeo-Christians, or just Christians?  Are LGBTQA folk God's people?  Are Hillary supporters God's people?  If so, we didn't hear about that in his speech.

Were evangelicals thrilled that he quoted the Bible?  Is that enough for them: a call for unity without any conciliatory words to the supporters of President Obama, who graciously handed over the power to him? His speech called out to his supporters only. 

He called for unity without apologizing to Hillary Rodham Clinton or to all women for calling her "such a nasty woman."  During his campaign he never chided his followers for saying "Hillary is a cunt." 

Has he ever actually read the psalms?  Whose idea was it to read this psalm?

The reading for today in my Al-Anon book, Courage to Change, says, "I have an obligation to extend to others the same respect and courtesy that keep me feeling safe, free from labels, and free to be myself."

Barack Obama understands this and lives up to it, but dt enjoys insulting and labeling others.  At least there were no insults in this speech, other than the insult of omission.

Another book of daily readings, Language of Letting Go by Melody Beattie, advises for today "cleaning the slate of the past and entering this [new year] free of resentments."

Yeah, right.  That will be a tough one for me.

Here's his speech with a line-by-line fact check by NPR reporters and editors:

http://www.npr.org/2017/01/20/510629447/watch-live-president-trumps-inauguration-ceremony