Vulgar Behavior Not Just Roman

A familiar topic propounded by pulpit pounders has been to decry any change in American culture as a sign that we are heading down the path of the Roman Empire, which, they say, descended from decadence to destruction.

This ignores the historical fact that the Western Roman Empire survived its era of greatest debauchery by more than 400 years, and that, in toto, pagan Rome self-rule lasted from the founding of the republic in 509 BCE to the declaration of Christianity as the state religion in 380. The Christian empire in the west fell less than a hundred years later – 476. There might be a good reason Christian nationalists hate education.

But preachers got to preach. The Roman orgies at the beginning of the Common Era provide great material for denouncing a hedonistic lifestyle. They truly do. There is nothing in any culture’s Golden Rule that could condone them.

Yet, we don’t have to look back millennia to find good examples for bad actions in high places. Take Donald Trump and his choice of accused sexual predators and libertines to fill many of his cabinet positions.

Pete Hegseth, Trump’s pick to head the Defense Department has been accused of a sexual assault in 2017 in California. He denies this. But in late November, Fox News contributor Leslie Marshall provided evidence of Hegseth’s unsavory behavior.

Speaking on Fox’s Media Buzz, Marshall said, “We know that there were three cases of adultery for Pete Hegseth, and it is relevant,” she explained, since the military considers that a serious offense.

Heck, Hegseth’s mother is on record as no fan of his behavior, at one time emailing him:

“You are an abuser of women – that is the ugly truth and I have no respect for any man that belittles, lies, cheats, sleeps around, and uses women for his own power and ego. You are that man [and have been for years] and as your mother, it pains me and embarrasses me to say that, but it is the sad, sad truth.”

Even mounting evidence of Hegseth’s habitual drunkenness pales beside his own mother’s assessment of his character.

Trump, accused by more than two dozen women of sexual misconduct, has chosen former World Wrestling Entertainment mogul Linda McMahon to head up the Department of Education. Caroline Ciccone, president of Accountable.US noted:

“This is someone accused of ignoring rampant sexual abuse under her watch. Putting her in charge of Title IX protections is like handing keys to an arsonist to run the fire department – it’s an insult to survivors and a blatant attack on the safety of students nationwide.”

A lawsuit filed in October [and currently on hold] “alleges that McMahon and other WWE executives knowingly allowed a ringside announcer, Mel Phillips, to groom and sexually abuse boys as young as 12. The plaintiffs, all survivors of this abuse, claim WWE leadership failed to intervene despite being aware of Phillips’s actions,” according to Accountable.US.

Trump’s pick to be ambassador to Greece is Kimberly Guilfoyle. When Guilfoyle left Fox News in 2018, it was under the cloud of sexual harassment claims from an assistant which, according to New Yorker in 2020, resulted in a multi-million-dollar settlement.

Her more recent notoriety comes first, as the other woman when his son’s first marriage fell apart; then, as Don Jr.’s fiancée and now as maybe the woman scorned as Trump’s eldest son has been spotted holding hands with a socialite. [Sorry, Athens.]

And, lest we forget, South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, noted puppy and goat killer, is Trump’s choice to lead the Department of Homeland Security.

In September of last year, DailyMail headlined: “EXCLUSIVE: Married South Dakota governor Kristi Noem and Trump advisor Corey Lewandowski have been having a years-long clandestine affair.”

It followed up that “DailyMail.com uncovered evidence of Lewandowski and Noem's fling: Dozens of trips that mixed business with pleasure, private flights and luxury resort stays.”

The actions of these fine upstanding true Trumpers were temporarily overshadowed by the exploding allegations against former Rep. Matt Gaetz, Trump’s first pick to serve as attorney general. In his case, the uproar over his alleged predation of underage girls resulted in Gaetz withdrawing from consideration.

As the pressure mounted against Gaetz, MAGA mainstay Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-GA, threatened those who opposed the Trump appointee with a fuller disclosure that raises more questions about the party that claims to represent faith and family:

“If we are going to release ethics reports, … then put it ALL out there for the American people to see, … including the one I filed, all your sexual harassment and assault claims that were secretly settled paying off victims with taxpayer money. The entire Jeffrey Epstein files, tapes, recordings, witness interviews but not just those, there’s more, Epstein wasn’t/isn’t the only asset. If we’re going to dance, let’s all dance in the sunlight.”

But while Greene threatened total exposure of GOP bad actors, Republicans closed ranks and at first refused to release their ethics investigation findings on Gaetz though they have since reversed that decision. We will see how complete the released report is.

An ABC News headline of Dec. 4 noted: “Trump's controversial Cabinet picks raise questions about lower ethical standards.”

You think?

German philosopher Max Scheler explained how the leader of a group sets the moral standards for those within that circle. Followers follow the leader.

Or, if you prefer, when Dr. Mark Green left the hospital for the last time on ER, he instructed his one-time protégé: “You set the tone, Carter.”

There seems to be a common denominator of indecency among many of Trump’s appointees. So, if preachers are looking for moral degradation, they don’t have to strain themselves into misinterpreting ancient history. The tone set by Donald Trump and his disciples on the airwaves and front pages provides ample evidence to fill their sermons.

What? You say the loudest public Christians – who denounced Bill Clinton for similar behavior – endorse Trump and his disciples?

What then is their message?