When the Ammonites realized that they had become obnoxious to David, they hired twenty thousand Aramean foot soldiers from Beth Rehob and Zobah, as well as the king of Maakah with a thousand men, and also twelve thousand men from Tob. – 1 Samuel 10:6

Today’s Scripture Reading (March 21, 2016): 2 Samuel 10

In a recent CNN interview, panelists discussed the untruthfulness of Donald Trump. While Trump often characterizes opponent Ted Cruz as “lying Ted,” the reality is that we have grown accustomed to a level of dishonesty among our political candidates. But Trumps dishonesty seems to go beyond that of the normal politician, and far beyond the comments of “lying Ted.” And his characterization that “all he knows is what he has read on the internet” seems to be folly of the greatest degree. And yet, Trump still pushes on and people still flock to his gatherings. And the seemingly unanswerable question is why?

One pundit wondered if the attraction to Trump just might be that he speaks the way a number of us talk around our kitchen tables. When we sit down for a meal, there is often a very loose conversation about the things that we have heard. It doesn’t matter where you read it, just that you read it. Sometimes the opinions we spout are dead on, but other times they are dead wrong. But around the kitchen table, none of that really matters. It is just the act of talking with those you love and respect. Trump talks in his speeches as if he was sitting at the kitchen table with us. And there, right and wrong have lost their meaning; after all, it is just the kitchen table.

Another talking head in the discussion nodded thoughtfully, but then he chimed in with, “but he never admits that he was wrong, he never says I’m sorry, or changes his opinion when he realizes that there is error in what he says.” And that would seem to be the real problem. It is not that Donald Trump is wrong (most of the time), it is that even in the light of better information he refuses to adjust his opinions. He just continues on at the kitchen table as if he hadn’t heard. I hate to admit this, but the occasional “I’m sorry” from Trump might begin to win over some of his opponents, or, at least, allow Republicans, and some Democrats, to come to the understanding that maybe there is something in Trump that could be supported. The occasional “I’m sorry” might also make Hillary Clinton believe that she has a real opponent on the other side in the race for the presidency.

Hanun of the Ammonites had made a mistake. Maybe he just didn’t think before he acted, maybe he was too young to understand the possible outcomes of his action, or maybe he felt that he had to make a show of his power to prove that he was worthy of his father’s throne, but, for whatever reason, Hanun had been guilty of an error. Israel had never been the enemy of Ammon, but now things had changed, and the Ammonites realized that they had become an obnoxious stench to the nostrils of the Israelites. And now the time had come for action. Essentially, Hanun had two options. He could send an envoy to David with his apology, recognizing that there would be a penalty that he would have to pay. But taking personal responsibility for the error in the sight of David would most likely ensure that the penalty would not be fatal and also decrease the possibility that his people would pay the price for his arrogance. Or he could double down. The smart move was the apology, the dumb move was to double down and hire mercenaries to help them defeat David.

I guess no one will ever accuse Hanun of being smart.

Tomorrow’s Scripture Reading: 1 Chronicles 19