- John Pavlovitz on how MAGA hates the Pope’s Jesus;
- The Pope denounces the US “delusion of omnipotence”;
- William Saletan on the GOP acting like bigots;
- Tom Nichols on Trump’s latest meltdown;
- Sean Hannity knows better than the Pope;
- More about that teleporting guy;
- And another Republican concerned about alien bases;
- Even MAGA die-hards have rebuked Trump about his Jesus image;
- Trump despicably posts a fake photo of Springsteen;
- Jerry Coyne recalls the Jefferson Bible;
- Items about how Trump took down that Jesus image;
- NYT’s Frank Bruni about Pete Hegseth’s religious zealotry;
- And how Trump supporters survive by cognitive dissonance.
Items from the past three days, briefly noted.
John Pavlovitz, 10 Apr 2026: MAGA Christians Don’t Hate The Pope; They Hate His Jesus.
As I’ve said over and over, MAGA is more about OT than about NT. Which sorta undermines the meaning of being “Christian.”
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JMG, from Associated Press, 11 Apr 2026: Pope Leo Denounces US “Delusion Of Omnipotence”
In his strongest words yet, Pope Leo XIV on Saturday denounced the “delusion of omnipotence” that is fueling the U.S.-Israel war in Iran and demanded political leaders stop and negotiate peace.
I think this goes to (arrogant) idea of American exceptionalism.
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The Bulwark, Will Saletan, today: They’re Not Bigots. They Just Think, Talk, and Act Like They Are., subtitled “The House GOP’s ‘Sharia-Free America Caucus’ is an un-American fraud.”
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The Atlantic, Tom Nichols, today: Trump’s Latest Meltdown, subtitled “Attacking the pope was only part of the president’s disturbing night on Truth Social.”
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Media Matters, 10 Apr 2026: Sean Hannity questions the Pope’s knowledge of the Bible
Hannity: “Did you ever hear the story about David slaying Goliath?”
Once again, appeal to the OT.
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JMG, from CNN, today: Teleporting FEMA Official: My Dead Girlfriend Once Levitated My Car And I Met Satan While Hiking In Spain
Once again, a loose grasp upon reality, addled no doubt by religion.
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And again:
JMG, 13 Apr 2026: Burchett Begs Trump To Release Files On Alien Bases
There are no alien bases. Religion makes you credulous.
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Mediaite, 13 Apr 2026: ‘Gross Blasphemy!’ MAGA Die-Hards Deliver Rare Rebuke of Trump for Posting ‘Unacceptable’ Meme Depicting Himself as Jesus
Even MAGA — ironically — has its limits.
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JMG, from The Mirror, 12 Apr 2026: Trump Posts Gruesome Fake Photo Of Springsteen
What a despicable man, Trump.
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Jerry Coyne, 13 Apr 2026: Monday: Hili dialogue
These occasional “Hili dialogues” are compilations of numerous topics. This one concerns National Thomas Jefferson Day, and the famous Jefferson Bible, his personal redaction of the NT to omit all supernatural passages while saving the supposed wisdom of Jesus.
As with the writings of Thomas Paine, the Jefferson Bible undercuts claims by the right that the founders of the US intended a Christian nation.
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NY Times, 13 Apr 2026: Trump Takes Down Post Depicting Himself as a Jesus-Like Figure, subtitled “The image, which President Trump shared on Truth Social shortly after criticizing Pope Leo, depicted him as a divine leader healing the sick.”
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And,
Washington Post, 13 Apr 2026: Trump post appearing to depict him as Jesus removed amid backlash, subtitled “Before the post was deleted, evangelical and Catholic allies called the image blasphemous in a rare public break from a base that has largely stood by Trump.”
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The current administration is infected by religious zealotry.
NY Times, opinion by Frank Bruni, 13 Apr 2026: Pete Hegseth’s Gospel of Carnage [gift link]
I guess a zealot, by nature, can’t hide — too extreme are his convictions, too grand his designs, too consuming his arrogance. And so, over recent weeks, Pete Hegseth has fully revealed himself.
He has made clear that every missile the United States fires, every bomb it drops, every Iranian it kills, is for Jesus. Praise be the Lord, who has given America the power to wipe out an entire civilization. That’s what President Trump threatened to do — in an intermittently jaunty social media post, no less — and Hegseth gave no indication of unwillingness to execute that order.
He brandishes assertions about God’s will with the exaggerated brio of an electronics merchant pressing fliers on pedestrians passing by his new megastore: Have I got a holy war for you. Embrace the death. Exult over the destruction. What only looks like hell is a ticket to heaven.
Hitchens: religion poisons everything. The other side feels exactly the same way.
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AlterNet, Matthew Rozsa, 12 Apr 2026: Trump supporters have a secret weapon against bad news about him: report
This is about cognitive dissonance.
President Donald Trump supporters have stood by him despite his documented abuses of power, rhetorically violent attempt to overturn the 2020 election and numerous alleged instances of sexual misconduct. To those outside the so-called Make America Great Again (MAGA) movement, this is mystifying — yet a recent study reveals the surprising reason why.
…Will follow up with this tomorrow.
