People who lack a conscience exist, and pretending otherwise is foolhardy

During the 2016 campaign for the presidency, Hillary Clinton was quoted as characterizing supporters of Donald Trump as “a basket of deplorables.” Many of us cringed. Even if some of us had such thoughts, we did not think it was OK to think them, and certainly not to express them. Many of her supporters expressed their disapproval.

Some supporters of Trump could be excused for continuing to support him because they were not aware of the kind of person he is. Trump’s challengers pointed out his outrageous statements, such as declaring that President Barack Obama was not a U.S. citizen and that Sen. John McCain was not a war hero because he was captured, or Trump’s making sport of a person with disabilities and declaring that a border wall would be built and that Mexico would pay for it.

But his supporters dismissed Trump’s behavior as that of a typical politician. They argued that if elected, he would be surrounded by capable people who would deter such foolishness. We would be protected. We have checks and balances.

We need not worry about Trump supporters who want what he advocates. The percentage of citizens (the base) who continue to support the policies of Mr. Trump is not a majority of Americans.

We must now face the consequences of our current situation.

We still would not want to categorize any group as a “basket of deplorables.” But only months after we elected Trump as our president, our attention turned to Alabama and the Senate candidacy of Roy Moore. Unlike Trump, Moore was a tested candidate. He had a well-known record. People who voted for Moore had no excuse. They knew who and what they were supporting.

How would we categorize those who voted for Moore? If not a “basket of deplorables,” then what? Ignorant? Uninformed? Evil?

Conservative? Surely not conservative alone, because that group includes many honorable people. How uncomfortable it must be to be a conservative and hear that Alabama and Mississippi are “more conservative.” Does being more conservative make one a better conservative? I would opt for a lack of experience in dealing with these types of people.

It has become clear that many of Trump’s and Moore’s supporters could not imagine that people with personalities like theirs actually exist. As one whose vocation was a pastor, I once couldn’t either.

Unfortunately, I soon found out I was wrong. As long as I believed there weren’t such people, I worked very hard to interact with them. I enlisted colleagues and others to help me understand them. I lost sleep. I tried many different ways of relating.

Finally, I came to understand that there are people who do not have consciences.

People with the president’s personality are rare, but they do exist. People without consciences are often moralistic — not for themselves, but for others. For example, they lie with impunity, yet eagerly accuse others of lying, even inventing nicknames such as “Lyin’ Ted” and “Crooked Hillary.” They are incapable of admitting mistakes or apologizing for bad behavior.

And they cannot change. Efforts to advise such people or to expect to alter their behavior are futile.

How often have we heard, “If only the president would stop tweeting,” or “If only he hired better staff”?

We cannot change such people. We can only protect ourselves from them.

This story was originally published January 26, 2018 at 12:01 PM with the headline "People who lack a conscience exist, and pretending otherwise is foolhardy."