Mark Ford is the Pastor of Care with One Church in Columbus, Ohio.
I have the honor of serving as the Pastor of Care at One Church in Columbus, Ohio and today I’m called to reflect on the polarization and division in our country. Why? Because people of faith across our traditions are hungry for relief from the forces of division that seek to widen the cultural divides. And in this season of renewal, I’m moved to invite others to join me in the service of healing our divides and holding each other in the spirit of forgiveness, care and grace.
We see those forces work to divide us around issues such as the reversal of the Roe vs Wade ruling, gender identity, parental rights in public education and economic turbulence. They frame us as the Divided States of America. The culture of “friendly fire” is anything but kind. The digital bullets for our modern-day cultural wars are shot from Social and Network media outlets that gaslight the towering inferno of hate, division and incivility through their platforms and the 24-hour news cycles each day.
In this uncivil war, one of the big questions I have been forced to wrestle with is, how can I join with other faith leaders to provide both a prophetic voice and pastoral care for a country living under the stress of polarized division? There is no one answer or solution that will unite the diversities of world views and faith traditions, but this moment in time offers our nation an opportunity to declare a national vitriolic “cease fire” and begin a fresh civil conversation. And I see an opportunity to join with other faith leaders to offer this kind of healing space through a National Week of Conversation from April 17 – 22nd.
Most major religions perpetuate the principles from the Law of Moses, or what is often referred to as the 10 Commandments. Jesus took those 10 laws of love and summarized them into One Great Commandment that calls us to: Love God and our neighbor. Reflecting on ways to live out this Great Commandment can be helpful when friends and families gather to celebrate each other and our faith in God. Choosing to focus on the beautiful shafts of light that emit from the precious gems of our diverse world, can ignite a sense of hope, as we look at and discuss our differences respectfully, with curiosity, grace, humility and love for each other.
A delicious meal is often a shared experience that is connected with our Holy Days and is a picture of what most people view as a symbol of all that is good about connecting to celebrate one’s faith, family and friends. Memories are made around the table as each shares a story or “their story” which deepens their affection.
In the spirit of meaningful conversations, what if each of us would provide an opportunity for setting the table for a conversation with people who we know, but are different from us? What if the ground rules were that each one at the table was invited to share three defining moments in their life, good or bad, that shaped their world view and made them who they have become? What if each one at the table could ask a question that would open a window of understanding and bring a greater closeness and connection?
During this Spring season, when flowers begin to bloom and the Sun provides brighter days, many Americans will stop to reflect on religious themes of rebirth or renewal. Many will remember defining moments from their faith history and this provides an opportunity for focusing on principles from spiritual teachings like the Golden Rule that calls us to “give to others the quality of kindness and respect that we desire for ourselves.”
My invitation today is that we people of faith demonstrate the power of these teachings in our lives to others across our differences. Let us serve as healing lights and beacons of hope through engaging each other, our congregations and communities during the National Week of Conversation and beyond.
A golden tray sits on the Resolute Desk as President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement on American nuclear innovation in the Oval Office at the White House on July 24, 2026, in Washington, D.C. Trump is signing multiple executive orders targeting the nuclear energy sector and easing rules for new reactors and nuclear fuel supply chains.
Trump’s hubris rivals the fallen heroes of ancient Greek mythology
In January, the New York Times asked President Donald Trump if there were any limits on his global powers.
“Yeah,” the president responded, “there is one thing. My own morality. My own mind. It’s the only thing that can stop me.”
That was eight months ago, but fortunately Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster adaptation of “The Odyssey” has made ancient Greek literature newly relevant. Before that window closes, I’d like to talk about hubris.
Today, the term mostly means excessive pride or arrogance. That’s part of what the Greeks meant by it too, but the meaning was a bit richer and more specific. Hubris was an insolent or outrageous act that offended the gods, often because the transgressor was claiming abilities or authorities that solely belonged to supreme beings.
Nolan renamed and slightly modified the concept of xenia for the film, calling it “Zeus’ law.” In the director’s telling, mortals should follow the rules laid out by the gods, specifically the requirement to treat strangers with respect lest they be gods in disguise.
In a sense, hubris is the opposite, or at least the rejection, of xenia. The hubris of the suitors, and at times Odysseus himself, invites punishment by the gods and their mortal instruments.
Which brings me back to Donald Trump. His claim that there are no constraints on his personal power to dictate events on the global stage was one of the greatest expressions of hubris ever uttered by a political leader.
Trump’s claim was obviously false when he made it.
He vowed that he could end the Russia-Ukraine war in 24 hours. He’s proved powerless to make that happen. If he had divine powers to work his will, why would he have balked at implementing his tariffs so often that Wall Street adopted the “TACO trade” term for his deals? “TACO” stands for “Trump always chickens out.”
And why would Trump have made so many embarrassing concessions to China — from rescinding tariffs on Chinese goods to allowing them to buy crucial and incredibly valuable computer chips?
But Trump saw his success at capturing Venezuelan strongman Nicolas Maduro as proof of his ability to launch missiles to the same effect as Zeus’ lightning bolts. Trump believed he was the most powerful man who ever lived.
This is no exaggeration. In March, when the Iran invasion seemed successful, Trump gave a document penned by“Presidential Historian David King” to New York Times reporters Maggie Haberman and Jonathan Swan purporting to prove that Trump was “the most powerful person to have EVER walked this planet.” King was, in fact, a businessman and occasional caddy for legendary golfer Gary Player.
King compared Trump favorably to many of history’s most powerful, and often heinous, figures: Alexander the Great, Attila the Hun, William the Conqueror, Napoleon Bonaparte, Joseph Stalin, Genghis Khan, Mao Tse Tung, Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin. Many of these men thought they were the most powerful person in the world, too. And many were defeated precisely because they believed it.
At least Napoleon and Hitler had a string of truly impressive victories before they learned the folly of hubris. The limits on Trump’s power have been exposed by far less august forces than the combined might of the allies in World War II or the fearsome Russian winter.
Iran is a comparatively middling power. But the regime’s ability to absorb punishment while imposing its will on the Strait of Hormuz has proved to be a greater constraint on Trump’s power than his morality or mind. We should note that, at least rhetorically, his morality has not proved much of a constraint. He has repeatedly promised to destroy Iranian “civilization” if the regime refuses to capitulate.
But they haven’t — and won’t anytime soon — because the regime’s tolerance for pain far outstrips Trump’s. The combined fear of skyrocketing oil prices, outrage of Gulf state potentates, diminishing weapon supplies and domestic unpopularity is doing the work that international law, congressional oversight and the collective opinion of foreign policy experts can’t or won’t do.
If I considered Trump more heroic than reason and facts could allow, I would say his Sisyphean predicament has the whiff of Greek tragedy to it. Trump is vexed by the fact that the Iranians won’t honor deals or ratify his countless premature claims of victory — giving new meaning to his vow that his presidency would make people tired of winning. It’s almost like they’re out-Trumping Trump.
Things might have gone better if he’d heeded that great Greek tragedian Sophocles: “For Zeus utterly abhors the boasts of a proud tongue.”
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Jonah Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.