Bob Schwartz

The Ten Commandments constitute the most concise and famous list of moral values in the Western world. There are other lists, of course (see, for example, the Beatitudes). But if you want a quick checklist, the Ten Commandments are handy.

We don’t expect ourselves or others to achieve a perfect score, which could mean keeping every one or breaking every one. But the list does provide a way of keeping track and keeping score, in hopes of improvement.

For Trump:

You shall have no other gods beside Me: Unknown.
Trump appears to have little or no theological knowledge or belief. But until he expressly claims to be an atheist or polytheist, we can’t know what’s in his heart.

You shall make you no carved likeness: Broken.
This is the idolatry commandment. Trump has made an idol of himself. And in those rare cases when he can stop idolizing himself, he has occasionally made idols of others—often unworthy others.

You shall not take the name of God in vain: Broken.
This is commonly treated as the cursing commandment, and it is commonly broken. If it is cursing we are talking about, we are certain that Trump, whose private language is known to be crude, has broken this one.

Remember the sabbath day: Broken.
The Sabbath commandment is so regularly broken that Trump’s failure is hardly remarkable.

Honor your father and your mother: Kept.
Giving Trump his due, he seems to have genuine reverence for his parents—though the relationships were complicated. If this includes being a good parent, that may be another story.

You shall not murder: Kept.
We suppose not, certainly not directly, but given the sorts of people he has long associated with, we just don’t know.

You shall not commit adultery: Broken.
On a scale of 1 to 10, this goes to 11.

You shall not steal: Broken.

You shall not bear false witness: Broken.
As with adultery, this goes to 11. Or 12.

You shall not covet: Broken.

That makes seven Broken, two Kept, and one Unknown. How do you think it stacks up?