Thanks to Trump, these people are giving up politics for Lent - New York Post
President Trump is Lent’s lightning rod.
He’s fired up so many people on both sides of the aisle that many Christians have given up talking politics — rather than pizza or pie — for 40 days.
Staten Island lawyer and Trump supporter Bill Dertinger exited Facebook to avoid the tedious “time-suck” of political back-and-forths.
“Hopefully, others will follow suit because life is way too short to engage in repetitive, senseless debates where neither side is really going to change the others minds,” he posted. “So perhaps I will see you all after Easter.”
The online rancor over Trump got so bad that his own Aunt Louise had unfriended him.
It’ll be the first time in 20 years that Dertinger, 48, hasn’t given up Entenmann’s doughnuts, apple puffs or crumb cake for Lent, a 40-day period of self-sacrifice where many Christians give up a small vice or indulgence.
He had his Lenten epiphany last month while lounging on a Costa Rican beach.
“It was just so peaceful and you realize how much time you waste” talking politics, he said.
Greg McPolin, 43, a lawyer, deleted Facebook from his phone on Ash Wednesday because it and its “political nonsense” had become “digital crack” during his 50-minute ferry commutes to and from Manhattan.
“You can go to a dinner party and everybody knows that politics and religion are off limits, but on Facebook those restrictions don’t apply,” he said. “Everyone seems to be fighting.”
McPolin, of Navesink, NJ, posted: “Goodbye Facebook friends … see you in 40 days.”
He usually gives up carbs or sugar for Lent.
“I will miss seeing pictures of family and friends. … I’m going old school: You want to send me a picture you are going to have to text me.”
McPolin said his sacrifice is that much harder because he owns Facebook stock, and “it’s been good to me.”
Tom Morrison, 45, a libertarian and Wall Street banker, said he is making his first-ever Lenten sacrifice.
“I got tired of seeing posts about Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump instead of cats and dogs and kids,” the Fair Haven, NJ, resident said.
Father James Cuddy of St. Joseph’s Church in Greenwich Village gave his blessing to those leaving politics behind for Lent.
“How many Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners were ruined by political rancor? How many of us were unfriended by best friends and family members?” he said. “Stepping away from this fighting isn’t just a 40-day break. This isn’t just a cease-fire. It’s an opportunity for rebuilding and repairing relationships.”
Manhattan psychologist Tiffany Miller called the Lenten blackout “self-preservation and good mental health. It’s a socially sanctioned way to take a break from these political events that are taxing the emotions.”
For Trump supporters, she said, “it’s a chance to stand back and feel some relief from the attacks.”
For Clinton backers, “it’s a way to stanch the flow of blood from this trauma. We’ve all been stabbed in the gut and we are bleeding out.”
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