Read the full story: Religion Dispatches
One could be forgiven for coming away from Leighton Woodhouse’s “Donald Trump, Pagan King” op-ed in the New York Times with the nagging suspicion that he hasn’t actually read the biblical or ‘Pagan’ writings on which he bases his claims. Like so many of my introductory undergrad students, Woodhouse believes that “pagan” kings were not “guided by ideals and values … only by power” because they lacked “the values of Christianity.” But as my students come to see through the magic of close-reading and critical discussion, numerous ancient Greek and Roman texts reject Might-Makes-Right tyranny.