Here are some of the terms that Sachs uses to describe Trump's mental illness. 

Malignant Narcissism -- Malignant narcissism is a severe, destructive personality syndrome blending extreme narcissistic personality disorder (NPD) with antisocial behavior, sadistic cruelty, and paranoia. Coined by Otto Kernberg, it features a lack of conscience, high aggression, and a need for control, often causing deep emotional or physical harm to others. It is not a formal diagnosis in the DSM-5-TR, but a recognized, dangerous, and often untreatable form of pathology. 

Psychopathy -- a persistent pattern of antisocial, impulsive, manipulative, and sometimes aggressive behavior, sometimes described as a personality disorder (not in current technical use).

Frontotemporal Dementia – Frontotemporal dementia (FTD) is a group of disorders caused by progressive nerve cell loss in the brain's frontal or temporal lobes. 

Phonemic Paraphasia -- a speech error where sounds within a word are substituted, added, or transposed, resulting in unintended words or non-words that often sound similar to the target 

Confabulates – “brain unconsciously fills gaps in memory with fabricate, distorted and misinterpreted information.”

The term “hero” is greatly overused (or abused) these days. But in this 6-minute clip from PBS Newshour, dated March 25, medical workers in Nabih Berri Hospital in the war area in southern Lebanon are interviewed and their unceasing effort to provide vital medical care to the local citizens is documented. Dr. Ali Omeis and Dr. Hassan Wazni are among those heroes. It is unsafe for them to go home to their families at night, so they sleep in the hospital. They mention that Israeli bombs landed close to their hospital recently, and they know that they might be the next potential targets of a deliberate Israeli bomb strike. Despite that, they have made it clear that they intend to stay on the job and continue providing vital medical care at this endangered hospital. This is exceptional courage, selflessness and empathy. These medical workers are true heroes, and they have my total admiration and respect.  

Three Shortcomings:

There are 3 religious/cultural traditions deeply embedded in Western, and especially American culture and economics that are eminently unsuitable in their present form and practice for transition into our Sustainable Future.

1. The Abrahamic religions: traditional Christianity, the Old Testament, traditional Judaism and most likely traditional Islam, particularly those forms which are derived directly from a literal reading of the Old Testament will not be able intermingle with the religion and culture of our Sustainable Future.
2. Secular materialist modernity that is based on Newtonian physics, (“Scientism”), sometimes labeled “reductionism” or “reductionist materialism” is already obsolete and will be incompatible with the spirituality of our Sustainable Future. “Scientism” and or the perception of the physical world as an inanimate object governed by Newtonian mechanics as most people do, is both inaccurate and obsolete. This “common sense” perception is not suitable for the sustainable development worldview. Nature is not a set of inanimate objects. Consciousness does not arise from the biological functioning of the human brain. The new physics is revealing that there is essentially no boundary between consciousness and what we regard as material reality. Some of the older Faith teachings such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Taoism and some Indigenous traditions have long regarded the universe to be alive, imbued with consciousness and essentially not separate from all human beings. To me this attitude can form the core of a sustainable spirituality, religious tradition, economics and governance.
3. The economic entities we label “Capitalism” and “Private Property”, in the form they are presently practiced, are incompatible with the need for reduced inequality. Reduction of inequality in all its attributes is vital for achieving a sustainable future. I suspect that the concepts “Capitalism” and “Private Property” do not need to be abolished, but their concepts and practice must be modified and regulated in a world of Sustainable Development. Traditional capitalism falls short of sustainable economics for the simple reason that capitalism regards everything as a commodity or a resource that can be transformed into commodities. For example, “Social” media has transformed people's private lives and their hopes and emotions and aspirations into commodities. Furthermore, the concept of “private property” is not absolute. There must be limitations placed upon the accumulation and dispensation of wealth, particularly as these specific accumulations of wealth & power begin to exert a significant effect on fellow human beings and on Nature itself. This is another big topic. One of the 17 goals for Sustainable development is reduction of inequality.

 

These shortcomings mentioned above form a basis for their unsuitability to fit into a sustainable spiritual, religious, economic and political culture in their present literal form. I will confine my attention below to the Abrahamic religions.

 

The Abrahamic Religions

Shortcomings of the Abrahamic religions:

The 3 Abrahamic religions, taken literally, are eminently unsuitable for taking us into the new world of sustainability. Here are some specific beliefs:

• In Christianity, God is portrayed (or projected) as a superhuman male deity (God the Father) Who is distinctly separate from His creation and humans, in the patriarchal tradition. This patriarchal deity is less than omniscient, omnipresent and omnipotent. Although portrayed as “loving” and “merciful”, this Deity, nonetheless, is portrayed as having invented hell, with all its horrors. This Deity is prone to anger, is quite narcissistic in human terms, and prone to taking revenge: all of these traits are incompatible with a universally loving Deity. Furthermore, the narrative about this Deity contains episodes where the Deity discovers that He made mistakes, comes up with reckless, cruel and murderous schemes to rectify these mistakes, and on more than one occasion, appeals to humans to help Him rectify His mistakes. My labels for this Deity, at least from a former Christian viewpoint, is “Cosmic Patriarch” or “Cosmic Psychopath”.
• Hell: A place of eternal fiery unspeakable torture and punishment for “disobeying” and/or displeasing God. Hell is nothing other than a place where God takes eternal revenge on those who displease Him. Intimate to the doctrine of Hell are the doctrines of the Final Judgement and the End of History. (Teaching little children to believe in Hell, in my opinion, constitutes serious child abuse, often resulting in PTSD, and should be forbidden by the government.) The belief in Hell appears to be shared by Christianity and Islam.
• Separation: Humans, in all 3 faith traditions, are portrayed as being separate from Nature. Furthermore, humans are portrayed as separate groups, sorted by religion, race, ethnicity, etc. These groups are all separate from one another, and furthermore, these groups are encouraged to view one another with fear and suspicion. God created humans (the male human to be more accurate) from mud in a special dispensation. The female human is portrayed, in patriarchal fashion, to be a sub-creation of the male human. A woman is not a gender equal to the male gender.
• Redemption Narrative: The central tradition of traditional Christianity, which I label the “Redemption Narrative” (Christ died for your sins), when viewed from detached viewpoint, is little more than a sophisticated and macabre form of moral extortion. I will offer more details later.
• Inanimate physical world: The physical world is portrayed as a physical creation by the personal God. It is portrayed as inanimate and separate from God. Furthermore, the physical world besides being portrayed as inanimate is also defined as an array of resources that is rightly intended to be exploited and dominated by human beings.
• With consequences for my perception of Judaism in particular, the Jews are portrayed as “God’s Chosen People”, making them special to God and separate from other groups of humans. All the other “non-chosen” nations and ethnic races are 2nd class humans. This idea cannot be taken literally in a Sustainable World.
• Continuing with my perception of Judaism: In particular, Yahweh, a name for the Old Testament God, in the literal Old Testament narrative, commands His Chosen people to attack and kill other nations, to commit genocide, loot their cities and take their land. Grabbing some of the women of these unfortunate target nations for sexual purposes was not forbidden by Yahweh, however. The moral level portrayed here is horrific. If these stories (The Torah, written Talmud, Old Testament) and writings cannot be simply tossed into history’s trash bin, then at least they should not be taken literally and must be portrayed as ancient myths and legends accompanying the other religious teachings in these books. In any case, the Holistic conception of humanity must take precedence over any of these ancient historical myths which emerged from a savage, fear-filled and war-prone past. (As if we humans are any less war-prone these days.)
• Continuing the topic of Judaic compatibility, it appears that the Jewish version of Zionism derives some of its moral justification from the Torah and portions of the written Talmud, particularly the book of Joshua and the conquest of Canaan. It appears that this Biblical moral justification approaches and includes both ethnic cleansing and genocide. There appears to be numerous instances where these Biblical myths are being used by the Jewish West Bank settlers, with the consent and assistance of their national government, to justify their persecution, murder and expulsion of the indigenous Palestinians. This is a huge topic these days.
• Concerning my perception of Islam: Based just on my casual readings of the Quran, there seem to be many passages where Allah and the Prophet condemn “unbelief”. Allah threatens the recalcitrant unbelievers with perishing in an eternal fiery hell. Furthermore, there seem to be passages in which Allah encourages his followers to make war with the unbelievers, and there are even instructions on how to divide up the spoils of war. To be fair, there appear to be many exhortations to show mercy to fellow Moslems, as well as to the “unbelievers” as well. The moral level of Allah, taken literally, appears to be inadequate for the new Sustainable World. I suspect that the Quran may have to be carefully cherry-picked if it is to make a transition into a holistic sustainable world view. At the very least, a fundamentalist interpretation of the Quran is destructive and like fundamentalist Christianity, must be sanctioned and avoided.
• Continuing about the Quran, it appears that the Creation story as presented in that religious writing, also portrays man (the male gender) as having been created out of mud, directly by Allah, and thus, is separate from Nature.

In my opinion (IMO), literal belief in the above tenants and doctrines is incompatible with the growth of a more moral, just, empathetic, compassionate and inclusive culture and civilization going forward. Literal belief in these concepts must be abandoned or reduced to a “ancient myth” status, much like the belief in Osiris, or Zeus, Thor and/or the existence of Valhalla.

Positive sustainable aspects of the Abrahamic religions

There are some positive aspects of the 3 Abrahamic religions that appear to be quite compatible with Sustainable development.  There is a book written by Jeffrey Sachs, “Ethics in Action for Sustainable Development” that I defer to and recommend to the reader. In this book, Dr. Sachs explores the ethical traditions of not only the 3 Abrahamic religions, but other world religions also. He finds plenty of ethical “material” in these faith systems that support a sustainable new world (Sustainable Development).

Concerning the Christian perspective, from my own personal experience and point of view, I contend that there is much to be found in the written teachings of Jesus Christ that support holistic concepts of humanity, universal empathy, compassion, and non-violence that are very compatible with a sustainable world view. Jesus appears to advocate a holistic view of humanity, for example. Jesus appeared to practice and teach extensive social empathy. The reduction and/or elimination of fear appears to be one of His goals also. Other parts of Christianity could be disposed of. For instance, several epistles are compatible with the concept of slavery. The concepts of the Final Judgement, Hell and the Apocalypse in the book of Revelation can and should promptly be pitched onto the ash heap of history, however.

 

From my understanding of the Judaic perspective, neither Judaic Zionism nor Christian Zionism can be morally justified by the new ethics of Sustainability, and these brands of Zionism must be immediately dispensed with. I want to make it clear that Zionism is NOT the same as Judaism, however. As far as I can determine, the proper end goal for all people living in Israel-Palestine area is complete equality and full human rights for everybody. (The one state solution). The goal is for Jews and Palestinians to be living side by side in and sharing the same land, with full human rights for everyone, living in peace and mutual respect. I will not pretend to be an expert, but it seems to me that the Muslim population must accord the Jews their right to exist and live in Palestine also. But both populations are accorded full and equal human rights.

 

Conclusion: The three Abrahamic religions, as “traditionally” or literally interpreted and practiced, by and large have become obsolete. A literal reading of their religious revelations is not supported by empirical evidence. These literal readings are morally insufficient and limited in their world views. These literal readings and teachings must be modified or dispensed with. The best of their ethical traditions, teachings and practice can and must be retained and brought into a new context in the Age of Sustainable Development. For example, I call to your attention the myriads of hospitals, medical and social services in this country that are sponsored and financed by Christian and Judaic (and Islamic?) congregations. The care and services provided by these religious organizations are vital to well-being of our nation.  Again, I refer to you Jeffrey Sachs.

 

 

Some demographic considerations:

 

OK, from the data below, provided by Google Gemini, there are 2.6 billion Christians (32%), 2 billion Muslims (26%) & 15.7 million Jews (0.2%). The total is 58.2% of the entire global population are members of the one of the 3 Abrahamic faiths. And, according to the data, these religions, especially Christianity & Islam are growing fast. According to other data below, 45.4% of the global population are not Abrahamic, with about 21% or 1/5 associated with either Buddhism, Hinduism and folk religions, while another 24%? are unaffiliated or “between religions”. The bad news here is that about ½ of the world population are affiliated with the Abrahamic religions, with Judaism appearing to be almost a miniscule portion of that. Maybe awareness of that demographic is driving an existential anxiety in the Jewish population, and therefore, fueling the current dominance of Zionism in the Jewish state. The real collision, I suspect, is between Christianity and Islam.

 

(From Gemini) As of 2025–2026, there are over 2.6 billion Christians worldwide, making it the largest religion in the world. They represent approximately 32% of the global population, with significant growth in Africa, Latin America, and Asia, while the population has grown from roughly 2.3 billion in 2020. 

Global Christian Statistics and Trends:

• Total Population:Estimated at 2.63–2.64 billion adherents.
• Largest Tradition:The Roman Catholic Church is the largest denomination, with over 1.3 billion adherents.
• Regional Shifts:

 Sub-Saharan Africa now hosts the largest Christian population, surpassing Europe and North America.

• Growth Rate:Christianity is growing by 0.98% annually, with high growth in the Global South.
• Future Outlook:The Christian population is expected to exceed 3 billion by 2050, remaining the world's largest religious group. 

Breakdown by Major Denominations (approximate):

• Catholic:3 billion
• Protestant:800 million – 1.1 billion
• Eastern Orthodox:220 million
• Pentecostals/Charismatics:~663 million (often overlapping with Protestants) 

The Christian population is diverse, consisting of over 2.5 billion adherents, with significant, yet slowing, growth in many parts of the world. 

 

Judaism:

 

(From Gemini) As of late 2023–2025, there are approximately 15.3 to 15.7 million Jewish people in the world, representing roughly 0.2% of the global population. Over 7 million live in Israel, while another 6–7.3 million live in the United States, with the remainder in smaller communities globally. 

Key Details on Jewish Population

• Total Population:Estimates vary slightly by source, generally placing the number around 15.3 million, 15.7 million, or 15 million.
• Major Locations:The two largest populations are Israel (approx. 7.1–7.3 million) and the United States (approx. 6–7.3 million).
• Other Significant Populations:France (approx. 440,000), Canada (approx. 398,000), and the United Kingdom (approx. 312,000) have the next largest populations

.Demographic Context: The global Jewish population has not yet regained its pre-Holocaust peak of 16.5–16.7 million in 1939.

• Population Growth:According to the Pew Research Center, the population grew by 6% from 2010 to 2020.
• Definition Nuances:When including all people eligible for Israeli citizenship under the Law of Return, the number rises closer to 25 million. 

 

Muslims:

As of 2025–2026, there are an estimated 2 billion Muslims worldwide, representing approximately 24%–26% of the global population. Islam is the world's second-largest religion and the fastest-growing major religious group, with the population projected to reach 2.2 billion by 2030, largely due to high fertility rates and a youthful demographic. 

 

Key Regional and Demographic Data

• Largest Concentrations:While often associated with the Middle East, over 60% of the world's Muslims live in the Asia-Pacific region.
• Top Countries:Indonesia has the largest Muslim population, followed by Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nigeria.
• Regional Distribution:

 South Asia has the highest concentration (roughly 525 million), followed by the Middle East-North Africa (MENA) region (approx. 362 million), and Sub-Saharan Africa (approx. 256 million).

• Growth Factors:The population growth is driven by high birth rates and a young average age rather than conversion.
• Regional Trends:By 2050, it is projected that 10% of all Europeans will be Muslim, and India will likely surpass Indonesia as the country with the largest total number of Muslims. 

Non-Abrahamic religions account for approximately 19–20% of the global population, primarily driven by Hinduism (~15%) and Buddhism (~4%), alongside smaller folk and indigenous traditions. When including the unaffiliated (approx. 24%) and other religions, over half the world's population does not follow an Abrahamic faith (Christianity, Islam, or Judaism). 

 

Key Non-Abrahamic Religious Adherents (approx. 2020–2025 data):

• Hinduism:~14.9–15%
• Buddhism:~4.1%
• Other/Folk Religions:~2.2%
• Unaffiliated (Non-religious/Atheist):~24.2% 

While Christianity and Islam are the largest groups, the combined share of non-Abrahamic religions and non-religious people makes up a substantial portion of the global population, with the unaffiliated growing due to religious switching. 

 

My own comment: There are 2.6 billion Christians in the world, and this religion is expected to remain the world’s largest. Right behind that are the 2 billion Muslims and this is the fastest growing religion. Bringing up a distant 3^rd place, behind even all the non-Abrahamic religions, is Judaism, coming in at ~15 million adherents, 0.2% of the world population. The other two Abrahamic religions dwarf Judaism. I suggest that this demographic reality may have induced an existential, though largely subconscious, fear into many of the Jews living in Israel. They may regard themselves to be in danger of becoming a minority population in their own nation.  A glance by Google Geminia shows  that there is a nearly equal demographic split between Jews and Palestinians, with the fertility rates slightly favoring the Palestinians.

 

Abrahamic Religions and the Fear Factor

 

Fear presents a significant, if not insuperable barrier to moving on to our Sustainable Future. Here is a list of some kinds of fear that I believe are associated with the Abrahamic religions, particularly the Christian religion. These fears listed below can be discussed in more detail in another time.

1. Non-white immigrants. While fear of immigrants does not appear to explicitly be endorsed by American Christianity, an virulent anti-immigration attitude appears to be rooted in and advocated by many American evangelicals.
2. Non-binary sexuality -- Many Christians fear non-binary sexuality.They don’t understand and fear the concept of non-binary sexuality. It doesn’t fit into their world view. Their fear of LGBTQ is on full display now. They are scared to death that non-binary sexuality will “infect” their children, so they are banning it whenever and wherever they can. In addition to banning the subject in their schools, they’re trying to criminalize LGBTQ conditions, therapy and behavior. And that’s not enough. They’re also physically attacking and killing LGTBTQ people, or at least those whom they believe are LGBTQ. 
3. Racism -- Again, many American Christians fear talking about racism. This is amply demonstrated by their unremitting opposition to “Diversity, Equity & Inclusion” (DEI). “Critical Race Theory” is being banned, removed from school and college curriculums and censored all over the place. Remember, it’s racists who don’t want to talk about racism. They want to censor our history books and go into full denial about America’s racist and slaveholding past. Why I just learned just recently in a Ken Burns documentary, that our revered founding father, Benjamin Franklin, was an unapologetic slave holder himself, and for most of his life, regarded black people to be intellectually inferior to white people. 

 

Why does talking about racism make them feel uncomfortable?  First, they (subconsciously) know full well the truth about America’s “original sin” – Black slavery and its accompanying racism. Secondly, they subconsciously know that they are racists. Third, they subconsciously realize that racism is morally wrong and therefore that they themselves are living in a condition of moral compromise. 

4. They fear  demographic change: the loss of their cultural and economic dominant position. After the Native Americans were wiped out, and the Blacks were safely chained up in their slave-houses, America’s white people, males only, were the dominant group in the country. Their religion, Christianity, became the dominant religion. White males were the dominant economic group, owning most of the nation’s wealth and dictating to the rest the conditions that the dominated groups would live and work in. Anything that doesn’t fit into this scheme of white male domination is labeled “socialism” or “Marxism” or “communism”. And those people who don’t fit into that scheme are labeled “Marxists” or “socialists” or the “radical left”. Unfortunately for them, the generations coming up after us are the most racially and culturally diverse generations in America’s history. 
5. Ultimately, a lot of them fear science. This is pretty apparent in their politicization of the Covid-19 pandemic. They resisted vaccinations and masking mandates. They deny the clear findings of the scientific community that produced vaccines and the evidence that they work. I suspect that it will come clearer in the future that they fear other science, such as the theory of evolution, that clearly negates their Christian and Bible-based superstitions. I think if you check the demographics, one will find that the majority of these people who are fearful of science are not college educated, and therefore, not trained to think in critical and rational fashion. Thus, they fear education and educated people in general. They label these educated people “the Elite”. 
6. Fear of God and Hell – I strongly suspect that underneath all of these other fears mentioned above, many of these same people, if not all of them, fear their God.The vast majority of these fearful right wing people are followers of what I label “orthodox Christianity”, that is some version of a more or less literal interpretation of the Bible. They vary in scope from outright fundamentalists that take every word of the Bible literally all the way to those who accept most of what the Bible teaches, but perhaps don’t take every story in it to be literally true. But the vast majority of these believers believe in the existence of hell. They believe that their God created an everlasting punishment pit, called Hell, where He is going to throw the sinners and unbelievers into, where they will scream and writhe in unbearable pain and misery forever and ever. The latest poll that I checked indicated that fully 66% of all Americans believe in hell. That would more than amply cover all the members of the political right wing. So I am convinced that these people live in some kind of fear of hell, and some kind of fear that their God secretly hates them and intends to punish them for their sins, forever and ever. And they aren’t going to know about it until it’s too late – after they die. I call it the “Big Surprise” – “Surprise, you pathetic sinner!! You didn’t make the Cut! You’re toast, literally!” And then the Cosmic Psychopath flicks His Cosmic Finger and sends them spinning off into the Eternal Flame Pit. These people who fear the wrath of the Cosmic Psychopath do not believe that the world is a safe place. They view the world as a dangerous and threatening place, full of things and people to be afraid of. Remember, Donald Trump said that the “world is a dangerous place”.  I suspect that this deep-seated subconscious terror informs their perception of reality and other terrors. See the statistics below.
7. Fear of death – I do not feel that the Abrahamic religions have dealt constructively or conclusively with the issue of death. In Christianity, at least, there is a binary outcome to death: heaven or hell. And there’s always the disturbing question to which there seems to be no guarantee: “Will I make the cut? Will St. Peter open the gate, or push me off the edge into the fiery abyss below?” “I won’t know until it’s too late to do anything about it!” So far, I haven’t detected any significant discussion, at least at the organizational or theological level, about Near Death Experiences or reincarnation or communications with the deceased.

 

(From Gemini) Globally, belief in hell is less common than belief in heaven, with a 61-country poll finding roughly 53% of people believe in hell. Belief is heavily influenced by region and religion, with high, stable belief in the U.S. (62%) contrasting with lower rates in the UK (26%).

Pew Research Center +2

Key Global and Regional Belief Statistics

• Global Average: A Gallup International Association (GIA) poll found that 53% of respondents across 61 countries believe in hell.
• United States: Roughly 62% of U.S. adults believe in hell. This belief is highest among Protestants in the evangelical (82%) and historically Black traditions (81%), compared to Catholics (69%) and the religiously unaffiliated (25%).
• UK and Europe: The UK has much lower belief in hell, with only 26% of the public reporting belief in 2022, ranking 17th out of 24 countries surveyed.
• Gender/Age Factors: In the U.S., studies show minimal differences between genders regarding hell, though some data suggests higher belief among religious women. In the UK, younger generations (Gen Z 32%, Millennials 32%) are actually more likely to believe in hell than Baby Boomers (18%).
• Pew Research Center +4

Key Trends and Associations

• Heaven vs. Hell: Belief in heaven is generally more common (59%–67% globally) than belief in hell.
• Cultural Factors: Belief in hell is deeply linked with religious identity; high rates are observed in countries with high Muslim populations (e.g., Morocco).
• Nature of Hell: Among U.S. believers, about half view hell as a place of both physical and psychological suffering.
• gallup-international.com +4

These fears mentioned above constitute a serious and ultimately insuperable cultural, social, psychological and spiritual barrier for humanity to move on to a truly sustainable culture. These fears, and others not mentioned here, must be recognized, acknowledged and dealt with. As people are released from their deeply held fears, they will become open to deeper levels of empathetic awareness, identification with other humans and take more deliberate action to improve the lives of everybody, including the environment we dwell in. There are techniques for recognizing and reducing fear levels. Fear reduction is possible if we choose to. This is properly a topic for another discussion.