
Next week, when Donald Trump strokes a Bible and requests the help of God as president, even a large share of his own fans will doubt that he means either gesture. Thirty-eight per cent of them, as well as most Americans in general, have him down as “not too” or “not at all” religious. I won’t presume to know the inner life of a stranger. But as far as the public is concerned, the US has had, and is about to have again, a leader who is at least atheist-adjacent. Within my lifetime, this was unthinkable.
下周,當唐納德?特朗普以總統身份手握《圣經》并請求上帝的幫助時,即使是他的大部分支持者也會懷疑他是否真心實意。38%的支持者,以及大多數美國人,認為他“不是很”或“根本不”信教。我不敢妄測一個陌生人的內心生活。但就公眾而言,美國曾經有過,并即將再次擁有一位至少與無神論相近的領導人。在我有生之年,這是不可想象的。