Imagine walking down a road, getting blinded by a flash of light, falling down, hearing a voice say your name.

That happened to Paul on the road to Damascus.

What if today, after a flash of light, the voice of God said, Don’t lie. Would people listen? Would politicians?

At lunch, stirring a bowl of soup, a bone-deep evangelical Christian who saw abortion as taking an innocent life, wokeness as devilment, said she didn’t like Trump telling lies but Harris’ wokeness was worse. She was voting for Trump.

Sitting beside her an old-fashioned white-haired conservative, polite, worried about the deficit, had qualms about Trump too – but said Harris and Biden had already wreaked havoc. He was voting for Trump.

Sitting at the end of the table a younger Republican, a campaign politico, each morning reading Trump’s posts on ‘X,’ hardly gave a toot about lies.

We’re living through a strange time. Ages ago the Lord warned lies do harm. But these days people would rather stand behind ideologies, or bow to their political party like a cult, and when Trump promises to crush their enemies, hand them retribution, end their pain, they cheer – and hard times roll on.