Author: Mark Jennings

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What is obvious anyway?

“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things, all who act dishonestly, are an abomination to the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 25:13-16 

A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends. Proverbs 16:28

Behold, the LORD’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. Isaiah 59:1-4

Jesus, concluding the ‘Sermon on the Mount,’ (Matthew 7:24-25) said to put His words into practice so that when trouble comes your house will stand because it has been built upon the rock. Now we need to understand the meaning of what Jesus said. Why is it that if the words are so simple, why do we have so much disagreement about what the ‘right way’ is? The religious answer would likely be that the ‘right way’ is obvious, and those who ask such questions lack faith. Okay. Here is what is ‘obvious’ to me.

Trump is the untouchable icon of the Christian Right. Even now, as Putin’s madness and murder ravages the lives of millions, our politicians still fear crossing Trump in his praise of Putin (He just doesn’t approve of the war, and claims that if it weren’t for the stolen election this wouldn’t be happening—eyes roll…) The reason for this is simple—the power, votes, fund-raising, the culture, belongs to Trump inc. The Christians have been very supportive even the shadow of the January 6th coup attempt. (There may be a crack in the armor though…)

I’ve heard that democrats want to destroy the country in a myriad of ways; perhaps especially by bringing up past injustices that the diminishing white majority does not wish to look at. What really is the issue is one of power and authority. I recently heard a sermon on ‘Practical Teaching’ which concluded, very assuredly, that if one leaves church angry, one is just rebelling against the conviction of the Holy Spirit. What confidence in your authority pastor! But this is just a posture which has been handed down to us since humans have been humans and accelerated with the birth of mass Christian media. This mass media environment creates the hierarchal context in which all teaching takes place.

In the American view of things, bigness, success, power, in the context of ‘in-God-we-trust,’ is seen as having the blessings of God. Pat Robertson and numerous other pioneers (riding the wave of eschatological speculations) amassed money and power to evangelize—the way in which they did it is pedagogical. One uses money as the means (power) to serve the interests of God. (Remember what Jesus said about God and money?) Pyramids are erected, certain rings need to be kissed, to work your way up the ladder. The corporate world works much the same as the church. Since this ‘health-and-wealth,’ dare I say, ‘me’ centered approach, dominates as the ‘Right Way,’ preachers like Joel Osteen can deliver pretty much the same sermon, from any text in the Bible, to grow your faith big to receive God’s blessing. Littler guys must not cross the big boys too much if you’re going to put butts in the seats and money in collection plate. Our obsession with superstars, secular and sacred, is obvious to this malcontent. Celebrity endorsements are a powerful thing.

Our teachers tell us that knowledge is consigned to the pharisees who would like nothing more than to saddle the poor with heavy loads comprised of empty rules. How clever. Faith is separated from knowledge as it is held up as the virtue. As the practice of intellectual scrutiny is diminished, the dominance of the culture which feeds on the faithful thrives—leaving the faithful ill equipped to bring up the question of what Jesus meant when He talked about serving God and money. The connection in the sermon about practical teaching completely divorced the concept of authority (which as the Creator—Jesus has) and what the pharisees were doing which was just making stuff up so they could be the authority having respect and admiration of the faithful. Same thing happening today.

We are so caught up with money and power as a means of doing God’s will, we will look the other way from obvious dishonesty and fraud. This comes back to the Christian Icon, Trump, and how such a bad man could have amassed such devotion. The cognitive dissonance is astounding; most of the Republicans side with Ukraine yet still back the man who praises Putin as a brilliant leader. He lies, cheats, hides, steals without regard for the discord he sows or the people he hurts. When he praises a bloodthirsty dictator who is doing something most Republicans do not like, I can only come to conclude that people who freely empower Trump want a dictator themselves. The Bible has been and is used to endorse slavery. If one gives the dictator what he wants, he or she will not incur the wrath of God’s hand on earth—and may even be richly blessed with power and money yourself. If you question this, or point out the dissonance, you are faithless and disobedient.

We have lost our way. What is obvious to me is not at all obvious to millions. Who is right?

I’m not going to trust in ‘chariots and horses.’ I will keep believing that it is not okay, at all, to endorse a liar and an obviously morally vacuous man as ‘our’ champion. I believe no one is above the law—and that the legal system for the rich is structured in such a way that justice can be delayed for as long as one has the resources to tie things up. I remember all the Bible has to say about people who claim to speak for God making predictions that don’t come true. But despite all this, all the dirty tricks, all the lies, all the endorsement of brutality, the democrats are worse for wanting to talk about systemic injustice. We believe swimming in the cesspool our lords have engineered for us to swim in is, all the mudslinging about this and that (as I’m slinging as well,) if not a holy thing, the expedient thing to do in service to God. We cannot see the mess we are in because we cannot see for the firehose of bullshit being blasted in our faces every day. What is obvious is not obvious.

Our pharisees, our religious lords, have taught us to not think, but to do what you are told to do by those duly blessed to issue marching orders. The worldly philosophers do not see this as love, but rather it is antithetical to the Christian message—which is love. Millions are falling away from the faith, the house is crumbling, and Christians do not understand why. It’s just the ‘forces of Satan’ and the wickedness which is the faithful explanation—our failure to yield to proper guidance. Love is supposed to transcend all this, to seek to understand and be understood, for this is what create connections between people—this shows another human being their worth. Isn’t the central message of the Bible that God worked painstakingly to reveal Himself (even appealing to reason—Isaiah 1:18) to His creatures? Why then will not even consider the notion that there are many wrongs that need to be talked about.

This is related to all the cover-ups so common in the Christian world. It is unacceptable to not do everything in your power to avoid the appearance of evil. Stuff gets out; and when it does come out, often because the seculars revealed the truth, the damage is immense. Cover-ups are some of the evilest things that Christians do. This is what all the hullabaloo about social justice is about. Christians deny, but the truth is getting out—making the church appear to be evil, patriarchal, and authoritarian in the eyes of many. Christians fight back by pointing out all the libertine sex stuff in our society, name your own hated perversion, while creating a culture where in abuse cases the assumption of benefit lies with religious authority (or those who the authorities have given a mulligan—or two, or three, or as many as necessary.) Dangerous predators are protected as women and children who are actively taught that those in authority are their protectors thus denying them a voice, all to avoid the appearance of evil and to forward a vision of utopia of peace and plenty to the world as witness of our ‘truth.’ This does not add up to the worldly philosophers as equal love for all.

It is time for confession and a serious reckoning with what we’ve been taught as being obvious. All the ‘signs’ say the Christian Right’s reliance on power, it’s protection of criminals, it’s maintenance of oppressive hierarchies which leaves millions without a voice, leaves a serious impression of corruption upon the outsider. It is truth which sets us free. But if we choose to remain obstinate to not question what we’ve been taught we will cleverly invent various schemes to place the blame elsewhere turning the whole mess into a culture war.

We are told that ‘love covers a multitude of sins’ (1 Peter 4:8) yet the Church’s finger pointing about the sins of the world is biting them hard—because it is hypocritical. We’ve created a theology which supposes the evidence to salvation be adherence to certain ‘norms.’ The book ‘White Too Long’ gives an ugly look at those norms which are the very kind of things the conduits of God’s power on earth would very much like to leave submerged. Salvation is not found in following rules, it is found in loving truth and in loving period. The truth is that everyone is equal, everyone deserves a voice, and everyone should be afforded the dignity of a reasoned argument to this or that position. A primary undermining of the Christian witness to the world involves the white churches view that it is their culture which will bring salvation to the world. The ‘others’ ought to be grateful for our benevolence. This is screwed up to the core.

Offering an alternative to this view, the very act of listening is an act of love. But we don’t listen, we tell. The very act of hashing out differences, admitting to being wrong, trying to understand, is love. Covering up, saying there is little to forgive, is not. Salvation is not found in human condemnation; conviction is the Spirit’s job. It is what is in the heart that matters, mere appearances are illusory. It is not might which saves but love.

What is love? You know the list. Do we practice the list? (1 Corinthians 13.) Do we love what is noble and pure? (Philippians 4:8) I’d say if we did, we’d avoid hitching our wagons to political fortunes and to amoral liars like the Trumps. But then I’m a divider as well (Titus 3:10.) Now we circle right back around to who is right. Truth is at the very center of the conflict. Traps, false dilemmas, and other modes of fallacious reasoning, haunt us. We must be loving but are also called to be as ‘wise as serpents’ (Matthew 10:16) placing us in the very difficult position to have to reason with people, and to defend yourself and the weak. Wolves are in the middle of the flock, does the Bible teach us to leave each other to the wolves?

I’m not sorry to say that leaving things to ‘it feels right’ and ‘let go, let God’ just doesn’t cut it to discover biblical truth. Biblical literacy continues to decline as all the superstars who’ve been teaching us the practical applications of our faith. The connection here is obvious to me. It is my belief that a good leader (and teacher) should strive to work him or herself out of a job. What does the illiteracy surveys tell us about what kind of job they’ve been doing? Just have faith and obey authority—we’ll tell you what to do. We have a culture which sees the ‘right thing’ is what the culture tells you to believe and do. They are not really interested in training up other shepherds—that would cut into their action. As the edifice crumbles, as people leave the church, the sermons seem to ramp up the necessity of doing more without too much examination of what we are doing and why. The dissonance has built to the point where the people have a lot of angst about why the church is in decline but have no training or inclination to do some self-examination over the way we do church—what we are telling the world about who we are.

We are telling the world that we are pragmatists willing to overlook lies and evil to bring about a greater good through adherence to proper authority. We get our undies in a bunch about what ‘proper’ means, but in the end, the philosophy of authority remains as the wolves feed. Many of our pastors are just not bright enough to see this parroting what they’ve been taught by their higher ups. All this wrapped up in feelings, assumptions, and well-meaning piety. We think it is good and pious to back liars and criminals because we’ve been taught to do so.

And so the house crumbles…

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…thwart the dark plans and desires of evil men

“You will recognize them by their fruits. Are grapes gathered from thornbushes, or figs from thistles? So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit.” Matthew 7:16-17 

Going through the latest news, I got to thinking about the above line from the prayer (see previous post) and how, since no names were called out, the prayer is ambiguous enough to leave room to suppose Zelenskiy and the Ukrainians to be the primary evil actors who warrant such a violent response. I think this for two basic reasons: (1) The Q world supposes this action may be justified so that Russia may secure U.S. bio-weapons labs located there before we have another epidemic. (2) A Representative out of Trump world, Madison Cawthorn, called Zelenskiy a ‘thug,’ and that the Ukrainian government is incredibly corrupt, evil, and is pushing ‘woke ideologies.’

My first question is this now an acceptable tactic in the Christian Right to use one thug to tackle another? If Putin isn’t obviously a thug, I don’t who would be. I went back and reviewed the tape where Zelenskiy was humiliated by Trump. During the ‘meeting,’ Trump was being hounded by the Media over the ‘perfect phone call,’ of which Zelenskiy, the underdog being squeezed here, was doing his best to stay out of the middle. Amid this embarrassment, Trump scolded Zelenskiy like a child basically stating, in a less-than-direct way, that he favors Putin. Period. It’s in the body language, the tone of speech, the facial expressions, and the words… Trump was a bully towards a foreign leader who was elected in a landslide on an idea expressed in Zelenskiy’s TV show, ‘Servant of the People.’

Cawthorn’s idiocy stems from a common myth perpetuated by our various ideological state apparatuses which supposes the State is not only the answer to everything, but also it is literally the center of everything. In this mode of thinking, if one supposes the government to be corrupt then the people must also be corrupt and thus must be subject to whatever approved, and ‘corralled’ governments must do to reform and cleanse the people from their deep corruption. The Christian Right supposes this to be the role of government, as the will of God, to control the evil found in common folk. This forms the ideological base of Trumpism, which will survive regardless of whatever happens to the asshats who gave the movement (pardon the pun) its name. This gives Cawthorn the moral confidence to suppose that since there is corruption in the Ukrainian government, I’m sure there is, the people must also be corrupt as well (regardless of their landslide support of an idea which stood against corruption and oligarchy.)

This too, ought to be chilling to homegrown folks in the U.S. of A. This is what the righteous folk think of you ‘woke’ types. In the Right’s line of logic, since our government, at least the democrats, is deeply corrupt, child-raping vampires harvesting adrenochrome and what not, the people who elected these evil beings need to be punished for supporting such evil.

Hmm… Let’s examine this.

Firstly, it seems the job of ‘reporting’ various outrages has gone to amateurs, conspiratorial-types, who are very shoddy at collecting actual evidence; there is no governing process of professional peer-review, it’s a free for all. I make no claim to be a reporter, I’m a polemicist who relies upon the traditional, peer-policed, professional and integrity-based avenues which bring me the news—and I pay them for it.  (Fox News is a totally shameless shill chasing a buck.) A better conspiracy in my mind involves a more obvious program of undermining confidence in the peer-reviewed news, to replace them with those who report the ‘news’ from a more ideologically ‘correct’ position. Trust is built upon factors relating more towards charisma than peer-enforced standards of integrity. I cite as one piece of evidence Tucker Carlson’s repeated barfing out of obvious bullshit with no fear of professional consequences whatsoever. Why? Because he brings in the money. Honor is dead.

What are the ‘right’ things? The intensity of hatred towards the evil of ‘woke ideologies’ puzzles me. It’s obviously both a coded and trigger phrase since the politicians, and ‘journalists’ use it to great fundraising effect. What are ‘woke ideologies’ anyway?

In the link above, our rational explainer of the ‘woke’ destroyer of the people (please read the article so you’ll know what I’m talking about for the next bunch of paragraphs) accuses the ‘social justice warrior’ of many of the same things the Christian Right says and does while clearly planting the flag of ‘truth’ in his own territory. ‘Truth’ really is at the center of things, isn’t it? Christianity is a collection of various ideologies which seek to teach us a better system of belief which leads us to a better way of life. A common thread in Christian thought is that proselytizing is good thing—we all need Jesus—but when a ‘social justice warrior’ does it, it’s bad. But we’re back to ‘truth’ aren’t we? Ralston’s list of spotting the ’Woke Ideologue’ falls on its own sword.

Point 1 involves spotting loaded phrases like ‘implicit bias’ or ‘white privilege’ as a red flag to guard yourself against potential conversion. Never mind that those above phrases have a far narrower (and academic) definitions than the catch phrases of the ‘Make America Great Again’ or ‘Woke Ideologies’ battle cries which could mean just about anything.

Point 2 is, in principle, agreeable of course, although it seems Ralston is employing ad hominem when he says things like, ‘She’s insufferable.’ It is also hard to accept the general assumption of adherence to the scientific facts when the Right, as a posture, tends to reject evidence which does not fit into its ideology. Anything from climate change to the simple statistical fact that a black man is two and a half times more like to be killed in a hostile encounter with police than a white man is rejected as obviously not true for ideological reasons. Ya’ll seem to be very fond of straw men as the ‘debate’ on ‘Critical Race Theory’ rages on—but let’s not get lost in the weeds, shall we?

Point 3. Speaking of assumption and ad hominem! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot—that is an utterly stupid assertion to make. You claim to be a professor? Your students are getting ripped off. ‘Irrational exuberance’ belongs only to the Social Justice Warriors? Oh yeah, this relates to the ‘truth’ thing, right? If you have the ‘truth’ then you’ve moved beyond ideology; I get it Obi-Wan… You so smart.

Point 4: ‘Just when I though you couldn’t get any dumber…’ (Ah, dammit now I’m guilty of ad hominem; needing to ‘totally redeem’ myself now.) This point 4 implicitly says, ‘You don’t care, I do.’ Really? Because they generally have no real concern for the truth? Who does? You? The Right? The journalists? The politicians? The rabble?

Allow me to introduce an alternative idea by asking a question: Do we, to any significant degree, concern ourselves with things we need but perceive to already have? When one already has a perceived, comfortable portion of ‘truth,’ then to what degree are you concerned with, let’s say, confirmation bias? Better be careful, poking around there could rock your world. The trap lies within our perceived investment in something, an ideology, a relationship, a physical thing of some sort, so that we see ourselves as too invested in that thing to walk away from it. The possession of the ‘truth’ is a valuable thing; indeed, it’s a hard thing from which to walk away.

The truth is something we all desperately need but it is a very hard thing to hold onto. Our adversary is called the ‘Father of Lies’ for a reason. Lies keep us from the truth which could set us free. Part of the struggle involve recognizing our own limitations. There are books out there, like ‘Being Wrong’ and ‘The Invisible Gorilla’ which can help with the sorting process and, with me, are therapeutic. Speaking of scientific reasoning and evidence, did you know that it is a statistically established fact that people who blather on confidently about how they know this or that are far less likely to give a truthful, knowledgeable answer to a specific question than someone who is not afraid to say, ‘I’m not sure, I’ll have to look into that’ when they don’t really know? (Look it up.) In other words, the confident fellow is much more likely to make something up when he doesn’t really know, so you won’t lose faith in him—loss of power is the issue. Dealing with uncertainty, however, not only takes a lot of work but also undermines confidence (in either yourself and/or your champion) which can really rip into the happiness portion of a person. It’s far easier to just have faith. (Sartre would agree in that in his mind the only truth to be had is found in human choice itself.)

This is where I’d think God would derive most of His laughs, our surety. Vast Christian teaching empires have arisen to show us the way to the right kind of faith; as faith barged its way into politics, Romans 13 and all that, do you not think that the arduous work involved in pursuit of evidence under constant threat of challenge and criticism would eventually fall to the comfort of a confident ideology? And that comfortable ideology would not fall to charisma and ambition as fact-checkers are pushed into irrelevance? I don’t understand charisma but have observed that it pays very well to have it. These teachers, blessed with the enigmatic gift, suck up our money to teach us how to be like them; we learn the greed part all right, but the charisma part not so much. It all sells because we want the comfort of surety. It frees our minds from doubt and contains within the great benefit of allowing us to be righteous.

Pulling this together, the surety of Cawthorn’s accusation, although he is (at least out loud) in the minority currently, provides comfort in our investment. Our investment, er, the Christian Right’s investment, if I may remind you, is that man who humiliated Zelenskiy in front of the whole world by bullying him and by openly airing a whole host of conspiracy theories, related and unrelated, about how corrupt the Ukrainians are, undermining and weakening (dare I say intentionally because Trump may not be smart enough to be so calculating because he is just plain wired to be an asshole—though he is smart enough to keep the bully in the box when there is a bigger, smarter dog in the room—i.e. Putin) the very idea the Ukrainians said they wanted in a landslide vote. That is a clear abuse of power, but who am I to question the prophets and the ‘wisdom beyond human wisdom’? Yeah, the Russians are intentionally killing civilians to terrorize them into submission. But the Ukrainians deserve it because our dear leader, our cause, our surety, will not back off an investment. That’s the trick we must play on our minds to not fall victim to the utter horror of it all. Lip service is paid to the horror of the war, but we will not back off that in which we’ve placed our faith.

‘…that you would thwart the dark plans and desires of evil men… bring a peace that is strong and not weak… deescalate this crisis today…’ It’s all there in the language of faith and hope which defies any ‘human’ analysis and/or wisdom. Thugs are not good men. Observing the Ukrainian response to murder of their families and leveling of their cities, their resolve is only to be hardened. Our analysts, experts in the field, say there is no ‘end-game’ for Putin; he has doubled-down and is all in—it’s about pride. Tactically, Putin has been defeated on the ground—all he has is the terror of massive firepower used against civilians. De-escalation is a fantasy. I’m forced to consider that Cawthorn is only expressing a deeply held belief in authoritarian rule which Christians have been trained to believe deep down that this is the way God wants things to be—God wants us to understand that some people are more equal than others. No amount of brutality can change that because we understand that Ukraine, all of it, is evil; and as God used pagan nations to punish His people for their sin, so too we must embrace the necessary evil of wanton carpet bombing to restore the proper order. Christians want the Ukrainians to throw up the white flag, so we do not have to witness the ongoing carnage; they care little for the murder, crimes, betrayal, lies, oppression, or for the will of a people to live in freedom and dignity—even though they talk a mean game about having this for themselves. Submit to the brutal autocrat, change your evil ways—that will make us feel better. Putin is our guy’s guy.

Is there hope in negotiating with the surety of righteous? Does the Master’s teaching on good and bad trees producing good and bad fruit, respectively, have any weight?   

My prayer…

 Father,

May the Russian army experience total defeat; may the Ukrainian weapon’s aim be sure and true. May the people of Russia rise against Putin and tear down his rule. May Putin stand trial before the ICC. May Zelenskiy live a full life and be rewarded for his leadership and bravery in the face of death and the very possible murder of his family. May an equal voice, respect, and dignity come to all people. May people love justice, cherish mercy, and humbly seek the truth no matter what it costs—even though that may mean admitting that we are wrong.

Amen

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Anatomy of a Prayer

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” 1 Peter 5:8

Below are excerpts from a submitted prayer which was passed along to the congregation on behalf of the Ukrainian people. I’ll be making a few observations on the language employed in the prayer as a preface to an analysis of the sermon which followed— ‘Practical Teaching.’

“…Political leaders around the globe which we are grateful for…even those on the other side of the issue… that their hearts and minds be changed…The truth of Romans 8:28 ‘bring good out of difficulties for those who love the Lord…bring us together for your good and for the kingdom…Father God, king of all the nations, you are our rock, our fortress, our deliverer. We cry out to you on behalf of the people of Ukraine. We ask you to rescue those who are vulnerable…. That they may live without fear… to live with hope and confidence…Our politicians and leaders are predicting the largest war in Europe since 1945… We cry out to you to write another story, in our time…may we see it, and may our only response be, only God could have done this. We pray that you would thwart the dark plans and desires of evil men… give wisdom beyond human wisdom to peacemakers, those in authority seeking a reasonable and far less violent way… help them exercise wisdom from above… willing to yield… save the live of many peoples in Ukraine… bring a peace that is strong and not weak… deescalate this crisis today… Amen.”

Understandably this is all very upsetting. I appreciate the heart of crying out to God over the disturbing thought of (white?) people dying as a result of an unprovoked assault upon a nation. Ever consider our arming of our proxies the Saudis to kill Iranian proxies in Yemen (which kills a lot of innocents as well?)  This prayer has holes, big ones; the most obvious and central one is the failure to even ask the question of what our culpability may be to help bring about this atrocity (along with many others.) Heaven forbid! Instead, we merely ask for the God-of-the-gaps to miraculously fix it. Examining the language line by line…

Since my political bias is strongly libertarian (a word which has been co-opted by the Trumpers which forces me to consider using the word anarchist,) I bristle at the thought of being grateful for being subject to the manipulation, theft, lies, corruption, and sabotage of our political leaders. But such is the program of the Christian Right which has worked tirelessly for decades to unite political forces with ‘Christian’ goals and under religious authority. The language in the prayer assumes my dutiful subjugation to such forces and requires my appreciation of being so subject—as the prayer is being relayed by a religious authority as the way things should be.

‘That their minds be changed’ to what exactly? Do we not remember Samuel’s warning to the people of what kings do? Again, we suppose, with the ‘Seven Mountain Mandate’ program emplaced into our minds, such forces can be bent to the ‘chosen people’s will.’ We really have no collective clue what that ought to be do we?

 ‘For those who love the Lord.’ What? ‘Bring us together…’ A few elements of a common Christian mindset are present in the next few lines. We inherently know war is awful; what Putin is doing is evil. This is where our culpability in the whole stinking mess must be dodged, and our feelings assuaged. In the first place, people who don’t love the Lord are people too. They are being blown up and burned alive because of the desire of a madman (the prayer gets this right.) Do we imagine that our worship and undying support of our dear sociopath (who basked in the adoration of Christian Right as he shamelessly empowered and encouraged Putin in whatever he was spinning up) is now an evangelistic opportunity for God to show His miraculous power? That’s just fucking nuts….

Remember that the prayer has been placed within the context of Romans 8:28. This means the Russian-Ukrainian war is being framed as an opportunity rather than a horrific tragedy of human carnage which we helped make happen. Don’t you remember all the shit Trump did to the Ukraine to forward his own goals? Remember Trump siding with Putin over the word of people in his own administration? We cheered it. We helped empower Putin to do this.

Because of the leadership in Ukraine (i.e. ‘I need ammunition, not a ride) the Ukrainian people are generally sticking their collective middle fingers up in the air so that part of prayer is already being fulfilled. The only way they are not going to live in fear is for a Ukrainian victory. This is true for the Russian people as well. For all the brutality Putin has displayed towards his own people (remember how Trump has praised Putin as a leader,) his arrests of anyone critical of him (we have people here in the Christian Right who want the same thing,) his killing of journalists and dissidents, his ‘fake news’ laws (here we just have ‘Fox News’ to keep people thinking what they need to think,) our request ‘to write another story’ is quite frankly contrary to the story we set up to have happen. What do you think is going to happen when you empower evil men? Flowers and sunshine? We haven’t been watchful; we’ve been deceived.

I too pray that the plans of evil men (and women) be thwarted. It’s just that I include leaders in the Christian Right to be in that bunch. The Russian Church, whom Putin enthusiastically embraces, is equally complicit—to make Russia Great Again. There is no less violent way to end the evil; Putin is the kind of evil who has moved beyond reach of negotiation. If you seek evidence of God’s direct intervention, I suggest the evidence be Putin order an immediate withdrawal and physically submit himself to the Hauge for war crimes prosecution. Anything less, including total military defeat for Russia (which would be evidence for the tenacity of the Ukrainian people,) or some group of politicians stabbing the Ukrainian people in the back thus leading to their subjugation (which would be evidence for many that is what God wanted for everyone in the first place) is just evidence of human action and reaction. I’d refrain from putting God on the hook for this evil.

I pray for the total, utter destruction of Russian army, navy, and air forces at the hands of the Ukrainian forces; and fall of Putin at the hands of his own people.

Amen    

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No Shortage of Either Evil or Idiocy

A lying tongue hates its victims, and a flattering mouth works ruin. Proverbs 26:28

Our liar, traitor, and arsonist, and all his enablers, are in good part responsible for this invasion of a sovereign nation bringing death, destruction, and mayhem upon the Ukrainian people. (The unfortunate reality, in our world swimming in bullshit, is that this vicious invasion is good news for Trump.) Many of our commentators are focusing on Trump’s calling Putin brilliant for making this unprovoked assault. Some are defending his comments as sarcasm—which is ridiculous considering his history of praise for (and agreement with) the depraved Russian dictator. Was it really sarcasm that he suggested we should deploy ‘peacekeepers’ on our southern border? Love is hate, hate is love, peace is war, war is peace…

It is beyond my comprehension the depth of the depravity of those who both fear and worship Trump. The commitment is seemingly unshakable. A terrible, deep wound—an unbridgeable gap has emerged separating me from the Church (the practitioners of whom, by a vast majority, support that man despite his wickedness in all the incoherent, obvious, bald-faced lies—it’s just astounding.) I’m sorry God. I can’t stomach anymore.

Now that I’m retired from my former profession, and catching up on sleep, I’ll be describing and documenting various stages and aspects of my struggle to reconcile the leaving of a faith I can longer keep in good conscience. Maybe some good can emerge from this. Maybe I can help somebody out there facing the same horrible conclusions I’m coming to. I do care about people.

Firstly, I would like to urge you to join with the Ukrainian people in raising our middle fingers in the air towards all liars, bootlickers, ass-kissers, sycophants, yes-men, two-faced schemers, and the cowardly opportunists and send money to Ukraine to aid them in this fight. It is depraved to be afraid of utterly cutting off Russia from the world; the people suggesting we shouldn’t go this far because it might hurt us should be ashamed of themselves. The Ukrainian people are dying and are standing strong in the face of superior firepower and savage brutality. You’re afraid to pay more for gas? I’ll gladly pay more. The world must stand against Putin—a thoroughly evil man.

(And we must stand against that jack-ass who has repeatedly smoked Putin’s dick for an invitation to the club.)

Here is a link to someone on the ground near Kyiv…

I am going to stand against the Church (which is wound up in world of lies as it is led from the top by evil men and women who’ve exalted themselves as our lords) who helped make this, and many other horrible things, happen.

“The task of resisting our own oppression does not relieve us of the responsibility of acknowledging our complicity in the oppression of others.” — Beverly Daniel Tatum

Until later,

Mark

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I Hate the TSA/God Bless my DNA

Security Theater is Fun!

Harkening back to days of old; this rewrite of an old song (which all you patriots are familiar) is dedicated to the three TSA agents who have felt my balls…. (Written just before a return trip from STL years ago when I knew they were going to do it again–and they did.)

When tomorrow comes I can count on

Traveling with my wife

That I’m in Uncle Sam’s domain

He’s just trying to save my life

With alert superstars armed with gloves & the X-ray

‘Cause safety, it Trumps our freedom

Yes they can take that away! yeaaaaaaaa!

I’m cowed even though I’m a citizen

Maintain the myth that I’m free

And don’t forget we’ve been pacified

Could be worse, can’t you see?

I’ll timidly line up without shoes

For the ball check, grope away

‘Cause I must sell out to travel this land

I hate the TSA

From kids the size of Yoda

To the stumps of an amputee

Across the Solar Plexis

From head to toe, you see

We exploit your grandmas from New York to LA

For the machine provides Probable Cause

They may yet catch someone someday! Yeaaaaaa!

Repeat Chorus (if you wish.)

Seeing this inspired me to write a version dedicated to the white supremacists who ought to be mocked and delegitimized because the philosophy is too disgusting to defend ‘as just another view.’ Our continued history has been plagued with ‘alternative facts’ which serve to organize different groups into subservient hierarchies. The plain scientific fact is we are all descended from the same mother and father. Hence, our history, including our religious history, which is rife with examples of blatant racism leading to horrific violations of human rights, is based on a lie. Yet the lie remains, having tremendous power and fund-raising capability. But there is hope, as the Trumpian movement has held up the mirror to who we are. 81 million of us showed up to vote the symbol out. Hopefully, we can keep the monsters out despite the push to ensure that only the ‘right’ people can vote. So, in the interest of illustrating absurdity by being absurd, I write these ridiculous lyrics in dedication to the Adam Henrys telling lies and floating the ‘America First’ and ‘Anglo-saxon tradition’ ideals…

Now Tomorrow’s come, before freedom’s gone
Lost in all the strife
So we wish to start again
In the white pilgrim way of life
I’ll thank my lucky stars
To be given here today
Laws that flag those who threaten freedom
Before they take all that away

And I’m proud to be an American
‘Cause I’m white oh golly gee
And I won’t forget the men who lied
To give this right to me
And I’ll gladly make up
Text, screw you, and defend, spur shrill today
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt this is our land
God bless my DNA

Bum snowflakes are prokaryota
Cue the bills, make deportee
White cross remains our nexus
From sea to shining sea
Come exploit reproduced in
From New York to L.A
Sell shares tied well to the true American heart
Stand, it’s time we banned today

Disallowed being not American
They’ve increased as a threat to be
And I won’t forget the men who lied
Who gravely frighten me                        
So I’ll proudly stand up
Next to Q, Ron Watkins is here to stay
‘Cause there ain’t no doubt in faith we stand
God bless my DNA

Stand, enshroud us as Americans
Swear as priests, we are free
And I won’t forget the god who died
Who looks right just like me
And I’ll gladly stand up
Next to Q, as Anons we still will bray
‘Cause we have no doubt as we wear Trump’s brand
God bless white DNA

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King for the Day

And Jehoshaphat said to the king of Israel, “Inquire first for the word of the LORD.” Then the king of Israel gathered the prophets together, about four hundred men, and said to them, “Shall I go to battle against Ramoth-gilead, or shall I refrain?” And they said, “Go up, for the Lord will give it into the hand of the king.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not here another prophet of the LORD of whom we may inquire?” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “There is yet one man by whom we may inquire of the LORD, Micaiah the son of Imlah, but I hate him, for he never prophesies good concerning me, but evil.” And Jehoshaphat said, “Let not the king say so.” Then the king of Israel summoned an officer and said, “Bring quickly Micaiah the son of Imlah.” Now the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat the king of Judah were sitting on their thrones, arrayed in their robes, at the threshing floor at the entrance of the gate of Samaria, and all the prophets were prophesying before them. And Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah made for himself horns of iron and said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘With these you shall push the Syrians until they are destroyed.’” And all the prophets prophesied so and said, “Go up to Ramoth-gilead and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” And the messenger who went to summon Micaiah said to him, “Behold, the words of the prophets with one accord are favorable to the king. Let your word be like the word of one of them, and speak favorably.” But Micaiah said, “As the LORD lives, what the LORD says to me, that I will speak.” And when he had come to the king, the king said to him, “Micaiah, shall we go to Ramoth-gilead to battle, or shall we refrain?” And he answered him, “Go up and triumph; the LORD will give it into the hand of the king.” But the king said to him, “How many times shall I make you swear that you speak to me nothing but the truth in the name of the LORD?” And he said, “I saw all Israel scattered on the mountains, as sheep that have no shepherd. And the LORD said, ‘These have no master; let each return to his home in peace.’” And the king of Israel said to Jehoshaphat, “Did I not tell you that he would not prophesy good concerning me, but evil?” And Micaiah said, “Therefore hear the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing beside him on his right hand and on his left; and the LORD said, ‘Who will entice Ahab, that he may go up and fall at Ramoth-gilead?’ And one said one thing, and another said another. Then a spirit came forward and stood before the LORD, saying, ‘I will entice him.’ And the LORD said to him, ‘By what means?’ And he said, ‘I will go out, and will be a lying spirit in the mouth of all his prophets.’ And he said, ‘You are to entice him, and you shall succeed; go out and do so.’ Now therefore behold, the LORD has put a lying spirit in the mouth of all these your prophets; the LORD has declared disaster for you.” Then Zedekiah the son of Chenaanah came near and struck Micaiah on the cheek and said, “How did the Spirit of the LORD go from me to speak to you?” And Micaiah said, “Behold, you shall see on that day when you go into an inner chamber to hide yourself.” And the king of Israel said, “Seize Micaiah, and take him back to Amon the governor of the city and to Joash the king’s son, and say, ‘Thus says the king, “Put this fellow in prison and feed him meager rations of bread and water, until I come in peace.”’” And Micaiah said, “If you return in peace, the LORD has not spoken by me.” And he said, “Hear, all you peoples!” 1 Kings 22:22-28

“…they cried out with a loud voice and stopped their ears and rushed together at him” Acts 7: 57 (c.f. Matthew 13: 15.)

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Mathew 11:15 ; 13: 43, Mark 4: 9, 23, Luke 8: 8; 14: 35.

“We hear what we want to hear.” Countless wise men and women

Ahab met his end at Ramoth-gilead. Did this happen against 400 to 1 odds? Are ‘odds’ how we determine who is actually speaking authoritatively for God? In the end, we do what we want to do, say what we want to say, and believe what we want to believe—the Christians are the worst among us in that we claim the authority to speak for the Almighty. Despite being wrong time after time, we persist in claiming the authority of the infallible God anyway. The charismatics have ripped open the Church from pubis to chin for the purpose of restoring God’s name in our country.

Despite being wrong, our prophets who led better than 80% of us to vote for an evil man, largely continue to double down on the evisceration of the church (and our country.) At work, amongst ‘conservatives,’ I am in the clear minority concerning the direction of the country. Paraphrasing, the complaints call us to look at all the Latinos charging the border, Biden’s various senile statements, and the Libs whining about ‘racism this and racism that!’ All the lies, despite rejection in over 60 court cases, my peers honestly believe the election was not legitimate. We really do live in separate worlds of alternative facts. This will lead to further violence.

Social media and the American Church are largely responsible for the rise of Q-anon radicalizing a significant portion of our friends and neighbors. The belief in the fictitious (at least in the world I live in) satanic cabal is so firmly entrenched that even satire cannot penetrate. It floors me that my peers do not seem to think January 6th was a big deal. It was (and is) a deadly serious (and continuing) threat to this country.

How they are not mortally embarrassed by backing Trump, the man who fueled and used this despicable movement, is beyond me. I am guilty of ‘Trump Derangement Syndrome’ is the implication made by my level of disgust and anger. I am ‘deranged’ for having certain moral standards and expectations? Again, we live in different worlds.

The excuse is that all presidents lie. True; they do and many of those lies were egregious and horrifying, leading to great death and destruction. So granted, Trumps thousands and thousands of casual lies, some more destructive than others, could rate somewhere in the middle of the continuum perhaps. The difference then lies not particularly with the horrible man named Donald J. Trump, but in who he represents and what they, the represented, expect. This whole mess just didn’t appear out of nowhere, it has been a long time in the making. We expect lies, we crave them—Trump delivered. We ingest them with relish so we can build fantasy worlds in which we matter not realizing that we are the ones being fed upon and used like toilet paper. (Just ask those who thought Trump was going to protect them while they stormed the Capitol.) It is all just incredibly stupid.

The Church has long abandoned its intellectual roots. It feeds the sheep a diet of emotion; it’s junk food. Over time the malnourishment, the overt abuse and fraud, has left the faithful ill-equipped to determine how to nourish themselves on their own. (Study the Bible referencing accredited scholars having familiarity with the original languages, Pray, Fast, Meditate, exercise, commune with nature, and cultivate the mind in general.) For all the hostility certain branches of evangelicalism have expressed towards the Pope in Rome, they too have set themselves under the authority of a system of ‘apostles and prophets’ who use their special status to elevate themselves above their other brothers and sisters. Just like our political systems, our systems of appointment strongly favor liars as well.

One of the most disappointing aspects of this is the lost opportunity to turn away from our long history of church sponsored racism; some recognize it, some don’t. Of the relatively few who acknowledge racism, and that the superiority of the white race ought be preserved (as the will of God,) this makes things simple as it is unlikely one is ever going to convince them otherwise. We must only hope, for those of us who believe everyone ought to be regarded as equals, that the demographic realities, which will lead to future power shifts, will occur relatively peacefully. This is unlikely given the history of many of the racial clashes in the past where whites felt threatened. Of those who do not acknowledge the reality of systemic racism the situation is far more complicated. The devil in whom no one believes exists can do his best work in secret. This is where the Church has provided, once again, cover for the devil’s work sanctifying the unification of the racist component of the movement which has Trump, who actively stokes the fear of nonwhites and non-Christians to increase his power, as its de facto leader with the righteous ‘other’ goals of the Christian Right. Yet another turd has been launched into the punch bowl; and few seem to believe the latest turd is significant enough to pay notice. The American Church which heavily influences the American ethic has let fear determine its path to embrace its racist past; it has once again refused its reckoning.

The ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality is now firmly infused into the mix as the insurrectionists stormed the Capitol in Jesus name. Prayers were offered, Jesus signs displayed, the ‘Revelation Song’ played, along side bear spray being sprayed and the Confederate, American, and Trump flags being waved, amongst the beatings being given the police with fire extinguishers and flag poles, amongst the broken glass and the vandalism enacted, amongst the ‘Murder the Media’ graffiti being scrawled and the feces being smeared, the congressmen being hunted with zip-ties in hand, and amongst the repeated calls to hang Mike Pence. You put Jesus’ name on this despicable display? Do imagine yourselves as Christ driving the money changers from the Temple? How could you not be ashamed of being attached to this? How could you believe this is no big deal?

As one who still believes Jesus is the Son of God, our Creator, my King, and our mediator, I sincerely apologize to those on the ‘outside’ for what the American Church has largely become; a political movement which advocates violent authoritarianism for the ‘right’ cause. I’m aware of what our ‘prophets’ say. Let’s just say, I’m not playing the ‘400 to 1’ odd. There is no room in the Bible for White Christian nationalism, as there is no support to bear the modern apostolic and dispensational weights which have been placed upon it by our ‘prophets.’ The test is simple, and I’ve already mentioned it many times. They’ve been wrong, they are wrong, and will continue to be wrong because they have not spoken from the LORD but out of their own greed and pride. More frighteningly, they offer an easy, vindictive, out from the problems of the world which will not come to pass; they both form and play upon your desires for the easy out (rapture.)

God has the power to make us all behave but He doesn’t because He doesn’t want puppets; He wants people, all people. You, Mr. and Mrs. Christian Nationalists, suppose to see yourselves as God’s ‘force’ (army) on earth. I was led to sing those songs as a kid as well and now it leads us to a scorched earth policy of blatant hypocrisy, lies, and the embracement of evil to suppose we can sanctify the political process. We are the process. The whole concept of ‘Chosen’ pollutes the process as well; have you read the book of Jonah lately? There is no specifically ‘special’ people; God love us all.

Faith is not simple folks. Simple faith is not pious but grossly inconsiderate of the mighty gift that we’ve been given. Your evil leaders have purposefully taught you to have a simple faith because it makes you easy prey.  We’ve conflated our will with God’s Will which is extremely easy to do and makes the simple easily manipulatable. I’ve spent decades deprogramming from all the ‘cultural’ training I received from the church from a young age. I haven’t reached the point of becoming an Exvangelical yet, but I do sympathize with the term ‘theologically homeless.’

It’s a sad and lonely place to be. Since I apparently live in a different world with different ‘facts,’ reconciliation with the new apostolics and the Trumpers seems hopeless. I’m at a loss as to how to positively proceed in my state of alienation and disgust. But I do know that I’m not going to speak as I’m expected to speak…

…and I’m not going to drink the punch.

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Does this make me a Prophet?


No need to be careful; they can dog whistle to their heart’s content as truth has been bludgeoned into submission. If someone calls you out on the intentionality regarding the history and use of this symbol, one must only say ‘outrageous’ and the matter is considered settled. Gaslighting is all too easy for we all have been driven insane.

Thus says the LORD, your Redeemer, who formed you from the womb: “I am the LORD, who made all things, who alone stretched out the heavens, who spread out the earth by myself, who frustrates the signs of liars and makes fools of diviners, who turns wise men back and makes their knowledge foolish, who confirms the word of his servant and fulfills the counsel of his messengers, who says of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be inhabited,’ and of the cities of Judah, ‘They shall be built, and I will raise up their ruins’; who says to the deep, ‘Be dry; I will dry up your rivers’; who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd, and he shall fulfill all my purpose’; saying of Jerusalem, ‘She shall be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation shall be laid.’” Isaiah 44:24-28  

It appears my prediction that the Christians will not abandon their ‘Cyrus;’ even after months of his continuing the Big Lie involving a shock and awe barrage of lies on various media outlets and better than 60 miserably failed lawsuits ejected for lack of evidence, leading ultimately to a violent insurrection and assault against a co-equal branch of government, we will not let any sense of conscience intervene from turning our back on the One we’ve been told by our authorities is God’s Man. It will be interesting to see future polls come up with harder numbers on how many of us will have fallen away from the faith (in Trump.) Deducing recent Republican behavior, it seems they understand which way the wind is blowing. There are unashamed mainstream arguments in support of That Man. I find this both shocking and disheartening. Despite all the lies, depravity, failed predictions, and a direct assault upon democracy, we will not buckle to rise against our leaders who fuel what is worst in us.

The Republican Party quakes in fear of him because we Christians back the liar and the traitor; all but a few in the party are too self-serving to stand up to Trump as he cements his position as the king maker. They know what kind of man he is; they know he is guilty, but they were too greedy, unprincipled, and cowardly to be rid of him. Yeah, he’s guilty they say; but they’d love to have him back. More so than this, they erected a golden image of him to welcome him home.

Just like the idols of antiquity, the object itself is not what was worshipped but rather the spiritual entity who had been called to reside within it. In Sioux City, Iowa, Trump bribed the Christian establishment with an offer of power—we are still under the spell. The spirit itself is not Trump; he is only the vessel, an image of what really drives us—fear, resentment, and the desire for control. And this, dear Christians, is what nullifies whatever attempt you may make to brush aside the charge of idolatry since most of you would deny that you literally worship Trump. As in ancient times, the power of a local god was invited to inhibit a vessel to some perceived benefit. To the god it was offerings, respect, and adulation. To the humans, it was some access (and to some extent a measure of control) to (and over) that power the god possessed. The modern play on this theme has the local god, Trump (supposed billionaire and business genius, television star and general celebrity,) promising the power of the presidency (real, earthly power) to the Christians so they may do God’s work (because God himself can’t do it any other way I suppose. And to this I ask, what do you think meant when He said not to put any other gods before Him?) The bribe was taken, we were then off to the races turning Trump into our Cyrus through our prophetic networks to provide holy evidence that the choice of this vessel, and what would be done with this power, was indeed God’s will. Was it?

In this progressing clown show, I have become the outcast and the heretic. According to the Bible the legitimacy of a prophet is determinable. When speaking for God, if what they say does not come true, or even if what they say come but call us to follow other gods, then they are not to be feared. Period. There is no shortage of evidence which show our prophets were (and still are) dead wrong about Trump; their predictions turned out to be false. (The atheists do a good job cataloging all the ridiculous things we say and do.)

I provided a link above which outlined the main arguments Christian make to justify supporting Trump. Pretty much the arguments involved grabbing and using worldly power to do God’s work. That’s it. Honesty? Integrity? Kindness? Self-control? Humility? Peacemaking? No. The ends justify the means. If it be through lies, blatant racism, and cruelty, so be it—Christianity will have power.

The spirit Christianity has made a deal with, in exchange for power, is white Christian nationalism. The white people have been dominant for centuries; our cruelty throughout that time was immense. Now we are losing that majority advantage so judging by the actions the Republican Party is taking it is evidently God’s Will that the existing power structure (i.e. white supremacy) be maintained. You all are free to deny it, but it is in the one discernable policy position made it CPAC 2021—it ought to be much harder to vote (so only the right people vote.) I’ve honestly been told by an educated Trump supporter that many people, although citizens, should not be allowed to vote because they won’t vote the right way. This terrifies me, and I’m white. The theme, ‘America Uncancelled’ is laughably hypocritical; Trump gets up there and calls everyone to destroy those who have opposed him. No other voice is acceptable. (I haven’t even got to the worst of it.)

“My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.” Hosea 4: 6

There have been plenty of dog whistles blown to signal the white supremacists during the Trump administration (e.g. ‘stand back and stand by.’)  CPAC 2021 blew one loud and clear embedded in the design of the stage. The uninformed might not recognize it but the understanding white supremacists sure as death and taxes received the message. The majority, despite universal education, do not know much about history, or that symbols on any media, seriously mean things, carrying and conveying meaning and history with them. The mere presence of the stars and stripes (with all it is supposed to represent) could serve as effective camouflage what is being telegraphed right out in the open. Since truth itself has been smashed, it is all too easy to dismiss any questioning as ‘outrageous.’ And those who question (authority) are just supposed to submit, keep our heads down, and accept that it was just an honest oversight. Yeah, right.

The stage was made in the image of the Odal Rune. It’s an old Norse symbol the Nazis adopted to emphasize their Aryan heritage. Specifically, it was a badge of the SS Race and Settlement Main Office. You can even find a picture of the symbol on a banner at the fatal white supremacist rally in which Trump said there were many fine people present. The symbol is well known in that crowd and it means something serious to them. Just know Christians, those who have been commissioned to extend peace and kindness to the weak, poor, alien, and outsider, is that this abomination is what they in the halls of power have been empowered to display—by you. There is deadly meaning in that symbol. Serious oppression is coming unless the Godless can stop you.

I have been struggling mightily in my faith. I feel alienated as my peers bemoan the rise of the socialists and grouse about the invading armies of Latinos coming from the south—as if these things are our biggest existential threat (if they even exist at all; but hey, let’s try to find a middle ground for sake of the integrity of the law, decency, and the peace, shall we?) They complain about the elites but yet further empower these people to limit the voice of the people who appear to be threat to the white, Christian way of life. My peers do not recognize the threat to themselves which is far greater than any imagined demonic cabal of pedophiles, socialists, or Mexicans. Such kinds of threats have emerged to power unnoticed, and when they finally were it was too late.

“First they came for the Communists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Communist

Then they came for the Socialists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Socialist

Then they came for the trade unionists
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a trade unionist

Then they came for the Jews
And I did not speak out
Because I was not a Jew

Then they came for me
And there was no one left
To speak out for me”

Martin Niemöller, German Lutheran pastor

The threat the white Christian faces, even if the hammer of the state should not specially land upon him or her, is to be complicit in a crime. The crime is that we are all sons and daughters of Adam, all of us are equally loved by God, yet we draw the thin blue line between us and those who are not us. Such is driven by fear and lack of faith, quite frankly. Those who are the worst among us prey upon this fear to divide us for their own benefit. We do not seek to win anyone over, or even to imagine there are sins to which we need to bring to light. Mercy comes only to those who are perceived to be either of us or are submissive to our authority and their assigned place. There are tons of historical examples to back up this assertion.

Adam Kinzinger, one of the few who would dare stand against the depravity in his Party, the man in Satan’s service who is in Trump’s crosshairs, slated to be cancelled for his heresy, said something which sums up a good part of my experience growing up in the church, “…we have these really strict rules that you have to follow that nobody can follow, but everybody at the church is going to act like they are and you’re the only one that isn’t.” This common posture, this charade, has strongly contributed to where we are now. We call our opposition socialists yet we all too happy to receive our common benefits. The only difference is who gets paid and who does the paying. Socialism doesn’t bother us at all as the right people get paid—and those are the ones who act right. The hypocrisy is lost to us—we ourselves practice against what we preach. We, a Christian nation, with all it’s ideals of equality and representation, have turned our churches, and thus the national ethic into a big, fake, rigged game to which we righteously assert that only the right people should be allowed to vote. You believe you are the right, the chosen, people to decide who the right people are (and no, I’m not advocating allowing non-citizens to vote—though I do believe that it should be a lot easier than it currently is to become a citizen.) With this (impedance of access) you (we I suppose) are just justifying a continuing form of slavery. The more we persist in the charades and the little manipulations of perception in the power hierarchies, these divisions will continue to grow as you become increasingly threatened and fearful of those who are not you.

We’ve already shrugged away a violent insurrection inspired by a mountain of lies (as confirmed by numerous authorities charged with maintaining election integrity and over 60 court cases thrown out for lack of evidence) about a stolen election (including the lie that Mike Pence had the power to overturn the election but wouldn’t do so because he was faithless) as no big deal. It’s no big deal that POTUS was targeting and squeezing election officials to find the votes to overturn the election. Our leader in the Senate admits that Trump is guilty of fueling this whole mess with a pile of lies concerning an election he lost by 7 million votes, but that they’d love to have the guy back for more. We erected an image in his honor and invited him back into power, telegraphing the event by displaying a symbol which says, with Trump as kingmaker and the Republican Party as the edifice of administration, whites will have power. It is unlikely explicit verbal statements of this kind will be given (unless in a gross slip up which may wake people up,) but the winks have been given. It is as simple as that. The nightmare continues.

As I’ve said, I’m struggling with my faith. If I honestly believed our ‘prophets’ actually spoke for God I would have to turn my back to the whole mess raising both middle fingers to you all as I turn. If this is what Christianity is, if white Christian nationalism is God’s will then I want no part of the church and no fellowship with God. The white Christian nationalist’s god is a monster. Fortunately, I don’t listen to our spirit-filled teachers to learn about God and His Will; I keep tabs on them with the hope of better understanding our carnality and our will. Jesus and His eyewitness apostles taught us differently about what God wants from us. Admittedly, I’m a rough sort with a long history of rebellion against lies, bullying, manipulation, gaslighting, shame, threats, and violence. My history, and my reactions to all of those stresses, makes me who I am; and I’m slowly learning to thank God for it. Kinzinger’s honesty and reflection on a powerful cultural reality has filled me with a hope that I am not alone. And indeed, my faith is bolstered by those who stand against Christian Nationalism, the usurpations of our ‘prophets’ upon the faith, and the utter depravity of what the right majority of us, in fear, support.  

Brother Kinzinger, I stand with you and admire your courage. Stand fast, you are not alone. You’ve inspired me to maintain my search for what faith really means. As I understand it now, faith means to apologize to those I’ve wronged, to empathize as best I can with those whose pain I could never fully understand, but to come aside them to show them that I care. To not pretend to be something (or someone) that I am not. To love the truth and seek it always. To seek justice, mercy, and equality for all of God’s children (regardless of whether they believe in the right things or not.) To never fall into the trap of believing the ends justify the means. To be brave even when I’m feeling alienated and alone. To attempt to control the expressions of my anger in the face of injustice and depravity. To know that I am a sinner, yet I am still dearly loved by my Father.

I offer this prayer in public as an invitation to the struggle,

Thank you Father for your Word. In all of our depravity and selfishness, I admit my own sin. Your Word is Truth; yet what is written in the Bible is not all truth—far from it. Despite what we do to abuse both truth and each other, I trust that You not only love us, but like us humans as well. We are not worms but Your image bearers; (and how could you not like that?) You’ve woven into us a desire to seek, explore, and discover. Understanding my own experience as a father, I delighted in seeing my children grow and learn, and didn’t that often sweat too much what I thought were mistakes and at times rebellion (some more serious than others.) Help me to understand and extend the same courtesy to You regarding Your intention towards us as our Father. Thank you for my life and all you have blessed me with—two beautiful daughters who both have justice and mercy in their hearts. Thank you for my wife whose wisdom, gentleness, and mercy has surely made me a better man. Help me with my temperance and feelings of alienation so that I may stand for what is true, just, and merciful without being swallowed up by the emotion. Help me to be positive and to see people as you see them. I learned from Your Word that Jesus holds the scepter of judgement. We’ve been called to stand up for what is right, but I am convinced this not to be done by us by force. Only Jesus has that right. Help me to persuade those who have taken up the scepter to use worldly power execute judgement on Your Son’s behalf with wisdom and the least amount of anger possible out of an angry man with unclean lips like me. Help me to discern between deceiver and deceived—standing against the former while being appropriate with the latter. Complicity is not an option. I must speak out against what is wrong, but I’m conflicted about how I should do it. Help me guard my heart, as it is hurt and angry. Help me guard my head, as it is unsure, struggling, and confused. I am weak, but I still place my trust in You.

Thank you,

Amen      

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“Outrage is not a Fruit of the Spirit”

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. Galatians 5:22-23.

I went to church yesterday with my wife on one of those rare Sundays when not working. We had a guest speaker, the very few people present (largely due to widespread consternation about the mask mandate) were ‘socially distanced’ about the sanctuary, everyone was wearing a mask. I thought it was responsible behavior. (If everyone did this to protect each other—the mandates that so many people complain about would not be necessary; but I digress.) Not getting into the meat of the sermon, I’ll instead focus on one small, almost inconsequential, part of it in which the point was made that “Outrage is not a fruit of the Spirit.”

The statement was well-intentioned. As I understood and interpreted the context in which the statement was made, it implied to me personally that a good and proper Christian response to the raging clown show of dangerous divisions in our country, largely fomented and enabled by the dominant Christian Right, is to be meek and mild. A mousy, kind Christian is a good Christian. I’ve been told this by many people, in various ways throughout my life but somehow, I haven’t been convinced of it yet. Yes sir, I know ‘outrage’ did not make Paul’s list. And yes sir, I realize ‘outrage’ is what is compelling the lies which empower the Trumpites to rip this country apart with all this Q-anon and election fraud nonsense. (And if this is what you meant to address then kudos; however, you did not elaborate and clarify as perhaps you should have.) You, as I interpreted, appeared to be talking mainly about an emotional response (to any stimuli,) which, in and of itself, mildness is not necessarily a bad thing—if it is discerned to be the right response within the given conditions. I don’t believe the emotional component alone determines the ‘rightness’ of any response. The head should govern primarily. As Solomon taught, everything has its season. I believe clearly that this season demands outrage. The debate is not about outrage itself, but concerns the question of whether or not the outrage is justified.

Considering Jesus’ example, I ask myself the question of how ‘mild’ Jesus was in confronting the (most likely very worked up) crowd about to stone a woman for adultery? Can we imagine the tone of the statement, “Who here is without sin?” How gentle was Jesus when delivering the ‘seven woes’ speech to the Pharisees? Were those words peaceful, patient, and kind? Can we say that Jesus was not outraged when overturning the money-changing tables at the Temple? Was He less-than gentle? Did He lose his sense of self-control? Ezekiel (as I brought up in a previous post) recorded the Lord’s words of indignation towards Israel for its lying princes and prophets who oppressed the poor widows, orphans, and aliens. Outrage is listed as a synonym of indignation in my thesaurus. The Spirit is God. These words were spoken according to the Spirit, are they not His fruit since they come from Him?

Context is especially important in interpretation. This is Paul’s list of the ‘works of the flesh.’

“Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these.” Galatians 5:20-21

The contrast between fleshly and spiritual desires which motivate us to action provides a context for what Paul was driving at. As I interpret the Christian Right’s entanglement with political power to right society’s wrongs, they’ve stirred up (at least) enmity, strife, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, and divisions. As evidenced by the number of enemies I’ve accumulated by being vocal about my opposition to Trumpian-religious syncretism, it seems I could well be accused of many of these crimes on the fleshly list as well; and here is where we are. The difference lies not necessarily in the feeling experienced in the middle of a conflict but in the intention towards a desired outcome–whether it be for selfish reasons or not. The common denominator behind the motivation for causing strife and dissention determining the rightness or wrongness of it lies in the motive of the doer to either gain power for himself or to sacrifice himself for the freedom of others. I do not see any evidence at all that either Trump or his enablers in the Republican party and in the Christian Right are willing to sacrifice themselves for anyone. It is a vicious world these people are creating; the master(s) will turn on even the most loyal supporters if the most absurd demands of the ‘leaders’ are not met. They openly seek to be our lords, and millions of us believe they are only hope for our freedom. This is so sad for all of us.

A majority of Christians recognize the ‘prophets’ (whether or not you even understand this) which inspire the faithful to (as I see the devotion in those who hate me for my view of the man) worship Trump. As I see it, you have sold yourselves to, and effectively worship, a devil. That means I am accusing many in the church of the crime of idolatry for this devotion and adulation. I also am accusing many in the church of following false prophets who make all sorts of claims concerning conversations with God in which they’re given privileged information to then pass on to those who are hungry for this sort of thing, and who also describe trips to heaven to help enforce their ‘favored’ status among the faithful. They make up stuff about future events to satisfy our desire for control over the future (and supernatural things.) This, as I see it, is a form of sorcery which leads to serious dissentions and divisions within the body. This body of lies provides cover for the princes to then lie as well. Peer pressure is applied to silence opposition to the prevailing winds in Christian culture. (Understanding this helps me deal emotionally with how people tend to react to what I have to say.)

Becoming ‘outraged’ about this mass apostacy is largely unacceptable; this majority acceptance of what is ‘love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control’ has taken decades as the charismatics have done their work to remove reason and the really hard scholarly work out of the biblical interpretation equation. Feelings now rule. (Surveys showing the very significant decline in biblical literacy among churchgoers objectively demonstrate this.) People like me are shamed as troublemakers who, in ‘fits of anger,’ create strife and dissention where there should be none. The peacemakers amongst us do the gentle thing to remind the fierier souls to take it easy. What is seen by the passionate as being left out are the commitments (faithfulness) to the fruit of goodness which is being trampled by all the liars feeding on the gullible. Saying that ‘goodness’ is only distantly related to ‘truth’ uncouples what could anchor the more emotionally fragile among us from confidence in believing any promise. This is the theology which is strongly implied by today’s feelings (as guided by our leadership which appeals to our authoritarian proclivities as a species) which are understood to have an almost direct correlation to the ‘truth’ of whatever proclamation is being made or other stimuli being experienced. It’s in the music, atmosphere (lights and special effects,) liturgy, and physical structure of how we do church. The ‘feelings’ approach to ministry among the faithful, and evangelism to the young, both does not work (as the young are leaving the church in droves—they want moral substance, which they largely not getting) and alienate the broken (as they are taught they must feel and express ‘joy’ to be a true part of the club.) This, quite frankly, is cruel and alienating to those who have not submitted and acclimated to that culture. The dispelling of reason and diversity which leads to the formation of a cultural exclusivity (in the process ‘Americanizing’ our Christianity) should be (seen as) outrageous; but it isn’t.

This is why I had such a visceral reaction to the well-meaning statement that “Outrage is not a fruit of the Spirit;” I am outraged by the feelings dominant theology which alienates and separates, as it (among other things) leaves the faithful unable to morally reason well enough to understand that worshipping, as the hope for a future Christian America, a man like Trump, is morally bankrupt and a terrible witness to the love of God. We’ve been blinded by a large group of evil ‘teachers,’ ‘prophets,’ and ‘apostles’ who are well-connected politically. The faithful, understandably, do no wish to hear that they’ve been duped. How easy it is to preach a sermon urging us to be gentle, ‘not judge lest ye be judged,’ to be ‘meek’ and mild, to exhibit patience, and self-control which does not seek to inform the listener of what the grammatical-historical, in-context, approach (and, getting really deep into hermeneutics, the ‘relevance theory’ approach, which I’m familiar with this methodology having taken an intro to linguistics class in college; here is a very brief introduction) to interpreting what the biblical meaning of those qualities is (or should be) to then act accordingly as situations and conditions dictate. Taking a host of biblical virtues and qualities as an absolute can lead to conflicts between seemingly conflicting virtues; considering this reality, there has to be a season for everything.

Throwing out a term like ‘outrage’ without a whole lot of discussion about its possible justification, leaves the listener to fill in his or her own meaning (as defined by the dominant culture in which the word is heard) to reaffirm what they already believe. One can simply fill in the blank of ‘outrage’ with ‘lefty’s’ burning, looting, and breaking windows—‘nough said. There is little to challenge the listener with the idea that there may be issues worth being outraged about. This can close avenues to conversation, to people being heard, which leads to alienation, resentment, hatred, and ultimately, violence. As Dr. King wisely pointed out, “Riot is the language of the unheard.”

In my mind, if you really want to be a peacemaker, you should work to hear everyone and provide a forum in which they may be heard by opposing those who build systems which keep people out. We honestly believe we can keep the peace by building walls—either literally or figuratively. We divide others to protect ourselves; we segregate and isolate one group from other in some self-protective scheme using echo-chambers, special interest economic protections, churches, and prisons to do it. This is easy road we’ve been on. Peacemaking, as I understand it, is the hard road of getting rid of presuppositions, lies, and the automatic labels; ‘god-haters,’ ‘socialists,’ ’communists,’ ‘criminals,’ and the like. This may mean getting uncomfortable with and then outraged about our extensive efforts to reassert a ‘white, Christian values America’ which actively persecutes the most vulnerable amongst us to live lives of shame and separation. Instead of taking the harder road by looking for the elusive ‘mean’ in understanding, for the compromise, or the extended offer of peace, and a ‘place at the table,’ we do the ‘easy’ thing by going scorched earth to demand that those who have been mistreated by us should ‘none-the-less’ bend the knee so they may gain our favor. This is a recipe for war, and it is what the Christian Right has brought us (now having its nadir in its champion and representative Donald Trump.) I’m afraid this atmosphere has led me to believe those who shush me to be gentle (and that good fellow yesterday was not personally calling me out as he likely doesn’t know me from Adam,) are likely either totally blind to what is happening or are actively working (conscious of it or not) to keep the status quo because it ‘feels’ safer. It isn’t.

These days are outrageous and as such ‘these days’ are screaming for moral discernment and courage. As I understand it, in a biblical sense, ‘outrage’ can be righteous since, as pointed out previously, God Himself has been ‘outraged.’ I’m called to be an imitator, am I not?

Difficult times are ahead, which will be largely governed by fear. The church is governed by fear as evidenced by the kind of man they chose to be their representative. Unthoughtful, arrogant (which pairs well with ignorance,) fearful (unable to tolerate dissent or question,) authoritarian (demanding total loyalty to him, all others be damned,) uneducated and uninterested, pragmatic, and dishonest (weaving tales which have no bearing in reality,) compiles a pretty good representation of our neo-apostolic, politically connected, mega-church networks of today. The voice projected by these networks is extremely loud, as the world sees ‘Jesus-people,’ the image they see is largely of them. It is about time to get educated, which will provide a proper base for the outrage; then grow a backbone and speak out against this evil—no matter what it costs. Our country must have its reckoning.  

We must demand that the dirt be exposed despite the pain and embarrassment. It did not work out well for the former Soviet Union to forego its reckoning with the evils of communism and corruption; it fell right back into nostalgia longing for the good ol’ days. Likewise, if we do not expose all the crime, corruption, incompetence, and evil in the Trump administration, and all of the complaisance to all these evils by his Christian enablers, then the nation will not, and cannot heal. The echo chambers will be filled with smug, confident, self-righteous, and woefully ignorant crusaders who will perpetuate the culture of lies by just making stuff up without evidence which a more capable authoritarian will advantage himself to bring us even greater evil in the future; and the (Q-anon infested) church will cheer this.

Truth will be merely limited by the number of possibilities which is (and will continue to be) a total disaster. If this claim is confusing to you, think of it this way: [Q1] Is it possible there are little green men zipping about in outer space in flying saucers? [Q2] Is it likely? [Q3] Is there reason to believe this is happening? Yes is the obvious answer to the first question [Q1] and no is the reasonable answer to the following questions [Q1 & Q2] due to the complete lack of evidence [for Q1] which determines that it would be unjustified to believe there are little green men flying around in alien spacecraft. Trump’s claims of election fraud are functionally equivalent as there has been a complete lack any evidence to support the many accusations. Yet people believe flying saucers without evidence just like they believe in Trump by the millions—and in the genuine and truly funny co-believer Melissa Carone! (Thank you, God, very much for humor to get us through! Getting back into seriousness…)  

Barring any hunger (or at least curiosity) for actual evidence to back the many claims from our authorities, the ‘apostles’ and ‘prophets’ will ‘whitewash’ for their princes, and the vulnerable (and the skeptics) will continue to be outcast. But man, will we feel righteous and confident…

It is time for outrage. It is time for division. It is time to argue. It is time to expose. As it is also time to laugh, and teach others to laugh, at just how stupid this ‘movement’ is (here is an old example of how this could be done,) so we can all lower our guard enough to repent, forgive ourselves and each other, and then laugh at our own stupidity to hope that we don’t get fooled again.

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Unacceptable

Another Trumpian ode to his own greatness in defending this country from the fraudsters

To the tune of Disturbed’s ‘Indestructible’

Presupposition
The only hope of ours today
Blood brothers proudly carry the colors again
Disinformation
Not loath through scorn to defend                                       
To spin dishonor, being me, bushwhacked again              
No explanation after the accusations begin
Unleashed the dark destroyer, not to my chagrin
Bringing damnation, raising hell to the bitter end
I do uncover the war ya’ll wage on truth, descend

To overthrow
That time has come

Unacceptable
Conflagration in what is corruptible
From the other side
Their errors were foretold
Annihilation may be unavoidable
Against freedom’s archenemy bestow
Strike the opponent, had to be, convincible
Undermine election’s confidence deprive
I’m the indestructible master, adore

Sufficient reason
Other scofflaws for me to fight
I’ll yet uncover a big fuse for me to light
An abnegation of all I’ve been sworn to protect
You carry out my orders or I’ll be upset
My domination embedded along with my kin
Determinant pathfinder of the wisest plan
My idolization alone gives reason to strike
No creed to know, our democracy’s fight for its life

Sick Libs we own
Pound until numb

Unacceptable
Our dirty elections are so corruptible
Just the other side, a terror to behold
Abomination with me is avoidable
All of my spoken enemies will know
That their opponent had to be invincible
Take a last look around while I contrive
I’m the untouchable Master, adore.

I’m irresistible
Determination that is so predictable
And to the lefty’s, a terror to behold
Their annihilation is that which you’ve been sold
So all God’s enemies will know
That their opponent had to be unsinkable
Massive fraud all around while they connive
Their lies inexhaustible (inexhaustible)

Unacceptable
Our bifurcation that is choose now friend or foe
Anger justified standard-bearer I scold
As the election will be voidable  
Then all my broken enemies will know
That their savior treads a path so intractable
Make America Great Again We’ve arrived!
I’m the unforgettable Master, Adore!