Month: October 2022

The lunacy of trusting God

The message this past weekend at church was about the part of Exodus immediately before God parted the Red Sea. The entire Israelite people–about two million, give or take, were literally stuck between a rock (the Egyptian army) and a hard place (the Red Sea). And they were there because God told them to go there.

Take a second to understand, these weren’t todays Israelis. They didn’t have fighter jets, a modern army, and a survival-based instinct to kick the crap out of whoever messed with them. They were a people who’d been enslaved for hundreds of years. They were barely self-sufficient, let alone ready to take on a powerful army. By any reasonable standard, they were screwed.

As armies tend to do when their adversary is powerless, the Egyptian army attacked. So God told the Israelites to run toward the water.

If that were me, my response would be something close to, “Come again?”

God told these people to do the equivalent of running as hard as they could at a brick wall and trust that it would be okay. I don’t have that kind of faith. I’d point out that there’s a brick wall (or a sea) there and maybe it’s time to try to pursue the least awful option.

Last week, I had a Fibro flare. And it’s almost go-live time on a major project at work and there was more than a typical level of stress. I had to tough it out. It was hard and I was relatively bitchy about everything. With the exception of one morning, there was no running.

Though I figured I’d probably be fine in a few days, there’s always the fear that it’ll stick that way. I’ve read about people who have bad cases of Fibro. It’s a hellish way to live, so I’m worried about that future. I didn’t trust in anything except the end of the week, and it was a hard path there.

It’s customary among Christians to look at the Israelites’ or disciples’ legions of screw ups and smugly declare that those guys were morons. But we have the advantage of knowing the rest……….of the story. It’s easier not to worry about the scary parts when you know the end.

I ran five miles this morning, but I’m not completely out of the woods yet. And I could crash again at any time. And work’s not getting any easier, at least for the next couple weeks.

So I start the day thinking about the Israelites and their faith when they faced a fate more dire than a potential crappy week at work. God told them to run at a brick wall and they did–and it worked for them.

I don’t know what this week will bring. It could be a cakewalk. It could be a crash. It could be anything in between.

But if God had the Israelites run at a brick wall and worked that out, I’m pretty sure he can get me through a week of work, even if there’s Fibro complications.

God’s been bailing my butt out consistently for <cough cough> years. There’s no reason to think this week will be different.

The Methodist schism isn’t all about homophobia (part 2)

It doesn’t matter to me that Karen Oliveto, United Methodist bishop of the Mountain Sky area, is lesbian. I don’t care that she’s not only an ordained lesbian, but a leader of the United Methodist Church.

I care that she painted a picture of Jesus as morally flawed, as someone who had to show and grow past an act of outright bigotry.

In a pastoral message posted to Facebook in 2017 (and since removed), Bishop Oliveto spoke about a passage in Matthew chapter 15, in which a Gentile woman comes to Jesus–while he’s with his disciples–and begs him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. Jesus denies her twice, the second time quite rudely, saying “It isn’t right to take food from children (the Jews) and throw it to the dogs (the Gentiles).” When she replies that even the dogs are allowed to eat the scraps the fall from the table, Jesus replies, “Dear woman, your faith is great. Your request is granted.” And her daughter was healed.

Bishop Oliveto interprets this story as a transformational moment for Jesus, a time when he had to overcome his own bias against non-Jews. His eyes were opened to the truth that we’re all God’s people. For her, “Too many folks want to box Jesus in, carve him in stone, create an idol out of him. But this story cracks the pedestal we’ve put him on.” It’s as if Tori Amos (What if God were one of us?) were speaking as a faith leader.

To those outside the faith, this may seem like an esoteric squabble about a minor point in Christian doctrine. It’s not. It’s a lot more than that. The ongoing schism among Methodists is too often painted as rooted in homophobia, but Bishop Oliveto’s interpretation of Jesus as bigoted goes to the heart of basic Christian beliefs.

To be fair, sexual orientation part of the discussion. While Methodist theology views member of the LGBTQIA2S+ community as beloved children of God, it does not affirm homosexual unions or allow for homosexual clergy. The United Methodist Church has made a point of affirming homosexual unions and allowing homosexual clergy. Most of the coverage of Bishop Oliveto’s statement starts by identifying her as lesbian–whether that coverage is favorable or critical. That misses the point.

The issue is her painting Jesus as a bigot–as someone who has to overcome a stumbling block (bigotry) that Bishop Oliveto seems to think she’s conquered. You could argue that if Jesus got there, if he fully realized his divinity, it doesn’t matter what root he took.

Christian theology teaches that Jesus was fully God and fully human from birth. He was tempted by sin, but didn’t succumb to sin. Scripture’s pretty clear on this point. You’re free to believe otherwise, but it’s not bigotry to point out where your belief is not in line with Scripture.

In the story of the Gentile woman, Jesus is reacting the way his disciples–all hardcore Jews–would expect. The Jews weren’t supposed to interact with the Gentiles. It’s not all that different from the story of the woman at the well. Before Jesus reveals himself to her, he holds up a mirror to her–and it’s not flattering.

It’s comforting sometimes to make God into your grandpa. Grandpas are nice, non-threatening. They love you and never make you feel uncomfortable about that love. Their job isn’t typically to challenge you.

As CS Lewis says, God–Jesus–isn’t safe. But he’s good.

The Gentile woman persisted. I’m not sure I would’ve. By that measure, my faith isn’t as strong as it should be. Her story is a lesson to me about persistence in the face of challenge.

And the disciples in this story sit where Bishop Oliveto places Jesus–as a people who need to overcome their own bias. In re-casting Jesus as sinful, she’s the one who’s created an idol in his place.

Sometimes, it’s a struggle to determine what God wants. Part of me thinks churches should affirm gay marriages and allow for gay clergy. In reality, they’re there already–they’re just not open about it. For that part of me, the perfect church is wisely inclusive, while holding the line against heresies, such as Bishop Oliveto’s. I’m not certain you can effectively do that without opening yourself up to what the UMC has become, with a bishop who warns against idolatry of Jesus and marketing of a pastoral candidate who believes Allen Ginsberg’s work is as holy as the Bible.

Like all other human institutions, even the best churches–like the best Christians–still fall short. Jesus is God’s proof that he loves us all anyway. If Christians were better at presenting that truth, the entire world would be Christian.

It’s fair probe the parties in the Methodist schism for flaws. But it’s inappropriate to accept the interpretation that this is all about homophobia.

Marjorie Taylor Greene has a point about extremism–and she epitomizes that point

If I drove through Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district, up I-75 past Atlanta on the way to Chattanooga, I wouldn’t stop there to buy anything. But to suggest that her Thursday Just wait until tomorrow tweet has anything to do with the attack on Paul Pelosi is a conspiracy reach worthy of…well, Marjorie Taylor Greene. (In context, it’s more likely about Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter.)

When she tweets about death threats and SWATting directed at her, she has a point.

Political extremism isn’t limited to Republicans. Threatening reaction to political positions aren’t limited to Republicans. Trying to find a way to excuse political violence isn’t limited to Republicans. They’re just perfecting the art.

Rep. Greene’s words may be technically true, but they ignore her previous words and actions. Worse, she’s making an attack on an 82-year-old man about her. But that should hardly be surprising.

If Marjorie Taylor Greene wants to see the threats against members of Congress reduced, she should with the woman in the mirror. Speaking at one of Donald Trump’s Save America rallies earlier this month, she said “Democrats want Republicans dead and they have already started the killings.”

Reducing the threats of violence should start with being truthful about politically motivated attacks. Greene was referring to two incidents–one in North Dakota, where a man admitted to killing a teenage boy with his SUV because he thought the boy was part of a Republican conspiracy group coming to get him. The other was in Michigan where an 83-year-old man shot an anti-abortion canvasser after a heated confrontation between the canvasser and the woman’s wife. The shooter said he told the woman she was trespassing several times and she didn’t leave his property.

There’s no more connection between the SUV guy and the Democratic power structure than there is between Greene’s tweet and the attack on Paul Pelosi. And if the political stances were switched in the other incident–if the canvasser were pro-choice–Greene would be lauding the shooter for protecting his wife from the Democratic menace (and saying the Dems want to take the guy’s guns so criminals can rob him).

Greene’s pattern is the Republicans’ most popular play. It’s a ploy a childhood friend of mine used all those years ago. He’d pick at you relentlessly, escalating until he found a way under your skin. Then he’s pound away at that point. When you reacted, he’d run in the house and whine about his victimhood to the nearest adult and smile smugly when you were punished. There’s a lot of power in manipulating people that way.

Fortunately, both moms involved grew wise to his manipulation and it stopped working.

No dispassionate third party exists to point out Greene’s use of the same tactics. Her rhetoric routinely makes Republicans (particularly Christians) out to be baby steps from mass incarceration. According to her, the only to avoid the coming crackdown is to arm yourself and be ready to fight–because you’re not just defending yourself, you’re somehow defending Jesus, too.

She’s called the people arrested in the wake of the January 6 insurrection political prisoners of war, implying their innocence and overtly declaring war on her opponents. Meanwhile, she’s also a victim of those political prisoners of war and their invasion of the Capitol. She claims that her husband has proof that Joe Biden is not the legitimate President of the United States, once again implying that the people who victimized here are right. Rather than providing that proof, he’s filed for divorce.

Her contortionism would be comical if it weren’t the very definition of living in a powder keg and giving off sparks.

It’s unfortunate that some Democrats want to follow her approach. It’s probably not true that she knew some random unhinged guy in San Francisco would make a run at the Pelosis. But she’s bad, so it’s okay. It also allows her base to once again view her as a poor, poor victim who’s being threatened simply because she loves Jesus and America.

Lindsey Nelson, a former Mets broadcaster, once called Joe Garagiola “the single most ambitious man I ever met,” then clarified that the statement wasn’t a compliment. The same seems true of Greene.

She is stunningly bad. In a previous America, she’d be held up as a whiny little brat and set to bed early. Today she’s being positioned as a political leader.

Why more people are self-censoring

I probably didn’t have to remove the crucifix from the wall behind my desk chair for the Zoom calls this week. It used to be my grandmother’s and it hangs over the bed in the office. Among Catholics, it’s not rare to see a crucifix over a bed. It also happens to be in the background for my at-home desk (along with a lovely picture of Shea Stadium). But we’re interviewing people and for reasons I can’t effectively articulate, removing it felt something that would remove any risk.

It’s an odd move by a guy who’s published two blog posts about drag queens in the last couple weeks and who’s not shy about popping off on social media when something seems to demand it.

But the lines of what’s acceptable–and where–seem to be arbitrary and situational. And while it’s unlikely most people even notice the crucifix, why bother inviting trouble?

I’m not alone in stifling my viewpoints to go along with perceptions of what’s acceptable. The Hill reports on a study published by Populace Insights that in an effort to fit in, Americans may be altering their opinions to fit in with cultural expectations. It shows that differences between publicly stated and privately held opinions may be as high as 14 percent among all Americans surveyed and higher among some subgroups.

The Hill reports that of millennials, three quarters privately believe parents should have more influence on school curriculums–26 points higher than surveys may lead you to believe. When control questions are used to validate beliefs, the percentage of respondents under 30 who think racism is built into the fabric of this country falls from 65 to 42 percent.

It also found that Republicans aren’t monolithically in favor of complete abortion bans and overturning Roe v. Wade and aren’t uniformly in favor of removing moderation from the internet.

The study shows that independents are least likely to to share views in public, mostly because there’s a perception that you need to toe the party line as defined by the true believers on either side.

Which brings me back to the crucifix and even this blog.

On a busy day, maybe a couple dozen people read this. Though I try to take a thoughtful approach to what I write, I’m finding myself wondering if publishing certain pieces, such as the one about Ms. Penny Cost, is a prudent thing to do. If you search the entries, you’ll find snarky, even angry references to former President Trump that a true MAGA believer would characterize as disloyal to him. Should Trump re-gain office and purge people in government who want to pump the brakes on some of his impulses, could those posts come back to haunt me?

Will I get in hot water at work for the crucifix on the wall?

The answer to all these questions is probably not. Then again, I recently went to Facebook jail for ridiculing a Tweet that said October 10 was the day they were going to activate the toxins in the vaccines and kill all the people who took it. I posted a picture of the tweet and made fun of it–and was perceived as spreading anti-vaccine false information.

In that context, I altered a blog post earlier this week that including an unblurred image of the signs hung over the 405 in LA by anti-Semites. If I can be an anti-vaxxer for mocking a stupid conspiracy post, then I can be an anti-Semite for showing a picture of anti-Semitic signs and pointing out that they’re wrong.

Intent is increasingly irrelevant to the most forceful true believers on both sides. It makes you wonder if you might be better off just keeping all your opinions to yourself–and nodding and smiling when others offer theirs.

The problem is, when the moderates nod and smile, it gives the extremists and everyone else the impression that their numbers are mighty and their cause can’t be refuted.

Not a fan of Drag Queen Story Time, but you shouldn’t be threatened for going to one

Drag Queen Story Time isn’t for me–in every sense of the phrase. I’m not the intended audience and it’s not something I might enjoy. Whatever the reason, I don’t dig it. But if you want to take your kids to partake of or even perform in Drag Queen Story Time, go for it. Freedom means you get to do that.

Although I’m not thrilled with the idea of men wearing women’s clothes performing for my kids, I’m downright opposed to men wearing firearms showing up at an event marketed as a story time. Given the choice between my kid being around fabulous drag queens and armed angry dudes with a perceived grievance, I’ll take the drag queens every day.

A pub in Eugene, Oregon–about 100 miles south of Portland on the 5–held a Drag Queen Story time over the weekend that was supposed to feature a performance by an eleven year old. Protesters from both sides showed up, totally about 200, and according to an NBC News account “lobbed projectiles” at each other, including rocks and smoke bombs.

According to the report, some of the protesters were armed with semi-automatic rifles. Apparently, they’d seen the 80s movie Red Dawn and were concerned about the Cubans invading. Or they just wanted to show up with the threat of violence against people doing something they didn’t like. (My money’s on the latter.)

According to the pub, it’s staff received racist and homophobic hate mail and threats of physical violence. That’s right, we’re gonna protect our kids by beating the living hell out of the stupid gays and maybe shooting them. I’m sure Jesus factors in there somewhere, too, as if the guy who commanded legions of angels couldn’t take care of this on his own if he wanted to.

Some people will condemn you for anything short of a full, enthusiastic embrace of the entire LGBTQIA2S+ spectrum, including as many Drag Queen Story Times as possible. Those people are unyielding and aren’t afraid to try to silence those who disagree with them. They’re also extreme and wrong.

But there’s no significant evidence that the phalanx of drag queens is grooming children for pedophilia. If the evidence becomes available, there’s a process for that, and it doesn’t involve showing up outfitted like your childhood GI Joe action figure.

As concerned as I am about dudes in dresses being presented as ideal role models to kids, I’m much more concerned about the people threatening violence over things they don’t like.

It harkens back to those glorious freedom-filled days of the 1970s when if some idiot wearing shit kickers hinted you were gay, that justified repeated ass-kickings.

If you’re all about freedom, Drag Queen Story Time doesn’t have to be for you. You don’t have to show up to them. You don’t have to protest in their favor. But freedom includes the right to do things you don’t like. It even includes the right to do things you might find repulsive, as long as no one is harmed in the process.

Absent any reports of actual sexual assault going on, it’s none of your business of your neighbor wants their kid to go see drag queens.

That’s the freedom the evil terrorists supposedly hate us for.

The increasing use of violence as a standard political tool

“People have been put into danger. Their families have been put into danger. Their lives have been upended and all because of lies. It was a very clear calculation that they knew they were lies. And they were repeating them and endorsing them.” — John Poulos, CEO of Dominion Voting Systems, Sunday night on 60 Minutes.

In the 60 Minutes piece, Poulos said his children aren’t allowed to get packages delivered to his family’s home unless the package is sent from a trusted source. It’s possible Poulos is every bit the liar former President Trump says he is.

It’s possible, though unlikely, that every court case in which Trump wasn’t victorious–there are more than 60 of them–is part of a massive conspiracy to keep him from office. It’s possible, though extremely unlikely, that he won the 2020 election in a landslide, as he claimed, in spite of the fact that his own Attorney General and cybersecurity chief said there was no material election fraud.

Even if you grant all of those things, John Poulos’s kids can’t get a package delivered to their home unless it comes from a trusted source. It’s part of a troubling trend to violence that’s been primarily, though not exclusively, a tool used by Trump Republicans when things don’t go their way.

The trend became obvious when Roger Stone threatened to dox any delegate to the 2016 Republican National Convention that didn’t cast their vote properly for Trump if the nomination went beyond one vote. If that had happened, and if violence had resulted, Stone probably would’ve played the worn I was just giving people information; I can’t be responsible for what they do card.

That red thread continued through Trump’s Presidency, when he wanted to maim protesters outside the White House (shoot them in the legs). It continued through the January 6 rally (“Be there. Will be wild!”) and the insurrection that took place after the rally.

It’s continued unabated since, with various threats of violence among Trump loyalists, including Eric Greitens’ invitation for God-fearing American patriots to execute Republicans who aren’t loyal enough to America Trump. Each threat of violence is excused or diminished as a lie or a joke, not something to be taken seriously.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, two armed people (pictured above) with body armor loitered near a ballot drop box in Mesa, only leaving after law enforcement was called. It’s possible the armed people were Antifa or BLM activists, hellbent on denying regular Americans their voting rights. Given rhetoric, it’s far more likely they’re part of the increasing use of violence and intimidation being exercised by Republicans who support Trump.

None of this will make a difference. The people who support Trump will continue to ignore the threats, dismiss them, or even justify them–all in the name of freedom. They’ll point to the autonomous zone in Portland or the rioting in Minneapolis, as if that justifies all future threats of political violence–and eventually, the actual violence.

In fairness, while this card–and the game of gotcha that follows–is primarily a took of the right, the left has its own version. Former Los Angeles County DA Jackie Lacey lost her election to George Gascon in part because her husband confronted Black Live Matter protesters on their porch. The less-reported part of that story were the death threats against her and the fact that the protesters were on her porch well before dawn.

The in thing in political protests now is to go to someone’s house. It’s all justified, of course, if you don’t like the person being protested. The fact that it’s a tragic escalation just begging to happen is immaterial.

Eventually someone will follow through on the threats and by then, the excuses and justifications will be well-established. And any objection to them will be dismissed as fake news or unAmerican.

Happy Wednesday, everyone!

The troubling rise in American anti-Semitism

Jesus was Jewish. So was his mom. So were the first generation of apostles. Nothing in the New Testament negates the Old Testament statement that the Jews are God’s chosen people.

It’s set of religious facts that bears repeating as anti-Semitism becomes mainstream, from Kanye West to the halls of academia. The most recent example was the banners hung from a bridge over the 405 freeway in Los Angeles over the weekend. We went from a time where we mocked people like that (I hate Illinois Nazis) to a time where they proclaim their hatred without fear of ridicule or censure.

The signs affirm anti-Semitic remarks made by West, the rapper who claims to have found Jesus and announced to the world that he’s going on “death con 3 on Jewish people.” The signs reference two Bible verses, Revelation 3:9 and John 8:44, which are hateful non-sequiturs. The people who hung the signs also displayed Hitler salutes to those driving under the overpass.

Earlier in the week, anti-Semitic fliers were distribueted in the greater Los Angeles area linking responses to the Covid pandemic to Jews. They also proclaimed Jewish linkages to the Biden administration, the LGBTQ community, and (because why not?) Satan himself.

You can insist that Kanye West is severely mentally ill and you’d probably be right. The vast majority of mentally ill Christians somehow get through the day without declaring death con (whatever that is) on Jews.

Last month, nine student groups at Berkeley law school signed a statement submitted by a group called Berkeley Law Students for Justice in Palestine pledging to exclude speakers that support “Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine.” According to this Reason.com article, that means any speaker that supports the existence of Israel cannot be invited to speak at the school without incurring the wrath of these nine groups. In fairness, a number of groups did not pledge support for this ban, but the school administration seems to be treating it seriously.

You can argue whether the statement by the student groups constitutes a Jewish-free zone as the shorthand came to say. Dean Erwin Chemerinsky said that as someone who supports the right of Israel to exist, the ban would also apply to him. The school itself isn’t applying the Israel litmus test on speakers and it not actually a Jewish-free zone, but a similar action taken against nearly any other group would be met with immediate action by the University.

Meanwhile, Adidas, the German sportswear company that has a contractual relationship with West, has said that its partnership with him is under review and continues to produce merchandise under his Yeezy brand, in spite of his comments. West appeared on a podcast called Dark Champs last week and said, “The thing about me and Adidas is like, I can literally say anti-Semitic shit, and they can’t drop me. I can say anti-Semitic things, and Adidas can’t drop me.”

Starting with the 2018 synagogue shooting in Pittsburgh, Wikipedia counts ten significant anti-Jewish attacks. The Anti-Defamation League says that Jews are targeted by hate crimes more often than any other religious group. In 2020, the most recent year for which data was reported, more than 2000 anti-Semitic incidents were reported by its Audit of Anti-Semitic incidents. That’s the third-highest total since ADL started keeping stats in 1979, and it happened in spite of Covid restrictions.

All the politicians said all the right things about the banners hung over the 405 over the weekend. But the drumbeats goes on and seems to be increasing.

Christians aren’t required to be certain about all the bad things

Yesterday, at church, we talked about the part of Exodus that comes after Yul Brenner struts around like a bantam rooster and before Moses drops and breaks commandments 10-15.

If you put yourself in the Israelites’ shoes as they were approaching the Red Sea, they’d just watched a mighty kingdom ravaged by a series of plagues that laid waste to the country and every family that lived there. In spite of their status as slaves, they knew and probably liked some of the people who felt the impact of everything, from frogs and gnats to mighty storms to, finally, a death in each family.

According to Exodus, their approach to the Red Sea had them trapped between the water and the advancing Egyptian army. And they panicked and cursed Moses for bringing them out to the desert to die.

At this point, the typical religious stance is to chuckle condescendingly at the moron Israelites, who had just witnessed a boatload of miracles, but still didn’t trust God with their future, in spite of how dire things looked.

Let’s look back at the past few years. We’re in what seems like wave 214 of the Covid pandemic that has killed more than a million Americans, amid yet another set of dire predictions about this winter. Economically, we’ve been a crash, followed by a boom, followed by the prediction of a recession. If you want a car or a turkey, good luck. Supply chain issues and bird flu have taken care of that.

Or all of that is a media-driven hoax perpetrated on idiots who were gullible enough to believe it, depending on your point of view.

There’s been violent cultural unrest from both the right and the left, with crescendos after the George Floyd killing and again on January 6. If you listen to even 12 seconds of political discourse, you know we’re one election away from the destruction of the republic and the only way we can avoid it is to completely agree with <insert political candidate or movement here>.

And then there’s the weather. The droughts in the West are certain to jump start fire season, with another dry winter forecast. There’s been record heat all over the place, which will surely give way to polar vortexes that we now name so we can be properly spooked by them on the news. And that’s before you get to the devastating hurricanes, wild fires in Australia, and yes, a locust plague in Africa.

Don’t forget the war in Ukraine and the growing threats of tactical and even global thermonuclear war.

In the past day, I’ve talked to two people who are worried to the point of distraction about their economic future. One is a younger person, having the worries about what kind of life they’ll be able to afford. The other’s older, worrying about decisions that have to be made and their impact on retirement funding.

I’m in that age group that can’t retire yet, but might have enormous problems replacing income if my job were to go away (there’s a recession coming, donchya know?).

It’s easy to feel trapped and hemmed in.

The last few years have been hard. And yet, most of us have gotten through relatively unscathed. We’re still standing, and though economics may be worrisome, most people have gotten by. For most people, the plagues–whatever form they’ve taken–have hit “them.”

And yet, here were are, worried to distraction about the future and the bad things that could happen. And feeling powerless because, like the Israelites, there’s not a hell of a lot we can do about it.

We’re metaphorically in the situation the Israelites were in Exodus.

The Israelites weren’t morons. They saw a recent past that included enormous events they didn’t have a frame of reference for. While they were protected, they were also afraid by the unprecedented carnage taking place around them.

Sort of like today.

You get to panic. You get to feel afraid. Depending on whose count you use, some variation of Do not be afraid appears at least once for each day of the year. That’s not because we’re stupid idiots who don’t get it. It’s because God understands our fear. If you aren’t afraid of being executed on a cross, you have no emotions.

The Bible and Christian faith aren’t for strong, mighty people who are sure of their future and their salvation. They’re for people who don’t get it, who look around at forces bigger than they can fathom. They’re for people who look at the future with concern, who feel little and powerless.

If that’s true, then there’s nothing wrong with being unsure. We get to do that, and go on anyway. Faith requires doubt. It requires us looking at the future and saying “how can this work out?”

Then going forward anyway.

Why should Mike Pence be loyal to the man who thought he deserved to be executed? Why should anyone?

In an interview with Brian Kilmeade, former President Donald Trump was asked how he would “handle running against people in your cabinet like Pompeo, Nikki Haley, Mike Pence?”

Trump answered, in part, “I think it would be very disloyal if they did, but that’s okay, too,” before saying that the polls have him leading by as much as 50 percent.

As a reminder, Mike Pence is the one who people were chanting to hang when the insurrectionists peaceful, America-loving tourists simply showing disciplined concern about our electoral system at the Capitol on January 6. Pence is the one Trump called out in front of an angry mob for failing to subvert the Constitution in preventing certification of the election. If Cassidy Hutchinson is to be believed, former Trump Chief of Staff Mark Meadows said that Trump thought Pence deserved to be hanged.

So it’s reasonable to demand loyalty of someone you were okay with being violently executed? And it’s some kind of mental illness, derangement syndrome to think otherwise?

If what Hutchinson testified to is accurate–and it’s certainly believable–Donald Trump thinks people work for him because their belief in him is the most important thing in life–and it damn well should be. He thinks that when a person has to choose between or a higher ideal (like the peaceful transition of power), their loyalty should be to him, regardless of the consequences to themselves or the country. They shouldn’t even have to think twice about it. Donald Trump should be the center tent post in their lives.

I’ve been very careful to not indicate that Donald Trump doesn’t believe a word in the Bible he held up that day in his photo op the day protesters were hit with tear gas. (If testimony is correct, that was the day he wanted the protesters shot, but just in the legs. Because freedom.)

Today I’m saying it. Donald Trump’s behavior is consistent with someone whose view of life doesn’t have room for God, because God would then be more worthy of praise and loyalty, and that can’t happen. No one or nothing can be above a person who views the world that way, not even God.

If Donald Trump regains the White House, he and his believers will enact changes to the electoral system that will guarantee his victory in all future elections. And since Constitutional ideals like the peaceful transfer of power aren’t meaningful to him, the twenty-second amendment (the one that limits Presidents to two terms) will have to go, as well.

A person’s status as a citizen in good standing will be based solely upon their level of loyalty to him as their leader.

Donald Trump is telling everyone that loyalty to him is the only important quality in a person. When someone’s actions tell you who they are, you should believe them.

We can’t command God about anything; certainly not about politics

I don’t typically go to Right Wing Watch for content, but when what you see below got retweeted to my feed, I couldn’t turn away. The woman in this video is Kat Kerr, who has a website called The Revelation Zone. She worships a weak and puny God, unworthy of adoration or praise.

My God, the one I worship imperfectly, is big and dangerous. He does things I can’t understand and doesn’t take counsel from anyone, least of all, me. While He loves us very dearly, He doesn’t take our pulse before deciding. He knows what He’ll do before we imagine the circumstance. He would no more take guidance from us than a heart surgeon would consult a patient on how to perform a bypass.

When I surrender to my God’s will, it’s a scary thing. Like a surgeon, he will relentlessly cut away the things that harm me and won’t much care about any discomfort along the way. He’ll do things I don’t agree with in ways I don’t understand. I will be befuddled and frustrated by Him because He’s playing nine-dimensional chess while I’m struggling to understand checkers.

While the ancient Israelites would make idols of gold or wood, the Kat Kerrs of the world make idols of their own thoughts and desires and charge God to execute them exactly how they command.

Imagine commanding an almighty god to change an election, to install a specific person in a specific position at a specific time in a specific way. Imagine worshipping a god who needs your direction to tell him who to choose, what to do, and how to do it. Imagine honoring a god whose knowledge and ability to handle things is secondary to yours.

That’s not a god; that’s Alexa.

It’s possible that God wants Donald Trump to be the leader of this country again. It’s also possible He doesn’t. Either way, whatever Kat Kerr or any number of ballsy evangelical preachers proclaim from the pulpit won’t sway the majestic God who created everything.

Our lives are like the dew to God–here in the morning and long gone before lunch. Our wisdom is relatively miniscule.

Prayer isn’t an instrument by which we change God, but by which God changes us to be the people he created us to be. There is nothing in Christian theology that indicates God favors a specific team, athlete, politician, party, or any other person or group over all others. Sure, the Jews are His chosen people, but he could conjure chosen people out of boulders if he chose to.

To assume that God wants the Yankees, Jets, or even Donald Trump to be victorious is to cheapen Him, to reduce Him to some kind of divine gopher.

That’s why the Bible says to fear God–not to cower at his mighty wrath, but to understand that when it comes to God, we can’t begin to fathom what He is or what He does.

And to order him around for personal or political gain is among the worst heresies.