A Re-Writing of the Beatitudes Based on the Influence of Extremist Right Wing Politics

Southwest Airlines Attorneys ordered to Attend Religious Liberty Training at the Alliance Defending Freedom

We are slowly seeing some wonderful examples of behavior from people claiming to be Christians, demonstrating for us just how far from Christian principles and values churches are being led by the intrusion of far right wing extremism into the churches of conservative Evangelicalism.  While the article from Baptist News Global cited here references a court order to attorneys for Southwest Airlines, the case that got them there in the first place involved a lawsuit by former flight attendance Charlene Carter, who was fired by the airline for bullying and harassment, based on a string of emails she sent to union officials and fellow employees.  

The claim on which she won the lawsuit was that her religious freedom was violated by the company firing her for sending out what she had determined was her own religious expression.  She sent videos of aborted babies, expressing her opposition to abortion to fellow employees and to union officials, chastising them for what she claimed was their support for a woman's right to choose.  Among her messages was the use of vulgar language in several instances, and personal name calling and blatant rude behavior which she claimed was "trying to initiate a conversation."  

We've apparently gotten to the point, in our culture, where we are no longer content to accept other people's rights if their perspective disagrees with our own.  While Carter's criticisms and accusations, especially against union leaders, even though she was not a union member, may constitute free speech, though her approach was abrasive and rude, it is certainly well outside the boundaries of expectations of Christians who are following the gospel and giving a testimony for their faith in Christ.  There's no reference in the article to whether or not Carter claims any kind of Christian faith, though the implication is that since she opposed abortion rights, she must have been one.  Her approach wouldn't lead to that conclusion, but Jesus did say that we are not to judge.  

These kind of people, who insist on their rights while demanding that others not have any of their own, are re-writing the Christian gospel to suit their own purposes.  It's apparently not too far of a leap from supporting a presidential candidate with no morals or values to being unacceptably rude and aggressive in pursuing one's own agenda.  

So we might need to do some re-writing of the Beatitudes, those verses at the beginning of Jesus' sermon on the mount, where he lays out the characteristics of the Christian gospel.  I have a few suggestions. 

Blessed are the arrogant, for they shall always get their own way. 

Blessed are those who rejoice in the hardships of those with whom they disagree, for they will have their vengeful spirit satisfied. 

Blessed are the bullies, for they will be temporarily happy with who they are.

Blessed are those who ignore righteousness, for it is inconvenient and does not lead to worldly success. 

Blessed are the unmerciful, for those who are targets of anger probably deserve it because they are liberal. 

Blessed are the corrupt, for they will be rich. 

Blessed are the peace-haters who see war as their own way to win.  

Blessed are those who persecute the libs, who  utter all kinds of evil against them falsely, for while this displeases God, he doesn't matter, and we don't care as long as we get our way.  

If this doesn't seem to let loose enough, feel free to take what's here and turn it into something that really expresses the kind of morally bankrupt, value-less system that the union of far right wing political extremism and ultra-conservative Christianity have produced.  Integrity seems to be the biggest value that so many of those taking this path seem to lack.  I'm always tempted to ask, when I see something like this, "What church was it that taught you that?"  

Christianity is Being Invaded and Subverted Through Far Right Politics

Bill Leonard: Isn't it Really Fundamentalist Christian Nationalism?

Russell Moore: Evangelicals Call Jesus "Liberal, Weak"

Even if you're not into Christian doctrine and theology, but politically, you're a Democrat or a Progressive Democrat, stick with me for long enough to grasp the conclusion that's being drawn here.  The Signal Press has been informing, educating, and warning people about the dangers of the blending of far right wing Trumpian politics with conservative, Evangelical doctrine and theology to create an entirely new religion that is proving to be a grave danger, not only to American democracy, but to the Christian church as well.  

In his shortest church epistle, known to us as the book of Second Thessalonians, the Apostle Paul describes the prophetic appearance of a person he describes as "the man of lawlessness."  This person, who, in conservative doctrine is also called "The Antichrist," though that term only appears in the New Testament in John's epistles, was a prophetic reference to the coming persecution of the church at the hands of the Roman emperors in the first and second centuries.  

In their literalist interpretation of the New Testament, conservative Evangelicals, including fundamentalists and those in the Pentecostal and Charismatic movement, blend this description together with a similar, symbolic description of the same kind of "lawless" authority, found in Revelation, and make his appearance a precursor to the second coming of Christ and the "rapture" of the church, a term also not found in scripture.  It's an incorrect application of these passages of scripture to the "end times," meaning "end of the world," rather than "end of the age" which the Apostles and Jesus meant as a warning to the churches about the coming destruction of the temple and the end of the theocratic old Covenant, in favor of the new Covenant, which is the gospel of Jesus Christ.  

But, like many of the references in the New Testament to the end of the age, this one in Second Thessalonians does provide some prophetic insight into those figures in history who put themselves against the Christian gospel and the divine and human nature of Jesus Christ, and try to take his place as the savior of the world.  And when I look at these prophetic references, and look at the political events happening in our day, I see something that could very well serve as a warning to our time, as much as it was a prophecy for what was about to transpire in the churches.  The description of the "man of lawlessness" in 2 Thessalonians shouldn't require a lot of deep thought or creative imagination to equate it to a modern day political personality in America.  The description is uncanny.

As to the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our being gathered together to him, we beg you, brothers and sisters, not to be quickly shaken in mind or alarmed, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as though from us, to the effect that the day of the Lord is already here.  Let no one deceive you in any way; for that day will not come unless the rebellion comes first and the lawless one is revealed, the one destined for destruction.  

He opposes and exalts himself above every so-called god or object of worship so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, declaring himself to be God....

The coming of the lawless one is apparent in the work of Satan, who uses all power, signs, lying wonders, and every kind of wicked deception for those who are perishing, because they refused to love the truth and so be saved.  For this reason, God sends them a powerful delusion, leading them to believe what is false, so that all who have not believed the truth but took pleasure in unrighteousness will be condemned.  

Among Christians, there are a couple of ways to interpret this. In the historical context of this particular Pauline epistle, the Apostle is issuing a prophetic warning to the Christians of this particular church to whom it is addressed about the growing threat of Roman imperial rule and the increasing tendency toward worship of the Emperor himself as a god.  

But there's an approach to biblical eschatology, the study of the "end times," that emerged from the more literal, less historical approach to interpreting the Bible that came from American fundamentalism which didn't develop until the late 1800's, that sees this as a reference to a particular world ruler who will appear just prior to events that will set in motion the physical return of Christ to the earth who they call the Antichrist, even though that term in the Bible is not applied to any specific person, but is a general identification for any spirit that denies Jesus as the Christ.  Far right wing Christians claim that the "man of lawlessness" and "The Antichrist" are the same person, who will appear at the time that a series of events will usher in the Second Coming.  

This person, in that particular theological view, is not initially identified as evil, or as a subversive of the Christian faith, but is, according to their interpretation, initially adored by the church, before denying the person of Jesus Christ and the entire Christian gospel, and demanding to be worshipped himself.  While I don't particularly believe that kind of futuristic interpretation of this part of the Bible is accurate, it does bear a certain resemblance to a particular extremist right wing politician who has mesmerized and hoodwinked millions of Americans and that delusion now includes direct attacks on core Christian teachings of Jesus himself. 

Keep reading.  There are Christians who are calling their pastors "liberals" and "woke," because they preached from Christ's Sermon on the Mount.  The son of this particularly bellicose politician has publicly stated that the idea of "turning the other cheek" is not going to work for them, because it is not "worldly" enough.  

Contributing Evidence from Two of My Favorite Authors

Russell Moore, current editor of Christianity Today, one of the few publications circulating among conservative Christians that retains a semblance of credibility and doesn't repeat conspiracy theories, has documented Christians claiming that the teachings of Jesus are "weak," and are accusing pastors preaching sermons based on the Sermon on the Mount of being liberal.  Moore is a former executive director of the Southern Baptist Convention's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, pressured out of that position because he has considently articulated a "never-Trump" position from a Christian perspective.  No matter how conservative one's Christianity makes them when it comes to politics, Moore has been very clear that it is inconsistent to support the kind of worldliness, immorality, lying and fraud that is the trademark of Trump.  Those Southern Baptists who attacked him, and helped pressure him to resign have lost the essence of the Christian faith, and as far as I am concerned, they have lost their minds and are preaching a "different gospel," which the Apostle Paul says leads to anathema.  

Getting his information from pastors, Moore reports that the most offensive part of what Jesus had to say, from the conservative Christian perspective has to do with his admonition to "turn the other cheek."  He reports that a pastor told him members of his congregation came up to him after a recent sermon and asked, "Where did you get those liberal talking points?"  

The pastor responded, "I'm literally quoting Jesus Christ."  The response?  "Yes, but that doesn't work anymore.  That's weak."  

"When we get to the point where the teachings of Jesus are seen as subversive to us," says Moore, "we are in a crisis.  

This is more than a crisis for the church.  It's an intrusion of heresy, the result of blending extremist right wing politics with ultra-conservative Christianity.  It is, as the Apostle Paul says in the passage I cited earlier from 2 Thessalonians, "a powerful delusion, leading them (Christians in the church) to believe what is false."  

So if you've ever wondered why it is so difficult to argue using facts and truth with a Trumpie, then the explanation from this Christian epistle may offer a real and legitimate explanation of what you see.  These people are deluded and beguiled by a man of lawlessness who is subverting the Christian gospel and the church for worldly political power.  

Bill Leonard, a former professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary who is the founding dean of the Wake Forest University School of Divinity, goes a bit further in explaining how this delusional theology has taken hold in the church and is denying the character and teachings of Jesus and the whole doctrinal and theological foundation of the church.  Leonard points to the words of the pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas, Texas, Robert Jeffress, who said: 

"Evangelicals still believe the commandment, 'Thou shalt not have sex with a porn star.  However, whether [Trump} violated that commandment or not is totally irrelevant to our support of him" [emphasis mine.] 

So, according to this Baptist pastor, the Christian gospel is totally irrelevant to Christian practice when it comes to supporting conservative, right wing extremism in politics.  You can't make this stuff up.  He might as well have told his congregation, "Everything I've ever preached to you up to this point has been a lie.  So ignore it and reject it."  

With that statement, Jeffress disavows his belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of scripture, essentially saying that when it comes to politics, we can set Jesus aside and believe whatever we must believe in order to give a man of lawlessness our loyalty and our trust.  So in other words, it's OK to replace Christ at savior and Lord with a right wing, immoral politician. It is perfectly fine to set up an immoral man as an example of living for other Christians to see who now obviously depend on a gospel that leads to a different savior than Jesus.  

Make up Your Own Mind

The term "antichrist" doesn't appear in the book of Revelation, as many people seem to think that it does.  It is found in two of the Apostle John's epistles, in I John 4:2-3 and in 2 John 7.  In both cases, the term is associated with being deceitful regarding the identity of Jesus Christ.  

"By this you know the spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, of which you have heard that it is coming and now it is already in the world."  I John 4:2-3

Many deceivers have gone out into the world, those who do not confess that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh."  John 2:7 

It's also not a coincidence that the same author who identifies the evil of antichrist, also goes to great lengths to emphasize that the Christian gospel rests on a foundation of love, and mentions this multiple times in the short epistle.  What we are seeing, in this political intrusion into the church, is the opposite of love being preached, and the gospel of Jesus dismissed and attacked as weak and liberal.  What we are seeing bears all of the described characteristics of what Paul defines as the man of lawlessness and what John calls anti-Christ.  

I'll let my readers draw their own conclusion about that.  But it is clear that this intersection of extremist right wing politics with conservative, Evangelical Christianity is pulling its churches into apostasy.  

This is also a crisis for our country, because there are those among the more conservative groups of Evangelicals who ignore the apostolic instructions about respecting government, because it operates under God's authority, and because being lawless was not a value or a characteristic that Jesus intended for his followers to exhibit.  That principle is mentioned twice in the New Testament, in Romans 13:1-7 and in I Peter 2:13-17.  By claiming some kind of "chosen by God" status that allows them to ignore the Christian gospel and the teachings of Christ, they put themselves in the position of claiming to be his instruments doing is will, which is what they have already determined that to be.  

Republicans, not Democrats, Conspired to Steal the 2020 Election and They'll Try Again

Previously hidden Cyber Ninjas texts revealed in Republic records lawsuit over 'audit' 

As is often the case, those who squeal the loudest and make the most noise about a grievance are often perpetrators of whatever it is they are squealing about.  Since he first began running for President, Trump squealed and whined about "rigged" elections.  There's a good reason for that.  In his business, and in his politics, Trump has only been able to survive by rigging things his way.  His business "empire" has turned out to be mostly a mirage, phony claims, exaggerated resources and scams to make it appear as if there's real wealth there, instead of massive debt, much of which never gets paid back.  

He planted the idea in the minds of his mindless supporters--there's an oxymoron for you--that Hillary Clinton would cheat to get elected.  Rigged elections are his ongoing theme.  He never offers proof, just makes statements and expects reporters to act like he's uncovered some scandal in reporting what he said.  But, as more and more evidence comes to light, the reality is that Republicans, especially connected to Trump, have indeed laid out strategies to rig elections in their favor.  They've looked at trying to scam vote counting machines and voting equipment, they've resorted to intimidation of poll workers and they have attempted to cover it all up by making accusations against the Democrats.  

After-the-Fact Scams in Arizona and Georgia

The Trump campaign in particular was stung by the reality that population growth and shift in Arizona and Georgia caught them off guard in 2020, and gave narrow wins to Joe Biden in states that were considered reliably Republican.  So of course, legislatures in those states wanted to be absolutely sure, since the margins were less than 15,000 votes in both cases.  Audits found elections in both states were conducted correctly and accurately and that the vote totals reflected the will of the voters.  

It should have been a clue when the normally frugal state legislature in Arizona listened to their then-Senate president Karen Fann, a Trumpie nut job election denier, and decided to spend money on a third audit, focused not on the entire state, but on Maricopa County, which had flipped blue in 2020 and where the margin of victory for Biden was found.  Why, after two professional election audits had come up with the identical results and vote totals, was a third audit, of Maricopa County alone, necessary?  Apparently, it was necessary in order for an outside group to get their hands on voting machines and ballots and change enough votes, more than 40,000 in Maricopa County, to give Trump the win.

The whole thing turned into a comedy of errors.  The county elections board, suspicious from the very start,  verified the vote totals from the two audits, handed it over to the secretary of state who when signed off and gave it to the state's Republican governor, Doug Ducey, a semi-Trumpie conservative, who certified the totals before the Cyber Ninjas got their hands on the ballots and equipment.  So their audit would prove to be moot before it ever got off the ground.  

But the Ninjas, as tech savvy as they claimed to be, with equipment they claimed could detect "bamboo fibers" to prove ballots had come from China, had to go back to the election board multiple times to figure out how to read voter registration lists, how to find signatures to verify mail-in ballots, how to operate the counting machines for the samples they wanted to run.  The GPS maps they were using were ten years old, outdated and useless in a county that is one of the fastest growing in the country.  At one point, an outside observer noted that the room in the old coliseum where they were working was scattered with open ballot boxes, ballots strewn over tables and floors, almost intentional in its chaos and confusion.  

The state senate hadn't authorized much frivolous spending of taxpayer dollars, so Logan was left to raise money on his own for the Ninja job in Maricopa County.  Apparently, they decided that since Fann wasn't going to get the Senate to fork over any more money, they were not going to provide her with the result that she wanted.  They never managed to complete their report, and when asked to provide a count, claimed to have discovered that, surprise, surprise, it was off by a few hundred votes, but in Biden's favor.  No written report was ever produced, since Logan didn't raise the kind of money he needed to cover lawsuits that ate up the $6 million or so he claims to have collected.  

This disaster, perpetrated by the GOP, served one good purpose.  The publicity it generated for Republicans was so bad, that Democrats won every statewide office in 2022 except superintendent of public instruction.   Katie Hobbs, who was the secretary of state at the time, and who went out of her way to protect the property of the state of Arizona from thievery, won a narrow victory for Governor. 

The same kinds of intimidation and scamming were used in Georgia, where Trump and his cronies are now charged, and some of them have decided to come clean and plead to lesser charges in order to avoid going to prison for trying to commit voter fraud.  The biggest problem they had here, aside from law enforcement and county officials protecting the integrity of their election and tabulation process from prying eyes and hands, was the intimidation and threats against Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, who refused to give access to what the Trump campaign needed to mess with votes.  They did succeed in Coffee County, where Missy Hampton, the election supervisor, caved into the intimidation and gave access to the voting machines so they could change the totals. 

This Will Happen Again

The Cyber Ninja affair in Arizona had a disastrous outcome for Republicans.  In spite of severe gerrymandering on the state level, they still lost ground.  Karen Fann, the former senate president, was a casualty of her own fraud attempt, choosing not to run to protect her seat for the GOP, which would almost certainly have flipped if she'd run again.  Thank goodness she's gone, though, unfortunately, the district elected another ballot-restricting election denying conspiracy theorist.  Idiocy succeeds itself in Arizona, more often than most people realize. 

But there are some facts out on the table that we must acknowledge will open the door to right wing attempts to commit fraud and steal elections in 2024.  You can count on it.  

Thanks to some of the brilliant timing of all of this, It does not appear that the Justice Department or the court system will move fast enough to render Trump ineligible to run again, based on the constitution, nor does it look like he will be headed to prison in time.  It appears they're trying, but there's no guarantee. Maybe that will happen, but if he's on the ballot, we can count on massive cheating attempts.  They know he cannot win an honest and fair election.  So in as many places as they can get their hands on voting and counting equipment, they will.  And if they're not being closely watched, there will be massive voter fraud.  

This is not an easy thing to do.  Not anywhere near as easy as Trump has made it out to be in his claims of the other side doing it.  But it can be done, and it is certain that these people will give it a try.  There are election officials in many places who are willing to commit fraud and go to prison and risk getting caught to make sure the orange headed buffoon goes back to the White House.  

We can stop it by turning out in numbers large enough to make it impossible to commit fraud.  And we can stop it by exposing the perpetrators when we know who they are and can see what's going on.  We need an army of election help.  We need plenty of Ruby Freemans and Shaye Mosses.  

There's No Better Time Than the Present to Pay Attention to the GOP's Loud and Clear Message

"We can't govern!"  

Three unprecedented weeks without a speaker of the house has sent a loud and clear message about the Republican party's respect, or lack thereof, for the Constitution and for the representative democracy that it created, a government of, by and for the people.  The Republicans, collectively, are none of those things.  

The irony of this whole situation is that the chaos is so incredible, the GOP is frittering away its entire agenda that was on the table when they got control of the House after the midterm elections.  It's not much control, since the red wave they were predicting, and the polls were supporting, never materialized.  Beyond that, all of the investigating into "weaponizing" the DOJ, Hunter Biden and the whole impeachment farce, is sitting there, going nowhere, unable to advance because, well, because the GOP can't get a speaker.  

By now, most Americans with a reasonable amount of intelligence, combined with observation and discernment, know what this means.  And I hope they have enough discernment to avoid casting a ballot for anyone who would even remotely support this confusion and idiocy.  But the longer it goes on, the less likely it is that the voters will let the GOP have the reins of power for much longer.  In the circles where I travel, there are some died in the wool, staunch conservative Republicans who are increasingly turned off by all of this.  And believe it or not, they're turned off by the Trumpies, too.  I just don't think the combination of a failed presidency and now a failed Congress, will be a winning one come November 2024.  In fact, I think we are looking at what is shaping up to be the biggest landslide, in the current political context, that we've seen for a while. 

Political Divisiveness has Come to This 

The ridiculous winner-take-all, no compromising with the Libs polarization that is ruining American democracy and which was introduced through the no-nothing ignorance of Rush Limbaugh and those of his ilk is counterproductive to the democratic experiment introduced to the world by the likes of men like Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison and George Washington.  What we now have are Republicans at the opposite end of the patriotic spectrum, haters of Democracy because they have difficulty winning elections that aren't fixed in their favor and because it allows everyone, including people of other racial, ethnic, religious, social and economic backgrounds, full guaranteed individual rights.  

It produced a candidacy and a presidency under Trump, who had absolutely nothing to offer and who subverts patriotism and loyalty to country with loyalty to himself.  More recently, as his election defeat in 2020 produces increased insanity on his part, it has produced more chaos on the part of those who remain loyal to him and more hiding from the real world in conspiracy theories and fantasy scenarios.  Denial notwithstanding, his unpopularity was partly responsible for the Republicans not coming anywhere near the kind of majority in the House they were expecting, and not getting control of the Senate back in a mid-term that was, traditionally and historically, a loss for the party in power in the White House.  The string of special elections Democrats have won since then, impressive and unprecedented, and in some cases, such as in Wisconsin, of landslide proportions, is an indication of what is coming in 2024.  

In the one branch of Congress where Republicans did manage to eke out, in the narrowest of ways, a slim majority, the outcome has been predictable, and it's now heading toward being disastrous for them.  They cannot agree on who will be the Speaker of the House.  This position, second in line for the Presidency and next to the White House, one of the most influential in government, is being used by Republicans to play political games.  

Voters seem to be taking most of this at face value, which is a really good thing for the future of American democracy.  

What Does it Take?  

There's a segment of the population in this country that lacks the discernment and the education to make wise political decisions.  They are easy prey for fraud, they can be made victims of scams and they buy into ridiculous conspiracy theories.  When you have people becoming furious at pizza parlor owners because they won't show them the way to the non-existent basement, that puts them in a category of their own with regard to common sense, intelligence and discernment, as well as education.  

The looks on the faces of Trumpies when they are talking about politics and the content of their words says it all.  These people really are insane.  There's no other explanation for believing in things that do not exist.  

But they are nowhere near a large enough group to affect a Presidential election.  And while there is an additional segment of the American public that doesn't understand how its government works, and many who couldn't care less, our democracy rests on those who are educated, informed, reasonable and sane.  And those who are not yet convinced that voting for Republicans will be detrimental to their freedom need to be convinced of that now.  

We do not have a speaker of the house, because the Republican party is incapable of governing, and should not be in charge of Congress, the Presidency, or of any aspect of our government.  This is that moment, that turning point, when, regardless of anything else that may be going on, voters need to realize this inability to govern rises to the very top of the list when it comes to casting their votes.  Those votes should not support Republicans.  And we must do our best to convince as many people as we can that this is that point in history where we will no longer tolerate this ignorance and stupidity.  

The eight members of Congress who initiated the dumping of Kevin McCarthy may have done us a favor by ridding the House of a weak, conciliatory, duplicitous incompetent. They have also pointed out their lack of interest in serving as they do, and even though most of them are in districts that are so heavily gerrymandered, it may not be possible for voters to oust them, they are helping us convince many other people to oust other Republicans.  

We have seen that this can be done.  Jessica Piper, an unsuccessful candidate for a state legislative seat in Missouri, is working in her state to make sure there are Democratic candidates for every seat, causing Republicans to spend money and, in some cases, picking up seats.  Leaving Republicans unopposed is no longer an option.  What happens in places like rural Missouri is that Democrats get a feeling that their votes don't matter, and they don't participate, especially if they don't have a candidate from their party.  Piper has picked up on success of other Democrats in states where seats have been gained when the slate of candidates on the left is full.  More Democrats turn out.  That's never a bad thing. 

Piper knew when she ran that she would likely lose, but she made her opponent spend money to win the seat, money that would have gone to help other candidates in contested races, and she increased the Democratic party vote total state wide with the almost 4,000 people who cast ballots for her, most of whom would otherwise not have voted at all.  Look at how close this Congress is at the moment.  What a difference it could have made, if every state legislative office across the country had been responsible for getting 3,000 more Democrats out to vote than would have done so otherwise?  

I'm encouraged by the awakening I'm seeing among Democrats, who know what is at stake and seem to have the energy and desire to make a difference.  There will be all kinds of attempts to divide, suppress turnout and divide the party off on side issues.  We need to keep the focus on preventing a party that isn't interested in governing from being able to do so.   

 

Liberty University President Blames Leak About Their Sexual Abuse Coverups on the Biden Administration

Liberty's Mishandled Crime and Abuse Claims Report Leak Blamed on "Conspiracy Theory" 

This is getting old.  And its losing its punch.  

"It's Biden's fault!"  

A leak of a government report detailing multiple failures of the administration of Liberty University in Lynchburg, Virginia, the university founded and operated by the late Reverend Jerry Falwell, to protect students on campus from sexual abuse has been blamed on a conspiracy to attack religious conservatives by the Biden Administration.  The Baptist university's president wasn't necessarily horrified or upset by the report itself, detailing Liberty University's failure to keep its students safe from sexual abuse, he was outraged by the leak.  

I'm kind of horrified by the fact that these people knew what was happening, and in fact, according to the report, discouraged the reporting of crimes committed on campus, under-reported what it did receive and then proclaimed itself as one of the safest campuses in the country.  Let's just call it what it is.  It's lying for the sake of public relations, and money.  There is no respect or practice of any Christian value in what they've done.  They've shown their true colors, something that many of its former students, including those who have been victims of abuse or crimes on campus, already knew about.  

And it is money that the university is protecting.  The law that was being investigated, the Clary Act, requires schools that participate in federal financial aid programs to disclose crime statistics and other information about campus safety.  The investigation found multiple instances of abuse that went unreported, or under-reported, and deliberately misled those responsible for monitoring this activity under the Clary Act to protect the money the school receives from government sources for financial aid to students, some $874 million in 2020-21, a significant portion of its budget.  

Liberty University, with roots in independent Baptist fundamentalism, and still known and operated as a Baptist-affiliated university, with the founding church, Thomas Road Baptist, where Jerry Falwell was pastor when the school was founded, right on the campus, is the very heart of the religious right movement.  It is quite appropriate that the duplicity and the lying that has taken place here, which is not limited to this Clary Act report, but includes the sexual escapades of a highly publicized affair involving a Miami "pool boy" and other sexual escapades, on the university's dime, is happening in the very place where fundamentalist Evangelicalism originally intersected with right wing extremist Republican politics.  

That characterizes this whole "religious right" Republican movement.  Think about that when you head into the ballot box.  

Christians Telling Lies: John Hagee, The Israel-Hamas War, Ron Desantis and Other Assorted Republican Idiocy

Trump Praises Hezbollah; Desantis Says There are no Innocent Palestinians

The Republicans have given Democrats some real political fodder in this report of recent events focused on support for Israel.  From Trump's praising of Hezbollah and its intelligence, to a conference given by heretical Texas pastor John Hagee, where he gave Mike Pence a "Defender of Israel" award, the Istael-Hamas war has provided a number of moments when the conclusion must be drawn that "you just can't fix stupid."

Hagee's group, Christians United for Israel, is purely political.  Hagee has disqualified himself as an end-times prophet under the Deutoronomy 18:20-22 principle, but he uses his unqualified support for Israel as a way to bash democrats.  So along comes one of his inamoratas, Trump, who clearly has no knowledge or insight on what's going on between Israel and Hamas, and praises the intelligence of Hezbollah, while at the same time getting his digs in at Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he despises.  Hagee's group is left either having to defend that, which, of course, they can't, or ignoring it and hoping the hypocrisy and inconsistency will resolve itself.  

And right in their faces, President Biden hops on Air Force One and flies into the war zone that Israel has become, in a show of support that they can't match and only wish they could.  Not only does Biden demonstrate unqualified support for Israel, and pledge financial help that the Republicans can't deliver at the moment, he also correctly and diplomatically separates Hamas, and its hatred, from the Palestinian people who, for the most part, are pawns being used by Hamas as human shields. Biden became the first American President to visit Israel during a war, adding that to his accomplishment of being the first American President since Roosevelt visiting a war zone not under the control of the United States military.  Not a bad day for an octogenerian, I'd say.    

Then there's the manure that Ron Desantis stepped in and spread all over the place.   

"We cannot accept people from Gaza into this country as refugees," he said, creating a huge straw man issue to puff his politics.  "I am not going to do that.  if you look at how they behave, not all of them are Hamas but they are all antisemitic," he said.  

Palestinians live in Gaza, and make up more than 90% of its population.  Someone in Desantis' campaign or entourage should have pointed out to him that Palestinians are Arabic and that's the semitic language they speak.  Being descendants of Abraham through his son Ishmael, they are as semitic as the Jewish sephardim, and heirs to the same promises that the Jewish people claim through the same inheritance.  

Two pseudo-Christian political organizations have also engaged in the Biden bashing and have been exposed in their lies.  Family Research Council and Tony Perkins, said, "The $6 billion in funds that the Biden administration released to Iran in exchange for hostages helped fund the attack."  

But the facts don't support that claim.  First of all, Iran came to acquire the $6 billion, which is their money, not ours, through an oil deal with South Korea when Trump lifted the embargo and permitted the sale.  And second, the money is still in the bank.  There are still conditions placed on its use, enforced by the Biden administration, that will not allow it to be used for a purpose like this, and that can easily be checked.  

James Dobson, the fallen director of Focus on the Family, now at the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, acknowledged the truth, at least partially, about the funds still in the possession of the United States.  But he said that it just means they can use other money for building and launching missiles and underwriting the October 7th attack.  

Nikki Haley managed to step into the manure here as well.  Not as extreme as Desantis, she nevertheless turned on "the Squad," advocating censorship, which is antisemitic in that at least two of the four members who are identified that way are Arabic, and Muslim.  So instead of offering a real solution to the problem, or better than that, simple support without hostility, Haley chooses antagonism and hatred as her platform.  

And we've completed yet another day without a speaker of the house being elected.  The news media keeps all of this in front of us and is making us think that Republicans are still getting support from their base and this isn't moving the political needle at all and this is some kind of political showdown and battle of wills.  Nah, I'm not buying that.  Not at all.  It's like they're in a barrel about to go over Niagara Falls.  The media needs the ratings they get from reporting suspense.  I honestly don't think it's that close.  And if it is, then God help us because we're too ignorant and stupid to be trusted with democracy and we're going to lose it.  

Educators Should Understand what Religious Freedom, Freedom of Conscience and Separation of Church and State Mean

Baptist News Global: Louisiana Principal Removes SGA President for "Not Living Up to God's Ideals"

The principal of a public high school in Louisiana removed a student from her position as student government president because of a video showing her dancing at an off campus homecoming party.  His rational for the removal was that she was not living up to "God's ideals," and that there was a policy in place, giving the principal power to remove student government officers for any behavior that the principal deemed to be inappropriate.  

Two Clear Issues With this Incident

There are two issues that come to the surface regarding this incident.  The first is the use of a school policy placing discretion to determine "inappropriate behavior" in the hands of a principal who used it to impose his own religious convictions on someone else's conscience.  The second is the fact that someone in position as a school administrator could not distinguish the boundaries between his role as a school administrator in public school and his own personal religious convictions.  

Christianity is not a faith that works when its values and principles must be enforced by law.  There are some common moral values that Christianity shares with the rest of society, some of which were the result of their influence.  But in the context of the Christian gospel, found in the Bible and rooted in the recorded words of Jesus, Christian values are produced by a spiritual conversion experience, a transformation and renewing of the mind, as one of the Apostles describes it.  Trying to enforce specific, personal convictions by either passing them into law or making them institutional rules does not lead to conversion or transformation.  

According to the article in Baptist News Global, the principal told the student that he was worried about her afterlife and that she was not living up to God's ideals and morals.  But beyond that, he withdrew his endorsements on college scholarship applications she had submitted.   

In his public apology, the principal stated, "While that conversation was meant with the best intentions, I do understand it is not my responsibility to determine what students' or others' religious beliefs may be--that should be the responsibility of the individual."  And with that, he has taken a leave of absence for the remainder of the school year.  

Missing the Point

The aggressive, "in your face," confrontational attempts at conversion, where Christians think they are entitled to preach their version of the gospel and attempt to win converts anywhere and any time they choose is not protected free speech, nor is it freedom of conscience.  My rights end where your rights begin, and your right includes not being made a captive audience in a situation in which your presence is mandated, such as in a school.  Students cannot just walk away from a classroom, and they can't ignore the enforcement of rules designed to promote order and a solid learning atmosphere.  

But how does this principal think that what he did would be a positive witness or testimony to his faith?  

Where to Draw the Line

I think there are a couple of lines that should be drawn as far as schools are concerned.  Students attending a public school, and their parents, have every right to expect that there will be no religious coercion in their classroom or on their campus.  Public schools are publicly funded institutions and are subject to the Constitution's freedom of religion amendment, and establishment clause which separates church and state.  Conversely, students and parents have the right to expect that there will be no attempts to dissuade, or disparage their religious beliefs.  That should be easy in a school, where the purpose of the institution is education, not social reform.  

It's possible to make schools safe environments for students from all kinds of religious groups, the whole spectrum of Christian denominations, world religions, even cults, and at the same time, be open to those who practice no religion, do not believe in God, and whose lifestyle reflects their perceived identity.  That requires sticking to the curriculum objectives and the learning goals, and not promoting anything not related to that, including in-your-face insistence on acceptance of everything and anything.  

There's an educational requirement for those who work in schools, teaching students and managing the whole operation.  That requirement should include their ability to understand where to draw the line when it comes to their personal religious beliefs and what the Constitution means by freedom of religion and "respecting the establishment of religion."  

Schools work better when nothing is being jammed down anyone's throat, regardless of the perspective. 

"Blessed are the peacemakers," said Jesus, "for they shall be called the children of God."  

Those Who Pay the Price are not the Perpetrators of the Problem

There's a historical context to the bloodshed that has become ingrained in the culture of the region generally referred to as the Middle East.  No matter who does what at this point, that context can't be changed.  There is a lot of history that has brought about everything that is happening there now.  So much seems to be ingrained in the region's history that keeps resurfacing, it seems impossible to find a solution to it, and massacres like the one we've just observed only serve to stir up more hatred and make things worse than they already are.  Actions create new resentments that call for more reactions.  It's a never ending cycle.  

Something goes haywire when one group of people, centered around their common culture, sees themselves as superior to other people, and entitled to rule the world.  Where does that thinking even come from?  How are people so conditioned to it that the human intellect, which we are taught to believe is the highest level of intelligence in the universe, cannot find a solution to the results of hatred?  It appears that one of the things we have that animals lack is the capacity to destroy ourselves and the world in which we live over ideology.  

Setting aside the history that has all contributed to the situation which now exists in Palestine between Israel and Gaza is impossible, since that's what has led to the current situation.  But getting past history is the only way to solve what has been and continues to be an egregious example of the inhumanity that is unfolding, once again, upon the people of the region.  

There is no excusing the brutal attack on Israel, perpetrated by Hamas out of Gaza.  No matter the reason for that, whether religious in the service of some imaginary god with human flaws, or as an act against economic and political oppression, it was horrific and should be condemned by everyone with any sense of human intellect, values, and emotions.  It was an act of evil, without any intention on the part of those who conducted it, of being anything else.  It should be condemned in the strongest terms, and those who planned and participated in it brought to justice.  

I'm still a little baffled by the fact that Hamas' leadership isn't actually in Gaza, even though they control it, but is in the rich emirate of Qatar.  The diplomacy there is puzzling.  Someone with more experience in the hypocrisy of diplomatic relations and alliances and who America's wealth is helping to enrich will need to explain that to me.  I don't get it. 

What I do get is that two million mostly impoverished people, who live in a densely populated, mostly run down, resource poor, seven mile wide strip of Mediterranean beach, most of whom had nothing to do with the attack on Israel or who even really cared about it, are going to pay for the attack by having to bear the brunt of the military might of the most well equipped and supplied military force in the Middle East.  And what will be achieved, on Israel's behalf, by the decimation of Gaza?  

Gaza is what it is because of unresolved problems related to the partition of Palestine back in 1948 when British imperialism designed the map of the middle east to benefit themselves and their economic interests, knowing that they were no longer the empire they once had been.  Much of the support from the west, particularly the United States, comes from the belief that the modern Jewish state is entitled to the land from the dimensions of Old Testament Israel and the theocratic covenant they had with God, because it fits with Bible prophecy.  

Even after the diaspora, and the Roman conquest of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. there was still a Jewish presence in Palestine.  The history of Judaism, which includes the divided Kingdom after Solomon, the dissolution of the Davidic monarchy when the Babylonian Empire conquered Judah, the diaspora, and the separate origins of Ashkenazim and Sephardim, precludes interpreting Bible prophecy to restore independent Israel to its covenant boundaries.  But an independent Jewish state in Palestine was justifiable under the circumstances.  Too much history worked against it, but it happened because the international superpowers made it happen.  Instead of stopping short with a solution for those who were displaced by what they eventually decided to do, they should have come up with a better solution than jamming two million people into a previously sparsely inhabited strip of Mediterranean beach wedged between Egypt and Israel.  

Israel may be able to lay its hands on a few Hamas fighters who haven't been able to get out of Gaza when they invade.  They may be able to temporarily disable their ability to attack from inside the enclave by rendering it virtually uninhabitable.  But long term problems require long term solutions.  And the real question is whether or not the people of Gaza deserve the suffering that they are experiencing and what's coming.  And the answer to that is that they don't.  

 

The Exodus From Christianity in America is Growing

Stephen Shoemaker: The Stampede Out of the Church and the People of Christ and God Outside its Walls

"The reason young people are leaving the church is not because they don't believe what the church teaches, but because the church does not believe what the church teaches."  Dr. Russell Moore, Editor of Christianity Today

Christian faith and practice has endured in spite of a long history of being diverted from its foundational doctrine and theology found in the New Testament.  No doubt the "church" as it exists today, housed in its own buildings and property for the most part, and often operating as a commercial enterprise, especially in this country, would not be recognizable to the Apostles who authored most of the Gospel accounts and the New Testament.  But the church is also becoming unrecognizable to many of those who have been part of it in its recent history.  I include myself in that.  

After being raised in a small, Southern Baptist church, by the time I graduated from high school, I found it difficult to take much of what I had been taught in church with any degree of seriousness.  Only one of the five or six Sunday School teachers I'd had over the years even graduated from high school, and only one of the three or four pastors I remember, who were all bi-vocational, had any formal theological training.  There wasn't a lot of consistency about what we believed, even with regard to what the church considered "essentials."  Faith practice was a matter of opinion, and some people had different opinions.  The pastor who was there when I left for college did a fine job of dismantling the theology and doctrine of his predecessor.  

So when I went to college, to a university that was affiliated with Southern Baptists, it was an eye-opening experience.  I'd heard people in church label any formal study of theology and doctrine at the college level, or in theological seminaries, even those operated by the denomination, as "liberal."  Compared to what I'd learned in church, the university's Biblical studies courses, of which 12 hours were required to earn any degree, were eye-openers, and I learned pretty quickly not to repeat things I'd learned in class there when I went back home for visits.  

Had it not been for the experience I had at the university I attended, I am almost certain I would have dropped out of church altogether.  But at that time, within the Southern Baptist Convention, existed a group of churches that could trace their origins to what is known as the "Charleston tradition," churches which were tied closely to British Baptists, with a set order of service, an educated clergy with specific study in theology to combine learning and piety.  During my freshman year, during a mid-semester time called Spiritual Emphasis Week, the guest speaker for chapel, and for dialogue sessions with students, was Dr. Kenneth Chafin, a pastor from Houston who became closely associated with the "moderate" movement in the Southern Baptist Convention during the shift that occurred starting in 1979.  

Dr. Chafin opened a door to understanding of my faith that I'd never experienced before, an emphasis on its values and principles being practiced in life as the expression of faith, for the purpose of uplifting and inspiring others, oriented toward fulfilling a life's purpose of service to humanity as a means of worship, rather than the inward focus on spirituality and the list of "do's and don'ts" offered by the alternative.  In that kind of Christian expression, faith is not a "crutch," but is a motivator to serve others as a means of bringing glory to God.  The Christian gospel makes it very clear that spiritual eternity cannot be earned and that living out life enhancing values in the present time is the focus.  Redemption is not dependent on a rigid doctrinal conformity that is unattainable, but is a matter of pure grace.

The problem with finding a local church that expresses this kind of faith practice, especially among conservative Evangelicals, including Southern Baptists, is that they are few and far between.  Most of them are scattered around in cities in the deep South.  In spite of the core principles of the Christian gospel, clearly outlined by Christ and the Apostles, conservative American Christianity continues to base belief and practice on superstition and with the more recent intrusion of far right wing politics, has incorporated conspiracy theory into its practice, while labelling some of the teachings of Jesus as being "woke and liberal."  

"The Church does not Believe What the Church Teaches" 

Russell Moore, currently editor of Christianity Today, which is still one of the most influential publications among American Christians in general, if its popularity among conservatives is fading, made the statement, cited by Stephen Shoemaker in the article that is linked from Baptist News Global, that young people are leaving the church because "the church does not believe what the church teaches."  Moore has recently referenced incidents in which conservative Christians have complained about the content of their own pastor's preaching, citing references to words recorded as having been spoken by Jesus, as sounding "woke and liberal."  

Ignorance of theology and doctrine among those who belong to churches that identify with various branches of American Evangelical Christianity, specifically those in churches that consider themselves conservatives, specifically fundamentalists, Pentecostals and Charismatics, is commonplace.  Whether it's a throwback to the culture out of which many of their denominations and churches were born, including frontier revivalism and the Second Great Awakening, or its the result of an anti-education bias because of the lack of trained and educated ministers and pastors during their formative years that has continued up to the present time, what most people accept as Christian Doctrine is a blend of superstition, their own biases and pre-suppositions, and a dependence on a literalist, "verse by verse" interpretation of a limited number of specific passages from the Bible, sans their historical and cultural context.  I can testify to having been taught that way in the church where I grew up, and from discernment of my own experience in the church.  

What's happened to bring most conservative, Evangelical doctrine and theology to its current point, which contains as much superstition and anti-biblical rhetoric as they claim Catholicism does, is the mix of revivalism, lack of an educated clergy, conflicting reformation theology at both ends of the spectrum, including Calvinism, which helps provide a nice dose of heresy, and the infiltration of right wing politics which is taken as a means of practicing faith by using its influence from its adherents.  It has, in some aspects, upgraded its outreach through social media and changed its worship to reflect more contemporary music choices and instrumentation, but in doing all of that, it has also brought in too much that isn't biblical or consistent with the Christian gospel, and so there's a lack of clarity about exactly what it is to which people are "converting."  Are they converting to the Christian gospel, or to the blended version of right wing doctrine and politics, neither of which lead to redemption and restoration to God.  

So why bother?  That's the response that they're getting. 

Shoemaker makes note of the fact that a majority of Americans are still considered "Christians" in a general sense of the term, but at the current rate of decline, that will fall below 50% sometime around 2070.  That's based on taking the membership figures provided by churches and denominations at face value.  Most Evangelicals, when discerning what they consider to be the "Christian" population of America, would leave out Catholics, most Mainline Protestants, Mormons, Jehovah's Witnesses, Quakers and other expressions of the broader definition of Christianity.  But there's also a huge discrepancy between how many people actually are involved in churches, compared to what they report for membership.  

The best example of number inflation in membership is the Evangelical, conservative denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention.  Their total membership peaked at 16.2 million in 2006, and has since fallen to 13.2 million, anticipated to drop below 13 million by next June.  But the actual number of people who can be found in worship or engaged in church ministries slipped under the 4 million mark during COVID, and hasn't recovered.  And even that figure went down by a million between its peak in 2006, and just before the pandemic in 2019.  So it is that two thirds of those who are on the membership rolls of Southern Baptist churches are non-participants in the local church expression of their faith.  

The biggest inflation of church membership is among the denominations and independent churches of the Pentecostal-Charismatic movement.  Some churches don't track actual membership, but report what they think is their average attendance, inflated by a factor of times three.  That's not an exaggeration.  Several years ago, I attended services at a new, non-denominational Charismatic church in Ft. Worth that claimed 13,000 people "to whom ministry is being given through the church."  Their auditorium held about 1,500, and the Sunday I was there, for the later of its two services, it was way less than half full.  The 13,000 figure was a monthly head count of everyone who came through the door, so the  majority of those were people who had been counted three or four times.  But the church reported that as its "membership."  

So generously estimating attendance and participation in all segments of Christianity in America at 40%, that easily drops the percentage of the population claiming to be Christian, of every conceivable definition of the term, to somewhere around 35%.  So Christianity is already a minority religion in the United States, though still by far the largest. 

Falling Away from Institutional Christianity

I count myself as one of those who, while intellectually and spiritually separating from the institutional church, still practice the full Christian gospel in a way that I believe follows its principles and values.  I still worship in church with my wife, who still considers that her primary means of faith practice, but I don't see that form of Christian expression as being either traditional in terms of what Christ determined to establish, or necessary to being Christian or redeemed, or vested with eternity, or whatever one calls that.  My faith follows those things that I believe the Christian gospel considers to be values and that's what I want it to look like outwardly, as well as to experience inwardly. 

It wasn't the political intrusion that pushed me away, though it did, in my own mind, provide evidence of the lack of spiritual connection between groups calling themselves "Christian" and considering themselves the church, and the Christian gospel as defined by Jesus and the apostles in scripture.  Being part of a like-minded group is important for support, for growth and including the commentary of those who are educated and knowledgeable of things like interpreting literature in context, looking at original language and drawing conclusions is as well.  That is a church as it is defined by the apostles in the New Testament.  

I often think how much different American culture and society would be if the Christian church within our nation were a real one.  Would we be hearing talk of Civil War, aimed at those who don't share the same values or beliefs?  Would we be so politically divided that we have people among us, fellow Americans, who are willing to set the house on fire and let it burn down because they are dissatisfied with their own miserable life?  Would we see an automatic reaction of taking the opposite side when someone who has been labelled as "liberal" or progressive comes up with an idea that would be good for everyone?  Would we see continued support for a politician who attempted to overturn the Constitution and set up a dictatorship?  

Everything is Political, So...

Does anyone think that the Republican blame game being directed toward President Biden is an attempt to cover for potential problems down the road that may uncover a link between Trump's disclosure of classified information, at all levels and in all places, including documents he kept at Mar-a-Lago, and the Hamas attack on Israel, being able to penetrate border defenses and security that is among the best in the world?  

Let's be honest and up front.  It's pretty clear that the Biden Administration is not to blame.  No evidence exists to support those claims, which read like a laundry list of invented nonsense.  It's such a habitual way for Republicans to respond that it's a ho-hum yawn of boredom in response.  From my perspective, that indicates something might be wrong within their own ranks, some mistake somewhere may have led to this happening, for which they bear responsibility.  Their attempt to get ahead of it all, duly noted and responded to by the Biden Administration, could very well be an attempt to cover up either their own, or their admired potential nominee's blunder.  More than likely, it's the latter. 

If a Democrat were in the same position, there's no doubt that Republicans would be openly connecting the mishandled classified documents to the information leak leading to the attack on Israel.  The presence of Russian officials in the White House during the prior presidential term, his son-in-law's receipt of large amounts of money from the Saudis, and his own friendliness toward them, on his property, where classified documents were not properly stored, and his propensity to share classified information freely, because he could, would all be major news headlines now, on going, cycle after cycle, droning on until the words were meaningless.  

But nothing like that is happening now.  Of course, there's a lot of speculation but no real connection has been established yet, and Democrats, who tend to show a lot of integrity, aren't jumping on the blame bandwagon.  Maybe that's to their own detriment, and maybe not, though at this point, with all that Trump has done, I doubt there are very many people who haven't at least thought about this.  If a connection is made, I hope it gets its due media coverage, all day, every day, in every way.  

For the kind of attack that took place this past weekend, Hamas would need to have help from somewhere on the inside.  That's not just a breach of security after probing for weak spots, that just doesn't happen in Israel.  They had to have inside information, and help.  The fact that it happened under Netanyahu's leadership, not under the "liberal" government, is a statement in and of itself, about the whole issue.  Conservatives are rarely truthful and forthcoming, so it is not likely the source of the breach, wherever it was, will ever be known. 

I just hope Democrats aren't shy about exploring all of the possibilities and continue to emphasize the possibilities, under the circumstances of indictments of the former President in a classified documents scandal.  Don't take blame that isn't yours.  

One of the strategies of the defense in court is to open up the possibility that someone else could have committed the crime, whether there's actual evidence that they did or not.  This helps convince juries of reasonable doubt and it is not considered dishonest or deceptive.  Nor should it be in this case.  If all possibilities, including heaping blame on Democrats, are out there for consideration, then all possibilities are open for discussion.  

The Credibility of the American Justice System Comes Down to This

Will We, the People, get a fair trial when it comes to the crimes committed by former President Donald Trump?  

So far, the ability to manipulate justice in America, which, in my perspective, has been characteristic of the courts in this country going back to its founding in 1789, has depended on the influence of wealth.  Like everything else in a free market economy, the legal system has a supply and demand factor.  A good team of lawyers costs money, and increases the odds of either winning a case, or beating the system, whichever the outcome favors.  

We now have a former President facing indictments for allegedly committing a number of crimes against the people, related to tampering with the ability of Congress to certify an election by inciting an insurrection, stealing classified documents from the White House without authorization, attempting to coerce state officials in Georgia to falsify election results and intimidate election worskers, and now, in his personal business, committing massive fraud.  

He has already gotten away with multiple other crimes against the people, documented in the more than 500 pages of the Mueller Report, including collusion with a foreign power to sway the results of an election, with substantial supporting evidence.  The special investigator in that case, Robert Mueller, left the door wide open for the Justice Department, then under the corrupt leadership ofTrump appointee Bill Barr, to convene grand juries and issue indictments, which never happened.  Money and influence spoke quite loudly, and We the People lost a big part of what makes the Constitution work for us.  

No one was willing to risk their own selfish ambition to be a patriot and save the integity of the government.  On one side, hands were thrown up and concession was made to the fact that the sitting President can't be held accountable for crimes, and "there's nothing we can do."  The other side just let it all blow over, ignored it and went on about their business.  The credibility of American justice failed that test.  

It can't fail the next one.  If it does, We the People lose our Constitutional democracy.  It will not survive.  

Opinion, from where I sit and observe, runs the spectrum from "this is a big media show but in the end, there is no way someone like Donald Trump will ever be held accountable for anything he's done.  That would upset the status quo, and open the door to break the influence and hold of money and wealth over this country, and that's never going to happen," to "this is looking good and the guy is finally going to get what he deserves."  Being optimistic helps me sleep at night.  There are people who have, finally, stood up to take action and make things move along.  Even the Justice Department, which dragged its feet and hemmed and hawed and dawdled and fussed after Congress laid out a spectacular investigation with mountains of evidence ready to go, has finally moved.  I only hope it was in time to save us.  

Will the American justice system hold out against this onslaught against Democracy?  And is this a matter of principle winning over corruption, or is it simply going to come down to a decision that is dependent on which side invests the most resources and has the best lawyers money can buy?  That sounds like a very cynical question, but it's a relevant one given the circumstances.  The former President actually made the claim that he could break the law and get away with it, mostly because he has broken the law much of his life, and has gotten away with it.  He has wealth and wealth is influence and influence can trump justice.  

There is always the court of public opinion.  But that's not the place for a fair trial.  There is incredible ignorance about Trump and what he's done, unbelievable, but it's there nevertheless.  That's our own fault, but at this point, I don't see that there's much that can be done about it.  Adolf Hitler made his way to power over a Constitutional democracy by laying claim to belief in the ignorance and the short memory of the masses, and that wound up leading to the destruction of the country.  I hope we're not going to be in any position to compare our own level of ignorance to that.  

I have confidence in the people who are in charge of our democracy right now, especially the Biden Administration and most notably, the President himself.  There's real resolve there, to make government work the way it should.  On the other hand, we have a justice department that has been weakened by the appointment of losers, and I'm not using that term as an insult, I really mean it, to the federal bench and to the Supreme Court who ultimately hold justice in their hands.  But the people who are ultimately going to be accountable for making this work is We the People.  And we need to be willing to do whatever it takes to protect democracy and justice from its enemies.  

With Declining Attendance and Membership, Churches are Being Taught to "Prioritize Politics"

Churches Taught to "Prioritize Politics"  

When the founding fathers, primarily James Madison and Thomas Jefferson, gave thought to the principle of religious liberty that was written into the Constitution, they came to the same philosophical point from different perspectives. Madison, who had a theological education, had seen the way that churches which were not part of the official "state church" in Virginia, including the fairly numerous Baptists, among others, had been persecuted for organizing and operating "unauthorized" churches.  He saw that establishing a state church in America would lead to more of the same kind of persecution, something many people had come to America to escape in Europe.  

Jefferson saw religion as a matter of personal conscience for which individuals were answerable only to God.  

"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others," he said.  "But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god.  It neither picks my pocket nor breaks my leg."  

To the Baptists of Danbury, Connecticut, he wrote: 

"Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should 'make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof', thus building a wall of separation between church and state."  

So churches were set free from control by the civil government, and the civil government was set free from any obligation to financially support the church or take any action to help it carry out its ministry.  That was, from both perspectives at the time, an ideal situation.  With the exception of some isolated cases, for the first time since the early 300's, the Christian church was able to function in an atmosphere of freedom, and become that group that Christ himself established, beyond the old covenant theocracy, which the writer of the book of Hebrews called "obsolete," and outside the control of civil authority that used the church for their own benefit.  

Like every other American, Christians are free in this country to meet for worship, fellowship, instruction, and to practice their faith by ministering to the needs of others and by evangelistic outreach, to gather an audience that is willing to listen to the claims of the faith and experience conversion if they so desire.  As Jefferson said the constitution established, government oversight extends to actions only, not to opinions.  Theoretically, government protects religious practice as much as it protects people from coercion when it comes to religious practice.  

Using the Power of Politics to Do Evangelistic Work is an Admission of Failure 

There's no question that Protestant Christianity has had a powerful influence on American government over the course of history, much of it privileged over that of other faiths, especially the Catholic church, because of their numbers and influence.  They've never been a majority of the population, but following the Second Great Awakening, between 1790 and 1850, they were the largest religious plurality.  Even now, the percentage of Christians in government belonging to one of the denominations or branches of Protestant Christianity, including the Evangelicals and Pentecostal/Charismatics is significantly greater than their total membership in society.  

As their numbers have waned considerably since declines in mainline denominations set in during the 1960's, and have now expanded to include all branches of Protestants, in recent years, most notably Evangelicals, the use of political power has replaced dependence on "spiritual power" to keep the influence of conservative Christianity high, even as church attendance and membership reach historic lows.  And with the decline in attendance, which is paralleled by a decline in the dollars put in offering plates, and the starving out of parachurch ministries, which I call "parasite" ministries, the push to use political power to enforce doctrine and practice by law has become more intense.  

Along with this shift to dependence on government power to protect church influence in the culture has come a shift in orthodoxy.  Christian nationalism has always been there, the product of an "Anglo-Israelism" that developed in Victorian England at the height of empire, the belief that English-speaking peoples of the world were destined to inherit the kingdom of God on earth from the Israelite throne of David.  But it is now intersecting with white supremacy, and a more Americanized version of the destiny of English speaking people, to produce a false theology that many Evangelicals fail to realize is heresy, and is killing, literally, their churches.  

Conservative Evangelicals claim to believe the Bible is inerrant and infallible, and that it is the written "word of God," authoritative in all matters defining human sinfulness, God's redemption and by default, science.  They believe that the root of all human problems is sin, defined as separation from God, and that the only resolution for this is spiritual redemption provided by the gospel of Jesus Christ, which means acknowledging that Jesus was the divine son of God, that his death was the atonement for all human sin, and that his resurrection makes resolving human sin possible because of its miraculous, spiritual nature. 

That belief is solely a matter of conscience.  It cannot be legislated.  We have 1500 years of church history where the church and state were linked and where church leadership enriched themselves by supporting monarchs who benefitted from the church's blessing to prove that this not only does not work, but it is inhumane, working against the betterment of humanity and society, and takes the essence of the nature of humanity away, turning people into slaves, which is exactly the opposite of what the Christian gospel promotes.  

Under the Constitution, Christians are free to preach this, as Jefferson said, "unrestricted opinion," though the government's ability with regard to action does place some restrictions on "actions".  But when, in American history, either in the past, or in the present, has the Christian church ever been restricted by government from doing anything it wants?  The only such incidents that are ever pointed to are places where Christians were so imposing and where they interfered with the rights of others.  Christianity, regardless of its branch in this country, is still highly favored and privileged over all other religions and especially over the non-religious. So go peddle your "persecuted" argument in China or North Korea.  

For certain intruders have stolen in among you, people who long ago were designated for this condemnation as ungodly, who pervert the grace of our Lord into licentiousness and deny our only master and Lord, Jesus Christ.  Jude v. 4

The Solution to the Decline is Not Teaching Churches to "Prioritize Politics" 

Churches engaging in political activity for the purpose of increasing their influence is not just a misplaced priority.  It is a departure from its Biblical mission and purpose.  It is a sinful waste of time and resources and an admission of their failure to figure out what's really going on that is causing people to leave in numbers not seen in the history of Christianity in a free society.  

There have been several approaches to the loss of membership, staggering in its scope and in how little time it has taken to lose so many of its former members.  One is to simply deny that it is happening.  Throw those denominational membership records out the window, plug your ears and go la la la la la until it goes away.  That would be lying, but that doesn't seem to be one of the sinful problems of humanity the church is seeking to change anymore.  Conservative Evangelicals have become comfortable supporting pathological lying.  Denial is easy after all that.  

A second approach is to minimize it.  The birth rate has been declining and people aren't having as many kids.  This is true, and it has had an effect on church attendance and membership.  But the members who are leaving churches are adults.  The highest number of departures occur sometime between a young person's 18th birthday and their 23rd birthday, especially if they are in college.  Membership data from churches themselves show that only 10% of Americans between 18 and 35 years of age identify with a church beyond family ties. 

Prioritizing politics is not going to replace evangelism.  Churches are declining because they have replaced evangelism with something else, like entertainment value, a corporate, commercial mentality or politics.  If you ask those people between 18 and 35 why they left, most of the surveys and studies that are done will tell you that more than half of them will answer, "Because of the push of secular politics."  So if people are leaving churches because they prioritize politics, that would be the wrong approach to take to increase its influence.  

As Jude says in his little epistle, the church has been invaded by intruders.  So it seems to me, the way to resolve its current problems, at least in this country, is to get rid of the intruders.  

Democrats Need to Get a Grip on Reality According to BTRTN

Born to Run the Numbers: Has America Lost its Mind? 

This particular piece is one of the best I've read on BTRTN for quite a while.  It's pretty direct, not a lot of hedging in explanation, and I think the message is clear and for the most part, on target.  It raises some legitimate questions, in some cases it begs the question, so to speak and it appears to drive for a conclusion to support the question it asks in the title, "Has America lost its mind?"  

There is no question about it, that some Americans have clearly lost their mind, become radicalized and are now a danger to democracy and freedom.  There are many reasons for this, the biggest, as far as I am concerned, is how dumbed down this country has become under the opiate influence of social media and conspiracy theory, a clear sign that the criticism of our educational system over the past thirty years is justified.  There are some particular points in this BTRTN piece that I think are worth a discussion, some thought and motivation to take action. 

BTRTN:  "The American experiment in democracy does not demand much of our citizens, but it does require at least a modicum of effort, at least some attempt at independent thinking, objectivity and logic.  But we appear to be, collectively, and with deep consequence, incapable of it."

First of all, I am glad to see that I'm not the only person who thinks this.  The critical thinking skills required to participate in and support American democracy should be taught and caught before students reach the 5th or 6th grade, and that's not intended to be insulting, that's the way it was designed, on purpose.  On the other hand, let's face it, as hard as it is, especially for those of us who are engaged in the education sector, and for those of us who, as political liberals, place a high level of trust in public education, that's where we have really failed.  

If the electorate were as educated as someone like John Dewey intended or expected, then the candidacy of Donald Trump would have fallen on its face before it ever gained any momentum.  Frankly, if it were as educated as the money and effort we put into it says that it should be, Ronald Reagan would have been beaten by Jimmy Carter as badly as LBJ smacked Goldwater and the Bushes would have watched politics from their Kennebunkport living room, a long way from the White House.

We hosted a 17 year old Swiss foreign exchange student during the 2016 election year, while we lived in rural Western Pennsylvania.  He was fairly fluent in English, but after four weeks in the public high school, where his impression of America vanished over the vapid nature of the curriculum and academic requirements and quality of the instruction, which included comments about student rudeness and disrespect toward teachers and the whole thing being "a waste of time," we moved him to a private school with a better academic program.  

"No wonder Donald Trump is getting attention," he observed.  

BTRTN:  "The Republican-controlled House of Representatives nearly shut down the government, causing needless anxiety for millions of Americans, including our military, because of a handful of lunatics, led by the despicable Matt Gaetz, who has no business holding one of the 435 seats in the House."  

Gaetz represents Florida District 1, which is made up of the counties in the far western panhandle of the state in the Central time zone.  I've been there several times, a flat, sultry, hot wasteland with dumpy, dirty towns and small cities that looks a lot like the Mississippi Delta, where flashy vacation hotels line the beaches, separated by coastal waterways from the run down housing of impoverished, underpaid service workers.  

It's my understanding that tourism and the military are the backbone of the local economy there.  I can understand Gaetz running and getting elected as a Republican in a heavily Republican district the first time around.  But seeing his anti-government antics in Congress, his rudeness and disrespect of witnesses in hearings, and some big hints that if he got the chance to vote to shut government down, and turn off the tap of local paychecks, he would, the fact that he was re-elected makes me wonder if anyone pays attention any more, or whether they just vote party and forget about it.  

Voting Republican is seen as a faithful expression of being conservative and Christian in this country, so the fact that he gets a lot of Evangelical support in an area where there are a lot of Evangelicals is not surprising.  His morality and the questions around his behavior with younger women aside, the ability most white Evangelicals have to justify their votes for candidates who mock their morals and values by flaunting their worldly immorality is evidence of unbelievable hypocrisy.  

Watch him "question" witnesses in congressional hearings.  He's like a child with severe ADHD who cannot sit still and who can't focus on the answer after he asks a question.  That is, if he ever gets around to asking a question rather than making a political statement.  

BTRTN:  "It would be easy to say that the American people deserve better than what Congress is offering.  But do we?  We were the ones who elected a GOP majority in Congress including each and every one of these lunatics."  

It is beyond my understanding to even try to figure out why Democrats, when we gain political victories that give us control of Congress, seem unable to do what it takes to hold on to that victory.  We know why we lose mid-term elections.  It's because many of our voters don't bother to go cast ballots.  Some of the pollsters and commenters refer to this as "lack of enthusiasm."  It took the reversal of Roe v. Wade, and the aftermath of the single most corrupt and disastrous Presidency in American history--and that's not hyperbole--to retain, by the narrowest of margins, control of the senate.  And while some people think that the "red wave" which never materialized was some kind of victory, we lost control of the House.  Yes, by a narrow margin, but nevertheless, we lost it.  

The party, once again, has failed to get control of the narrative.  Are there not people, expert in this field, who see the daily routine of Trump did this, Trump did that, Donald Trump said this, Donald Trump said that, as the pattern of media coverage?  Why are our politicians, most notably the President and some of our more articulate, progressive, "lightning rod" members of the House and Senate not getting the same kind of face time?  Is this a problem at the DNC headquarters?  

BTRTN:  The Democrats are obsessing unhelpfully over their own President and whining about the lack of alternatives for 2024.  

I get the open mindedness, the freedom of expression and the diversity that are all Democratic party values.  But those things do not have to create voter suppression, or fragmentation or divisiveness.  The biggest danger is the creeping fascism of the right, and the mechanisms they are organizing, including help from Russia and money from Saudi Arabia, which get some warnings and tongue clicking, and not much else.  More than most Republicans, many of whom seem unaware of, or who simply ignore the horrific, anti-patriotic, anti-American things Trump keeps doing, many Democrats do know.  But they'd rather sit around and hold discussions on talk shows about how to peel off support for their own brand of liberalism than unite the party and defeat, once and for all, this enemy of the people's government. 

"But we're not getting our way!"  "It's taking too long!" 

How much attention will be given to the more liberal, progressive wing of the Democratic party if Trump happens to get re-elected in 2024?  And what part of the "way" isn't being addressed that makes it worth sabotaging the whole Trump opposition to achieve?  I've heard some ridiculous whining from people who throw out false claims and conspiracy theories that are just as false, and just as dangerous as what the right puts out.  Discernment is a key.  We should be the party of facts and truth.  And we should be smart enough to discern between Russian planted propaganda and reality.  

Joe Biden has been one of the most effective Presidents since the Second World War.  That's a fact.  And whether various constituencies in the Democratic party realize it or not, he's been as effective for them as Barack Obama.  He's a seasoned politician who knows how government works and even in this age of partisan rancor and ridiculousness, has achieved bi-partisan success.  And no matter what the agenda is, he's an incumbent with a strong backup plan.  

The party leadership at the DNC needs to pull this together.  We need to see as much of Joe Biden on television as we do Donald Trump.  We need to put out the talking points over and over and over again.  And bottom line, we need an organization that will go after every Democratic and independent anti-Trump vote, even in deep red counties in deep red states.  

BTRTN:  Democrats need to get a grip on their own reality and back the one candidate we have who can ensure we will never see another Trump presidency, and that is Joe Biden.  

  

Have we had Enough of This Yet?

If any other person in this country had been as active on social media in attempting to taint a jury pool, in threatening open violence and in attacking the prosecution who charged them, as well as the judges who are potentially going to hear the case in their court, as Donald Trump has been since he was indicted by several grand juries in various locations, that person would be under an enforced gag order and would be held in custody awaiting a speedy trial.  

I have no idea who is responsible for the bending-over-backward, favorable treatment being given to this man who is under indictment for some really serious crimes which will almost certainly involve prison sentences if he is found guilty.  If what we've seen so far is accurate, and it certainly has that appearance, the evidence of crimes committed is overwhelming.  But he's getting away with making threats and inciting violence.  A United States Army General is taking steps to protect his family and himself because of the casual words of this man, which should be, in any interpretation of the Constitution, against the law.  But it's being allowed to happen without a consequence.  

The latest unconstitutional blabber to come forth from failed President 45's mouth is his idea that those who are engaged in rioting by smashing store windows should be shot on sight, without due process, and placing the value of merchandise above the value of a human life.  So much for being pro-life, huh?  These people are, by the way, being arrested when evidence warrants it, some, who have committed acts considered to be a danger to the community, held for trial.  Threatening harm or death to someone else, regardless of what they're doing, isn't protected free speech.  

This is Trump, Shooting Someone in the Middle of Fifth Avenue and Getting Away With It

He said it and he meant it and he was obviously right.  He has no respect for the judges in either Georgia or Washington, DC who say they mean business, and he expects the third judge, the one he appointed, will do whatever he says because he appointed her long before she was qualified or ready, and expects her to be corrupt in his favor.  

He is doing exactly what he said he would do back in 2016, when he first started running.  He has gotten away with things all his life because he is privileged, white, and rich.  He has found the America that exists for him is not the same one the rest of us live in and he has learned that he can buy and influence his way around any obstacle, legal or otherwise, and get away with it, because we let him get away with it.  The media promotes it to get ratings, and stupid people go along with it.  

Funny, isn't it, that I hear conservatives whining and griping and complaining about how crime is the result of Democratic party policy which ignores it or lets people off the hook or has too many ways for someone to get out of accountability, yet here is someone that half the party is seriously thinking about supporting for another run to the White House, an incoherent, babbling, insane fool incapable of dealing with the slightest opposition.  That's really incomprehensible. 

But what is even more so is the fact that he's getting away with it and no one seems to have either the responsibility or the fortitude to stand up to it and put him in his place.  I don't know about other people's opinion, but I'm really losing confidence in the ability of these judges to conduct a fair trial and get a reasonable outcome that he hasn't already tainted.  It's ridiculous for Republicans to talk about law and order as long as this guy is running for President unaffected by the indictments swirling around him.  

But isn't there more that can be done besides tongue clicking and a few loud comments in the media?