A Vote For Jill Stein is a Vote to Starve the People of Gaza

 And don't even think of it as anything else.  A vote for Jill Stein is a vote for Donald Trump.  And if Trump wins the election, on the strength of the tiny fraction of votes Stein is able to secure, then the pressure that President Biden is putting on Israel to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza will cease, and his "not an ounce" of aid policy will cause Gaza's starvation.  And Stein will be responsible for that.  

So a vote for Jill Stein is a vote to ensure the starvation and destruction of Gaza, and of any hope at all for a two state solution in Palestine.  

So, to all of those Arab American voters who the media keeps mentioning as being such a large voting bloc in Michigan, and perhaps, in a really close election, the difference between Harris winning enough electoral votes to win, or losing enough votes to lose, you have a choice.  

Do You Really Care About the Palestinian People of Gaza?  

Let's settle this issue first.  Do you really care about Gaza and the Palestinian people, or is this just a convenient political issue to use as a power grab?  If you really care, then you know for certain that Trump's election equals Gaza's demise.  

Though I believe most American Arabs, including those of Palestinian origin, understand that America's position in foreign policy toward Israel is that it is our ally in the Middle East, and that it has the right to exist and defend itself, there are some who do not understand that a Vice President cannot unilaterally make foreign policy alone.  It is unrealistic to make demands and expect them to be explicitly met in exchange for political support.  A democracy doesn't work that way.  A President cannot alone dissolve an alliance with a foreign power, that requires an act of Congress, through the Senate.  And the United States is not going to dissolve its alliance with Israel, or endanger its ability to defend itself by embargoing arms, at least, not in the wake of the horrific October 7th attacks on Israel, they're not.  

Making that demand, and expecting it to be carried out or else is unrealistic.  But it is very clear that the United States is opposed to continued bombardment and destruction in Gaza.  As it was reported by Lawrence O'Donnell, on his October 21st show, the President and Vice President are daily putting pressure on Israel and Hamas to negotiate a cease fire, and it has been US pressure on Netanyahu to force him to back away from his "not one drop of water, not one ounce" of aid and actually deliver humanitarian relief to Gaza.  

And the course for the future, from the perspective of the United States, is a permanent cease fire in Gaza, negotiating the release of the remaining hostages, along with a two state solution.  Biden, and Harris, both support the creation of a Palestinian state free from Hamas control, able to provide for the needs of its people.  Getting there requires patience.  

Jill Stein has no resources, no inclination and no ability to do one thing to benefit the people of Gaza.  She could be organizing aid, instead of wasting resources on running for an office she has zero chance of winning.  A vote for Jill Stein is a vote to condemn the people of Gaza to starvation, because it will have the same effect as a vote for Trump.  And if Trump is elected, Gaza is doomed to destruction.  Netanyahu will raze it, and he's already said he plans to turn the population into refugees and empty the Gaza strip.  Trump will support that 100%. 

Jill Stein has absolutely no ability to achieve anything on behalf of the people of Gaza except more suffering.  

So, if you really do care about the suffering of the people of Gaza, then you will help provide the resources for humanitarian aid, and you will support the one politician running for President who not only will have the power, but will use it in the best way possible to relieve the suffering of the people of Gaza.  And that's Kamala Harris.  

Michigan Pastor, a Big Time Trumper, Arrested on Sex Crimes Charges

Saline [MI] Post: Local Worship Director, Christian Musician Faces Sex Crime Charges 

Every time I hear how bad things are in this country, and in the world, and all of the moaning and complaining that conservative Evangelicals have made the mantra of their mission, I want to ask, "Well, if it's so bad, then what are you doing about it?"  They moan and complain, and blame politicians--to be specific, Democratic party politicians, for all of the problems.  

And one of the most common remarks that follows this moaning and bellyaching, "Oh, Jesus must be about to come soon!"  

The Bible certainly does address sexual immorality, and puts it in the category of human sinfulness, along with a lot of other sins, like deceit and dishonesty, hate, and violence.  But I would suggest that before moaning and complaining about liberals, Democrats and anyone else with whom they disagree or don't like, they should clean up their own house, first. 

This kind of thing happens much more frequently in churches than most people realize.  The Catholic church has dealt with a massive sexual abuse scandal among its ordained priesthood that extends back several generations and in which there have been tens of thousands of victims, mostly children and teenagers.  The church has paid out untold millions of dollars to settle lawsuits, and instead of removing the perpetrators, in many cases they simply reassigned them to another parish where no one knew about the abuse until it happened there.  

Southern Baptists, the nation's largest Evangelical Protestant denomination, were the subject of an expose published by the Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Express News in 2018, regarding sexual abuse being committed by pastors, paid church staff members and even denominational officers and employees.  The expose, called Abuse of Faith [click on the title for the link] uncovered hundreds of cases of sexual abuse by pastors and church staff members, mainly of women, but in some cases, teenagers and young children, that had occurred in churches over an extended period of time.  The Chronicle/Express News investigation covered only a limited number of cases in a limited number of jurisdictions.  

It turned out to be just the tip of the iceberg, as delegates to its annual convention meeting in 2019, angry over the abuse and attempts by denominational officers to cover it up, ordered an independent investigation be conducted by an outside firm that none of the denomination's insider elites could control or alter.  The investigation found cases where pastors had been exposed as abusers in one congregation and would move on to another church without their knowledge, under the guise of church independence and autonomy.  The investigation even uncovered abuse by a former SBC President, and vice-president of one of its mission boards, and buy multiple missionaries and staff members of the denomination's entities, including two of its theological seminaries.  

So it would seem that a student attending youth group in a Catholic or Southern Baptist church stands a better chance of being sexually abused or exploited by a youth pastor or priest than they do in their local public high school, or at a community dance or private party.  They're safer at a drag queen show than in their own church.  

And Of Course, In This Most Recent Case in Michigan, The Abuser is a Worship Leader, Youth Pastor and Big Time Trumper and Political Conservative

Of course there's a right wing political connection.  These right wingers are emboldened by the fact that their political inamorata, Trump, "can shoot someone in the middle of fifth avenue and not lose a single voter."  Trump built a good part of his personal and professional reputation on his sexual immorality.  This man, that Evangelicals honor as their savior more than they do Jesus Christ, once had his sexual exploits, including moments that should have been kept private between himself and his wife, printed on the front page of New York tabloids.  

So what do you expect?  These guys think they can get away with their deviant, immoral, illegal sexual exploitation because he gets away with it.  

There's a picture of this particular worship leader playing a guitar and singing with a band at CPAC.  How ironic is that?  What a wonderful photo op!  

And according to the article in the Saline Post, the investigation into his activity included his solicitation of illicit videos and photos from youth, presumably at his church.  One of the commentors notes that the activity dates back to 2014.  So it had been going on for 11 years.  The article notes that the worship director is also the son of the senior pastor of the church.  That opens the door to some questions.  Did this prevent the church from conducting a background check?  How much of this activity was ignored or swept under the rug because his father was pastor?  How could something like this go on for 11 years and be undetected?  

Any sexual exploitation or abuse is tragic, especially when kids are involved.  It shouldn't be a political issue, but the arrogance of conservative accusations of people whose sexual preferences don't line up with their interpretation of morality makes it political.  If the world is a dark place, think of how much darker it is for a kid whose youth pastor at church is encouraging them to take illicit photos or participate in illicit videos.  That's stealing a part of who they are that belongs to them, and no one else.  And it sure does undermine any religious teaching of the church.  If the pastor's son can do this and get away with it, what does that say about his own father's preaching? 

And this kind of thing happens a lot more frequently than people think.  Kids are safer going to the mall or a movie theater or a music concert in public than they are going to youth group at their church.  It nullifies the moaning and complaining of Christian political conservatives about the dark world in which we live.  They're the ones who are turning off the lights and pulling down the blinds.

Many Conservative, Evangelical Pastors and Leaders Have Disgraced Themselves and Destroyed Their Testimony Because of Their Support for Trump

The Daily Hatch comments on Adrian Rogers' sermon, "Does Character Count?" 

In 1998, Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee, made the character and morality of one serving in public office in the United States, specifically President of the United States, the priority for Christians when exercising their right to vote as citizens of the United States.  Rogers specifically addressed President Clinton's morality, pointing to allegations of an improper sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky as evidence of his disqualification for office.  Rogers claimed that it was the responsibility of Christians to influence elections with their faith by voting for candidates who exhibited a higher standard of morality, compatible with Christianity, because this was evidence of their capability of moral leadership.  

Rogers didn't mince words or cut any corners in his condemnation of President Clinton.  Of course the President was a Democrat, and even in 1998, conservative, white, Evangelical Christians, including most of the Southern Baptists who make up the nation's largest Evangelical denomination, were opposed to President Clinton, not only because there were concerns about his morality and possible marital infidelity, but because of his stance on women's reproductive rights.  

Ironically, President Clinton had made a "profession of faith," the Baptist interpretation of Christian conversion, was baptized in a Southern Baptist Church in Hope, Arkansas, and had been an active member of a Southern Baptist church all his life.  And personally, I think that might have also been the motivation behind some of Roger's tone and message.  President Carter had also been Southern Baptist, and made his Christian faith the center of his identity.  Discouraging those who shared a common denominational affiliation from supporting a fellow Baptist on that basis alone was also the point of Roger's sermon.  It was aimed at damping down any Baptist support for Vice President Al Gore, also a Southern Baptist and fellow Tennessean.  

Fast forward to 2016.  Consider Trump's worldly lifestyle, including his personal promotion of his own sexual promiscuity that led to two highly publicized divorces and marriages to "the other woman," along with claims of having bedded "hundreds" of women, along with all sorts of business and tax fraud, incessant lying and a host of other indulgences in sinful living that would have set Roger's hair on fire if he had been alive.  

But Rogers died on November 15, 2005, long before Trump became a politician aimed at winning the GOP nomination and the Presidency.  I can't say whether Rogers, who was one of the hard line conservatives involved in the Southern Baptist's internal squabble with a more moderate doctrinal and theological element in the denomination, would have stood by the words in his sermon and also encouraged Christians not to vote for Trump, based on making character the top priority for choosing a candidate.  But it's pretty clear that a majority of his fellow Southern Baptists, and of the wider white, Evangelical community, have basically ignored his words.  No matter his standing and reputation among Southern Baptist conservatives, and conservative, Evangelical Christians, they've completely defied virtually everything he said on the subject in giving their support and loyalty to a man who has far less moral character than anyone who has ever run for President of the United States.  

It Got a Hearty "Amen!" in 1998, Now, It's Contradicted in Practice and Ignored in Principle

When Evangelicals want to support a Republican politician who doesn't necessarily reflect their interpretation of the Bible's moral values, there is an "out" for that politician to keep their credibility with the easily led sheep who occupy pews in churches on Sunday morning.  It's what they refer to as a "salvation experience."  That's the Evangelical version of the Christian conversion experience.  By selecting a few Bible verses that touch on the subject, they have developed a process by which any politician needing a boost can claim to be "saved," and that allows the supporters to excuse all of his or her behavior that may not meet moral standards,  Things like extra-marital affairs, divorces, drunken driving incidents, and even a generally bad attitude can be overlooked if the person is Republican, by simply claiming they believe they have had a spiritual experience similar to what Evangelicals describe as salvation.  

Ronald Reagan was the first Presidential candidate to benefit from this process. By the time Reagan got around to running for President, what religious beliefs he had would better be characterized as "New Age" rather than anything resembling some form of Christianity.  But he had some advisors who were Evangelicals, and realized he needed to express some kind of sympathy or support for their position.  So, when asked whether he had ever had a "salvation experience," which he had to have described to him, because he'd never been to church, he said, "As you have described it to me, yes, I have."  

The problem Trump presents to Evangelical supporters is that he won't confess to any kind of conversion experience requiring him to acknowledge guilt for his sin, repentance and acceptance of God's forgiveness, which, according to Evangelical doctrine, is an absolute necessity to be Christian.  The other side of this doctrine of salvation is transformation.  People who become Christians through this process are visibly changed, when it comes to their moral choices and their lifestyle.  Trump is still the same immoral, worldly, vile, depraved, licentious, corrupt liar that he always was.  His Evangelical followers can't use this to pass by his immorality.  

Trumpism Can't be Baptized, He's Clearly Not One Of Them, But Their Support For Him Makes Them Own His Immoral, Corrupt, anti-Christian Attitude

I hear so many people from within the Evangelical political right make the argument that you can't be a Christian and support a politician who supports abortion rights.  If that's where you want your argument to rest, I'll go there with you, and point out that Trump has fully declared his support for abortion rights.  That's right, he most certainly has.  He has gotten testy at times when reporters claim that his follow up to selecting justices to overturn Roe v. Wade would be to sign a national ban on abortion rights passed by Congress.  He insists that he would absolutely not do that, and that the only thing he intended, by appointing judges to overturn Roe, was to give the issue to the states.  

"That's what everyone, Democrats, Republicans, all wanted to do, let the people vote on it," were his exact words.  That's not true, of course. But he continues to deny supporting a national ban, and he has openly said that he supports abortion with restrictions on when it can be performed, and supports a state's right to ban it.  When asked about a six week abortion ban his response, during the debate with Harris, was "six months is not long enough."  

So you've lost that argument.  But that's a political issue.  And while there isn't anything else at all in Trump's agenda that a Christian either could, or should support, by their own words, the issue starts with his character.  

I'll turn the argument back the other way.  How can someone who claims to be a professing Christian support a politician who is an adulterer, publicly proclaiming his high profile affairs, then divorcing his wife to marry the other women, and who not only has not ever shown a shred of repentance toward his ex-wives, or regarding his behavior, and hasn't stopped having affairs right up to the present day?  Remember the attitude and the condemnation heaped on Bill Clinton by Evangelicals, including their rejection of his very public repentance.  Trump openly denies that there's anything wrong with this behavior.  

How can someone who claims to be a professing Christian support a politician who instigated an insurrection against the Capitol and Congress of the United States, unleashing ungodly violence that led to the deaths of six people, including five police officers?  That violates apostolic interpretation of the Christian gospel by two of the most prominent early Apostles, Peter and Paul, along with the very words of Christ himself, in the Sermon on the Mount.  

One thing is clear.  Christians who support Trump are ignorant of who he is and what he does, and they are even more ignorant of the principles of the Bible they claim to believe.  

These same licentious, immoral, ungodly actions are what led him to commit the 34 felonies for which he was indicted and convicted in a Manhattan court.  That's not the justice department or the Biden administration "going after him politically," as he claimed.  That's the result of one of his more recent affairs with porn actress Stormy Daniels, and his attempt to cover it up with bribes disguised as business transactions, which are highly illegal.  That also gets added to his civil conviction on rape charges involving his assault on E. Jean Carroll.  His response to that was just to deny it, but when Trump does something that immoral, and that worldly, he cannot keep silence.  He did enough talking to give prosecutors all the evidence they needed to match Carroll's story.  And that came from people he considered friends. 

So, Christians, you support an unrepentant adulterer and rapist. His third wife was pregnant with his fifth child when he had the affair with Daniels.  

No wonder Americans no longer take your preaching and teaching seriously, and your church members are heading out of the exits, never to return.   

The fraudulent business dealings he's been involved with, a trail of grifting, breaking the law, tax evasion, not paying debts, and the fact that he's a pathological liar, is all part of the kind of immoral, worldly lack of character that Adrian Rogers says the Bible "clearly" instructs Christians to avoid themselves, and also to protect their reputation and their witness by not supporting those public figures who build their reputation of worldliness for their own personal gain.  And if he felt justified to apply those Biblical principles to Bill Clinton, then they also apply to Donald Trump, and the conclusion is that Christians, who live in a country with the privilege of choosing their own leaders, should not choose leaders who do not exhibit character that contradicts the moral principles of their faith, because that constitutes a denial of their faith.  

I'll make it simple for those who need clarity.  If you wouldn't have voted for Bill Clinton because of his immoral behavior, including extra-marital affairs, then you are a hypocrite if you are casting a ballot for Donald Trump, according to Roger's interpretation of the Bible.  

Do you really want to elect, as your leader, and support, as a Christian, a man who claims immigrants to our country are "poisoning the blood", who calls them vermin, falsely claiming they are drug dealers, murderers, gang members and pet eaters.  Those are all lies, and there's nothing consistent with Biblical truth in all of that, not one thing.  

Do you want to take ownership of his treats against Americans who have every right to express the opinions that he doesn't like, and wants to attack and use the power of government for his own personal vengeance?  That flies in the face of Jesus' commands to "love your neighbor as yourself," which is one of the greatest commandments, according to his own testimony, and also to "love your enemies, and pray for those who spitefully use you."  Trump hasn't been spitefully used, he's deserved everything he's got and has not faced real justice for his crimes.  Do you really want to stand on the side of this ungodly, anti-American, anti-Christian rhetoric?  

How can you reconcile your Christian faith and practice with support for a man who exhibits a spirit of falsehood, anger, negativity, resentment, and grievance without cause?  One who denigrates women, demonizes anyone whose politics he doesn't agree with, affirmed tyrants and instigated a violent insurrection against the sitting Congress.

For Christians, This Should Go Well Beyond Trump's Unrepentant Lack of Moral Character

Trump's rhetoric, spewed out in random bursts and off-track remarks made during his endless rally speeches, is dangerous to American constitutional democracy and to every ideal or principle on which this country was founded.  Trump's language, and the things he says he plans to do, is a plan to completely dismantle the Constitution.  He has declared he will be a "dictator on day one," and he has put in place a Supreme Court who has already given the office of President immunity for crimes committed while performing official duties, something that completely undoes every safeguard the founders wrote into the constitution to prevent the President from becoming a dictator.  

He has said that he would use the military and the national guard against American citizens, not for violating the law, but for disagreeing with him.  That's the destruction of the Constitution itself, and any American who would vote for a candidate who says that is not only completely ignorant of their own history and values, but they have made themselves an enemy of this country and its people.  

When an American politician cites Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, and builds relationships with world leaders who are the heirs to their legacy, like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, every American should step up and make sure their candidacy is short-lived and dies when exposed to the light.  Those Christians who are supporting Trump, especially those who are enthusiastic about it, have abandoned their faith, if they ever had it in the first place.  

For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ.  No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness, whose end will be according to their deeds. [2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NASB]  

For false messiahs and false prophets will appear, and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.  [Matthew 24:24] 

For certain individuals whose condemnation was written about long ago have secretly slipped in among you.  They are ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only sovereign and Lord. [Jude v. 4] 

This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God:  Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God.  This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. [I John 4:2-3, NIV] 

And even as he depends on the support of Evangelicals politically, he holds contempt for what they claim to believe by openly denying the very basic principle leading to a Christian conversion experience, from their perspective, by shifting his position on abortion, which was at the top of their list of political priorities, and he ridicules them with the echoes of his statement that he could shoot someone in the middle of fifth avenue and not lose any voters.  

Dr. Rogers very likely never imagined, in his safe megachurch bubble, that his words would soon apply to a Republican Presidential candidate whose immorality and worldliness would make Bill Clinton's problems look like a Sunday School picnic.  A whole lot of conservative, Evangelical leaders have been willing to abandon their reputation, and make their own Christian testimony look insincere, abandoned and worthless in their pursuit of worldly power.  And they are certainly paying for it.  

High Stakes and Past Experience Makes Fear About This Election Run High, But This Isn't 2016

 2016 was a shock.  But there were some issues then that we don't have now.  There was too much confidence from the Clinton campaign in the "Blue wall," and clearly not enough effort made by the Clinton campaign to shore it up when a week's worth of campaign appearances across those three states would clearly have been enough to eke out wins.  We're not making that mistake, the Harris campaign has the money and they are using a multi-faceted strategy to reach voters on the margins.  Evidence?  She's now leading among independent voters and her lead is trending her direction.  

If you want some re-assurance, go to the website for WCPT Radio 820 in Chicago, and listen to yesterday's Joan Esposito show.  She had a guest host, a political analyst who made some observations about the campaign much clearer, including pointing out clues about what the internal data is showing, the strategies used, how effective they are and what Harris' money advantage is doing for her, compared to the scatter shooting, "do what we want" approach that Trump's PAC supporters take.  This included a reminder that Harris has a large pack of billionaire donors on her side.  Citizens United is terrible,  but if those are the rules you want to play by, the other side can use it to their advantage, too.  And we are. 

Trump's second attempt at an election, his re-election, was a failure.  And his run through the GOP primaries this time around, having already been in the White House once, can also be considered a failure.  He had opponents, and with all of the face time he's had in the media, and all of the attention focused on him as the potential nominee from the day he left Washington, he got around 72% of the primary voters' support.  Considering the absolute nobodies who ran against him, and the money he spent, that's a sub-standard performance.  

So of course the fear of 2016 is there, as is the "fear" generated by what the media emphasizes was a narrow victory for Biden in 2020, electoral college-wise.  Trump has always been a huge threat, and he did a lot of damage when he was President.  But a lot of people saw that, and I think that led to Biden getting the win in 2020.  Harris has not only made that a campaign issue, but she has rounded up and organized the conservative Republican opposition.  And many of those people have a lot of influence, and some of them still have their credibility.  

There is evidence, from credible sources, that Trump is weaponizing polling data, not only to boost his ego, but as a strategy to try and spread discouragement and fear, prompt pressure on the campaign from those who feel the fear, and maybe even cause resources and time to be allocated differently and less effectively.  It has also become increasingly difficult to distinguish between solid journalists and journalism, and Trump infused propagandists and propaganda.  

So your fear is justified.  

But be confident.  There's a lot of strong evidence to indicate that Harris is going to win the election, the Democrats are more than prepared for an onslaught of election-related legal challenges, some of which have already achieved rulings clearly in our favor, and there are an equal number of eyes on our side watching out for any potential messing with votes and election outcomes.  

And I believe a majority of Americans know what's at stake, and are not blinded by prejudice, religious bigotry or influenced by propaganda posing as the free press.  I feel fearful of being too optimistic and then being hugely disappointed, but I also have some confidence that the positive direction Harris has given to her campaign, and the obvious contrast between her good character, as well as that of Tim Walz, with a convicted rapist, criminal, insurrectionist liar and J.D. Vance, an opportunist who has proven to be a duplicitous liar like Trump, is a highly visible factor.  Because of that, Harris will become Madame President-Elect whenever the election results are finalized.  

One of Southern Baptist's Most Influential, Prominent Pastors is Suing the Denomination, a Source of Much of His Personal Income

 Settlement Talks Between Johnny Hunt, SBC, Fail

Johnny Hunt is Head of a Family Empire That Feeds Off the Southern Baptist Convention

A Long Standing, Good-Ole-Boy Practice Brought to you by Southern Baptists

The Southern Baptist Convention bills itself as America's largest Protestant, Evangelical denomination.  Over the past decade, it has shrunk from a peak membership of 16.2 million, down to 12.8 million, caused, from its own perspective by "we don't really know," from outside perspectives, by a long drought in evangelistic activity caused by too much engagement in secular politics, and too much infighting among the big dawgs in the house over who gets to be the chief, and who must remain the rest of the tribe.  

The structure of the denomination itself rests on the principle of local church autonomy.  This is the idea that a denominational organization is not a biblically sanctioned structure, and therefore does not have any ecclesiastical authority, but is a voluntary structure based on the cooperation of its member congregations together, each of which is independent and autonomous with regard to its doctrine and theology, and who it calls to serve as its pastor.  The "convention" is actually an annual, two day meeting where elected delegates from the individual churches, called "messengers," meet to handle the business matters of the denomination.  An executive director with a small staff actually conducts the business, mainly financial coordination, which supports two mission boards, a publishing house, six theological seminaries and the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission, all supported by a funding mechanism known as the "Cooperative Program."  It is based in a small headquarters building on the corner of Ninth Avenue and Commerce Street in downtown Nashville. 

It has a democratic convention structure to facilitate business, which is the cooperation of its 45,000 or so local churches contributing funds to operate its entities, including supporting missionaries both overseas and in North America.  But it is really a fief of a small group of individuals, mostly mega-church pastors sprinkled with some high powered business people and those who have the time, inclination and ability to be "influencers," or the more old fashioned term, "king-makers," facilitating the climb of some well-connected friends or relatives into high dollar, big salary denominational executive positions.  It's a large denomination, but the group that runs the business, the messengers who attend the meetings, is small.  A convention meeting rarely gathers more than 10,000, most run about 8,000 and 75% of them are the same people who come every year.  

What winds up happening is that someone who works at it and finds a way to have their voice heard in the cliquish Baptist media, a collection of news journals operated by state-level denominational groups, can put themselves in position to gather, and use, a lot of power, focused on advancing their own career within the denomination, and resulting in a well-enhanced checkbook. 

In the denomination's most recent history, two men, Paige Patterson and Paul Pressler, managed to turn themselves into denominational royalty and pillaged the convention to use it for their own ends.  Patterson, to elevate himself from the administrator position at broken down Criswell College to become president of both Southeastern and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminaries, two of the six operated by the convention.  The late Paul Pressler, a former Texas appeals court judge and Republican mover and shaker, to bring the denomination straight into the world of right wing extremist politics.  Both were successful in achieving their goal.  Both have since been disgraced and put out to pasture, Patterson for not handling sexual abuse accusations at both seminaries in a professional and Christian manner, Pressler for accusations of having been a gay sexual predator.  

Having the Right Friends and Being in the Right Place at the Right Time

Being pastor of a megachurch is always a good launching pad for being an "influencer," i.e. a "good-ole-boy" in the Southern Baptist Convention.  For some reason, there's a small group of these big shots in this Christian denomination who seem to love getting themselves on denominational boards and committees, where they can network to further their advantage.  They're on so many different boards and committees, they have little time to actually pastor their own church.  

Johnny Hunt was pastor of one of the largest churches in a denomination intoxicated by numbers.  First Baptist Church of Woodstock, Georgia, grew into this mega congregation under his pastoral leadership.  After thirty-three years as pastor, and multiple terms of service in various places in the SBC, including being elected as its President twice, Hunt got a denominational job as a Senior Vice President at the North American Mission Board, which was convenient since he already lived in the Atlanta area, where it was located.  He had previously served as one of NAMB's trustees, which helped land him the job.  

As a result of his extensive contacts in the SBC, and his service as a pastor, Hunt had several side businesses, all connected to his pastorate and denominational service, that made him some money.  He created a "ministry" which packaged and sold his sermons, since he was a speaker in demand.  As a result of his speaking enterprise, he authored several books.  This is all part of his corporate ministry.  

His transition to NAMB came with more ties to his family businesses.  Although NAMB does have a conflict of interest policy, much of Hunt's family income occurred while he was Senior VP at NAMB, and directed NAMB business into several of the "ministry" businesses operated by himself and his family, this while also drawing a hefty salary and benefits from NAMB.  If you read the second linked article, you can see all of the complicated ties between Hunt's businesses, his family's businesses, to which he directed NAMB business.  

So Why Sue the SBC? 

Hunt became one of the names included in the Guidepost investigation and report into sexual abuse by pastors and church staff in the Southern Baptist Convention, released in May of 2022.  The investigation, ordered by the messengers of a Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in 2019 as the result of an expose into multiple cases of sexual abuse by pastors and church staff members of Southern Baptist churches published by the Houston Chronicle and the San Antonio Express News.  

Initially, Hunt denied the accusations against him, but eventually admitted to them, and expressed sorrow and repentance.  He organized a restoration process for himself, with four pastors who were close friends, and though he had resigned from his position at NAMB, returned to his speaking ministry and family businesses.  The church he had pastored for 33 years, and where he was serving at the time the alleged sexual incident occurred, was not included in his restoration process.  

Hunt eventually sued the Southern Baptist Convention in 2023, a denomination largely responsible for the prosperity of his personal business enterprises and his family's businesses.  He charged the convention with defamation, for revealing information included in the Guidepost investigation.  

Lawsuits against the convention related to the Guidepost investigation have resulted in the executive committee's decision to sell their office building in Nashville.  I guess there's still a few more dollars left to squeeze out of the SBC for Hunt, and for a few others who have done the same as a result of the investigation.  

The Apostle Paul makes it quite clear, in his first epistle to the church in Corinth, that lawsuits among Christians are ill-advised, because they set a poor example for the church, and he closes out that part of his narrative by saying, "Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God?"  

What Does This Lawsuit, and Sexual Abuse Scandal, Say About the Southern Baptist Convention? 

I don't know whether Johnny Hunt is guilty of the sexual "abuse" he was accused of, or whether his version of events is more accurate than that of his accuser. Megan Basham did not do him any favors by weighing in and "outing" the pastor's wife who was the alleged victim.  Basham's total lack of credibility, and her butting into something that's none of her business gives a lot of weight to the honesty and credibility of the victim's version.  

Southern Baptists are, indeed, independent and autonomous.  However, for one of their big shots accused of a specific incident of sexual misconduct, supported by the evidence produced by a credible investigator, the "restoration process," prescribed in the Bible would have been much better served, and much more credible itself, if he had allowed his former church, where he was still pastor when the alleged abuse occurred, to conduct the process.  Going out and picking four of his good friend, pastors whom he had mentored in the ministry, and getting them to affirm his restoration doesn't quite follow that Biblical process, and unfortunately, in a denomination where such connections commonly bypass protocols and processes designed to be fair, it failed to achieve its desired result, at least as far as I am concerned. 

Clearly, there are instructional parts of the New Testament that are being deliberately ignored.  This is not a good look for someone in a denomination that claims belief in the inerrancy and infallibility of the Bible is a major doctrine required for correct interpretation of scripture, and for fellowship with the denomination.  When the literal reading and application insisted upon as an interpretive standard by Southern Baptists is applied, I Corinthians 6:1-9 clearly forbids church members to settle differences by the use of lawsuits in the secular courts.  And it comes just after the Apostle Paul also addresses sexual immorality and how the church is to handle that.  

There's some real inconsistency here in the messaging.  The denomination has found multiple ways to force churches to closely follow their inerrancy and infallibility doctrine, and more recently, it has included specific, literal interpretations of that doctrine to enforce a ban on women serving in churches in pastoral ministry roles.  But it seems powerless to stop a lawsuit brought by a prominent, prestigious pastor who ignored their rules and charted his own course to resolve a sexual abuse allegation and a restoration process.  

The rules don't apply equally to all.  

  

 

 

"False Prophets" Mixing With Far Right Wing Extremist Politics is a Volatile Combination

"Million Woman" Event in D.C. Draws Far Fewer Than Expected

For such people are false apostles, deceitful workers, masquerading as apostles of Christ.  And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light.  It is not surprising, then, if his servants also masquerade as servants of righteousness."  --the Apostle Paul, 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, NIV

Just because a group calls itself a church and labels itself as "Christian" doesn't necessarily mean that it is.  Christians believe that Jesus Christ established the church, as a divine savior, revealing God to humanity through the Christian gospel, a very simple set of principles and values recorded by the four gospel writers recognized by the early church as authoritative.  The Apostle Paul, who led an evangelistic movement that won many converts to Christianity, mostly in Palestine, Syria, Asia Minor and Greece, is, in this passage from a letter written to the Christian church in the Greek city of Corinth, helping distinguish between the authentic Christian gospel, and multiple fraudulent ones, which, even at this point early in church history were becoming a major problem for many churches.  

How to Recognize Fraudulent Deceit in Christianity 

In spite of popularly held opinion about Christianity, what is authentically or genuinely Christian can be found in a relatively small part of the New Testament, in the first four books, called the "gospels."  These are accounts of the life and teachings of Jesus Christ, and they record what he said that defines the Christian gospel, the theology of Christianity which includes the divine nature of Jesus, its doctrine and its practice.  It's a 2,000 year old document, steeped in the culture and history of the time and place it was written, so varied interpretations are not only possible, but must be taken into consideration.  

Still, when the teachings of Jesus himself are used as the criteria for interpreting all of the rest of the apostles instructions, Christianity becomes the clear, simple faith that Jesus intended, a life committed to belief in and worship of one God, lived according to a set of shared principles and values that are visible evidence of Christian faith.  

The primary core of doctrine, related to lifestyle, is laid out by Jesus in what is known as the "Sermon on the Mount," recorded fully in Matthew 5, believed to be the common theme of his teaching, preached in many locations, but recorded here in one place.  The first part of that narrative, known as "The Beatitudes," is a list of honorable qualities, blessings included, that form the core emphasis of the Christian gospel's message of love, humility and compassion.  Each one contains two elements, a condition and a result.  Jesus is making the point that Christian conversion doesn't result in doctrinal conformity, but in a lifestyle that is actively engaged in uplifting and encouraging the people around each convert, exhibiting the highest ideals of Jesus' teaching on spirituality and compassion.  Christians are called to make a difference in the world, not by running it politically, but by exhibiting this high, idealistic practice of virtues and values. 

The Apostle Paul makes this very clear in his letters of guidance to churches he visited and encouraged, powerful epistles that the church recognized as valuable in fulfilling the commission given to them by Jesus, to go, preach the gospel and make disciples of all nations.  Perhaps the most well known such encouragement, written to an unidentified congregation somewhere in the Roman province of Galatia, is called the "Fruit of the Spirit."  He contends that people, living in a very pagan society, who converted to Christianity through that particular spiritual experience would exhibit characteristics in their life that would set them apart from their pagan neighbors, and open the door to conversations about what caused the life change.  

These values include love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.  "There is no law against such things," said Paul, in this passage found in Galatians 5:22-23.  

When I look at the rhetoric of some of the leaders recognized by Christian sects that fall on the Pentecostal and Charismatic end of the spectrum, like Lou Engle and Lance Wallnau, among others who were behind the "million woman" gathering in Washington, D.C., I don't see much that encourages the practices of the beatitudes or the fruit of the spirit.  I see a faith that seems to delight in the torture and trouble of those they consider their enemies, one that exacts punishment for disobedience and consigns those who do not agree with their list of doctrinal requirements or political ambitions to hell.  

That's the kind of attitude this "million woman" gathering exhibited in its call to prayer, answered, not by a million women, but by perhaps 40,000 or so, praying for God to deliver control of this country over to a rapist, a fraud, an insurrectionist, a grifter, thief and a pathological liar who openly denies the very core doctrine of Christian salvation by turning aside spiritual conviction and claiming that he has not committed any sin that requires God's forgiveness, because this man is going to bring revival.  

That is deceitful and fraudulent, and elevating one that the Apostle John calls "anti-Christ," to a position of authority and leadership over themselves, exchanging the truth of the Christian gospel for yet another lie.  This observation is not making a judgment.  It is simply pointing out that what the Christian gospel says, and what Jesus and his Apostles taught, is contradictory to what these men are saying when it comes to whom they are giving political support, and the politics with which they are polluting and corrupting it.  

Who Gets the Power in a Christian Nationalist America

The fact that these people accept Christian Nationalism as a legitimate and biblical objective of the Christian church is evidence of their heresy, and their fraudulent deceit.  Their interpretation of the Bible, which is literal, and leaves out consideration of its history and context, along with the clear principle that any interpretation of any part of the Bible must be filtered through the criterion of Jesus Christ and his revelation of the Christian gospel, incorporates a theology, doctrine and practice of Christianity that is inconsistent with biblical truth in many of its applications.  

The means by which Jesus commissioned his apostles and his church at the time of his departure from the world is also found in Matthew's gospel, 28:18-20.  It is consistent with the spiritual practice of virtues and values that he taught, rather than authoritarian, delivered by the testimony of his followers, not corrupted by political power that uses force and exaction to make converts.  That doesn't actually make converts, it only frightens people into some kind of intellectual assent.  How can anyone be confident in a "disciple" who isn't spiritually guided and motivated? 

Calling the power of God down on the heads of one's enemies is not loving them, as Jesus commanded.  In fact, there's no room for hatred anywhere in the Christian gospel, and God never intended his church to convert anyone by force.  We've been through this before, almost 15 centuries of an oppressive church, run by clergy that cowered to the monarchial rule of the provinces and used their influence to ensure lock step obedience to the civil government.  

In addressing the problem of satanic intrusion into the church going unrecognized, one of the other Apostles, Jude, who may have actually been the son of Mary and Joseph and thus, Jesus' half brother, wrote an short epistle to the church addressing the problem. 

"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 God into licentiousness and deny our only Lord and Master, Jesus Christ."  The Epistle of Jude, the Apostle, verse 4, NRSV

Although this epistle was written to a church in the early first century, it is a prophetic word for the church today, since the same problem with intruders who hijack congregations and carry them off into heresy, like Christian nationalism.  Or, who attempt to convince Christians that they should vote for a worldly, sexually deviant, adulterous, rapist, sexual assaulting, insurrectionist and liar who openly denies ever having a conversion experience as the democratic leader of their country.  There are a few times in the Old Testament where a story is related that seems to indicate God used an evil person to accomplish his purpose with a rebellious, disobedient, theocratic Israel.  But he never tells his people to follow or give loyalty to an evil ruler.  

The leaders of this movement are opportunists looking to get political power in their hands because of the fawning they've done over a political candidate, if he wins.  Any Christian who isn't lined up with their aberrant theology and false gospel, including mainline Protestants and Catholics, as well as those who profess no religion are already the enemies they will be waiting to take out, and they've already justified doing so.

Matthew Taylor, author of The Violent Take it by Force: The Christian Movement That is Threatening our Democracy, says "The danger is that these folks can easily be converted over into Capitol rioters if the right circumstances come about and if their leaders give them that guidance."  

Many of them already have done so.  

Considering the teachings of Christ, and the Christian gospel, such action would clearly be a demonstration of the spirit of anti-Christ, [I John 4:2-3], and clear evidence that these people are not Christian, but are a dangerous cult denying both the Christian gospel and the vision of America's founding fathers, and its people, since it became a nation.  

 

 

How Many Americans Can't Connect Fascist National Socialist Statements to Trump, Because They Don't Recognize Fascist National Socialism?

The answer to that question is far too many.  

Several decades ago, I read a couple of novels set before and during the Second World War that really helped open my eyes to the whole scope of history of that time period.  The two novels, The Winds of War and War and Remembrance, by Herman Wouk, wove the personal stories of the characters into the times, places and events of the Second World War.  As a secondary history and government teacher, I knew the chronology of events, the philosophies, the economics, all of the facts that are studied about the war and its causes, but reading these two novels really helped to clarify and bring home how a war based on conflicting worldviews literally put most of humanity in mortal danger for seven years, and longer than that for the Jews and any progressive, freedom loving Germans.  

When I taught an honors U.S. History class, the novels were made required reading for the second semester, during the period when we discussed World War 2.  The author, Herman Wouk, was born in the Bronx to parents who were Jewish immigrants from Minsk, in what was then Czarist Russia.  He grew up studying the Talmud with his Russian grandfather, but lived a fairly secular life until returning to the practice of Judaism when it was more essential to his work.  He gives his Jewish grandfather, and the United States Navy credit for being the primary influences in his life and the main characters of his novels, a Navy captain, and a Jewish college professor and author who is an immigrant from Poland, along with his niece, reflect his perspective through the interactions of their characters in the story.  

Every week, we had a class discussion on the section of the novel that was required reading for the students.  The novels are written chronologically, starting in 1939, just prior to the German invasion of Poland.  As we read through, we studied the background information on each event, using the novel's timeline.  Any information which was needed to supplement the novel's narrative was provided by students doing research and was the subject of class discussion.  We worked our way through the entire Second World War in a semester, something that textbooks normally cover in about two weeks, and gave students a full perspective on National Socialist Germany and the fascist philosophy that brought the country to ruin.  

The novel helped keep things interesting.  By actually having characters interact with international events, in a creative way, including Wouk's Navy captain, in diplomatic settings, actually meeting and interacting with Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, Hitler and Mussolini, students had a point of reference when it came to historical events.  I taught that course that way for eight years, and I had students who always came back to let me know how helpful it had been to them, especially in college.  

The lack of knowledge of this period of time is so very apparent in so much of the rhetoric surrounding this election, that I can't help but think of the statement, "Those who fail to learn the lessons of history are doomed to repeat it," made by Winston Churchill in a 1948 speech to the House of Commons.  

He would certainly know.  

We Are Seeing a Complete Lack of Recognition of the Similarities Between Trump and Fascist National Socialism 

Early in his first campaign for President, Trump said "I could shoot someone standing in the middle of Fifth avenue and I wouldn't lose any voters."  That's one of the few truths he's uttered since that moment.  People are appallingly ignorant of this man's approach to politics.  Whether he's a puppet being fed by a fascist elements somewhere else, who have figured out how easily Trump is manipulated by flattery, or money offers, the fact that he has been so openly anti-American, anti-Patriotic, anti-Democracy, anti-Constitution in his public speeches, which get cheers from his rally-goers, is deadly serious.  

He's been the single most divisive politician in modern American history, and equally as bad as the slavery advocates.  He is using tools available to him, found in the corners and crannies of various conservative interests, such as far right wing Evangelicalism, primarily the Charismatic and Pentecostal branches of it that are hard liners when it comes to their belief that God has set them aside, chosen them and ordained them to bring righteousness back to America, just like he once did for the ancient Jews, and the ongoing theme of white supremacy, which not only hasn't been eliminated from American ideology by education, but is being radicalized in right wing political alliances that now make up most of the Republican party.  

The belief that what happened in Germany in the twelve nightmare years of National Socialist rule, which stretched the rules of the existing, fledgling democratic government to seize power, could not happen in the United States is a myth.  We have already elected this ideology to the Presidency once, and were extremely lucky in the fact that it failed when it attacked the Constitution, and the legal guardrails held.  But in the aftermath, we discovered there were members of Congress in both chambers who were planning on cooperating to help Trump bring it down, had there been any signs of weakness or openings to do so.  

Wouk, in his novels, uses his characters to discuss, and affirm, that the United States is not immune to this kind of political upheaval, and that the right mix of cultural elements like the anti-Semitism that was prevalent in Germany, which he compared to the white supremacy prevalent in the United States, along with a natural, built in sense of selfishness over who controls the economy and the distribution of wealth, and who benefits from it, could create the same circumstances.  We dodged a bullet in 1939, though the elements that overwhelmed Germany's democracy were active and working in the United States, too.  

Trump's claim that there was massive voter fraud and that the 2020 election was "stolen from him," for which not even some of his most ardent and active defenders could find a shred of evidence, even among the people they planted all through the system, and the subsequent insurrection he instigated against the Capitol on January 6th should have ended his personal ability to walk free in our society.  We have laws against it, but what he did was not met with a resolute defense of democracy, Congress and the Constitution, but with dithering, delaying, foot dragging and obfuscation, even after a Congressional investigation laid down a mountain of evidence against him.  There, in a nutshell, is Trump's shot on Fifth Avenue.  He was right about that.  

Then, in the middle of a Presidential debate, after being triggered by a truthful comment made by the Vice President about people leaving his rallies in droves, and the outlandish things he says in his rallies, he claimed that Haitian immigrants, in Springfield, Ohio, were eating people's pets.  Now that's a racist characterization of an ethnicity if I've ever heard one.  That should have been the end of his chances to win the Presidency, and I'm not convinced it still won't be.  But the lack of a genuine uproar among the American people is very troubling, and indicative of the kind of ignorance and lack of being informed that I'm pointing out here.  

I think we have to go back to the Civil War and Reconstruction to find politicians making those kinds of insulting, bigoted, racist remarks about a group of people living in the United States without much in the way of accountability.  And if this is a sign of how far we haven't come, of the level of ignorance that exists in our culture, and especially in our electorate, and that does not get brought to account, then our country really is in major danger.  

The fact that Trump is the Republican nominee, and is running for President of the United States, is the result of a massive failure of our government, of, by and for the people, to act when it needed to act, and bring justice to an insurrectionist in a timely manner, as it has been able to do to almost 1,000 of the people who listened to his words and stormed the Capitol.  

It is Now Up to We, The People 

We are about to see if our nation's society and culture is capable of saving itself from a fascist dictatorship that a significant portion of the electorate is not capable of recognizing.  It's not been a failure of just the government, or only the justice department.  Our educational system has failed to produce the kind of informed electorate which its founders and visionaries created and established it to do.  It has declined for decades, for which there is more than ample evidence to prove, and seems incapable of producing critical thinkers, especially when it comes to civics, politics and the social order.  

The fact that we now have a convicted felon, rapist, and indicted insurrectionist on the ballot with polling numbers that would be frightening enough if they were barely in the double digits, is evidence of the failure of multiple cultural and social guardrails, and it also tells our enemies exactly how and where we are vulnerable.  

Our first priority is winning this election, at all levels.  One of the reasons Republicans have managed to keep things close and stay in power is that Democrats let their guard down in too many mid-term elections, and now the majority of our states have gerrymandered the GOP into almost permanent power.  We've let ourselves be manipulated, because we play politics by the rules when they are no longer willing to compromise.  So here we are, letting the media control the narrative once again, convincing people this is a real, neck and neck horserace, to try and tilt the advantages all in the direction of Trump, and his billionaire friends who are orchestrating it all with the power of their dollars.  

Beyond what we need to do, once Harris is elected and has a Democratic controlled Congress, is some major social and cultural overhaul.  Fixing our broken education system should be the top priority.  It has been starved by Republican austerity since Reagan's days in office, in some Republican dominated states, longer than that.  Project 2025's proposal to eliminate the Department of Education did seem to ring some alarm bells at last, as far as this was concerned.  If we're going to keep the DOE, then we need to give it some authority and resources to bring the United States out of the doldrums of test scores, not only in science, math and technology, but in history and civics, and in helping students develop critical thinking skills, in order to avoid panics in the future over subversive demagogues getting elected President.  

Americans ought to recognize the kind of inhumanity that led to the establishment of slavery, and then made it so absolutely difficult to stamp it out.  It's the same kind of inhumanity that fed the anti-Semitism of Europe for centuries, eventually erupting into the Holocaust.  The opposite of "American idealism" is this anti-immigrant hatred that seems to be the only thing Trump can talk about on the campaign trail.  It consumes him, it's a psychotic obsession and it should be enough proof to disqualify his candidacy.  

How can someone be so lacking in intelligence, information and conviction, to still be debating over insignificant political issues, while being completely unable to see the complete and total lack of character and ability to lead that is Trump.  And J. D. Vance, a slimy opportunist who will take any position and say anything that benefits himself, is worse.  

Get it together, people.  Take time out for a history lesson.  We need to win this overwhelmingly and decisively.