Does Evangelicalism need image consultants for damage control? Evangelicals on the Trump train – are they on the wrong track?
I ask because there are certain Christians who think that the image of Evangelicalism has been damaged by an “unholy” association with Trump and his supporters. Certain Christians are worried about what people think about Evangelicalism with its brand of Jesus and the gospel.
The Build Back Better campaign to restore the image of Evangelicalism is concerned about two things: Evangelicals promoting a man of Trump’s character and (using the language of the Left) the “extremist” and “fascist” character of so-called Christian nationalism.
No doubt, Trump has an earthy communication style. He’s from New York. He speaks like a New Yorker and not like Evangelicals and Evangelical elites. On the record is a September 2005 conversation when he spoke in graphic, vulgar language about trying to commit adultery and forcing himself on women.
Eleven years later (October 7, 2016) and one month before the United States presidential election, the Washington Post published a video and article about the conversation between then-presidential candidate Donald Trump and television host Billy Bush. Trump immediately issued an apology on Facebook, posted Friday, October 7, 2016:
“Here is my statement. I’ve never said I’m a perfect person, nor pretended to be someone that I’m not. I’ve said and done things I regret, and the words released today on this more than a decade-old video are one of them. Anyone who knows me, know these words don’t reflect who I am. I said it, it was wrong, and I apologize. I’ve travelled the country talking about change for America. But my travels have also changed me. I’ve spent time with grieving mothers who’ve lost their children, laid off workers whose jobs have gone to other countries, and people from all walks of life who just want a better future. I have gotten to know the great people of our country, and I’ve been humbled by the faith they’ve placed in me. I pledge to be a better man tomorrow, and will never, ever let you down. Let’s be honest. We’re living in the real world. This is nothing more than a distraction from the important issues we are facing today. We are losing our jobs, we are less safe than we were 8 years ago and Washington is broken. Hillary Clinton, and her kind, have run our country into the ground. I’ve said some foolish things, but there is a big difference between words and actions. Bill Clinton has actually abused women and Hillary has bullied, attacked, shamed and intimidated his victims. We will discuss this more in the coming days. See you at the debate on Sunday.”
After hearing about the conversation, Trump’s wife Melania put out her own statement:
“The words my husband used are unacceptable and offensive to me. This does not represent the man that I know. He has the heart and mind of a leader. I hope people will accept his apology, as I have, and focus on the important issues facing our nation and the world.”
And Trump’s former campaigner, Corey Lewandowski, said on CNN, “Is this defensible? I don’t think so.”
“But we’re not choosing a Sunday school teacher here.”
I wonder. Should all Christian Never Trumpers have their past conversations exposed, as was done to Trump? I think it should be done. Never-Trumpers, as they are wont to tell us, are very concerned about the character of those they surround themselves with and support. For example:
Christians Against Trumpism & Political Extremism, was founded by friends and partners John Kingston and Joel Searby. It is at root a spiritual endeavor, because John and Joel believe in the potential for renewal in our church and the nation.
The wife of the staunch Never Trumper David French, Nancy French, is a supporter of this organization as are other of our Christian “betters” who are very worried about “the darkness of Trumpism and other political extremism.”
But the following recent report is sullying for all in support of this “informal yet organized group of Christian leaders, thinkers, influencers, and everyday believers who publicly stand against the personal behavior, degrading policy proposals, and poisonous rhetoric modeled by President Trump and extremist groups from the far left and right.”
The “Christians Against Trumpism” co-founder [Joel Searby] is facing charges for lewd/lascivious conduct, two counts of obscene communications related to luring a minor to meet for sex, and using a two-way communications device to facilitate a felony.
‘Christians Against Trumpism’ Co-Founder Arrested for Soliciting Sex from 15-Year-Old Boy | The Gateway Pundit | by Brian Lupo
And, here’s Never-Trumper David French in “extremist” mode:
CANNON: Never-Trumper David French Picks Half a Million Abortions Over Trump Being Re-Elected… Seriously. – The National Pulse
And, again, David French in “extremist” mode:
NYT Columnist Says Trump Support Less Excusable Than Slavery. (thenationalpulse.com)
~~~
Can Anything Good Come Out of Trump Tower?
Would God use a person of “questionable character” to lead the country?
In the previous post I wrote . . .
Like all of us, Jacob is a work in progress. He is of questionable character and not someone we would have thought of to be the namesake (Israel) of a nation of people who are to represent God’s character to the world. But God, in His wisdom and mercy, works with Jacob – his faults, his dysfunction, his deceitful ways, and his sins – and seeks to redeem him for his purposes. God is slow to anger and plenteous in mercy (cf. Psalm 103: 6-18) (unlike many judgmental types today who are loathe to work with God to redeem relationships with those they do not consider worthy of redemption.)
No doubt, if today’s Evangelical image consultants lived back then they would have worked vigorously to keep the scoundrel Jacob out of that role. They sure wouldn’t associate with Jacob. “He’s not one of us,” they would say.
“Teacher,” said John, “we saw someone driving out demons in your name and we told him to stop, because he was not one of us.”
“Do not stop him,” Jesus said. “For no one who does a miracle in my name can in the next moment say anything bad about me, for whoever is not against us is for us. Truly I tell you, anyone who gives you a cup of water in my name because you belong to the Messiah will certainly not lose their reward.
-The gospel of Mark 9:38-41
Over and over in the gospels I find Jesus being counter-cultural. He isn’t constrained by demands of the image consultants – the Pharisees and legal experts, the religious types.
There are certain Christians who are very ‘concerned’ about Trump being associated with Evangelicalism because he is “not one of us.” (Trump’s not the squeaky-clean sweet old Sunday School teacher type– someone who looks Evangelical and talks Evangelical-ese – that we had in mind for the position.)
But haven’t Never-Trumpers and all Americans received a cup of water in the form of humanitarian goodness – peace and prosperity – under the scoundrel Trump’s first term? Was Trump working against Christians or for us? Wasn’t the Unprecedented Economic Boom under Trump something of a miracle?
The arm chair holier-than-MAGA disparagers no doubt benefitted from Trump’s presidency.
Trump Administration Accomplishments – The White House (archives.gov)
A summary:
Unprecedented Economic Boom (3-1/2 years before the Chinese-Fauci virus), including:
Jobless claims hitting a nearly 50-year low
The number of people claiming unemployment insurance as a share of the population hit its lowest on record
Incomes rose in every single metro area in the United States for the first time in nearly 3 decades.
Income inequality fell for two straight years, and by the largest amount in over a decade.
The bottom 50 percent of American households saw a 40 percent increase in net worth.
Wages rose fastest for low-income and blue-collar workers – a 16 percent pay increase.
Tax Relief for the Middle Class
Massive Deregulation
Fair and Reciprocal Trade
American Energy Independence
Investing in America’s Workers and Families
Life-Saving Response to the China Virus – Restricted travel to the United States from infected regions of the world.
Remaking the Federal Judiciary
Achieving a Secure Border
Restoring American Leadership Abroad
Serving and Protecting Our Veterans
Making Communities Safer
Cherishing Life and Religious Liberty, and more.
During Trump’s first term there were NO wars. There was a Middle East peace deal – the Abrahamic accords. Constitutionalist SCOTUS justices were installed, securing Democracy. (Abortion decisions are to be made at state level.) And, . . .
Supreme Court delivers MASSIVE VICTORY for J6 politcal prisoners and a crushing blow to regime’s lawfare…
Supreme Court overturns Chevron deference, striking MASSIVE blow to the administrative state…
By shooting down ‘Chevron deference’ doctrine, SCOTUS restored democratic rulemaking, experts say | Just The News
Under Trump there was no invasion of our southern border.
There were no flood of illegals murdering our daughters.
Illegal Alien From Turkey Accused of Raping 15-Year-Old Girl in Albany, NY (legalinsurrection.com)
Open Borders Subject Women and Girls in the US to Rapes and Wanton Violence | Frontpage Mag
Under Trump there was no deluge of fentanyl killing people.
There was no surge of terrorists, gangs and drug cartels.
Inflation was around 2%. People had money to support themselves, buy a home, and to give to charitable causes like The Roy’s Report and The Trinity Forum, (where Never-Trumpers hawk their Never-Trumper wares.)
Americans weren’t ghosted by Trump. Trump was ghosted by Never-Trumpers who supported the mess we have today.
Under Bidenomics – “You will own nothing and be happy.”
This Is Fine: Average Salary Required to Own a Home Increased 80.5% Under Biden – Twitchy
During Trump’s four years in the White House, Never-Trumpers sat around and whined and nitpicked about all things Trump. They had the time and the means to write books about terrible Trump and Evangelical MAGA “extremists” who will destroy “Democracy!!”
~~~~
“White Raging” Rubes and MAGA Christians
Keep in mind two of Saul Alinsky’s 13 Rules for Radicals that are at work in Never-Trumper’s campaigns:
– “Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon.” There is no defense. It’s irrational. It’s infuriating. It also works as a key pressure point to force the enemy into concessions.”
– “Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it.” Cut off the support network and isolate the target from sympathy. Go after people and not institutions; people hurt faster than institutions.
The sneering class has deemed people of MAGA persuasion “deplorables” “bitter clingers” “extremists” “conspiracy theorists” “xenophobes”, “authoritarians”, and “fascists.” And MAGA Christians are deemed not just “a threat to Evangelicalism!” but to “DEMOCRACY!”
This while, (Our Statement – Christians Against Trumpism) . . .
“Political extremism, whether from the “left” or the “right,” uses violence, chaos, and degrading language as tools for social change.”
See above for who uses degrading language. But who uses violence and chaos as tools for social change? The “extremist” Left, for example;
Portland’s grim reality: 100 days of protests, many violent | AP News
47 arrested, 59 officers injured in Seattle protests that turned violent – KIRO 7 News Seattle
Masked Activists Violently Attack Jews at North Carolina Public Library – Algemeiner.com
Judge Rejects Biden Admin Bid To Dismiss Lawsuit Over ‘Illegal and Dangerous’ $1.5 Billion Palestinian Payment Plan (freebeacon.com)
We are told on MSM that us hobbits are white raging rubes who don’t know any better and are in a cult of personality and that the Christians in this sad group are making Christianity look bad. With the election season upon us, there’s a growing list of shaming screeds promoted on MSNBC.
These Never-Trumper books are meant to make readers feel morally superior if they make the ‘right’ choice: to not support and vote for Trump. Three of these authors want to move you in the direction of being an ‘acceptable’ Christian and politically ‘acceptable’ in their eyes:
Tim Alberta and The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, published December 5, 2023
Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman with White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy published on February 27, 2024
Jim Wallis: The False White Gospel: Rejecting Christian Nationalism, Reclaiming True Faith, and Refounding Democracy, published April 2, 2024
The After Party: Toward Better Christian Politics, Nancy French and Curtis Chang, based on project by David French, Russell Moore & Curtis Chang, published April 23, 2024
Please don’t tell me that these authors are writing and talking about these things to protect Jesus from the rabble. “Put down your sword, Peter.” Jesus – very God and the One who cast out demons and calmed the storm – is not beholden to anyone for protection. Their version of Christianity is what they are protecting.
Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman of White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy went on MSNBC to push their polemic rant of a poorly researched book. They posit “fourfold threats” coming from the “White rural” rube demographic:
- Rural “Whites” are racist and xenophobic, adverse to DEI and are an impedance to a pluralist society
- Rural “Whites” embrace conspiracy-mongering because of their proclivity to anger
- Rural “Whites” rubes form authoritarian rebellious groups with “right-wing” money
- Rural “Whites” harass, intimidate, and are violent
Victor Davis Hanson reviewed On White Rural Rage by Tom Schaller & Paul Waldman: All the rage | The New Criterion. He handily refutes the book’s “often-incoherent polemic.” Here’s his response to number 3 of the “fourfold threats” posed by raging “Whites”:
“In their psychodramatic formulation, the authors allege that
“U.S. democracy is in peril. Ballot blockers, wannabe authoritarians, White Christian nationalists, and constitutional sheriffs each pose existential and often overlapping threats to American constitutional government. Unfortunately, rural Whites form the tip of the spear for each of these movements.
“No data is supplied to support such an “existential” threat, much less one originating in rural white America—other than polls that suggest about half the nation feels that America is a Christian nation.”
Hanson’s impression of the book . . .
“White Rural Rage is for the most part a compilation of misleading polls, left-wing news accounts, interviews with state and local Democratic politicos, and sloppy, cherry-picked references to and quotes from kindred academics that reinforce the authors’ preexisting belief in a vast rural white cabal of violent racists and conspiracists. . .
“In the end, White Rural Rage is not so much a warning about a national, seething, rural white danger to democracy as it is a projection of the fears of elite white authors, conspiracy-minded as they often are themselves.”
Tim Alberta, journalist and staff writer for The Atlantic and author of The Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, was also showcased on MSNBC to promote his own psychodramatic formulation about MAGA Christians. He also podcasted on The Trinity Forum where he talked about his book and on The Roy’s Report where he talked about The Corrupting of American Evangelicalism. Julie Roys interviewed Tim Alberta and shares his concerns about Evangelicalism.
Listening to the Trinity Forum podcast, I understood Tim Alberta to say that Christians should understand that as Christians they live “under siege” and basically that they should cool their jets (don’t get out of hand) and get used to abuse and persecution because that’s the way it is for Christians. I get the sense from Tim that Christians should be more like white suburban women, like Julie Roys.
Alternatively, on The Roy’s Report website – “reporting the truth and restoring the church” – Julie Roys posts articles and podcasts exposing abuse within the church. Victims of abuse (typically women) submit to the abuser (typically male) for a while and then they react and take action. You hear their stories on the website’s podcasts.
Per Alberta, shouldn’t church abuse victims just be quiet and take it like good little Christians?
Are we to believe that reacting to church abuse is more Christian than reacting to political abuse?
Isn’t it good to work to forestall persecution in society? Should Christians clamor to be martyrs?
Is it OK to expose and denounce abusive leaders in church but not leaders in politics? Never-Trumpers criticize Trump all day long. If MAGA criticizes what is being forced on them by the Left they are labeled
“extremists” and “a threat to democracy.”
What about “reporting the truth and restoring America” – is that out of Evangelical bounds?
Aberta labels “Trumpism as a kind of sub-cult in the evangelical world,” Wow. To use his own term, that is “extremist” language.
Is it Ok for Never-Trumper Christians to vilify MAGA Christians?
~~~~
“Unholy mix”
The Roys Report promo for Corrupting of American Evangelicalism podcast:
“On this edition of The Roys Report, bestselling author and journalist Tim Alberta joins host Julie Roys to explore a disturbing phenomenon in American evangelicalism. Though once evangelicals understood that the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of men are separate, now the two are being combined into an unholy mix. And sadly, for millions of conservative Christians, America is their kingdom—and proper adherence to their political ideology is their litmus test for Christian orthodoxy!
“. . .major players and institutions within the evangelical movement that have succumbed to political idolatry.
“. . . mixing political advocacy with the gospel is misleading and wrong.”
Huh?!? You wouldn’t advocate for someone willing to abolish slavery and drug and sex trafficking? You wouldn’t advocate for someone willing to bring peace and prosperity and uphold the rule of law? Are these good things outside the bounds of The Roys Report gospel?
“Though once evangelicals understood that the Kingdom of God and the kingdom of man were separate, now the two are being combined into an unholy mix.” Huh?!?
When Jesus came to Galilee proclaiming the good news of God and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God has come near; repent, and believe in the good news” the kingdom of God and the kingdom of man came together in an “unholy mix” and Christians have been trying to sort out what that means.
And when Jesus sat at dinner in Levi’s house, many tax collectors and sinners were also sitting with Jesus and his disciples, for there were many who followed him. Now there’s an “unholy mix” according to the scribes of the Pharisees – guardians of their religion’s image.
Jesus taught his disciples to pray May your kingdom come, may your will be done, as in heaven so on earth? Sounds political, especially when the elements of this world fight against that happening and work to divide Christians with books, documentaries, media campaigns, etc.
Calling Jesus “Lord” is political. Living under his lordship is political.
(I don’t understand Jesus of the gospels as docile, demure and worried about image. He did take offense when the scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul, and by the ruler of the demons he casts out demons.” They were implying unholy things about the Holy Spirit.)
(Note: In the podcast, Tim Alberta and Julie Roys set their disapproving sights on Liberty University, Jerry Falwell Sr., Jerry Falwell, Jr., Robert Jeffress, and Ralph Reed. They don’t talk about Francis Schaeffer, Focus on the Family or other Christians who were engaged early on in the culture and politics.)
The Roys Report put out another NeverTrump article, one written by Jim McDermott promoting a documentary:
‘Bad Faith’ Sounds The Alarm On The Past & Future of Christian Nationalism (julieroys.com)
(BAD FAITH is a feature-length documentary that explores the dangerous rise of Christian Nationalism in the United States. Part archival chronicle, part exposé, the film reveals the secretive political machinery that has relentlessly sought to weaken and destroy American democracy in order to promote its authoritarian vision. Bad Faith – Movie Reviews | Rotten Tomatoes)
Jim McDermott writes:
“In Bad Faith: Christian Nationalism’s Unholy War on Democracy, filmmakers Stephen Ujlaki and Chris Jones trace the origins of Christian nationalism from the Ku Klux Klan in the 19th century through the creation of the Moral Majority, the sudden rise of the tea party and the election of Donald Trump. What they uncover is an essential aspect of our current political situation, one that puts evangelical Christianity in new light.”
(Note: The records of Congress reveal that not one Democrat either in the House or the Senate voted for the 14th Amendment. Three years after the Civil War, and the Democrats from the North as well as the South were still refusing to recognize any rights of citizenship for black Americans.”)
One of its filmmakers, Stephen Ujlaki, spoke in an interview by phone in Los Angeles, about the making of “Bad Faith”. Here are excerpts from that interview:
“When Trump got elected, I was shocked. Nobody thought he had a chance. He was obviously a joke. It was never going to happen. When he got elected, I realized I didn’t really know anything about what was going on. I was in a bubble.
“More than anything, . . . the film was just to find out: How did [Trump} do it, how did he win, and who were the Christian evangelicals (who supported him)? But then I discovered all of this plotting, all of these deals, and the fact that those behind them were anti-democratic from the beginning.”
“Would it be fair to say Christian nationalism’s goal is fascism? Yes. It’s pure fascism. It’s pure power.”
“Bad Faith” . . . tells of how a large swath of religious voters came to believe that President Joe Biden is in league with the devil while Trump is essential to the spiritual salvation of America.”
(Not: Joe Biden is in league with a lot of bad actors as we find out more and more about his dealings. Trump during his first term did “save’ the nation from decline and left Democracy still standing.)
Ujlaki wants us to know that Christian nationalism “has nothing to do with theology, nothing to do with religion, nothing to do with God or with Jesus. I don’t even consider Christian nationalism as a religion. What is its ethos? What is its morality? It’s actually amoral, which is why it uses the church. The church lends it that moral, ethical authority that it doesn’t have otherwise.”
“If you look around you at the divisiveness and the distrust of institutions that exist today in this country, you will realize how incredibly successful they have been in executing their plan. It’s been like a slow-motion revolution in a way, happening bit by bit all over the place.”
The creators of Bad Faith have shown their own Bad Faith by knowingly misrepresenting, with a broad brush, Christians who want to restore America and Chrisitan values when having to deal with Progressivism’s in-your-face values. It appears the documentary, like the books above, was created in time to impact the 2024 election – to scare voters away from anything Chrisitan and Trump.
Never-Trumper David French has continuously railed against Trump. He thinks Trump supporters have “unrighteous rage.” In this self-promoting mea culpa, French uses the divisive language of the Left: “rage.”:
“French, who has now spent the best part of a decade bemoaning the 45th President, now acknowledges the “bond” between Donald Trump and most Republican voters and concludes:
“I don’t regret my arguments against Trump. I’d make them again, and I will continue making them. I do ask myself how I missed the sheer extent of Republican anger. And I’m deeply, deeply grieved by the thought that I did anything in my life before Trump to contribute to that unrighteous rage.”
Do white suburban women and their epicene men find railing against Trump both titillating and necessary to emote their tribal scorn of Trump?
BTW: Democratic strategist James Carville is very concerned that ‘preachy females are to blame for Biden’s polling numbers:
“A suspicion of mine is that there are too many preachy females. Don’t drink beer. Don’t watch football. Don’t eat hamburgers. This is not good for you – the message is too feminine,” Carville said. “If you listen to Democratic elites — NPR is my go-to place for that — the whole talk is about how women, and women of color, are going to decide this election. I’m like: ‘Well, 48 percent of the people that vote are males. Do you mind if they have some consideration?”
‘Preachy females’ blamed for Biden’s polling numbers: ‘This is about driving men out of the Democratic Party’ | Fox News
~~~
“unrighteous rage”?
According to people like French there were no catalysts for MAGA anger. There was no hellish COVID handling with church closings, social distancing, masking and vaccine mandates. There has been no “fundamental transformation” of America. Our children were never indoctrinated with CRT and Queer Theory. There has been no “trans” mutilation of children, no drug trafficking and fentanyl deaths. There has been no FBI monitoring of Catholics who want Latin masses. There has been no massive illegal migration. No highest rate of inflation. There has been no janky lawfare to hamstring Trump and no political persecution. Yeah right.
This Is Fine: Average Salary Required to Own a Home Increased 80.5% Under Biden – Twitchy
The Left, along with the enabling Never-Trumpers, have created the existential crisis they claim Christians on the Right have created. The Left, along with the Never-Trumpers, have created a Constitutional crisis just like what happened before the Civil war. Our country has been exposed to great evil, incompetence, and risk under Joe Biden and the Democrats with the help of the Never-Trumpers who put them in power.
We are told that Christian Nationalism poses “a threat to democracy!” This is projection and a lie. It is the Democrats who are putting political opponents in jail. It is the Democrats who wanted to take Trump off the ballot. It is the Democrats who stole the 2020 election and are working to steal the 2024 election.
15 Secretaries Ignore Subpoenas While Refusal Lands Bannon In Jail (thefederalist.com)
Tell me, is it the Christians who are in control of things or is it the Progressives who taken over every aspect of society with their long march through the institutions? Progressive Christians write against Christians who oppose them calling them an “extremist threat.” But Christians working against Progressivism’s lies and authoritarian ways are not “a threat to democracy!”
Given that it’s an election year, Democrats and Never-Trumpers will unleash every tactic under the sun to disrupt the 2024 election. See the above for a sample. They are franticly trying to keep Trump out of the White House. Trump will take apart the administrative state that rules every inch of our lives, that so enjoys having rule over every inch of our lives.
Who will the Never-Trumpers vote for this November? Will they vote or stay home? Will they vote for the continued destruction of America and more of the Biden regime. Will they vote for neo-con Nikki Haley and more wars? If they vote solely on the basis of character, as they say they do, then who will they vote for? Is there someone who looks and talks Evangelical like the stiff Mike Pence? Ron DeSantis?
It seems that elite Christians, of either political stripe, spend their days with their tribe and in their bubble. And it seems they believe themselves to be the voice of reason, pluralist, inclusive, and magnanimous to a fault. Next to the Trump they portray they come across as good little Christians. And that is why they are loved by the Left and paraded thru MSNBC, CNN, WaPo, NYT, etc. They are controlled opposition.
The image consultants of Build Back Better Evangelicalism have no clue about us Hobbits. They view people from top down – not as one of them. Middle America has been ghosted by them.
God works in mysterious ways, but the elites – the scribes and Pharisees of Christianity – proscribe ways, fundamentalist ways, that God must not work. How sad! My Lord doesn’t need image management. And I don’t need their sanctimonious scolding.
~~~~~
Are people now afraid to put the American flag in front of their home out of fear people will think them patriotic and Christian and nationalist? Fear is the psyop produced by the Left to get people to back off love of their country. Progressives along with Globalist-dominionists have plans for you. Totalitarians include, as I have written about, the World Economic Forum (WEF) and the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Democratic party.
“If you grew up in the 21st century, all you know is our current hangdog, ashamed, self-conscious country, embarrassed by its own shadow, tail between its legs, stooping and supplicating, begging everyone’s forgiveness for its sins.
“But if you were fortunate to have experienced any of the last few decades of the 20th, then you know: it was not always thus! The national vibe (until quite recently!) was cool confidence bordering on arrogance.”
American Swagger – Peachy Keenan’s Extremely Domestic
Independence Day is Thursday. Put your flag out.
Patriotic picture of the day
“After a windstorm last July, the flag in front of our home got flipped up and stuck on the flagpole. My boyfriend, an Air Force veteran, went outside to untangle it. About 15 minutes later, I realized he was still there, admiring the flag and watching the cars go by. I grabbed my camera and took this photo from our kitchen window. My boyfriend had no idea until he came inside, but now he thinks it’s just as idyllic as I do.” —Michele Garrant, Mooers Forks, New York
~~~~~
Evangelicals, after all, have made heroes of those who have smuggled Bibles behind the Iron Curtain, who have sought to evangelize tribes that met them with arrows, and who have engaged in bait-and-switch campaigns closer to home, such as “study skills seminars” offered on college campuses or “neighborhood clubs” hosted in summertime backyards that conclude with an unadvertised gospel call.
The ultimate end of winning souls justifies a sometimes-startling variety of means. One might wonder to what extent this tradition of pragmatic ethical bargaining has enabled evangelicals to support Donald Trump.
Evangelical support for Trump continues to be wildly inconsistent with some basic Christian values. It is also, however, consistent with a combination of fear and exceptionalism—along with a flexible pragmatism—that has been part of the story of American evangelicalism going back to its seventeenth-century roots.
Donald Trump and the Exceptions of American Evangelicalism – The University of Chicago Divinity School (uchicago.edu)
~~~~~
The Left Doesn’t Want You to See What You See
Remember Build Back Better and the Inflation Reduction Act?
The Biden Economy Image Consultants want us to believe Trump will be a disaster for the economy.
But, The Nobel Laureates Strike Out | City Journal (city-journal.org)
Modern Monetary Theory employed by the Biden Regime has created the massive debt and inflation that we and our children and grandchildren must live with.
“Most Americans believe it is unhinged to deliberately destroy the border and allow 10 million illegal aliens to enter the country without background audits, means of support, any claims to legal residency, and definable skills. And worse still, why would federal authorities be ordered to release repeat violent felons who have gone on to commit horrendous crimes against American citizens?
“Equally perplexing to most Americans is borrowing $1 trillion every 90 days and paying 5-5.5% interest on the near $36 trillion in ballooning national debt. Serving that debt at current interest exceeds the size of the annual defense budget and may soon top $1 trillion in interest costs, or more than 13% of the budget. . .
“The Biden years did the country great damage and rendered Biden himself one of the most unpopular incumbent presidents in American history. But his agendas may have fundamentally changed the country for decades, if not longer—and will require tough remedies that may be almost as unpopular as the wreckage they wrought.” – Victor Davis Hanson
The Logic in All the Madness – Victor Davis Hanson
~~~~~
The Character of The Lincoln Project:
21 Men Accuse John Weaver, Lincoln Project Co-Founder, of Online Overtures and Harassment – The New York Times (nytimes.com)
Inside the Lincoln Project: Claims of harassment, sexism, ‘toxic’ workplace (usatoday.com)
Lincoln Project founders knew of alleged harassment months before they claimed (usatoday.com)
Anti-Trump ‘Lincoln Project’ Paid $35,000 to Hackers. (thenationalpulse.com)
Lincoln Project, Co-Founded by ‘Predator’ John Weaver, Funded ‘Bloodbath’ Hoaxsters MeidasTouch. (thenationalpulse.com)
The Lincoln Project: Leadership
Regarding Steve Bannon going to prison:
~~~~~
Water, Rural Rage, and Popular Classes
June 13, 2024
Victor Davis Hanson and cohost Jack Fowler talk about the California water madness, the Gaza pier bust, white rural rage hoax, and why the international leftists hate the popular classes.
Water, Rural Rage, and Popular Classes – Victor Davis Hanson (victorhanson.com)
Home – VDH’s Blade of Perseus (victorhanson.com)
Biography – VDH’s Blade of Perseus (victorhanson.com)
Read this instead:
The Unprotected Class: How Anti-White Racism Is Tearing America Apart: Carl, Jeremy: 9781684514588: Amazon.com: Books
The Unprotected Class – Chronicles (chroniclesmagazine.org)
No wonder, then, that we should expect some sort of similar hoax to arise before the 2024 election. Do not be surprised when told of a “secret” Trump plan uncovered to round up critics in 2025 and send them to “camps,” or lurid revelations about “evidence” that Trump is in worse physical and mental shape than is a debilitated Biden, or some fantastic MAGA plot to implement “voter suppression,” or allegations that the Trump campaign’s “dark money” involves “collusion,” “disinformation,” and “sinister foreign actors.”
How Left-wing Conspiracies Work – Victor Davis Hanson (victorhanson.com)
~~~~~
Watch Young Voters Explain Why They’re Walking Away From Joe Biden and the Democrats (VIDEO) | The Gateway Pundit | by Mike LaChance
I said this would happen:
Outrage as Surgeon General Vivek Murthy Declares Gun Violence a Public Health Crisis
Cindy Wity 
One of these days, These Boots . . .
October 13, 2024 Leave a comment
Unless you’re a Swiftie for Kamala or an Evangelical for Harris or another kind of Never Trump groupie, someone with a head on their shoulders (and not where the light of reality can’t poke through) can imagine the future under Harris-Walz. O’Brien, the grand inquisitor of the totalitarian regime in Orwell’s novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, provides the image:
“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face – for ever.”
You squeal “totalitarian regime!” “That’s why we are not voting for Trump. He will destroy democracy! Christian nationalists will make America about God again! Harris-Walz will save Democracy and keep those pesky Christians out of politics!”
(Maybe you’ve just come from Two Minutes Hate on MSNBC where they loudly voice their hatred for their enemy and their love for super-state candidates. (And yes, another reference to Nineteen Eighty-Four, since wisdom and reason don’t connect at all with the aforementioned. The frenzy of spewing existential anguish and personal hatred does.))
The Boot of Mind Control on Your Face
You squeal “totalitarian regime” and “Trump’s Hitler” because the media’s lies and “threat to democracy” psyop programming have become embedded jackboots stamping down on your subconscious so no objections could be raised. As such, you don’t see that the jackboot is on the other foot. And, you don’t see that the totalitarian regime backing Harris-Walz is pacing in the wings ready to place its boot on your face “for ever!”
The Boot of Suppression on Your Face
Vice President Kamala Harris is threatening to weaponize the Department of Justice (DOJ) against social media platforms failing to censor supposed “hate” and “misinformation” to her liking.
Censorship will be imposed Under Harris-Walz.
You see, your voice and your opinion are detestable to the authoritarian elites. They love to lecture, pontificate, and blather on in the media, in books and articles, in podcasts, and in church-sponsored events. They love the sound of their own voice. They don’t want to hear from you unless you are a journalist asking the “right” questions (and not the right questions.)
(There are those who lecture. And there are those of us tired of being lectured to and being censored.)
The “Save Democracy” party acted to silence Joe and Jill Biden when they replaced Joe with a DEI token. Joe is speaking out now and Dems are not happy, as he messes with their Disney production.
They have tried, by any means necessary, to suppress the voice of Donald Trump who represents the voice of those the elites detest and Democrats take for granted. They will do so again. When he wins the election, they will claim that he’s an “insurrectionist” to keep him out of the White House.
Some Democrats won’t commit to certifying a Trump victory (axios.com)
The 10+ million illegal immigrants who invaded our country under Biden-Harris will supress the voice of the American citizen in the voting booth – by design.
(Dems don’t need Zuckerbucks to swing this election. FEMA under Mayorkas is giving away tax-payer money to illegals – for votes!)
The Boot of Safetyism on Your Face
They want to silence you. They say that when you question and propose a different view that you spread misinformation with the potential to cause dramatic real-world consequences. In other words, prioritizing feelings of safety is reason to censor you. You see, you are unsafe when you say things not in line with the narrative come down from on high. The censors are not unsafe because they have “specialized” insider knowledge. The authoritarian elite want the population to be quiet, afraid, constantly worrying about what is next, and looking to them for answers.
The Boot of Choice Architecture on Your Face
The jackboots of social media and search engine Google have censored/stamped/manipulated out your voice and the truth during COVID and elections.
Mark Zuckerberg, in his letter to Congressman Jim Jordan, wrote about government interference in the free exchange of information:
In 2021, senior officials from the Biden Administration, including the White House, repeatedly pressured our teams for months to censor certain COVID-19 content, including humor and satire, and expressed a lot of frustration with our teams when we didn’t agree.
Election example:
Google Manipulates Search for Hillary Crimes (youtube.com)
It’s no wonder that Democrats hate that Musk’s X is giving people the freedom to speak.
The Boot of Misinformation on Your Face
Half-truths, lying, and creating a pretense of reality are forms of censorship that are blatantly dangerous to our Democracy.
The government – federal, state and local – will mis-inform. To wit: What the New Jobs Report Really Says (youtube.com) The Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Commerce Department, has been the economy’s false witness for years. Does anyone think there has been a real economic recovery since the lockdowns?
During the Trump-Harris “debate” a moderator fact-checked Trump’s claim that crime is up. David Muir cited FBI reports that crime is down. Everyone knows this isn’t true. It is well-known that FBI crime reports are skewed because big cities run by Democrats do not report crime statistics to the FBI.
10-16-2024 FBI update: 80,000 violent crimes not originally counted.
They say that inflation has come down to 2.4% Yet prices have not come down, have they? I knew that the last Fed cut (50 bp) would happen before the election so as to boost the markets and make the economy and current government look good.
The “Save Democracy” party media (NYT, WaPo, The Atlantic, CNN, MSNBC, ABC, CBS, NBC, and their ilk), in service of state power and the “ruling class”, provides only the state-approved narrative (See mind-control video above).” This Boot of their Misinformation is extremely dangerous to our Democracy.
The Boot of Central Planning on Your Face
A full arsenal of censoring (and compelled speech) boots – DEI, ESG, CRT, LGBTQ, licensing, and more -have been deployed by institutions and the state for purposes of culture planning.
Any of the following should be terrifying, unless, of course, you are saying what Big Brother types want you to say. (They love cultural Christians, the ones who talk about love and Jesus and who parrot their narratives!)
State information control/censorship under Harris-Walz:
Three powerful Dems sound major alarm bells over Comrade Kamala’s plans to BUTCHER social media… – Revolver News
Tyler Durden: “We’ll translate “govern” for readers as it essentially means narration control (or official government-approved propaganda)—that is, through the censorship blob at federal government agencies in Washington, DC, the intel community, Silicon Valley’s big tech, fact-checkers, think tanks and “legacy corporate media.
Kerry’s choice of words and tone shows that far-left radicals in the Obama-Biden-Harris team are frightened that their own misinformation and disinformation propaganda jammed through far-left corporate media outlets is no longer sticking as the citizens gravitate to the ‘free speech’ X platform run by Elon Musk for their news in the pursuit of truth after being lied to for decades by their corrupt government and corporate overlords.”
John Kerry Says The Quiet Part Out Loud: “First Amendment Stands As Major Block” To “Govern” | ZeroHedge
From the nasally nostrums of the obnoxious John Kerry:
He said that the problem was unique to democracies because there was an “absence of a sort of truth arbiter, and there’s no one who defines what facts really are.”
John Kerry: If Democrats ‘Win,’ We Can ‘Change’ First Amendment To Fight ‘Disinformation’ (dailywire.com)
Matt Taibbi writes:
WE IGNORE LAWS. It’s what America does. With this in mind, our government has moved past censorship to the larger project of changing the American personality. They want a more obedient, timorous, fearful citizen. Their tool is the Internet, a vast machine for doling out reward and punishment through likes and views, shaming or deamplification. The mechanics are complicated but the core concept is simple: you’re upranked for accepting authority, downranked for questioning it, with questions of any kind increasingly viewed as a form of disinformation.
My Speech in Washington: “Rescue the Republic” (racket.news)
“There is a concerted effort by Democrat Adam Schiff and his colleagues, noting that “the Democrats continue with their sustained efforts to pressure major social media platforms – now about a month ahead of the presidential election.”
California Rep. Schiff and other Democrats demand social media firms CENSOR misinfo and disinfo – NaturalNews.com
From Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Address to the Nation given on Friday, August 23, 2024:
“What most alarms me isn’t how the Democratic Party conducts its internal affairs or runs its candidates. What alarms me is the resort to censorship, media control, and weaponization of the federal agencies. When a U.S. president colludes with, or outright coerces, media companies to censor political speech, it’s an attack on our most sacred right of free expression. And that’s the very right upon which all of our other constitutional rights rest.” RFK
RFK Jr. Address to the Nation: Full Transcript — IM (im1776.com)
The Mindset of the Big Brother-stamping-boot Types
You are to be completely dependent on them and their “expertise.” They are growing the welfare state, accelerated now with 10+ million illegals, to support your dependency. Government-involved healthcare is another dependency maker. Kamala Harris fully embraces government-run, single-payer healthcare.
Who can forget Pajama Boy, An Insufferable Man-Child – POLITICO Magazine ?
As with government backing of student loans creating rising college and university tuitions and more student debt, there is a downside to government involved healthcare:
Former President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) sought to make health insurance more accessible, all while reducing premiums and the government’s budget shortfall, and allowing Americans to keep their preferred medical providers. However, individual market premiums surged, hundreds of billions of dollars were added to cumulative U.S. deficits and seven million consumers had their plans canceled following the ACA’s passage, the Committee to Unleash Prosperity study found.
New Study: Obamacare Caused Millions To Lose Insurance Plans, Premiums To Skyrocket – LifeNews.com
And who could forget . . . Life of Julia, Obama Campaign’s New Online Tool?
Life Of Julia, Obama Campaign’s New Online Tool, Touts Pro-Women Policies | HuffPost Latest News
Did Julia become a Swiftie?
Obama’s ‘Life of Julia’ is the wrong vision for America | CNN
You are to be perpetually adolescent, seen but not heard and totally dependent on the State.
~~~
Right now, we have a ruling elite government that thinks it owns you. It owns your rights. It owns your property. It owns your patents. It owns your body and health. It owns your thoughts and words and beliefs. Put another way, it sees you as a vassal, a serf. As such, you were meant to be stamped on. Under big government-as-lord-and master Harris-Walz, thought will become stamping action.
One of these days, their jackboots are gonna walk all over you.
~~~~~
Big Brother-stamping-boot Types also want to modify you by censoring the natural functions of your body:
. . . a new self-amplifying mRNA (sa-mRNA) COVID jab that create more copies of the modified, synthetic mRNA over extended periods of time, creating higher levels of spike protein and aim to eliminate the need for ongoing boosters.
Funded by BARDA, Japan Approves Next-Generation Self-Amplifying mRNA Jabs – The HighWire
~~~~~
The Self-censored
How can this be? Have religious people been taught not to deal with reality? Are they just passing through, like the chorus says? Are they so heavenly minded they are no earthly good? Are they so passive and feminized that they can’t take a stand.
The Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University has found that millions of religious people, most of whom are Christian, report that they will not vote in November’s election.
The study relates that only 51% of “people of faith,” including Christians, Muslims, Jews, Mormons, and other religious groups, plan on voting. This means that approximately 104 million religious people will not vote.
“The 32 million Christians who regularly attend church services but are not likely to vote,” he said, “represent a far larger margin than the combined number of votes that decided the 2020 election in key battleground states.”
[The study’s lead researcher, Dr. George] Barna added, “If church leaders, family members, and close friends will use their influence to get reticent voters from their churches to cast a ballot on November 5, the election outcome will be meaningfully affected.”
Millions of Christians, religious people say they are not voting in November – CatholicVote org
When Christians were asked to explain their complacency, 68% replied that they aren’t interested in politics, followed by 57% who dislike both presidential candidates, and another 52% who believe their vote won’t make a difference. In a sad sign of where we are as a country, 48% also worry that the election results will be manipulated.
When Christians Don’t Vote, ‘We Open The Door For Every Evil Ideology To Fill The Vacuum’ – Harbinger’s Daily (harbingersdaily.com)
I voted last week. I am a Christian. I voted for Trump/Vance because I want the Biden-Harris-Obama nightmare to end, I want the wicked duo of Harris-Walz kept out of the White House, and the administrative state dismantled.
Beware of the Werewolves in Sheeps’ Clothing: Evangelicals for Harris. They look benign and come across as pure as the driven snow to gain your trust. But these werewolves are out to kill at least one vote for Trump each night. You know them by their howling lies:
“Harris “aligns with our biblical values of loving our neighbors as ourselves and protecting the most vulnerable as we are called to do by Jesus,” while Trump “uses fear and hate to divide and conquer,” Ball said.
“The bottom line: Character still counts. Harris will do what’s best for the country even if it costs her, whereas Mr. Trump will always do what’s best for him, even if it hurts the country.”
The above quote from the Rev. Jim Ball, chair of Evangelicals for Harris, is not just galling it is wildly untrue.
Is this what the Rev. Ball means by Harris “protecting the most vulnerable”?
EXCLUSIVE: Biden-Harris Admin Paves Way For Bureaucrats To Take Gender-Confused Kids From ‘Non-Affirming’ Parents | (dailycallernewsfoundation.org)
Does the Rev. Ball mean how the Border Czar is “protecting the most vulnerable” Americans?
Laken Riley was a 22-year-old nursing student at Augusta University was murdered in February 2024 while jogging on the University of Georgia campus. José Antonio Ibarra, a Venezuelan national who had entered the U.S. illegally, was charged with her murder. The case has led to proposed legislation, known as the “Laken Riley Act,” which imposes stricter immigration laws regarding migrant detention.
Does the Rev. Ball mean this?
Yeah, Kamala is a real peach!
Filmmaker Joel Gilbert speaks up about how Kamala targeted Black communities in CA and sent a mother to jail for taking care of her sick child. “Complete lack of empathy!”
Harris talks about herself using ideological slogans, cackling and flirtation. Trump talks about himself in reference to American citizens and what matters to them. Trump has a human reference point. Harris is an empty pantsuit that is referenced to whatever. There’s no there there.
The Rev. Ball used footage of Billy Graham as a cloak of moral superiority.
Beware of those cloaked in moral superiority!
And there’s this, UGH!:
Character that matters to Americans:
FYI (Language!):
Lawfare case against President Trump was just run through the gauntlet by very annoyed NY appellate judges… – Revolver News
You can no longer rely on the US propaganda media for actual news. Folks, we’re on our own out here. Thankfully, the people most impacted by this violent Venezuelan nightmare are speaking up and telling the truth about what’s really going on—and trust us, it’s a completely different story than the one the fake news is spinning.
Aurora property management company raped by Venezuelan gangbangers finally speaks out… – Revolver News
~~~~~
American Citizenship and Its Decline: The Disappearing Middle Class
On this episode of The Hillsdale College Online Courses Podcast, Jeremiah and Juan discuss the shifting economic roots of the decline of citizenship before introducing Victor Davis Hanson.
Citizenship is rare in human history but essential to free government. Today, the constitutional rule of citizens in America is threatened by a new form of government, unaccountable to the people, in which power is held by a ruling class that seeks to transform our society. In this eight-lecture course, students will examine the origins and history of citizenship in the West and the grave challenges American citizenship faces today.
A large and self-sufficient middle class is essential to citizenship, as it prevents an unstable, binary society of rich and poor. The once thriving American middle class is now vanishing due to high debts, low wages, and government policies that trap citizens in a prolonged adolescence.
American Citizenship and Its Decline: The Disappearing Middle Class – Hillsdale College Podcast Network
~~~~~
Solzhenitsyn wrote with “lucid understanding,” and with no small dose of scorn, about the “Progressive Doctrine,” the inhuman ideology that justified terror and tyranny as no regime or ideological movement had ever justified the killing and repression of real or imagined “enemies of the People.” He showed that the heart of Bolshevism lay in a monstrous coming together of violence and lies that gave rise not to mere dictatorship but to a totalitarianism that transformed betrayal and lying into “forms of existence.” This totalitarianism demanded fierce resistance, both for the sake of liberty and for the right of the human soul to breathe freely, with the dignity afforded it by God.
Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn: Reflections on totalitarianism’s greatest critic | Daniel J. Mahoney, City Journal (city-journal.org)
~~~~~
Former President Barack Obama is urging black men to support Kamala Harris, suggesting that our allegiance should be based on the color of her skin and the chance to “make history.” But I have a simple response to that: my ancestors fought too hard for my right to vote for me to be reduced to a racial checkbox in a political game. I won’t support someone just because they look remotely like me—especially when that person has shown no regard for the real issues facing black communities.
CJ Pearson: Race-Baiting Obama Can Kiss My Black Ass. – The National Pulse
America 2024 – Remember, the FBI said crime is decreasing:
Wisdom from lived experience:
A warning about socialism and immigration—from an immigrant herself | Liz Collin Reports (youtube.com)
Jonathan Turley | Hillary got the censorship regime started.
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Filed under 2024 Current Events, 2024 Election, First Amendment, Political Commentary, Politics, social engineering, totalitarianism Tagged with censorship, Democracy, Donald Trump, Evangelicals for Harris, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech, John Kerry, Kamala harris, news, politics, Trump