From my very first blog post after the 2016 presidential election and continuing to this day, I have spoken repeatedly of the “revelation” that tRUMP, America’s Caligula, has been for me. But the revelation should not be, must not be confined to me. He should serve as a revelation to all of us. The fact that so many have lacked discernment of his revelation is a mystery still to be revealed—though the New Testament’s Book of Revelation can go a long way toward shedding light into this dark corner of American culture.
 
Willful ignorance has played a large role in the blindness of so many millions of Americans. But after his coup, attempted through mindless, likely sociopathic thugs, terrorists, and insurgents charging the U.S. Capital building, only the most willfully blind, deaf, and unfeeling can fail to discern his revelation—a revelation of “the signs of the times.”
 
Some of tRUMP's “insaniacs,” have likened their sociopathic leader to Jesus. This is beyond disgusting and pornographic. It is blasphemous. It is the taking of the name of God in vain to a degree that would possibly enjoin the death penalty upon them if they were living in the Biblical times they claim to love so much. Having said all of that, there is one way in which we can liken the two men, one God, the other a demon from hell.
 
I have quoted the following often, including in my latest Mad State and Blog posts. Jesus is speaking to leading Pharisees and Sadducees.
 
“He answered and said unto them, When it is evening, ye say, ‘It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring,’ O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”[1]
 
Jesus then follows this up with, “there shall no sign be given unto it [this generation], but the sign of the prophet Jonas.”[2] Now, Jesus used this “sign of the prophet Jonas” on more than one occasion and to illustrate more than one point. For example, earlier in his ministry, Jesus had used this “sign” as a lesson concerning his death.
 
“For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”[3]
 
This usage of the “sign” does not fit the context in Matthew 16. In another context, Luke records Jesus’ use of Jonah as a “sign.
 
“For as Jonas was a sign unto the Ninevites, so shall also the Son of man be to this generation.”[4]
 
Here, Jesus himself is a “sign” to Judah as Jonah was a “sign” to Nineveh. But the sign had nothing to do with big fish swallowing little men or God lying dead for three days. So, what sort of sign” was Jonah to Nineveh? As every reader of the Bible knows, Yahweh commanded Jonah to “Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me.”[5] After his fishy detour, Jonah finally arrived in the city and delivered his ominous message.
 
“Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.”[6]
 
Jonah, then, with his Assyrian ministry and message, was a “sign” that if Assyria did not immediately mend its ways, it was subject to utter destruction. A half-millennium later, Jesus served the same role in the life of Judah. He was a sign, as John the Baptist had been before him, that the time for repentance had come. A broom was prepared. Absent Judah’s repentance, God would use the broom to sweep Judah away into the dust bin of history. The only way to survive was to repent.
 
This, in a kind of anti-hero manner, is the sort of revelation or “sign” that America’s mad would-be dictator represents. He signifies all that is wrong with America: materialism, hedonism, arrogance, self-centeredness, self-righteousness, shamelessness, contempt for others, rage, corruption, deceit... on and on it goes. His dark and fictitious and seditious visions of election fraud and the attendant insurrection he instigated, and that his hordes attempted and will continue to attempt, are all “signs.” “Signs” that America as it has devolved cannot endure. “Signs” that the day of repentance is nearly past. “Signs” that it is either “repent or perish.”
 
One can hope and pray that America will learn from and follow the Assyrians’ example.
 
“So the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them. For word came unto the king of Nineveh, and he arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, and covered him with sackcloth, and sat in ashes. And he caused it to be proclaimed and published through Nineveh by the decree of the king and his nobles, saying, ‘Let neither man nor beast, herd nor flock, taste any thing: let them not feed, nor drink water: but let man and beast be covered with sackcloth, and cry mightily unto God: yea, let them turn every one from his evil way, and from the violence that is in their hands. Who can tell if God will turn and repent, and turn away from his fierce anger, that we perish not?[7]
 
When “God saw their works, that they turned from their evil way… God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not.”[8]
 
Observing the “signs of the times” that tRUMP is flashing in neon red, America can still repent. One can hope and pray that it is not too late.  But, as of right now, the “signs” that America discerns “the signs of the times” that tRUMP represents are depressingly absent. From senators and congressmen and women to the basest of the mad insurrectionists, far, far too many remain under the spell cast by the latest of Satan’s spawn, who spews “great things and blasphemies” out of his perverted mouth.[9]
 
“A responsible government—and let’s be frank here, a responsible political party—would be acting in concert to stamp out this threat using every tool necessary and making the transition to a stable successor government as smooth as possible.
 
“Instead what we have is the Republican party doing everything in its power to avoid addressing the threat, making the succession to the Biden administration as challenging as possible, and desperately trying to protect Donald Trump from consequences under the insane rubric of ‘national unity.’
 
“And it’s not just a few ‘bad apples.’ Jake Tapper reports that even the minority of House members who didn’t actively support the coup want to act ‘as if it didn’t happen,’ with scant exceptions….
 
“For months Republicans told the country that they were just ‘humoring’ the president. That there was nothing to worry about. That was a lie, a wish that they were hoping to get away with, since they were too timorous to tackle the threat that was bubbling up before our eyes.
 
“They are running the same play again, right now: Asking that America turn the page, hope for the best, and run out the clock of the Trump presidency. And pray that nothing else bad happens.”
 
“If we haven’t learned what a terrible ‘strategy’ this is by now, then we never will.
 
“The attacks on our country that Donald Trump has agitated for are ongoing.”[10]
 
Yes, one fears that “the day of grace [is] passed with them, both temporally and spiritually”[11] and that our deliverance is little more than that of a thirsty and starving man’s false night-time dream of life-sustaining liquid and nourishment. The post-truth world of delusion is alive and well in the land of the unfree—for it is only truth that will set you free.
 
Even so, come, Lord Jesus!


[1] Matthew 16.2-3

[2] Verse 4

[3] Matthew 12.40

[4] Luke 11.30

[5] Jonah 1.2

[6] Jonah 3.5

[7] Jonah 3.5-9

[8] Jonah 3.10

[9] See Revelation 13.5
[10] “The Attack on Democracy Is Not Over. It’s Still Happening. Right Now,” Tim Miller, thebulwark.com
[11] Mormon 2.15

“‘There’s just something not right about this election.’ That’s what my relatives say. They’re life-long Republicans, the kind of people who cry and pray over school shootings. They voted for Trump, twice.
 
“They won’t admit it.
 
“They remain strategically silent because they know it might cost them access to their grand kids. It’s not about difference of opinion or shared values anymore. We simply don’t know if we can trust their judgment in the world that’s coming, or the one that might already be here.
 
“If you want a dose of reality, consider that while 61 percent of Americans accept the election results, 72 percent of Republicans don’t.”[1]
 
There is much to think on and talk about in this brief quote. For example, according to Pew Research, American Mormons are around 75% Republican. From a personal standpoint, this means that 150 Mormons with whom I share a pew from Sunday to Sunday (at least in non-pandemic times) are Republicans. Now, I have comfortably shared a pew with Republicans my entire life. I tried not to think about it too much, and certainly tried not to put a face on the statistics. I am sorry to say, however, that those days are past. You see, the stakes are higher than they once were. Data suggests that I share a pew with 125 Mormons who voted for tRUMP. Furthermore, data suggests that I share a pew with 135 Mormons who believe tRUMP’s lies about voter fraud and a stolen election, and perhaps a slightly smaller number who believe COVID is overhyped and thus refuse to practice responsible social distancing and mask wearing.
 
So, as I read Jessica Wildfire’s piece, I kept coming back to these two sentences in which she muses: “It’s not about difference of opinion or shared values anymore. We simply don’t know if we can trust their judgment in the world that’s coming, or the one that might already be here.”
 
My children are grown and have their own children. My parent children will have to make some hard decisions about their children and whom they will trust in influencing their children. I will have no say in such decisions. This is as it should be. But, for myself, decisions about whom I will trust to influence my spirit are simple. Unlike Wildfire, I am not uncertain.
 
Jesus once scolded his religious leaders as follows,
 
“When it is evening, ye say, ‘It will be fair weather: for the sky is red.’ And in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather to day: for the sky is red and lowring,’ O ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?”[2]
 
The “signs” indicating what type of man tRUMP was and is have been as clear as a summer cloudless sky. The “signs” of what kind of leader he is have been clearer than a full moon on a clear night. The “signs” that the words that come from his mouth are nothing but lies have been as clear as Satan is evil. The “signs” of the reality of the pandemic are as clear as COVID’s nearly 400,000 corpses that have now begun their disintegration and moldering into dust. The “signs” that the 2020 American election was absent any significant fraud are as clear as tRUMP’s hair and skin are orange.
 
Yet, 7 in 10 of those with whom I am to share a pew, could not discern such simple and obvious “signs.” How am I supposed to trust the spiritual discernment of the 7 in 10 who could not or would not discern such obvious and temporal “signs”? What do such untrustworthy witnesses possibly have to say or teach me about the far more difficult questions about God, about his character, and about the character that he asks us to adopt?
 
No, I am unlikely to ever trust them again. If I listen with even half an ear to what they have to say, it will be some kind of miracle.
 
Make no mistake about it. These untrustworthy witnesses are responsible for their undiscerning choices. But, they have gotten precious little help from those they consider spiritual leaders: bishops, stake presidents, apostles, and prophets. Indications are that these shepherds are in some cases slightly more discerning than the sheep. But, these shepherds have been largely silent and absent, leaving the sheep to fend for themselves as ravenous wolves attacked the flock. No tax exempt statis is worth the slaughter that their muteness has allowed to take place among the sheep.
 
As we have noted before, the Book of Mormon contains in the man, Amalickiah,” a near perfect “type” of America’s tRUMP. In its description of Nephite response to Amalickiah, we have a near perfect “type” of the American right’s response to tRUMP: “they were led away by Amalickiah to dissensions.” However, at this stage the type breaks down, for we are informed that the Nephites were lead away by Amalickiah “notwithstanding the preaching of Helaman and his brethren, yea, notwithstanding their exceedingly great care over the church, for they were high priests over the church.”
 
It is certain that this latter will not be written concerning America’s “Christian” leaders. They have been at the point of the spear, leading the charge in support of America’s mad Caligula. Sadly, it is doubtful that what the Book of Mormon reports concerning the “great care” of “Helaman and his brethren” will be written of current LDS church leaders. And while the next line of the sacred text will surely be written concerning today’s church—“And there were many in the church who believed in the flattering words of [tRUMP]’—I suspect that the one following will not: “therefore they dissented even from the church.”
 
Am I suggesting that there will not be any great dissent from the Church on the part of tRUMP’s followers? I am. Why do I suggest that they will desist from dissent? Because they and their delusions will go unchallenged. Those who have ridden the tRUMP train will go right on, comfortable in their blasphemous delusions, because their leaders will continue to stand mute in the face of tRUMP’s blasphemy, just as they have from the start. They will not call their members to repentance—if they do decide to attempt it, it will be done in such delicate and diluted ways as to make it possible for the delusional to remain comfortably delusional. For this reason, “the affairs of the people” will continue to be “exceedingly precarious and dangerous.” [3]
 
Having deemed the sheep to be untrustworthy, I’ll have to decide how much more trustworthy I deem the mute and absentee shepherds to be.
 

[1] “Donald Trump Isn’t Going Anywhere Anytime Soon,” Jessica Wildfire, medium.com
[2] Matthew 16.2-3
[3] See Alma 46.6-7