“They sold the righteous for silver, hoax Sadly, and destructively, all indications are that just as they did in 2008 and 2009, America’s ruling class intend to abandon the working people of America. They intend to sell them out by providing welfare to the higher bidding corporate interests—interests that scream bloody murder and holy hell when individual America’s are given a pittance in welfare assistance. Unfortunately, the immoral selling out of American workers is not a strictly GOP affair. Schumer, Pelosi, and their merry band of Democrat pick-pockets, having joined the GOP raiding party, have demonstrated once more that there is no “left” left in America—and certainly no “radical left.” Oh, if only there were a radical left! If there were, the Democratic controlled house would pass a real relief bill. They would write and pass a leftist bill, rather than trying to go to the center. When the house passes centrists bills, Mitch and his GOP highway bandits push it right during the following negotiations in the Senate until it is far, far too conservative. Wake up, Dems. Pass leftists bills. Then, when you are finished negotiating with Mitch and his gangsters, the bill has a shot at ending up somewhere in the center, not right of center. If there were a “left” left in this country, working Americans would have received more than the pittance that they were given in the stimulus bills passed by congress and signed by Caligula. What pretense! What a sham. What a con job. The fact that this president, the almighty and unholy Caligula, so readily signed the bill is all the evidence one needs to confirm it as a hoax, to use a vocabulary item very much in vogue these days. The thousand or so bucks and modest increases to unemployment are mere crumbs; a slap in the face of working Americans from sea to shining sea. Tokenism of the worst sort. These measures are wholly inadequate to the challenges that working Americans will face over the coming weeks and months. The little checks that Congress cut aren’t going to cut it. To add insult to injury, Americans who are attempting to apply for assistance are finding that the government, having been purposefully and meticulously spoiled and pillaged by the GOP over the past 40 years, is too inept to get the promised money out in a timely fashion. People are worried. Bills are coming due. Caligula and his band of robbers have already taken “life” out of the “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” equation as thousands die needlessly due to the butcher’s corruption and ineptitude in the early stages of the pandemic, including a murderous shortage of tests. Now, with its pitifully inadequate aid package, congress has removed “the pursuit of happiness” from the equation. One might wonder when the next shoe, “liberty,” will drop, but Wisconsin’s forced election in the midst of a pandemic—an election ordered by a supreme court safely adjudicating through video conferencing—suggests that that part of the equation is already under attack Much, much more is needed to fulfil the promise of America: “the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” This, rather than the level of corporate profit or CEO salaries, should have been in the past and must become in the future the measure by which the health of “the economy” is judged. What should the “left,” radical or not, have done? What would a government with even a sliver of moral authority have done? What would a country that prides itself on being “a Christian nation” do, immediately and happily? It’s a no brainer. The Bible has already provided the principles to lighten the way, we only need apply them through policy. first—moratorium on mortgage/rent Here, then, is the principle. “At the end of every seven years thou shalt make a release. And this is the manner of the release: Every creditor that lendeth ought unto his neighbour shall release it; he shall not exact it of his neighbour, or of his brother; because it is called the LORD’s release. Of a foreigner thou mayest exact it again: but that which is thine with thy brother thine hand shall release; save when there shall be no poor among you; for the LORD shall greatly bless thee in the land…”[1] Furthermore, “If there be among you a poor man of one of thy brethren within any of thy gates in thy land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thine heart, nor shut thine hand from thy poor brother: but thou shalt open thine hand wide unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need, in that which he wanteth. Beware that there be not a thought in thy wicked heart, saying, “The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand;” and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou givest him nought; and he cry unto the LORD against thee, and it be sin unto thee. Thou shalt surely give him, and thine heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him: because that for this thing the LORD thy God shall bless thee in all thy works, and in all that thou puttest thine hand unto. For the poor shall never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, ‘Thou shalt open thine hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to thy needy, in thy land.’”[2] Here is one application. The application of the principles found in these passages will certainly look different today than they might have then. nevertheless, our political leaders must follow the injunction that “Thou shalt open thine hand wide.” In order to follow this divine injunction and live up to the hype of being “a Christian nation,” we should immediately pass legislation to put a halt to all rent and mortgage payment collections. This isn’t anything as “radical” as a Biblical “debt cancelation.” But the “leftist” Biblical principle of debt cancelation does serve as the inspiration for the debt/rent moratorium that will be so desperately needed—needed not just for long-term financial security, but for short-term emotional well-being. Does not, should not the definition of “a good economy” include its contribution to the emotional health of its participants’? Or has the definition fallen so low and become so polluted that unholy mammon is the only consideration and concern. What about the promised “pursuit of happiness”? The application of such Biblical practices could go a long way in confirming our nation as a “Christian,” maybe even a “blessed” nation. Postpone all rent and mortgage payments for the next three months. At the end of three months, reassess, extending the moratorium if needed.[3] Mortgages will eventually be paid in full, their completion only extending a few months beyond that initially contracted. Individuals will not lose their homes by the millions after the crisis has passed, putting more money into the hands of investors who come along and swoop them up for pennies on the dollar. At the same time, rents will be paid in full, in this case, through government vouchers. This will serve to protect some of the most vulnerable citizens in our country. Second--wages A principle, again, from Deuteronomy. And if thy brother, an Hebrew man, or an Hebrew woman, be sold unto thee, and serve thee six years; then in the seventh year thou shalt let him go free from thee. And when thou sendest him out free from thee, thou shalt not let him go away empty: thou shalt furnish him liberally out of thy flock, and out of thy floor, and out of thy winepress: of that wherewith the LORD thy God hath blessed thee thou shalt give unto him…. therefore I command thee this thing to day…. It shall not seem hard unto thee, when thou sendest him away free from thee…”[4] The principle? Again, generosity. Not so sure that this generosity thing is legit; that it applies to a survival-of-the-fittest capitalistic system? Well, you are by no means the first to question the legitimacy of generosity “A man… went out early in the morning to hire labourers into his vineyard. 2And when he had agreed with the labourers for a penny a day, he sent them into his vineyard. And he went out about the third hour, and saw others standing idle in the marketplace, and said unto them; ‘Go ye also into the vineyard, and whatsoever is right I will give you.’ And they went their way. Again he went out about the sixth and ninth hour, and did likewise. And about the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing idle, and saith unto them, ‘Why stand ye here all the day idle?’ “They say unto him, ‘Because no man hath hired us.’ “He saith unto them, ‘Go ye also into the vineyard; and whatsoever is right, that shall ye receive.’ “So when even was come, the lord of the vineyard saith unto his steward, ‘Call the labourers, and give them their hire, beginning from the last unto the first.’ And when they came that were hired about the eleventh hour, they received every man a penny. But when the first came, they supposed that they should have received more; and they likewise received every man a penny. And when they had received it, they murmured against the goodman of the house, saying, ‘These last have wrought but one hour, and thou hast made them equal unto us, which have borne the burden and heat of the day.’ “But he answered one of them, and said, ‘Friend, I do thee no wrong: didst not thou agree with me for a penny? Take that thine is, and go thy way: I will give unto this last, even as unto thee. 15Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with mine own? Is thine eye evil, because I am good?’” Jesus shows us what it looks like to be “good.” He makes clear what it means to be a disciple of Christ; what it looks like to be a “Christian nation.” The current system of unemployment benefit and small business loan applications is a disaster. It is too complex. There are too many people waiting in the same line at the same time. Even a hotdog vender knows to avoid this marketing blunder. Individuals and small businesses are not receiving the promised assistance due to such inefficiencies. The solution is as simple as it is logical: reduce the length of the lines. How? Provide all furloughed employees a full income check through their employers. Rather than 15, or 250, or 2,500, or 12,000 individual company employees applying for unemployment benefits, provide individual employers the funds necessary to meet payroll obligations and pay their employees their full paycheck. This shortens the length of the line from millions to thousands, number one, thus assuring more efficiency. Second, it provides workers with the resources needed to live financially and emotionally secure over the course of the pandemic.[5] True, companies will not make the huge profits that they have come to expect. But they will not go in the hole either (Oh, did I mention that legislation should be passed that puts a moratorium on debt collection from businesses as well? No need for business bail outs. The government can assist to keep them solvent, but should not be in the business of maintaining corporate profits or perverted CEO salaries as bills passed to this point have done). watchdogs Just as an international arms control deal requires verification, so too would a bill such as this. Verify. Verify. Verify. In all of this, government agencies will almost certainly utilize banks—though I would prefer to leave them out the loop entirely. In the current crisis, banks are already showing themselves, as they did before, after, and have since the 2008 financial crisis, to be unscrupulous and corrupt. They are uninterested in being public servants, and care not one wit about the welfare of their fellow citizens—I know I talk about them as if they were people, but, remember, the Supreme court in all its wisdom pronounced corporations to be people; a kind of Frankenstein, to my way of thinking. So, if banks must be used, watchdogs, regulators must be put in place in sufficient numbers and with sufficient bite to keep the banks from giving in to their evil and greedy impulses. I could even agree to modest bonus for those companies most compliant and effective at getting money into the hands of those for whom it was dedicated. Given Caligula’s corruption, even if government agencies rather than banks were utilized to dispense funds, serious oversight would be necessary with regulators, watchdogs, and whistleblowers protected from this most unscrupulous of men. In addition, to looking over the shoulder of banks and/or government agencies, regulators need to be looking over the shoulder of every employer to be sure they are dispensing the proper amount of funds in a timely and appropriate manner. Regulators should work in pairs, one regulator with auditing expertise and one auditor that is a worker. The auditor can add up the figures, the worker can assure that his fellow workers are receiving their fare wages. Talk about job creation! And all for a good purpose: to protect the American worker. it isn’t ‘the economy,’ stupid? I have already alluded several times to Thomas Jefferson’s famous line from the “Declaration of Independence.” “We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” American culture is obsessed with “the economy,” especially that which can be called “good.” We want a “good economy.” But what does a “good economy” look like? It has come to mean that stock market profits are soaring and unemployment is low, with the second being a distant second in importance. But these are false standards. They are not standards that produce “independence” or that gravitate toward either “life,” or “liberty,” or “the pursuit of happiness.” Individuals can be employed but not make enough to meet their financial obligations. This is not independence, or liberty, or happiness. It is captivity and anxious worry. When millions of Americans live under this cloud of captivity and anxiousness, we do not possess a “good economy” no matter how well the stock market is doing or how low the unemployment numbers are. In such circumstances, the right of the “pursuit of happiness” has been stolen from the worker. Such wages are little more than “slave-wages.” That we have imagined otherwise is an indictment against America’s perverted value system. A good economy is one in which financial worries of honest, hard-working workers are rare. A good economy is one in which workers earn enough to live without captivity and the worry of being able to provide the basic necessities of life (I will not start on the true “good”—the redistribution of wealth). How many times have we heard, how many studies have demonstrated that wealthy people are not happier for their wealth. Once one has enough to cover basic life needs, happiness does not go up with each additional dollar earned or spent. The “pursuit of happiness” has nothing to do with stock portfolios or buy backs. If more money does not mean more happiness, then our definition of a “good economy” is and has been for generations, a false definition. We need representatives in government who understand what a “good economy” actually is. First, it is an economy in which every citizen has access to health care for the betterment of life. It is an economy in which every citizen is free of the economic bondage that comes with wondering and worrying whether they will have enough food to eat, shelter over their head, and other necessities of life. It is an economy in which every citizen can pursue true happiness. This is what a “good economy” means. Once this standard has been met, then have at it. Go gamble in the stock market if you must. But don’t expect us to bail you out of trouble when your bets go bad and the money many comes to collect his pound of flesh. And know this, no how much you may win at the blackjack table won’t make you happy. And it won’t make you free. And it won’t assure you of life. conclusion Texans like to say, “Remember the Alamo.” I say, “Remember the French Chateau.” If the ruling class—economic and political—do not repent, then it will be time for the working poor to rise up and burn their houses down. If politicians do not cease and desist from practicing socialism with American business while they withhold the same benefit from working Americans, then the people must start sharpening the guillotine. These American aristocrats can begin by passing bills that benefit all Americans. If this pandemic has taught us nothing else, it has taught us that it is the working class that keep American running… the nurses, the bus drivers, the store clerks, the trash collectors, etc., etc. It is they, in fact, who are dying of the pandemic while their wealthy fellow citizens hide out in their multimillion dollar mansions on America’s sunny beaches. Working Americans do deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. They deserve a better government and better representation than the current horde of GOP and Democrat felons are providing. It’s time these felons straighten up. Otherwise, it will be time to hear another famous saying: “Off with their heads.” [1] Deuteronomy 15.1-4 [2] Deuteronomy 15.7-11 [3] By the way, this is not “self-interest.” I do not have a rent or mortgage payment. [4] Deuteronomy 15.12-15 [5] Again, there is nothing in this for me personally as I have no employer and thus no wage. "Woe unto them that decree unrighteous decrees,
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“These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth. These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet…” (DC 76.103-106) If the reader is squeamish about, sensitive to, or offended by strong language, I suggest that they stop reading now, leave this site, and go stick their head in the sand…. maybe watch a nice meaningless Disney movie… for the cry of pain and the howl of rage the reader will witness in this post is louder and deeper than any other expression of pain and rage that has previously found its way onto this site. People of my faith are fasting, again, on this Good Friday, because of the virus. I am sorry. I want the virus gone too. I don’t wish to see one more person—health care worker, surviving family member, or patient—suffer or die due to the virus. But this fasting and prayer feels like the meaningless prayers we offer every time some maniac goes on a killing spree with his assault riffle. Too little too late. Where were you yesterday? I want to ask. What the hell have you been doing? It was action not prayerful words that was needed yesterday, before the damned thing attacked! People of faith should have had their heads out of the sand, their minds on something other than mammon, their actions rather than their prayers and fasting focused on the devastation being wrought by the damnable sorcerers—right wing politicians and their supporting right wing media personalities—who were actively and openly raiding and pillaging the federal government for the benefit of the wealthy until that government “instituted by God” could no longer protect its hapless citizens against a silent, predicted enemy. Now that the enemy has entered our windows, killing our fellow citizens, the rightwing media sorcerers intend to add shit to their vomit. They now ask us to question what our eyes can plainly see. “Several media figures who are sympathetic to the president have started to question the official death toll, claiming it is being distorted for political purposes, by including in the statistics people dying of other causes. “Fox News’s Brit Hume, who has previously tweeted that New York’s ‘fatality numbers are inflated’, appeared on Tucker Carlson’s late-night show on Tuesday to claim that any person with the virus is being counted as a Covid-19 death ‘regardless of what else may be wrong’. Carlson responded by saying, ‘There may be reasons people seek an inaccurate death count,’ adding: ‘When journalists work with numbers, there sometimes is an agenda.’ [I think he just told on himself] “The rightwing radio host Rush Limbaugh, who received the presidential medal of freedom from Trump, previously dismissed Covid-19 as similar to the ‘common cold’ [if the thing not come to pass, he is a false prophet] but changed tack recently to claim: ‘It’s admittedly speculation, but … what if we are recording a bunch of deaths to coronavirus which really should not be chalked up to coronavirus?’”[1] These damnable deceiving white men and despicable human beings, along with their fellow witches and warlocks on the right, are saying things that they know full well are false. They know, these false prophets of Beelzebub, that what they say is false. They know that those counted as having died of the coronavirus would be alive today had they not contracted the virus. They know it. They know that, in fact, the number of those who have died as a result of the virus is HIGHER than the count suggests. They Know it. They Know it. They know it. They know, know, know it, these sorcerers of blackened soul who serve Satan and do his bidding. These lying bastards have, however, managed to do one good thing for me. They have stripped away one blind spot. I have always been adamantly opposed to capital punishment. But now I see that my problem with the death penalty is not the penalty itself. Rather, my problem is with our corrupt legal system’s immoral selection of victims. So, count me all in, if these sorcerers are the first to be strapped into the electric chair and jolted with 20,000 volts of white hot electricity. Or, burnt at the stake… I’m all in on that too. Maybe they should be buried alive in coffins like those found in the following drone footage. Coronavirus deaths are being overcounted, my ass. Any honest person can see from this footage that this is not business as usual, as these foal deviants would have us believe. “Nothing out the ordinary here!” they lie. “Leftist propaganda intended to hurt our dear Messiah,” they falsely proclaim. As completely despicable as this is, it gets worse, still. For, they will pay no price for their delusions. Their acolytes who watch and listen and gorge themselves on the putrid excrement that they discharge will continue to gleefully feast on their filth. And so, I say to and of these damned human viruses who have, do, and, unless stopped, always will spew their Satanic lies, as well to their acolytes who prop them up… to them I say, “Damn you to hell”! Understand you sorcerers of the dark arts, and those of you who worship at their unhallowed feet. When I say, “damn them to hell,” I am not being rhetorical. I mean it. This is my curse pronounced upon you. You had better hope there is no God in heaven who hears the righteous plea that the wicked and their evil machinations come to a screeching halt; for this will be my request to God during my Good Friday fast. “Oh, God. Damn them to hell. Today. Let the plague feed on them. Gnaw at them body and soul. Let their faces grimace, let their teeth grind, let them drown, alone, in their own putrid bodily secretions.” I can hear the shocked and offended response now. “Oh, what a terrible thing to feel and say on Good Friday. What a horrible prayer to offer. This is a day when we should focus on Jesus and his love for us—a love he proved through his most horrific pains and suffering and death.” Indeed. I do see Jesus. I see him up there, nailed to that cruel cross. And I see the men at the foot of the cross. The men who put him there. I see the mob that encouraged them with their support. And I see that such vile specimens of human beings are very much alive today, legislating corruption from congress, arrogantly prancing about in the White House, spewing filth from their chairs on FOX, uttering blasphemous lies from behind their high tech microphones… and the mobs, eating it up. Wizards and witches. Sorcerers, all. Set the pyre on fire. Roast them alive. [1] “Fauci dismisses 'conspiracy theory' of overstated US Covid-19 death toll,” Oliver Milman, the guardian.com “But there were false prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies… and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken of. And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you: whose judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not” (2 Peter 2.1-3). introduction
By now, my love and appreciation for the Psalms is well-known to those who visit this site. There is good reason to accept Luther’s judgement concerning the Book of Psalms. He suggested that it might be “called a little Bible. In it is comprehended most beautifully and briefly everything that is in the entire Bible. It is really a fine enchiridion or handbook.”[1] In addition to its encompassing doctrinal content, another of the book’s strengths is that no matter how distant the reader may be from the its origin, it remains, almost miraculously, so readily available for personal application. This, it seems, is particularly true of the King James Bible with its lovely style of translation. While the KJV makes personal application of the Psalms easy, it also, at times, obscures original applications and settings of individual psalms. Psalm 101 is a classic example of the strengths and weaknesses of the KJV’s translation of the Psalms. With the KJV’s “I will walk within my house with a perfect heart,” and “I will not know a wicked person,” an individual can apply the psalm to their private life and commit themselves to a life of personal integrity. The world might be a better place for it. However, the Psalm’s original and near certain public sitz-im-leben is largely obscured for the casual, devotional reader. The original speaker in Psalm 101 is certainly a Jewish king. The setting is public and royal. In the psalm, a king commits himself publicly to principles of good governance. Therefore, as useful and beneficial as the psalm is for effecting personal application and private behavior, it is even more applicable to matters of public policy and governance. This Psalm can serve both the political figure who would lead, and the private citizen who must make choice of candidates. Political figures and the modern electorate can be held to account by how closely they adhere to the principles found in this psalm. The specific commitments to good governance that the king makes in this psalm are high and virtuous. Even a cursory reading of the Hebrew Bible reveals that few if any of Israel’s or Judah’s kings lived up to the high ideals found in this psalm. The Hebrew Bible is a testament to the fact that both kings and the nation’s citizenry were measured by such “standards” as are found in this psalm and that they and it paid a high price for their deviancy. Notwithstanding these past failings, the ideals expressed, and commitments made in this psalm are as valid, even mandatory, today as they were then for the maintenance of a well-functioning society. In this homily, then, we will not only examine the ancient king’s commitment to good governance, but how the principles of good governance can be applied to public policy and good governance in today’s world. This Psalm will be used as another of the Bible’s many “standards” against which we can measure and judge current public officials’, their policies, and their actions, along with those of the electorate. We will measure these modern public officials and the electorate that impower them by this standard, not because we expect said officials and societies to “be Biblical,” but because we expect them to be moral. the king’s person We can profitably divide the psalm into two parts. In the first, verses 1-4, we hear the king’s expectations of himself and the commitment he makes to fulfill them. In the second part, verse 5-8, we hear the king’s expectations and commitments for his administration and its necessary officialdom. He will expect all who work in his administration to be guided and judged by the same divine standards as himself. The king shares his expectations with and makes commitments directly to Yahweh. The king knows exactly what Yahweh wants and expects. The king commits himself to complying with Yahweh’s wishes and expectations. “Permit me to laud fidelity and good governance. Let me, YHWH, speak what is music to your ears.” Among the commitments that the king, himself, makes are the following. He will show fidelity to the citizenry—and thus to God, Himself. He will have purity of motivation, soundness and honesty in action. In governing, he will subjugate all personal desires and stifle all self-aggrandizement. The king promises that he will shun and exorcise every thought, intention, or action that might do harm to the nation as a whole or any of its private citizens. The king knows that the famous adage is true: “the buck stops here.” He knows that he sets the tone; that his administration will take on the aspects of his character. Indeed, generations to come can take on the aspects of his character. No one says it any better than the Book of Mormon’s Mosiah II. “For behold, how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed…. Yea, remember king Noah, his wickedness and his abominations, and also the wickedness and abominations of his people.”[2] Here, we wish to call to mind a refrain that we hear over and over in the histories of the Hebrew Bible. Notwithstanding its ubiquity, the refrains import is too often lost on us. Rehoboam “did evil”[3] Abijam “walked in all the sins of his father [Rehoboam].”[4] Ahaziah “did evil in the sight of the LORD, as did the house of Ahab, for he was the son in law of the house of Ahab.”[5] God “shall give Israel up because of the sins of Jeroboam, who did sin, and who made Israel to sin.”[6] Nadab “did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father [Jeroboam], and in his sin, wherewith he made Israel to sin.”[7] Baasha “did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of Jeroboam, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin.”[8] Omri “walked in all the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, and in his sin wherewith he made Israel to sin…”[9] Ahaziah “did evil in the sight of the LORD, and walked in the way of his father [Ahab]… and in the way of Jeroboam the son of Nebat, who made Israel to sin.”[10] We could keep going, but you get the point. Kings/political leaders set precedents. Those precedents are followed by those in the respective administrations and by populations at large. So, the king who speaks in Psalm 101 commits himself to good governance both for the good of those he governs and those who officiate in his administration. the king’s administration Having committed his royal self to divine principles of good governance, the king turns his attention to his administration and the government officials who surround him. In verses 5-8, he commits himself to assuring that those who serve in his administration abide by the same divine principles of good governance to which he has committed himself personally. The king will demand that civil servants exercise their power in government with humility, honesty, and justice. Arrogance and self-serving will not be tolerated. Official’s counsel in recommending public policy and governmental actions must be based on honest and open reasoning. There must be no deception in their giving of counsel or in their dealings with citizens. Officials must not attempt to advance themselves or their interests through slandering others. The king will constantly be on the lookout for the most honest citizens, whom he will then recruit into his service. Any public official who will not abide by the divine principles of good governance will immediately be removed from office and lose all power to influence policy or harmfully effect the individual citizen. application for today Perhaps the reader has grown weary of my repetitiveness on this point. If so, I apologize. But I must say it once more. There was a time—a pre-2016 time—when I, having arrived at this stage of the homily, would have written a conclusion and been done with it. In my mind, I would have hoped that the reader would make direct personal application to his or her private and public life, but I would have refrained from trying to do so for them. But, that was then, this is now. Everything has changed post-2016. We no longer have the luxury of basking in the wisdom of scripture while avoiding the, at times, painful introspection that scripture demands. We must, both for self and society, boldly hold the mirror of scripture up to our faces and confront head on the reflection we see there. We must, as God has always intended, allow the word of God to read us, rather than settling for our simply reading it. “… the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.”[11] So, what does God see when he looks into the heart of our society? How does scripture read us? And what do we see when we look into the mirror of Psalm 101? I will answer these questions with more questions. I only ask that the reader be honest. How does the occupant of the White House—the man I refuse to call by any name other than the appropriate, Caligula—how does he measure up to the standard established by God and expressed by the Jewish King in Psalm 101? Has he “devoted himself to sound policy”? No! How sound were his coronavirus policies in the early stages of the pandemic? How many citizens will physically die because of his self-concerned deceptions? Does he act out of “pure motives”? Does he give a thought to anyone other than himself? Is he motivated by anything other than self-aggrandizement—he who seems most interested in trumpeting the fact that his press briefings have been getting higher Nielsen ratings as of late than the season finale of “the Bachelor,” while being wholly uninterested in comforting those who are anxiety laden over the pandemic and mourn the loss of loved ones? No! Does he “allow harmful counsel” to have a “settled place” in his administration? Yes! Having welcome the counsel of hateful white nationalist racists in his administration, what kind of harm—life-time psychological damage at a minimum—has he perpetrated upon innocent refugee children fleeing murder, rape, and pillage? How many of their parents has he sent back home to be murdered, never to see or be seen again by grieving children? Need I ask about his relationship with the truth? No! There is no question. It is non-existent. With every breath he takes, he “acts out of deception.” However many citizens the virus may sicken and kill as a result of Caligula’s initial deceptions about its dangers, far, far more have already been sickened, some mortally, by his poor example of incessant lying. “How much iniquity doth one wicked [president] cause to be committed”! And what of his administration? How does it measure up to the Lord’s standard of good governance as depicted in Psalm 101? Has Caligula made any attempt to find, recruit, and enlist honest individuals in his government? No! Rather, he has banished one honest public servant after another from his administration. Truth felling is a death sentence for anyone “serving” (“devouring” would be more apt) in this putrid and corrupt administration. Those with whom he does not catch up, leave of their own volition in droves, unwilling to dirty themselves in the filthy mire he scatters and spews everywhere. Has Caligula made any attempt to find and root out dishonest individuals from his government? Have those in his administration put aside their self-interests to serve the public? No! His is an administration, not of the swamp, but of the cesspool. It is, hands down, the most corrupt administration in America’s long history of corruption. It is a veritable cornucopia of secret combinations, sacrificing the good of the whole for the selfish interest of a few. Dishonesty is rewarded, often with commutations of guilty verdicts and the just punishments that the guilty deserve. We could go on for pages and pages—I have done so all over the pages of this site. But the facts are undeniable. There is no way that Caligula, his administration, or, for that matter, the nation he further pollutes measures up to the divine standard of good governance as found in Psalm 101. It is not even close. Not by a long-shot. No! No! And NO! Sadly, the very people who should know it best—“Christians” of Bible thumping fame—have dove into Caligula’s cesspool head first, eyes wide open, mouths drinking and spewing his filth. conclusion The Book of Psalms is a most extraordinary book. Its devotion to God is limitless. Its ability to speak to the hopes and fears of men and women of all ages and eras is immense. Tens of millions, hundreds of millions, perhaps billions—including the greatest of all, the Lord Jesus Christ—have found its words making their way into their own heart-felt prayers as they have sought to know God and invite him to minister in their individual lives. In our wise use of the Book of Psalms for these important, nay essential devotional purposes, we have sometimes overlooked the profound insights it provides into private and public morality. It has much to say about such matters. In this homily, we have looked at one psalm, the one hundred and first. In it, we have witnessed an ancient Jewish king’s bold act of faith in God as he committed himself and his administration to godly principles of good governance. After briefly cataloging and examining these divine principles, we have, all too briefly, held the mirror of scripture up to ourselves, our nation, and our nation’s leaders, and asked, “What do you see?” “Do we, does it, does he measure up to the Lord’s standards of good governance?” To say that the only possible honest answer—a resounding, “No!”—is disheartening is an understatement of epic proportions. Our deviancy from divine standards approaches suicidal. This is all the more so given the nation’s long and storied history of priding itself as a “Christian” nation. The deviancy, then, with scripture looking us directly in the eye, takes on the air of blasphemy; society’s suicidal rush to destruction: apocalyptic. Indeed, “…it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them.”[12] If such deviancy does not produce in us tears of sorrow and broken hearts yearning for repentance, it certainly brings tears to a heart-broken God. “How often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate.”[13] “For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there? Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered? Oh that my head were waters, And mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”[14] “O Lord God, how long wilt thou suffer that such wickedness and infidelity shall be among this people? O Lord, wilt thou give me strength, that I may bear with mine infirmities. For I am infirm, and such wickedness among this people doth pain my soul. O Lord, my heart is exceedingly sorrowful; wilt thou comfort my soul in Christ. O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come upon me, because of the iniquity of this people.”[15] “O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; O God, to whom vengeance belongeth, shew thyself. Lift up thyself, thou judge of the earth: render a reward to the proud. LORD, how long shall the wicked, how long shall the wicked triumph? How long shall they utter and speak hard things? and all the workers of iniquity boast themselves? They break in pieces thy people, O LORD, and afflict thine heritage”[16]. [1] Luther’s Works, 35:254 [2] Mosiah 29.17-18 [3] 1 Chronicles 12.14 [4] 1 Kings 15.3 [5] 2 Kings 8.27 [6] 1 Kings 14.16 [7] 1 Kings 14.26 [8] 1 Kings 15. [9] 1 Kings 16.26 [10] 1 Kings 22.52 [11] Hebrews 4.12-13 [12] Revelation 13.7 [13] Matthew 23.37-38 [14] Jeremiah 8.21-9.1 [15] Alma 31.30-31 [16] Psalm 94.1-5 “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7.16-20). Americans represent 4% of the world’s population, but 20% of reported corona virus cases. One might argue, as some do, no doubt, that this is the result of reporting: under-reporting in other parts of the world, and accurate reporting here in the good ole’ US of A. Really? That’s going to be your “defense”? You’re going to claim American honesty and accuracy in reporting from the current immoral regime? My God, we are in deeper shit than I thought. Oh, I can buy the bit of under-reporting elsewhere. But accurate reporting here? With Caligula in charge? The “Misinformation Man”? Here is just a taste of the coronavirus poop our reporter-in-chief has fed us over the past two months. “We have it totally under control.” [Caligula, Jan. 22] “We're in great shape in our country. We have 11, and the 11 are getting better.” [Caligula, Feb. 10] “You may ask about the coronavirus, which is very well under control in our country.” [Caligula, Feb. 25] “It’s going to disappear. One day — it’s like a miracle — it will disappear.” [Caligula, Feb. 27] “Anybody that needs a test, gets a test. They’re there. They have the tests. And the tests are beautiful.” [Caligula, March 6][1] Remember this bit? Caligula claimed that the virus was “an unforeseen problem.” that “came out of nowhere.” [March 6] “We’re having to fix a problem that, four weeks ago, nobody ever thought would be a problem.” [March 11] “It’s something that nobody expected.” [March 14][2] Hmm? Funny. His intelligence community was warning him. “Lights were blinking red.” Don’t believe your eyes or ears, Orwell? Consider this. “Late last year — long before most people had heard of the new coronavirus now sweeping the globe — scientists in Germany sprang into action to develop a test for the virus that was causing an unusual respiratory disease in central China. “They had one by mid-January — and labs around the country were ready to start using it just weeks later, around the same time that Europe's most populous country registered its first case…. “The numbers are remarkable: As confirmed cases in Germany passed 71,000, the death toll Wednesday was 775, according to a tally kept by Johns Hopkins University. In contrast, Italy has reported almost 106,000 infections and more than 12,400 deaths, while Spain has more than 102,000 cases with over 9,000 deaths.”[3] The crap Caligula has been feed us is not “misinformation.” It must never be called anything so banal. It is far more sinister and lethal. It is authoritarianism style disinformation. Plain and simple. People, many people, were always going to die as a result of the pandemic. But Caligula’s instinctual lying and natural ineptitude—relying on his putrefying gut rather than reason--will prove deadly to tens of thousands of Americans. Even if we accept the bit about reporting, it likely means that with 4% of the world population, America will still end up with 3 or 4 times that percentage of infection—remember, we are weeks, or more, from the peak of infection and death. The virus that goes by the name tRUMP, is far more deadly than that that goes by the name of Carona. MAGA, my ass. How, in God’s name, is the evil fool still in office? For the life of me, I can’t understand how, in responding to surveys, so many Americans say that they think Caligula is doing a good job with the pandemic. His performance has been disastrous. Surely the high marks he has received for such deep deception and pathetic performance is one of the great miracles of our time, ranking right up there with Moses’ parting of the Red Sea and Jesus’ walking on water. Actually, as too many American “Christians,” have become members of the great leader’s cult, these are bad examples. Said “Christians” might actually mistake my sarcasm for genuine compliment toward the loathsome little man. He has, indeed, waged war and overcome American “Christianity.” “And they worshipped the dragon which gave power unto the beast: and they worshipped the beast, saying, ‘Who is like unto the beast? Who is able to make war with him?’ And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him… And he opened his mouth in blasphemy against God, to blaspheme his name, and his tabernacle, and them that dwell in heaven. And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations. And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. If any man have an ear, let him hear.[4]” Good Riddance to American “Christianity’s” decades long reign of blasphemy. But there are better similitudes for Caligula’s miraculous self-preservation. For example, it seems that we would be better off looking to the miracles of John the Revelator’s beastly anti-Christ, who “Deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by the means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast.”[5] His survival is miraculous. His principle supporter, the prince of darkness, is strong. Oh, and while we’re on the subject of anti-Christ… I used to wonder what it is about them that makes them so charismatic, makes their slight-of-hand, their sorcery, their deceptions so effective. But the present anti-Christ that occupies the Whites House has dispelled my wonder. It isn’t about this anti-Christ’s charisma at all. It is about the society that he inhabits. The anti-Christ is simply a reflection of the society in which he slithers. He is one of the peoples’ own. He pipes a song that the people were already humming to themselves. Anti-Christ and people are one, and the same. And one more teeny, tiny thing, if I may… It is incorrect to speak of “the” anti-Christ. There are many more than one of them. And more than ‘incorrect,” it is downright dangerous to think of such men and women as those who rhetorically deny the existence or power of Christ. An anti-Christ is known by his or her works/fruits, not by their rhetoric. Rhetoric is cheap, as James reminded us. By any objective measure, Caligula’s “works” are anti-Christ. He fruits, deadly poisonous. He would be pleased to hear this, obviously. The thin-skinned insecure little man doesn’t care to be criticized or questioned. He becomes incensed when reporters question him about his “works.” Just imagine how he is going to feel about the life exit interview that Jesus will someday conduct with him. Somehow, I doubt that he will be able to lie, gaslight, bluff, or bully his way through that interview. How many women did you sleep with “consensually”? How many women did you sleep with forcibly? How many lives did you destroy with your corrupt business practices? How many lies did you tell?—oh, never mind, I see that your tally sheets of lies were already filled before you even took the office of president. How many closet racists did you empower and give voice to by your own irresponsible, false, and hateful racist rhetoric? How many children did you psychologically scare for life due to your immoral immigration policies? How many refugees did you murder by sending them home to be killed? How many people did you kill in the 2020 coronavirus pandemic because of your initial lies about its seriousness—lies that flowed from your concern with your own image rather than of saving lives? Well, on and on it will go. It won’t be pretty. Hope he likes bottomless pits. [1] Source: “11 to 100,000: What went wrong with coronavirus testing in the U.S.,” Kelly, Cahlan, and Samuels, washingtonpost.com [2] Source: "Analysis: Trump says the pandemic crisis was 'unforeseen'--but lots of people foresaw it," Daniel Dale, cnn.com [3] "Mass testing, empty ICU's: Germany scores early against virus," Frankk Jordans, Associated Press [4] Revelation 13.4-9 [5] Revelation 13.14 “Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?... do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say—Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth—and that he will save you? (Alma 5.15, 17) introduction On Sunday, people of my faith, I suppose by the millions, conducted a day of fasting and prayer. They fasted and prayed that a merciful Father in Heaven stretch forth His mighty hand and allay if not outright halt the devastating worldwide spread of the coronavirus. I have asked myself, “Do I believe God can do so?” Yes, I believe He does possess the capacity. “But,” I wonder, “should He?” “Does He have the right?” Or, put differently, “Would doing so be the right thing to do?” Perhaps we could ask, “Does He possess the will?” These last questions are more difficult, and ones that are above my paygrade. In the end, I can do no more than plead, submissively, “Thy will be done.” I am tempted, I admit, to rebel against this final solution. I am tempted to play God. I have asked myself these questions in light of another question that I asked and answered long ago. “Do I believe God ‘causes’ disasters?” “Does he bring disasters as a call to repentance?” Bringing the questions up to date, I could ask, “Did God ‘cause’ the current pandemic as a call to repentance?” These questions elicit a resounding, “No!” Notwithstanding scriptural rhetoric, I do not believe that God causes disasters in order to call his children to repentance. I do not believe that God has a huge “punishment console” in front of him with buttons he can push when a call to repentance is needed. Does He have a console to stop them? I don’t know. cause and effect—outlining a process Now, to be clear, I do not believe that anyone “caused” the pandemic. The Chinese did not cause it. Caligula did not cause it. The electorate’s disastrous decision to elect such a sick and perverted man did not cause it. It was coming no matter who governed where. It was coming to America no matter who was sitting in the white house. Health officials have been vainly warning of this for years—years before Caligula was even a twinkle in the electorate’s eye. The virus is simply part of the natural world. There is no need to blame anyone, no man, woman, child, group, nation, or God for the virus or the pandemic whose charge it leads. Having said all that, I do believe that the severity of the current pandemic is “caused.” The severity of the pandemic is, in large measure, a result of human choices. The choices, decades in the making, in preparation for and response to the pandemic have been pathetic. These choices—preparatory and responsive—have been infused with sinfulness. There can be no doubt. Sin has made the pandemic more severe than it might have otherwise been. I’ll not argue about this assertion. I’ll not hear any arguments against it. Any argument against it is less that a puff of air. My stubbornness might lead the reader to stop reading right here and now. So be it. But, if the reader is curious, I will try to explain. I will do so as simply as I can, for that is the only way I can understand it myself. I am going to outline, in reverse,[1] a process of “cause and effect” that leads to our current predicament. I am going to use my own country, the U.S, as it is the one with which I am most familiar. It may look different in different countries. A pandemic sickens millions of Americans,
killing tens of thousands more than would be the case under a moral and competent leadership[1] The president and his administration, more concerned with the settling of scores, propping up the president’s pathetically fragile ego and the ungodly profit margins of the wealthy for purposes of his reelection continues to dawdle The president and his administration, more concerned with propping up the president’s pathetically fragile ego, and propping up the ungodly profit margins of the wealthy for purposes of his reelection refuses to act early when warned by health and intelligence agencies of a looming crisis[2] The nation elects an unquestionably and demonstrably immoral and unprincipled man as its president as he gives voice to their self-induced frustrations The nation grows dissatisfied and frustrated with its government Consistent with the new political and religious ideologies, individual greed, and rejection of community (including racism), public officials systematically starve government of needed financial resources, thus reducing government’s capacity to function appropriately. Agencies so starved include those related to human health and pandemic response The nation elects public officials who, discerning the nation’s mood, run on platforms that are hostile to government and contrary to good governance[3] Greedy for more materialistic vanities, chaffing at the restraints community places on induvial appetites, less inclined to help others through government tax-based programs, and heeding idolatrous ideologies and false religions, the nation’s citizenry calls for less government Making virtue of vice, calling good evil, and evil good, secular economic ideologies are developed and “Christianity” corrupted in order to justify the nation’s appetite for and addictions to materialistic consumption[4] The nation, addicted to consumption, demands more and more and more. The nation grows rich [1] At this point, it seems this is the best case scenario. Health officials today warn that the deaths could add up to 100 to 200 thousand. Of course, for too many Americans, “experts” of all strips are not to be believed. After all, it is from the gut that all true thinking and truth comes. [2] This is beyond rational dispute [3] “Government is not the solution to our problem, government is the problem.” [4] Economic Neoliberalism and Prosperity Gospel among them. “And there were exceedingly many prophets among us. And the people were a stiffnecked people, hard to understand. And there was nothing save it was exceeding harshness, preaching and prophesying of wars, and contentions, and destructions, and continually reminding them of death, and the duration of eternity, and the judgments and the power of God, and all these things—stirring them up continually to keep them in the fear of the Lord. I say there was nothing short of these things, and exceedingly great plainness of speech, would keep them from going down speedily to destruction. And after this manner do I write concerning them” (Enos 1.22-23). Note: Please don’t get me wrong. Notwithstanding scriptural rhetoric ascribing such things to God, I am not saying that “God sent a pandemic to call a generation to repentance.” I do not believe in any such god—little g. But a pandemic can certainly serve to turn one’s heart back to God and the principles he has given us. He has given us ethical principles by which to live. In his infinite wisdom, he has given us principles that he knows make for stable, healthy functioning societies. Because we have ignored these principles, selling our souls for vanities of all kinds, built up churches and abusing our more vulnerable fellow citizens in the process, when a challenge to our society naturally comes, we are unprepared for the challenge. We have been too busy sinning to build and upkeep the watchtower. So, the enemy has come upon us unawares.[1] “After this manner do I write concerning them.” This is how Enos ended his lamentation concerning the impervious hardness of his people. There is not the slightest doubt that Enos would say much the same if he time-traveled into American society as it has devolved today. No matter how much evidence has bombarded them on a daily basis over the past three years, somewhere between 30 and 35% of the American electorate have been impervious to warnings concerning Caligula’s deeply immoral, profoundly dishonest, and grossly incompetent governance. As I, from my self-isolation, watch the coronavirus pandemic unfold, I fear that the day of “exceeding harshness” in “preaching and prophesying”—a day in which I and many others have been raising a warning voice—has come to end. Because the preaching and prophesying has gone largely unheeded, it may just be that the real thing is now upon us. The “preaching” may come from the “voice of pestilence.”[2] One fears that it is just this kind of lamentation that we will now hear far too often. “Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. ’For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.’”[3] I am reminded of another nation that were brought to lamentation after repeated warnings and unheeded calls to repentance. This lamentation was heard through thousands upon thousands of open windows. “And Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt; for there was not a house where there was not one dead.”[4] Jeremiah did not wish the lamentation for his fellow citizens. When it came, it brought him no pleasure. “Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!”[5] Moses did not wish this upon the recalcitrant Egyptian empire. He warned thrice, thrice more, and thrice again. No, none hopes for any such repeat performance today. Yet, nothing has penetrated the impenitent hearts of Caligula’s disciples. One hopes that it will not take a deceased friend, grandfather, mother, father, sister, son, or daughter to awake their sense of decency and decide that this evil Caligula is unfit for governance and must be removed from office—removed for the health and safety of the body politic. However, with news today that a sizable number of Caligula’s advisors have reprehensively advocated for more aggressive military actions against an Iran reeling from the coronavirus almost brings one to despair, fearing that the day of repentance has passed a stubborn nation by. [1] Actually, it was not “unawares.” The dastardly evil man in the White house was warned months ago, but he would not take heed, sinfully being more concerned with his own prestige and stock portfolio than the lives of his fellow citizens. [2] See DC 43.25 [3] Jeremiah 9.20-21 [4] Exodus 12.30 [5] Jeremiah 9.1 “And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to hearken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world! Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths! (Helaman 12.3-5). “The prophets utter oracles out of an intent to deceive; I am going to be perfectly honest. Say things as I see them. For many, my observations and, finally, my prayer will not be pleasant. The truth can be a brutal thing. First, we need to understand this. There is not a single individual who lived in “Biblical Times” that would not identify Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, Laura Ingraham, and all the other pundits on right-wing radio or over on FOX—or, as I call it, WOLF—as prophets. These ancients would do so based upon their observations of the speech of these opinion makers and the ‘reverence’ with which their audience, or disciples, hear and follow them. In very point of fact, while not using such “sacred” language as “prophet,” the audiences/ disciples of such “news sources” possess an attitude toward these societal vampires that exactly parallels the ancients’ attitude toward prophets. Unfortunately, they are false prophets. I do not understand for the life of me how these vipers have survived; maintained their power over their audiences as long as they have. They have repeatedly been caught in one lie after another. Their survival, I suppose, can be credited to their audience’s enjoyment in having their ears itched.[1] Now, once more, in real time as it were, we are witnessing their lies and deceptions. Their dishonesty and lack of integrity. We have seen it most recently in the abrupt shift in their rhetoric on the coronavirus pandemic. Ten days ago, aping their idol, Caligula, in his lying and irresponsible rhetoric, they refused to acknowledge it as “pandemic,” and prophesied that it was a hoax—one of Caligula’s favorite words, rivaled only by the equally unjustified “witch hunt” and “fake news.” Caligula and his pack of lying scoundrels—and this is being far too polite—might just as well have lived in Jeremiah’s Jerusalem. “For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, ‘Peace, peace;’ when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush: therefore they shall fall among them that fall: at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the LORD.”[2] As it turns out, it was the false vision infecting the hearts of FOX’s wolves’ that was the hoax. The deadly threat of the virus wasn’t a hoax after all. Certainly, no Democrat conspiracy. So, what do we hear from them now? It’s an emergency of the first order. Why the shift? Their god, Caligula, has spoken a new word, and his wish is their command. Unfortunately, their shift has come too late. Lies have consequences. No matter how much they change their tune now, people will die because of their previous lies and the delays those lies caused in a wise and sane response to the threat. Yes, a wise and sane society would have long ago gotten rid of these false prophets of false profit. Is it too late? For some, yes. Some will die because of the lies they told, and Caligula’s lies that they passed on. But I have to hope it is not too late for our society. However, measures must be taken to defeat the FOX virus. I have quoted Moses warning before, but it is particularly appropriate in the present circumstances. “But the prophet, which shall presume to speak a word in my name, which I have not commanded him to speak, or that shall speak in the name of other gods, even that prophet shall die. And if thou say in thine heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?’ When a prophet speaketh in the name of the LORD, if the thing follow not, nor come to pass, that is the thing which the LORD hath not spoken, but the prophet hath spoken it presumptuously: thou shalt not be afraid of him.”[3] Make no mistake about it, right-wing radio and FOX’s vipers have been speaking in the name of a god. In the view of far too many “Christians,” they spoke the thoughts and words of their God, Jesus. But American Christianity’s god is no longer Jesus. It has become the substance of an idol. Nothing more or less that an adulterous Moloch. The unholy ministry of the right-wing prophets must be ended. I am fine with the fact that we no longer stone adulterers and adulteresses—good thing, really, least our population be about half of what it is today. And so, I would not advocate a literal stoning of any of the right-wing wolves in sheep clothing. But their ability to poison the airwaves must be severed, once and for all. In a democracy, we worry, legitimately, about protecting the “freedom of speech.” But protecting the systematic—dare one say, Network—“freedom of lying,” does not protect democracy. The sudden about-face by FOX’s false prophets is evidence of their previous lies.[4] They will, of course, hide behind the defense that they genuinely believed one thing and then had a change of heart. Penitents, they be! Just in time for Easter. In the spirit of the Hebrew prophets: Bullshit! Such practitioners of priestcraft always play this faux card. “Nevertheless, this did not put an end to the spreading of priestcraft through the land; for there were many who loved the vain things of the world, and they went forth preaching false doctrines; and this they did for the sake of riches and honor. Nevertheless, they durst not lie, if it were known, for fear of the law, for liars were punished; therefore they pretended to preach according to their belief; and now the law could have no power on any man for his belief.”[5] FOX’s wolves never believed a word they said. They only said it because it earned them big contracts with their employer and glory in the eyes of their disciples. They “went forth preaching false doctrines”—which they pretended to believe—“for the sake of riches and honor.” Oh, yes, their success, like that of Korihor, may have led them on occasion to “believe” a lie. “But behold, the devil hath deceived me… And I have taught his words; and I taught them because they were pleasing unto the carnal mind; and I taught them, even until I had much success, insomuch that I verily believed that they were true; and for this cause I withstood the truth, even until I have brought this great curse upon me.”[6] But this is no more an excuse for them, than it was for the great anti-Christ, Korihor. “Behold, I know that thou believest, but thou art possessed with a lying spirit, and ye have put off the Spirit of God that it may have no place in you; but the devil has power over you, and he doth carry you about, working devices that he may destroy the children of God…. But behold, it is better that thy soul should be lost than that thou shouldst be the means of bringing many souls down to destruction, by thy lying and by thy flattering words; therefore… God shall smite thee, that thou shalt become dumb, that thou shalt never open thy mouth any more, that thou shalt not deceive this people any more…. “Now Alma said unto him: This will I give unto thee for a sign, that thou shalt be struck dumb, according to my words; and I say, that in the name of God, ye shall be struck dumb, that ye shall no more have utterance.”[7] May it be so, even now! Nuff said? Well, then, I will end with a prayer. I will pray the words of the Psalter. May he hear my complaint and act in his righteousness to bring deliverance from the ravening wolves at FOX and other right-wing outlets. May he change the many poisoned minds and hearts. May he, too, heal the virus racked bodies that will surround us over the coming weeks and months. “I was envious at the foolish, when I saw the prosperity of the wicked. For there are no bands in their death: but their strength is firm. They are not in trouble as other men; neither are they plagued like other men. Therefore pride compasseth them about as a chain; violence covereth them as a garment. Their eyes stand out with fatness: they have more than heart could wish. They are corrupt, and speak wickedly concerning oppression: they speak loftily. They set their mouth against the heavens, and their tongue walketh through the earth. “Until I went into the sanctuary of God; then understood I their end. Surely thou didst set them in slippery places: thou castedst them down into destruction. How are they brought into desolation, as in a moment! they are utterly consumed with terrors.”[8] “Why standest thou afar off, O LORD? why hidest thou thyself in times of trouble? “For the wicked boasteth of his heart’s desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth. The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts. His ways are always grievous; thy judgments are far above out of his sight: as for all his enemies, he puffeth at them. He hath said in his heart, “I shall not be moved: for I shall never be in adversity.” His mouth is full of cursing and deceit and fraud: under his tongue is mischief and vanity. He sitteth in the lurking places of the villages: in the secret places doth he murder the innocent: his eyes are privily set against the poor. He lieth in wait secretly as a lion in his den… “Break thou the arm of the wicked and the evil man: seek out his wickedness till thou find none.”[9] “The transgression of the wicked saith within my heart, that there is no fear of God before his eyes. For he flattereth himself in his own eyes, until his iniquity be found to be hateful. The words of his mouth are iniquity and deceit: he hath left off to be wise, and to do good. He deviseth mischief upon his bed; he setteth himself in a way that is not good; he abhorreth not evil. “There are the workers of iniquity fallen: they are cast down, and shall not be able to rise.”[10] “They are inclosed in their own fat: with their mouth they speak proudly. They have now compassed us in our steps: they have set their eyes bowing down to the earth; Like as a lion that is greedy of his prey, and as it were a young lion lurking in secret places.…”[11] ”For the sin of their mouth and the words of their lips let them even be taken in their pride: and for cursing and lying which they speak. Consume them in wrath, consume them, that they may not be: and let them know that God ruleth in Jacob unto the ends of the earth. And at evening let them return; and let them make a noise like a dog, and go round about the city. Let them wander up and down for meat, and grudge if they be not satisfied.”[12] [1] See 2 Timothy 4.3 [2] Jeremiah 6.13-15 [3] Deuteronomy 18.20-22 [4] One can witness for themselves the tiniest sliver of their vile conspiracy against truth at the following link: https://www.huffpost.com/entry/fox-news-coronavirus-supercut-video_n_5e71ac69c5b6eab7793e9bf6 [5] Alma 1.16-17 [6] See Alma 30.53 [7] See, Alma 30.42-49 [8] From Psalm 73 [9] From Psalm 10 [10] From Psalm 36 [11] From Psalm 17 [12] From Psalm 59 "Thus saith the LORD of hosts, “Wherefore, I, the Lord, have said that… and whosoever loveth and maketh a lie… shall have their part in that lake which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death” (DC 63.17). One can hope for the best in the face of the coronavirus. It is likely to sicken Americas by the millions. Who knows how many it will kill. In the face of the disaster, we can hope that Americans’ arrogance will finally be put to rest once and for all.
America is not exception. It is, in fact, quite ordinary. In the face of the coronavirus, unfortunately, it appears that its health care system is quite deficient and inferior. Other countries—South Korea, for example—are testing ten thousand people a day. Hell, one can do drive through testing, with results in hours, in several other countries! In the U.S.—the “greatest,” most “advanced” nation on the planet—not so much. The American health care system is struggling to process a few dozen tests a day. Now, there is no doubt that the American Caligula, as always, has been a flood of, not misinformation, but disinformation; meaning, he has not provided bad information accidently, but has knowingly lied—or, alternatively, is so deluded and twisted that he cannot tell reality from fantasy. In addition, his obsession with doing the opposite of his predecessor has seriously undermined government agencies’ ability to respond to all sorts of challenges as he has decimated their funds, numbers, and moral. But, he and his administration are not solely to blame for how woefully inept the current American health care system is for this type of event. The present ineptitude of the American healthcare system has been long in the making. And it is blatantly intentional. We have the resources to deal with this crisis. But we lack the will or the wisdom. It all began, of course, a generation ago when Ronnie Reagan came along and told Americans that government was not the solution to the problem, it was the problem. From that time to this, the American electorate on the right has consistently sent representatives to congress who are hostile to government—dominated by southerners, often motivated by racial animus. These representatives have done everything in their power to undermine government, which was instituted by God, according to the prophet imagination. These representatives, hiding behind the façade of “fiscal responsibility” have systematically starved government agencies necessary for the public good of the funds necessary to carry out their useful missions. While doing this, they have, through legislation, allowed America’s wealthy class to plunder government coffers. This has brought no end of suffering to America’s vulnerable. Undoubtedly, the right’s abhorrent philosophy and polices has been responsible for deaths. It will be responsible for more during the current pandemic. What has and will happen must be called what it is: murder to get gain. Now, we hear Republican lawmakers complain about the woeful performance of America’s health care system to test for coronavirus. Do not be deceived by such hollow complaint. It was their philosophy and their policies that created the ineptitude. When the crisis is over, they will, like pigs returning to the mire, go right back to their immoral philosophy and polities In addition to being humbled during the coronavirus pandemic, one can hope that America comes to understand that sin has consequences. Everyone knows Caligula is a liar. His supporters simply humorously shake their heads and say, “Oh, that Trump.” They treat his lies as a minor character flaw. But it is more than an individual character flaw. When scripture warns about the evils of lying, it is not talking about unsavory individual character flaws. Lies are not about character flaw, but about the healthy functioning of society. Societies cannot endure in an environment of lying. One loses the ability to judge. One loses the ability to act freely and intelligently. So it is with Caligula’s lies in regard to the coronavirus. His lies are revelatory of the man, yes. He is despicable. But, worse, his lies will end up killing people. Sin has consequences. The sooner Caligula’s people understand this—and they may come to understand it the hard way—the sooner we will be rid of the pestilence that is Caligula and his lies. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things” (Philippians 4.8). With incredible acrobatics, Evangelicals, pseudo-Christians that they are, accept, support, sustain, and enable Caligula in his private and public wickedness through such stupid, abstract, extrapolated interpretations as “the Cyrus principle”—about as absurd a theory as was ever invented by the twisted mind of man. It is a certainty that this cockamamie theory is built on far, far less evidence than, say, Darwin’s theory of evolution, which evangelicals so vociferously lambast and reject.
Their resort to such obvious bullshit theories as that of “the Cyrus principle” to support a devil is all the more damning when they need not resort to acrobatics, abstractions, and extrapolations to know who and what the little orange man is. How much theorizing and extrapolation is necessary, for example, to understand and apply Paul’s clear and unambiguous admonition found in Philippians 4.8. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things. No, indeed. No need for acrobatics here. No need to extrapolate or theorize. There isn’t a “true,” “honest,” “just,” or “pure” cell in Caligula’s body, perverted brain, or puny heart. There is nothing “lovely” about him, heart or soul. He has never received a “good report” from any honest or virtuous person in his too-long a life. And speaking of “virtue,” well, he, himself, has made it abundantly clear, on camera, on any number of occasions what a bunch of phooey such an antiquated and restricting idea as virtue is to his way of thinking and living. Of course, these psedo-Christians know all of this. It is precisely why they resort to such absurdities as the Cyrus tomfoolery. Such "revelation" is as ridiculous as any they ever complained of among the Mormons--not that the latter are exactly immune from flights of fantastical revelation. “Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Nephi 2.27). I was reminded again how very deadly lies are. Their evil is not personal and individual, but public and societal. I was also recently reminded why so many American “Christians,” Evangelicals, have supported Caligula, the greatest liar to ever occupy the White House. “It became impossible to square my American sense of free will — our image of ourselves as empowered citizens participating in informed choices — with the reality of the way that we were hoodwinked into going along with the invasion of Iraq” (J.D. Maddox, “The Day I Realized I Would Never Find Weapons of Mass Destruction in Iraq,” nytimes.com). You see, as part of their apostasy, Evangelicals do not believe in free will. You are ether elected or you are not. Therefore, the “free will” that Caligula’s lies steel from individuals, and from our democracy as a whole, is, itself, in their eyes, a lie. No need to worry about the loss of freedom, because men never were free to begin with. Evangelicals’ acceptance of Caligula’s incessant lying, they imagine, has no consequences, but is simply part of the bargain they have made with the devil. They can’t go to hell fast enough for my tastes. It will be consistent with their truly free choice. They spit in the face of freedom and to captivity they will go. “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8.32). To anyone watching, it was clear for decades that Caligula was a deviant sociopath. He should have been behind bars decades ago. It is impossible to take seriously the argument that he was the best of bad choices. No! A thousand times no! There was and is no choice that could be worse. America elected a devil. It is still too early to know whether there can be any recovery from its obscene choice.
Since arrogantly descending his golden escalator, the obscenity of the orange man has been on display for all to see, day after day after cursed day. It was not long before we heard Caligula speak of one of his obsessions: “grabbing pussy;” as if that anatomical part of the female body was, in his view, a plaything; women no more than objects, toys, sex toys to be used by him as he pleases for his own pleasure. This revelation, alone, should have been enough to disqualify him as a candidate for the presidency, let alone as the actual president. His profane attitude is more than personal picadillo. It is more than the repentable aberrant behavior that his pseudo-Christian supporters try to make it out to be. How can any rational thinking person, male or female, believe he could possibly govern in any moral or ethical way when that governance touches upon affairs and policies that impact women? He could not, cannot, does not, will not take the interests, needs, and demands of mere toys seriously! They could only expect to be used as the tools that they are for male self-pleasure and aggrandizement. Shame on women supporters for selling their souls to this vulture, this picker of flesh, this pussy grabber, this pornographer-in-chief! 250 years.
Almost. 250 years of Democracy. 250 years of voting. Still we fight about who gets to vote. Still we try to limit the power of the “little” people. The “weak.” The vulnerable. And Still, even on the eve of 2020 elections, we can’t get election procedures right. A testament Testament to the blundering depravity of humankind. Testament to the corruption of the human mind. And fertile ground for election tampering The senate gives Caligula permission to tamper till his hearts content-- A man who knows no contentment Insatiable devourer. Caligula will invite others to tamper. Corruption Collusion. “Russia, if you’re listen, our votes are open to manipulation. Our election is yours to toy with. Come. Collude with me It’s 2020. Come. Feed on this 250 year-old corpse called America. America the decaying. Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, Though they were once a regular and even central part of this site, I have gotten away from these Mad State of Rebellion posts. Perhaps it is time to rectify this oversite. The madness that Caligula and his acolytes represent has certainly not lessened. In fact, the madness is everything and more that I imagined it might be.
I was reminded of Jeremiah’s lament/indictment of his society as I recently listened to an interview between an NPR correspondent and one of the congressional Republicans who is “assisting” GOP senators to understand the evidence presented by the house Democrat in Caligula’s impeachment trial. As if it is complicated. As if the evidence isn’t crystal clear. As if it isn’t proof positive that Caligula is nothing more than a crime boss, a Gadianton Robber who has infiltrated the government with the assistance and full support of American “Christians,” or that portion of them known as “Evangelical.” No, what these house assistants are about is helping GOP senators understand how to circumvent the truth and enhance a series of lies too long to measure.. But, back to the interview. The interview, as with most interviews with politicians, was full of lies. Not lies formed out of ignorance, but well-crafted and willful lies. For the life of me, I do not understand why the press continues to interview individual politicians who, the press knows full well, will not answer their questions honestly. Why do they provide them with a forum to lie? Why do they allow themselves to be made fools of? Anyway, at the end of the lies-full-interview, the politician politely signed off with an insincere and snarky, “Thank you.” He might as well have said, “Thank you for providing me the opportunity to lie.” But, this is no lie…. Caligula is guilty of all sorts of sins. Now, as I have written before, there is not a single one of the Ten Commandments that he has not broken. He is a deviant. Through and through. From the top of his orange hair to the tip of his little itty bitty fingers. But, in the case of impeachment, he is guilty of treasonously seeking personal political gain at the expense of American security and international peace. He is then guilty of trying to cover it up by ruining people’s reputation and obstructing the legitimate investigations of a congress that is, much to his chagrin, an equal branch of government to that of the executive. There are no words to describe my disgust for this child of hell. He is, of his father, a liar. Every time the camera is turned upon him, it is an open invitation to lie to the “American people”—no matter that they are glad to be lied to, told what they want to hear. Caligula must go before even the very ideal of American—it has never been a reality—is dead forever. Abomination. Such an ugly word. So politically incorrect. However impolite the word, it is a useful word when one really wishes to up the ante, crank up the heat, put the hammer down, tighten the screws—you get the point. The word is more than useful for expressing the depth and magnitude of offensive sin, guilt, wickedness, etc. found in idolatrous thoughts, words, attitudes, deeds, actions, policies, procedures, etc.
This insensitive word is a thoroughly biblical, nay, scriptural word. In his two most “lawyerly” books, Leviticus and Deuteronomy, Moses, the great Jewish lawgiver, uses it some 20 times each.[1] Not to be outdone, Ol’ grandpa Proverbs shows his affection for the word by utilizing it over 20 times. But the award for abomination exposition goes to the Hebrew prophet, Ezekiel, who more than matches Moses’ legalistic uses and doubles grandpa Proverbs’ use of the word. The exilic prophet, Daniel, may win the prize for the most memorable mention when he utilizes the word to describe the devastating impact of idolatry located in God’s own temple. “...they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.”[2] In his desire to describe the vile and destructive nature of idolatry, Jesus picks up on Daniel’s theme. “When ye therefore shall see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by Daniel the prophet, stand in the holy place…”[3] Taking his lead from Daniel and Jesus, Joseph Smith explains that the portrayal and warning concerning “the desolation of abomination” is one of the great and holy missions of God’s latter-day ministers. Through the latter-day prophet, God instructs his elders to go “unto the great and notable cities and villages, reproving the world in righteousness of all their unrighteous and ungodly deeds, setting forth clearly and understandingly the desolation of abomination in the last days.”[4] Most impolite, indeed. But, abomination’s devastating effects simply must be described in all their gory detail. It’s necessary to individual salvation. It’s necessary to the latter-day restoration. The word “abomination,” in fact, holds an interesting place in the restoration and in the history and theology of the people formerly known as Mormon. One might be forgiven for thinking of the word as foundational to the faith. In fact, to say that it is foundational may be an understatement. The faith might not, probably would not exist without it. I doubt that many would object to the suggestion that Joseph Smith’s 1820 religious experience that has come to be formally titled, “The First Vision,” rests at the very foundation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. There are several accounts of this religious experience. Some accounts—that of 1832, for example—are somewhat more “personal” than others.[5] The “official” 1838 account found in the Pearl of Great Price, is more “institutional” as is reflected in Joseph’s introductory comments to the account. “I have been induced to write this history… in relation both to myself and the Church, so far as I have such facts in my possession. In this history I shall present the various events in relation to this Church, in truth and righteousness, as they have transpired, or as they at present exist, being now [1838] the eighth year since the organization of the said Church.”[6] In this “official” account, Joseph reports seeing “a pillar of light exactly over [his] head.” This light “descended gradually until it fell upon [him].” In this light, Joseph saw “two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above [him] in the air.” Immediately, one of them, God the Father, spoke, and, “pointing to” the second, said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!” This “Beloved Son” had much to say. In fact, he said so much that even eighteen years later, there were many things spoken in this first vision which Joseph “[could]not write at this time.” There’s no good use in speculating on what other things might have been said or why they were not recorded or revealed. On the other hand, an awareness that “many other things” were spoken and left unrecorded, might serve to focus the mind on Joseph’s 83-word summary of what was said and was recorded. “I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. ‘ He again forbade me to join with any of them…”[7] These well-known words were consistent both with Joseph’s “object in going to inquire of the Lord… to know which of all the sects was right, that [he] might know which to join,” (1.18) and with the 1838 version’s interest in presenting “the facts” as they existed “in relation both to [himself] and the Church.” All of this brings us back around to that most impolite, insensitive, and politically incorrect word: “abomination.” With our modern sensibilities and in our desire to be politically correct, we are fond of hedging. “All churches possess truth and are populated with good people.” Very nice. Fair enough. All of that can be true. But it doesn’t change “the facts.” God does not hedge. “...all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrrupt; that: ‘they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.” Whatever truth “all” other churches may possess, it is drowned in a sea of “abomination.” Whatever goodness may exist among their individual members, their religious leaders are “all corrupt.” They are all deniers. And what is it that they “deny”? Our knee jerk reaction is to say that they “deny the power of God.” But this seems not to be exactly accurate. What they deny is “the power of godliness.” And if they deny the power of godliness, what is it that they empower? They empower ungodliness. Visitors to this site will not be surprised at the turn this homily now takes. By now, they have probably come to expect it. American “Christianity’s” abomination, corruption, and empowerment of ungodliness has led our country to… wait for it… the election of Caligula. There is no way on God’s green earth that Caligula would have been elected without overwhelming support among Americans who call themselves Christians, especially those who are called evangelical. Worse, even in the face of (predictable) corruption, immoral conduct, language, and policy, “Christians” remain Caligula’s staunchest supporters. Without him, it is highly doubtful that he would still be in office—and certainly not at the conclusion of the current impeachment inquiry taking place in the U.S. House of Representatives. By electing, sustaining, and thus empowering Caligula’s exercise of ungodliness, the abomination that is American “Christianity” has lived up to--or down to, if you prefer--the divine estimation that God himself first articulated to an uneducated, uncultured, apolitical boy two hundred years ago. Too bad that neither they nor the people who concluded that the boy was a prophet have given heed to the unmistakable and unambiguous warning about the reality and nature of American “Christianity’s” abomination. But, you don’t have to take my word for it. To be fair and accurate, we’ll let one of their own, Pastor Jeffress—one of modern American “Christianity’s” most successful purveyors of abomination and corruption—speak, spew forth really, his latter-day abomination for them. Now, examples of American “Christianity’s” abomination abound. Any foolish attempt to catalogue them all would have us here for a month of Sundays, a month of Sabbath rests, with our labor still far from complete. We’ll mention just one, as it is fresh in our mind. I apologize for the length of the following quotation, but as the man seems to be everywhere these days, including in Caligula’s head, and is a bit of a windbag and blowhard, it seems unavoidable. “In an interview in 2016 with Mike Gallagher, a conservative radio talk show host, Jeffress described how he reacted to the question of whether he would prefer a president who governed according to the principles Jesus spoke of at the Sermon on the Mount. “‘Heck no,’ Jeffress said. ‘I would run from that candidate as far as possible, because the Sermon on the Mount was not given as a governing principle for this nation.’ “He went on to say that governments are exempt from such biblical principles as forgiveness, or the willingness to turn the other cheek. ‘Government is to be a strongman to protect its citizens against evildoers,’ he claimed. ‘I don’t care about that candidate’s tone or vocabulary, I want the meanest, toughest, son of a you-know-what I can find, and I believe that’s Biblical’.... “In a phone interview with the Washington Post in August 2017, Jeffress said of Trump’s remarks (which critics described as saber rattling) that ‘God has endowed rulers full power to use whatever means necessary,’ adding that this gives government ‘the authority to do whatever, whether it’s assassination, capital punishment or evil punishment to quell the actions of evildoers like Kim Jong Un.’ “He went on to contend that Romans 12, which commands we ‘do not repay evil for evil,’ does not apply in the context of foreign policy, referencing again his belief that presidential decision making is biblically exempt from the principles laid out at the Sermon on the Mount. As he told the Post, ‘A Christian writer asked me, ‘Don’t you want the president to embody the Sermon on the Mount?’ I said absolutely not.’ The Sermon on the Mount, which Jeffress is so quick to brush aside, is Jesus’s most famous and cited sermon in the Gospels. It included guiding principles such as these: caution your tongue and the manner in which you present yourself (Matt. 5: 33–37), do not seek vengeance (Matt. 5: 38–42), don’t be braggadocian (Matt. 6: 1–18), don’t follow the crowd (Matt. 7: 13–14), and, importantly, be cautious about who you trust as your teachers (Matt. 7: 15–23). “These, among others, are the principles that a major influential Christian evangelical leader who sits on the president’s Evangelical Advisory Board says should be run from ‘as far as possible’ when choosing a president. “And Jeffress wasn’t simply saying he could look past someone not holding to the specific principles spoken at the Sermon on the Mount. Similar principles are not hard to find in good people of other faiths or of no religious faith at all. No, Jeffress was saying he prefers the opposite. He’s saying that it is good in this context to be bad. “In essence, Jeffress was making the case that Donald Trump’s sinful nature is a virtue. “This is actually much more antithetical to Christian teachings than focus group member Mark Lee’s claim that he would check with Trump before believing Jesus about world affairs. Jeffress is essentially saying he wouldn’t even ask because Jesus, apparently, wouldn’t get it.”[8] Ladies and gentlemen, I give you modern American “Christianity.” An abomination if ever there was one. A blasphemy and affront to God. I give you the people who put their “Dear Leader,” their anti-Messiah, Caligula—an abomination if ever there was one—in a position to wield ungodly power. I give you the people who, denying the power of godliness, continue to support Caligula in his exercise of the power of ungodliness. In his enthusiasm for “Christian” abomination, it seems that he has chosen to exercise ALL the powers of ungodliness. The usual academic practice is to begin with “definitions.” But, because I am not, here, engaged in academia, but in spiritual warfare against the powers of darkness, I did not feel bound by such academic conventions. However, my decision was based on esthetic preferences and should not be seen as a denial of the importance of definitions. Therefore, it seems wise to now take a moment and examine definitions. As noted in an earlier footnote, the two Hebrew words that the King James translators rendered into English “abomination” are šeqeṣ and tôʿēbâ. The former “has been associated etymologically with Akk. šaqāṣu, “give someone the evil eye.”[9] It is indicative of that which is “detestable,” “contemptible,” “abhorrent,” loathsome,” and “revolting.” It carries within it the idea of that which is “forbidden.” Hebrew tôʿēbâ possesses the same characteristics as šeqeṣ. It too means “detestable,” “contemptible,” “abhorrent,” loathsome,” and “revolting.” It is to be “offensive” or “repugnant.” It is indicative of thoughts, words, attitudes, and deeds that are “ethically or cultically beyond the pale.”[10] It is indicative of departure from God. In the Hebrew Bible, tôʿēbâ is often indicative of willful departure from God, most often taking the form of idolatry. In fact, the word, tôʿēbâ, can often be a stand in for “idol.” In the Greek New Testament, the Greek word, bdélygma produces our English “abomination.” “The basic stem means ‘to cause abhorrence’ and the group is often used for an improper or shameless attitude.” It can possess the meaning of “to censure” or “to reject.”[11] Finally, our English, “abomination” comes from Latin “ab-omen,” and means “shun as an evil omen.” As you can see from this brief survey, “abomination” carries within its eleven letters an intensity seldom matched by other negative words indicative of sin and error. It seems to justify our initial assertion that the word is most useful “when one really wishes to up the ante, crank up the heat, put the hammer down, tighten the screws” on sin and error. This, then, is God’s verdict concerning American “Christianity.” If it was true two hundred years ago, it is surely doubly so now. It is abhorrent and loathsome and repugnant. It is an offense against Jesus Christ, whose name it blasphemously uses in vain. Its doctrines are no more than a series of “evil utterances.” It is under divine censure. It is, as Joseph Smith was warned, to be rejected. It is to be shunned as is a deadly infectious disease. Are there individuals within its institutions that are good and approved of God? Yes. But the institutions, their doctrines, their leaders, and their ethics are perverted “beyond the pale.” Those good people who join and remain in its ranks become “twofold more the child of hell”[12] than they would be outside the fold. It should not escape our notice that “abomination” is often a stand in for an “idol.” Idolatry is about placing one’s confidence, security, and sense of “self in “wealth,” “power,” and “prestige,” and the accumulation of such lies, rather than in one’s relationship with the God of Heaven. Christians have, they vainly imagine, found true power in their allegiance with Caligula. He has become an idol. This idol will, like all anti-Christs throughout human history, speedily drag their souls down to hell.[13] I am not like Moses, or Nephi, or Mormon, who sought a delay in their society’s final “desolation of abomination.” I feel more kinship with the angels who “are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned.”[14] For me, it can’t be too “speedy” or come soon enough. “Behold, vengeance cometh speedily upon the inhabitants of the earth, a day of wrath, a day of burning, a day of desolation, of weeping, of mourning, and of lamentation; and as a whirlwind it shall come upon all the face of the earth, saith the Lord. And upon my house shall it begin, and from my house shall it go forth, saith the Lord; First among those among you, saith the Lord, who have professed to know my name and have not known me, and have blasphemed against me in the midst of my house, saith the Lord.”[15] “How long, O Lord, holy and true, Dost thou not judge and avenge… them that dwell on the earth?”[16] [1] These calculations and those that follow are based on the King James Version of the Bible and its translation of the two Hebrew words, šeqeṣ and tôʿēbâ. [2] Daniel 11.31 [3] Matthew 24.15 [4] DC 84.117 [5] In the 1832 account, Joseph reports that “my mind become excedingly (sic) distressed for I become convicted of my Sins.” Jesus allays Joseph’s feelings of personal unworthiness with these comforting words, “Joseph my Son thy Sins are forgiven thee.” There is nothing in the “official” 1838 account to suggest that Joseph possessed such thoughts of personal unworthiness or that his first vision entailed such a redemptive “born again” experience. [6] JSH 1.1-2 [7] JSH 1.19-20 [8] Ben Howe, “The Immoral Majority,” p. 46-47 [9] Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Vol. XV, p. 465 [10] See Theological Dictionary of the Old Testament, Vol. XV, p. 591ff. [11] See Theological Dictionary of the New Testament (Abridged-Little Kittle). [12] See Matthew 23.15 [13] See Alma 30.60 [14] Dc 38.12 [15] DC 112.24-26 [16] See Revelation 6.10 "He did not keep the commandments of God, but he did walk after the desires of his own heart…. And he did cause his people to commit sin, and do that which was abominable in the sight of the Lord…” (Mosiah 11.2). In my previous blog entitled, “Gadianton Robbers Among Us” (6 November 2019), I quoted Helaman 7.4-6 in which Mormon lamented the destructive corruption that ran rampant in Nephite government in the lifetime of Nephi II. He lamented the existence of “Gadianton robbers” who were “filling the judgment–seats.” These robbers had “usurped the power and authority of the land; laying aside the commandments of God, and not in the least aright before him; doing no justice unto the children of men; condemning the righteous because of their righteousness; letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money.” Their objectives were crystal clear to Mormon and, indeed to anyone with the slightest degree of discernment: “that they might get gain and glory of the world, and, moreover, that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do according to their own wills.” Obviously, my referencing Mormon’s critique of Nephites society is not happenstance. I believe with the utmost conviction—a conviction that borders on or crosses over to that of testimony—that this Nephite experience is utterly applicable to what we are today witnessing in the administration of America’s Caligula. This conviction has been strengthened as I have heard and read testimony presented during the recent impeachment hearings. All that this administration has done in and to Ukraine has been for the purpose of “get[ting] gain and glory of the world, and, moreover, that they might the more… do according to their own wills,” constitution and morality be damned. Even if there were no moral or physical harm done to the Ukrainian people (who really cares, anyway, that Ukrainian soldiers and civilians almost certainly died in combat against their Russian opponents because Caligula had a personal, not national, interest in withholding needed funding in hopes of seeing a political opponent smeared. Certainly not Americans of the immoral “America First” persuasion) the immoral conduct of this would-be-emperor right here on the American shores should be enough to convince any decent person that he must be removed from the office that he has so thoroughly besmirched. The moral harm done to an ally, along with the vile and unconstitutional behavior of Caligula and his little band of robbers, would in themselves be enough to fill a book-length blog. In considering Caligula’s infamy, I have been reminded of one of the Book of Mormon’s most notorious and villainous characters: Wicked King Noah. He, too, was guilty of a book-length list of moral harms and “unconstitutional” behavior. Today, I will explore just one evil that these two perverted men—wicked King Noah and America’s Caligula—have in common. The enlightened social critic, Mormon, records that Noah “...changed the affairs of the kingdom. For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts” (Mosiah 11.4-5). Now, we must first understand that in the context of ancient societies and cultures “priest” was not simply a religious title with purely religious functions. Rather, “priest” is indicative of an administrative position that is part of the government. There is no such thing as a “secular” government in the ancient world. This was true right on through the Middle Ages. In fact, it can legitimately be argued that the United States of America is the first secular government ever formed. It was the invention of the “founding fathers.” Anyway, King Noah’s new-fangled public officials primarily served a propagandistic purpose. Their principle function was to act as King Noah’s “yes-men” that “they should speak lying and vain words to his people” (Mosiah 11.11). No doubt, Noah’s criminal innovation was initially met with skepticism in many quarters and was viewed as strange, outside accepted norms—its long-term implications not fully appreciated. However, with time, its dire consequences became ever more apparent. In the end, the destructive nature of the crime became absolute. Since his election, we have witnessed Caligula “put down” experienced, competent, respected, constitution loving, and patriotic public servants and diplomates who dare challenge his flouting of constitutional principles and his claim to “absolute” rights and powers—“do according to [his] own will.” Often—in fact, normally—he has intimidated, slandered, demeaned, and bullied them. He has rudely and crudely fired them. He has replaced them, surrounded himself with criminals—I have lost count of the number of Caligula’s associates who have been convicted of felonies and are serving prison sentences. “Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards…” (Isaiah 1.23) Caligula demands all around him to be sycophants. Cult followers. Yes men and yes women. Individuals fully willing, anxious, even, to defile themselves by “speak[ing] lying and vain words to his people.” However, with the beginning of impeachment hearings, Caligula’s “changing the affairs of the kingdom” and “putting down” of those who have faithfully served their country has escalated. His slander of loyal, life-long diplomates such as George Kent and Bill Taylor (“a pitiful, ignorant insubordinate gossip” according to Caligula’s gaddianton-style attorney) have reached new lows, below contemptible. They are positively unholy and ungodly. They are, to put it bluntly, satanic. His vile hordes have stooped so low as to suggest that with a name like “Yovanovitch,” the U.S. ambassador to Ukraine, perhaps, had Ukrainian interests more in mind than American—i.e., her resistance to Caligula’s immoral and unpatriotic dealings with Ukraine was, somehow, treasonous. This they do to a faithful public servant who earned the “Senior Foreign Service Performance Award” six times and the State Department's “Superior Honor Award” five times. Caligula, himself, has offered veiled and intimidating threats against her. She is “the woman”—the millionth evidence of his ungodly misogyny—of whom Caligula threateningly said, “She’s going to go through some things” as colleagues were warning her that she should leave Ukraine, as she was no longer safe there. Unfortunately, politicians on the right—co-conspirators who have sworn to uphold the constitution--have decided that Caligula is not to be held accountable for his unconstitutional and/or immoral, unethical misdeeds—surely, if Caligula’s behavior does not warrant impeachment, then impeachment is no longer constitutionally meaningful and our republic can go down any and every darkest path imaginable. Hail Caesar. Politicians on the right, of course, are only looking after their own interests. Indeed, the gaddianton-style senate leader, McConnell, “told Republican Senators their best bet was to calibrate their own message about the impeachment inquiry to fit their political situation” (Every Republican for himself: McConnell told senators in closed door meeting to come up with their own Trump defense,” Tom Boggioni, rawstory.com, emphasis added). Wicked King Noah would be proud to have such loyal sycophants. Having said all this, we have only skimmed the surface of the right’s toxic and blasphemous support of the man-who-would-be-emperor. We have still not come to the worst, the vilest, the most ungodly part of the despicable state in which our country has entered. Oh, no. Not by a long shot. American politicians on the right are only puppets. Marionettes without a soul. Others pull the strings. And, lo and behold, it is “Christians” who are their puppet masters. It is “Christians” who, shamefully, put in the White House the vile man who lives up in every moment to his moniker, Caligula. It is “Christians” who have concluded that their anti-messiah—their “vessel” to use their perverted theological term—cannot be held accountable, no matter of what evil he is guilty. My own people—the people formerly known as Mormon—long ago concluded that “when the prophet speaks, the debate is over.” Christians have adopted the same nonsense about their precious anti-messiah. He is not to be questioned. Though they would not have maintained—no, not in a million millenniums—such a position when Barack Obama was president, they have now concluded that the apostle Paul had it right after all. “Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God. Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation” (Romans 13.1-2). How very convenient!. It was by means of the exact same type of scriptural wresting that American “Christians” justified slavery and would, no doubt, reinstitute the practice if ever they gained control of our government. May we never be a “Christian” nation! But, we can thank God that the “founding fathers” who American “Christians” claim so vociferously to honor, felt free to act contrary to American “Christianity’s stupid scripture wresting of Pauline writings and so resist the King of Britain—whose power, by American “Christians’” lights, must have been ordained of God, as the king, himself, most certainly maintained. And we can thank God for such loyal, devoted, and patriotic followers of Jesus as Abinadi, who, free of the same American “Christians’” stupid scripture proof-texting, stood boldly against the wiles of wicked King Noah even though “the eyes of the people were blinded” and “they hardened their hearts against the words of Abinadi” (Mosiah 11.29). Even though it ultimately cost him his life. We desperately need principled Christians like Abinadi. Yes, we need them to stand against immoral and unconstitutional leadership such as that represented by Caligula. But something else; something at least equal in importance to the survival of America’s constitution, perhaps, is at stake: the very soul and survival of Christianity in America. “…the wickedness of the church was a great stumbling–block to those who did not belong to the church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress” (Alma 4.10). "They also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them” (Mosiah 11.7) |
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