In buying music, one can go on line and, often, a choose between a "clean" version or an "explicit" version. Following are my own "explicit" thoughts concerning what we learned from the February 27, 2019 House oversight committee hearing with Michael Cohen. A few things are certain from today’s hearing. 1. Michael Cohen is a dirt bag. 2. Caligula hired Cohen precisely because he was a dirt bag. 3. One dirt bag hired another dirt bag. 4. In pointing out, over, and over and over and over and over again what a dirt bag Cohen is, the republicans on the committee simply confirmed what a dirt bag Caligula is. 5. In supporting the dirt bag Caligula, republicans on the committee confirmed that they themselves are dirt bags. William Rivers Pitt, writing for truthout.org, provided a cleaner, more siphistcated version of the same tune. “We also learned something important about Trump himself, something we already knew in theory but needed to see in the flesh. Yes, Cohen is a lifelong scumbag with a long train of lies and double-dealing dragging behind him. Many of the questions from committee Republicans boiled down to, ‘If Trump was so bad, why did you work for him for 10 years?’ Pivot the question — ‘If you are so bad, Mr. Cohen, why did Trump keep you around for 10 years?’ — and a real measure of clarity is achieved.
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“Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all and free [uninhibited, expansive] with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you” (Jacob 2.17). Self-proclaimed democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez put an office policy in place this week that changed the wage structure of staffers working in her office. In hopes of providing a living wage to junior staffers, she raised their wages. This was accomplished by means of several financial adjustments, including a slight reduction in the wage of senior staffers. She has been immediately criticized by such characters as those on ‘Fox and Friends.’[i] Such criticism, of course, identifies these foxy personalities as being, in fact, “wolves in sheep clothing.” It identifies them as Atheists, Anti-Biblical, or heretical Christians--and certainly Anti-Mormons. On second thought, it is unfair to Atheists to lump them together with such blasphemers. The ignorant or willful rejection of scripture, Biblical Ethic, Christian Morals, and Mormon economic principles that is demonstrated by Fox’s wolves is based, of course, on the profoundly blasphemous capitalistic doctrines that stand in direct opposition to all that his Biblical and holy. It is absolutely certain that Ocasio-Cortez’s decision is based on solid Biblical teaching and Christian morality. If it isn’t compatible with “capitalism,” then capitalism is to be rejected not only as un-Biblical, and un-Christian, but as anti-Christ. We will take Moses as an example. He instructs those who would be disciples of Yahweh “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” (Deuteronomy 15.7-8). One might argue, I suppose, that the congresswoman’s staff members are not strictly speaking “poor.” Such reasoning would be wrong and miss the point, it seems to me, on two counts. First, given the cost of living in the DC area, the normal wage for junior staff members is insufficient to live in a secure fashion. Their insufficient wages make them poor—especially given the fact that they earn 1500 times less than the worthless CEOs that drive so many companies into the ground. But secondly, and more importantly, there is a principle to be drawn from the example. Those who would be thought of as followers of the true God are generous. They do as Paul admonishes: they “esteem other[s] better than themselves”…. not looking “every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.” They think and feel and act in this way because “this mind… was also in Christ Jesus” whom they seek to emulate (See Philippians 2.3-5). In the same 15th chapter of Deuteronomy, Moses also instructs the Israelite slave holder. After a slave has faithfully served his or her master for seven years they are to be freed. In freeing them, the slave holder “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” (verses 12-14). Again, it would be wrong to conclude that the context of slavery makes the passage null and void in regard to any present application. The principle is clear. Every human being is to be treated with dignity. Those down and out are to be assisted, set up, even, to succeed. To send the slave away empty handed would do neither—dignify or assist. If not assisted, the slave would soon be right back in his or her enslaved state. This would be unjust. No, congresswoman Ocasio-Cortez’s junior staffers are not slaves. But “slave wages” enslave the child of God in a confining lack of choices. To help them succeed by giving them a portion of the wealthier employees’ wages is consistent with the principles found in this Deuteronomic passage. Perhaps Ocasio-Cortez knows or cares nothing about Moses’ brand of the just society. Maybe she knows about early Christianity’s just society based upon “the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship? “And all that believed were together, and had all things common; and sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need” (Acts 2.44-45). Yip, whether she knows it or not, the congresswoman from New York is acting the part of a Christian, one who follows the example of Lord Jesus. Perhaps she is aware of Joseph Smith’s sentiments, “we consecrate our property to the Lord it is to administer to the wants of the poor and needy, for this is the law of God; it is not for the benefit of the rich, those who have no need… Now for a man to consecrate his property, wife and children, to the Lord, is nothing more nor less than to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the widow and fatherless, the sick and afflicted, and do all he can to administer to their relief in their afflictions, and for him and his house to serve the Lord” (HC, Vol. 3, p. 231). Or, perhaps she is aware of another “apostle’s doctrine.” “When we look abroad among the nations of the earth we see a great many evils in existence − evils that have existed for many centuries; in fact, they have existed from the earliest ages of which we have any account until the present time, in every nation and among all people. Our own nation is a case in point. When the foundations of the Government were laid, and liberty proclaimed throughout the length and breadth of the land, it was anticipated that this nation would grow to a pitch of glory and attain to a greatness and power that no other nation on the face of the earth had ever attained. Everything was favorable to this: a free Government had been established; a continent of almost illimitable extent spread itself before the people, and all that was necessary to develop its boundless resources was population, and industry on the part of that population. But little over ninety years have elapsed since the foundations of our Government were laid, and in that time we have grown to be a great people; but that which has been enacted in other nations has been re−enacted here. The evils that have flourished so long in what is called the Old World have been transplanted to this land. If Western men travel through the Eastern States they are struck with the great distinction of classes that exist there. There is an aristocracy of wealth fast growing up there; and at the same time there is another class in degradation and poverty, utterly unable to obtain the blessings and comforts of life. This is owing to various causes, the chief of which is the incorrect organization of society. (George Q Cannon, JD. Vol. 13, 97-98; emphasis added). Of course, neither Joseph nor George were coming up themselves with such principles upon which a just society must be built. These were principles, as we have seen, that were given to men by a caring Father and God. “Nevertheless, in your temporal things you shall be equal, and this not grudgingly, otherwise the abundance of the manifestations of the Spirit shall be withheld” (DC 70.14). “But it is not given that one man should possess that which is above another, wherefore the world lieth in sin” (DC 49.20). “Oh, but this is the ‘higher law.’ It only applies to the most righteous!” “People like you, you mean? How are you doing with that?” “Oh, well…. I haven’t been asked to live the higher law.” “Gee, that’s sure convenient.” “Whatever. It sure has nothing to do with our secular society! It is not expected to live by any such principles.” “Wrong, wrong, wrong. “It isn’t the ‘higher law.’ Crap, we’ve seen it reflected in the “Law of Moses”—what you call the ‘lesser law.’ Truth is, it is the most basic of laws. It’s the law of God regarding the just society—any society that wishes to call itself just. Its how societies work if they wish to endure. The only societies exempt from such godliness are those who choose to exempt themselves through rebellion and sin—you know, societies like our capitalist one. “Why, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s “socialistic” society looks positively divine in comparison to our wolfish capitalistic system.” [i] Justin Wise, “Fox & Friends' host says Ocasio-Cortez's staff salary plans 'socialism and communism on display,’” thehill.com And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property…” (DC 19.26) Venezuela.
I’m not sure who gave the U.S. permission to be involved in and threaten every other nation on the planet… Oh, wait, I do know. The culprit is the false god that goes by the name of ‘America.’ I wonder if that same idolatrous, bullying god who inspires Caligula to busy himself in Venezuela’s sovereign affairs would please, please call upon every other government on the planet to involve themselves in American political life. It could start by encouraging other nations to call for the removal of Caligula as president of America: foe to world peace. Russia, if you’re out there… help us get rid of our Stalin wanna be. O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: “Governments,” the Doctrine and Covenants maintains, “were instituted of God” (134.1). The only problem with the idea of government arises when it is stolen by authoritarianism or “the voice of the people doth choose iniquity,” for “then is the time that the judgments of God… come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction…” (Mosiah 29.27). I do not quote these well-known maxims because in electing Caligula “the voice of the people [has chosen] iniquity”—though, of course, it has. I do not quote these passages because “the time [of] the judgments of God” draws near—though it does. I mention them, first, to remind those who feel that the current U.S. government shutdown isn’t such a bad thing because, well, we don’t need the government anyway—“Give me liberty or give me death”— government is one of God’s blessings to humankind. What is cursed is the autocrat and mad citizenry. This leads me to my second reason for mentioning these passages: In the midst of an unwarranted government shutdown instigated by an insane megalomaniac, we see signs everywhere of the citizenry’s madness, and the necessity of government to control an unruly humanity (I am not ignorant of the fact that even with government we often find our way to the animalistic side of our nature—as two world wars and the continuous smaller wars since demonstrate. Nevertheless…). But, enough of the false enlightenment principle that “men are basically good.” Hogwash! We could quote about a hundred scriptures to demonstrate that such doctrine is about as unscriptural as it gets. I’ll not distract us from the observation that I wish to make in this post by quoting them here, but have a look, if you’d like, at the teeny-tiny few that I have quoted in the header and footer of this post. I want to come back to government and the U.S. government shutdown (By the way, have you ever heard of any other healthily functioning government on good old planet earth shutting itself down? Of course you haven’t! It is a parade example of our disfunction.). Anyway, since the mad and unjust shutdown of the U.S. government, some departments have attempted to remain functional with skeletal staffs and/or volunteers. One such department is the U.S. Parks Department. They have attempted to keep most National Parks open. With each passing day, this has turned, increasingly, into a disaster. Now, we will cut the tens of thousands of park patrons slack when it comes to the build up of trash and the filth found in restrooms. I mean, we’re dirty animals. But with the passage of time, park patrons have increasingly shown themselves to be something worse than animals. It now appears that Joshua Tree National Park will need to be closed because patrons have been vandalizing the environment itself. Trees that have survived mother nature for centuries are being killed by stupid human activities in a matter of weeks. Park patrons are not simply cutting into trees, they are cutting pieces from the trees. How, oh how has the planet survived mankind this long?!? “Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard a voice from the bowels thereof, saying: ‘Wo, wo is me, the mother of men; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children. When shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone forth out of me?’” (Moses 7.48) Now, my point is not so much environmental—though there is that. Rather, the stupidity taking place in the Joshua Tree National Park is a simple demonstration of the need for government; the reason it is such a blessing. Mankind usually acts like a pack of wild and unruly monkeys. As the simple events that have taken place in Joshua Tree National Park during the government shutdown so clearly demonstrate, we Americans, like all mankind, are in desperate, desperate need of government. We are in dire need of the checks it provides against our selfish, wild, and animalistic nature—the human beast inside each individual and every beastly society. Without this… well, see for yourself. It’s a small thing, I know, this destruction of beautiful and aged Joshua trees. But, you know what they say… “By small and simple things….” "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6.5) And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour: and they made their lives bitter…” (Exodus 1.13-14) With the death of two migrant children in a matter of ten days—how many others have died, the head of DHS is unwilling to say—policies adopted by Caligula’s administration are seen once more to be more akin to the oppressive policies of the Egyptian administration of Old Testament lore (“if it be a son, then ye shall kill him”) than those of any administration that could even remotely be thought of as “Christian.” And make no mistake about it, the death of those children was a policy decision. In an article entitled, “The US government deliberately made the desert deadly for migrants,” Natasha Elena Uhlmann writes “Prevention Through Deterrence meant tremendous investments in surveillance and border militarization, with the aim of pushing migrants ever deeper into the unforgiving Sonoran desert. Though the border patrol denies accountability for deaths along the US-Mexico border, their very metrics for success under the policy include ‘fee increases by smugglers’, ‘possible increase in complaints’, and ‘more violence at attempted entries’. These children’s deaths were by no means unpredictable. Violence is built into the plan…..” How, I ask, is this any different than what the un-named Pharaoh of Exodus did to the Israelites? And how, I ask, can Americans imagine that their end will be any better than that of the ancient oppressors? "The LORD is a man of war: And if thou say in thine heart, ‘How shall we know the word which the LORD hath not spoken?’ There’s something I often wonder about. A decade ago false prophets pranced about America, spending time especially on the perverted FOX-dressed-in-sheeps’-clothing network, peddling false prophetic narratives. “Barack Obama,” for example, “is going to take white Americans’ guns, arm African Americans, and allow a rampage of lawlessness on American streets.” The prophecy sold a lot of guns. But, how’d that prophecy turn out? “Barack Obama is neither an American or Christian,” many ranted. Rather he is Muslim. All this will come out after he is elected.” How’d that work out? Any one notice that our former “Muslim” president knows and honors the Apostles Creed far, far more than the infidel with whom American Christians have rebelliously yoked themselves? Why is the Muslim still pretending to be Christian? Why not come out of the closet? Maybe because he really is a Christian. And American. While the current president is an infidel and Russian agent. But here’s my question. Those false prophets, who spoke so presumptuously and lyingly? Are they still being listened to? Have those duped by the likes of Sean, Rush, Brett, Laura, etc. stopped listening to these false prophets? Surely, the dupes do not continue to foolishly listen to such dependable sources of misinformation. Surely, they’ve tuned them out and turned them off, right? They have to be at least this discerning… No? No. Though the rule is so simple that any child could understand it, they continue to willfully feed in the trough of their own lusts. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables” (2 Timothy 4.3-4). "If the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men” (Matthew 5.13). Today, we simply highlight yet another shameful example of a fine modern-day pharisaical hypocrite posing as a Christian, in this case the variety of Christian formerly known as Mormon. “On Monday evening, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch (R), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, also told CNN’s Manu Raju that he was not concerned about Trump being implicated in a felony. ‘The Democrats will do anything to hurt this president,’ he claimed. “When Raju explained the implication had come from a document filed by the Southern District of New York, Hatch doubled down. “‘Okay but I don’t care,’ he said. ‘All I can say is he’s doing a good job as president.’ “He added ‘you can make anything a crime under the current laws.’ “Hatch’s words contradicted his own past comments. In 1999, just before casting a vote to impeach President Bill Clinton, Hatch criticized the president for lying to the public about his affair with a White House intern. “‘Committing crimes of moral turpitude such as perjury and obstruction of justice go to the heart of qualification for public office,’ Hatch said at the time. ‘…This great nation can tolerate a President who makes mistakes. But it cannot tolerate one who makes a mistake and then breaks the law to cover it up. Any other citizen would be prosecuted for these crimes’” (Ryan Koronowski, “Crimes aren’t Crimes. Trump and his allies are moving the goalpost to legally protect him,” thinkprogress.com). We’ll just pass by the ridiculous notion that Caligula is “doing a good job as President.” It doesn’t matter. Any Christian, Mormon or otherwise, worth their salt, or worthy of the name “salt of the earth,” can discern Caligula for what he is. The man is a criminal. A gangster. An organized crime boss. A Gadianton Robber. An America disgrace. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face of the sky and of the earth; but how is it that ye do not discern this time?” (Luke 12.56) introduction
Like so many Americans, I have been watching and listening. I have been listening to the hateful rhetoric of a candidate and then president I call Caligula; a rhetoric cheered and championed by his admiring hordes—many of them “Christians.” I have been watching what is taking place at American ports of entry, including especially those on the southern border. I have watched children torn out of their parents’ arms and placed in holding cages with nothing but a thin mattress under them and a thin blanket over them as they waited to be placed in the homes of strange caretakers who can’t understand their anguished night-time cries for lost parents. I have watched American soldiers armed as if for war at the border. I have watched desperate men, women, and, yes, innocent children teargassed. I have watched as one international law after another is broken by a renegade nation. All of this has reminded me of Christmas. “What??!!??” you say. I’ll explain. Yes, the Christmas Season is upon us once more. As I have contemplated the scriptures that we associate with the joyful season, I have been, once more, absolutely stunned by the revelations that continue to flow as a result of the U.S. election of 2016 in which a mad American electorate placed the most contemptible of men in office; a man who looks for all the world like Egypt’s Pharaoh of the exodus, Rome’s Pilate of Jesus’ death, and—appropriate to the season and today’s homily—Judah’s Herod of Jesus’ birth. I am struck by how we tell many of scripture’s ancient stories. I am struck by how we tell them to obscure rather than illuminate; to hide rather than engage in faithful confession; to absolve ourselves of vile temptations and their commensurate deeds that we seem incapable of resisting. Our beloved Christmas narratives are no exception. They, too, suffer at the hands of our abuse. Our reading of them is as selective and as cloaking as our reading of any other scripture narrative. Unfortunately, through much of my adult life, and much to my condemnation, I served as a co-conspirator in the coverup. I did this, largely, through the “neo-orthodoxy” that I taught. A neo-orthodoxy focused on the very real and very deep grace, and the long-suffering mercy of an indescribable Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Yet, with the election of a blatant blasphemer of God, one wonders—I wonder--if “the day of grace [has] passed… both temporally and spiritually.”[1] Be that as it may, I cannot remain silent. Can’t stop preaching. Can’t stop trusting in “the virtue of the word of God.”[2] Even if I were to say, “I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name…” Yet, “his word [is] in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I [am] weary with forbearing, and I [can]not stay.”[3] So, in today’s homily, we will take one narrative of our larger common Christmas story, bring it up to date, and, with it, strip away our practiced camouflage. rachel weeping for her children The story starts out pleasantly enough. “Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judæa in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, Saying, ‘Where is he that is born King of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.’”[4] We know from a thousand previous readings and narrations that these storied wise men, by following the fabled star, were led “into the house.” Here, they achieved their quest, for “they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.”[5] How wonderful! How glorious! A king is born. No, not a king. The King. The King of kings. It is certainly appropriate at all times, but especially during the Christmas Season, for the preacher to “commend” that his audience diligently follow the faithful example of these wise men, and “seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever.”[6] Let us, indeed, like them, “worship him” and give him whatever humble gifts we can. But this is not all or the end of this Christmas story. Not by a long-shot. Whatever the reasons for our habit of telling just this much, we can no longer allow such attenuation. This new day in which we find ourselves demands that we tell the whole story. It demands a new revelation. It demands that we go beyond the traditional jolliness of the season and consider more deeply what it means to worship him and what gifts he might have us offer. And so, the demands of the day take this preacher’s mind in new directions; into new revelation. We are now called to acknowledge that there is an ugly side to this holy story, and that it, too, is part of the Christmas story and the season’s message. For, you see, there is another king. “When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. Apparently, not everyone enjoys Christmas. But, what’s not to like? “What,” we might ask, “was Herod thinking!? What were the privileged citizens of Jerusalem thinking when they chose to follow their leader’s anxiety-filled lead? Well, Herod and his people had much to lose. Any number of individuals had arisen in recent years with the claim of royalty and right to rule in place of Herod and the Romans. Each time, people suffered, were imprisoned, tortured… died. Blood flowed in the streets of Jerusalem. It was the responsible and patriotic thing to do: be pre-emptive; find the upstarts early and get rid of them. So, it was that in this child, this infant, this babe in arms, Herod and those like-minded with him could only see a threat. A threat to their power. A threat to their security. A threat to their way of life. Such a threat, though uncertain—as if seen through a glass, darkly—must be extinguished. This is no-holds-barred conflict. The threat calls for extreme action. “Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, ‘In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.’”[7] Now, this is extreme vetting, indeed. Select out all children two years and younger. Bring in your most trusted and unscrupulous storm troopers. And begin the butchery. If we read this part of the story at all, we read it in a bubble. We pretend that it is an isolated event with little or no meaning except that Evil, represented by Herod, hated Jesus in one particular historical moment. Such a reading is mere caricature. It is false. It allows us to remain in hiding. But the evangelist is prophetic. He sees things. He is a see-er. He knows that this attempt to scape-goat innocents, even helpless children, to allay personal fears and do the “responsibly nationalistic” thing is all too human. He knows that it has happened before him. Repeatedly. And he knows that if he does not shed the light of “gospel” upon such doings, more innocents will suffer persecution and die—repeatedly, and without any more insight into the evil of such doings than before. In quoting Jeremiah, the evangelist reminds us of earlier Babylonian atrocities perpetrated against Judah’s most vulnerable population: children. Babylon’s Nebuchadnezzar and Judah’s Herod are made of the same cloth. From their point of view, the logic of state-sponsored violence, including murder is absolute and irrefutable. Victimizing children is an effective and blunt terrorist tool. It serves numerous purposes. It intimidates and pacifies the adult population. It reduces the future threat that the children themselves represent. It guarantees, it is arrogantly asserted, national security and stability. And, just in case there are those who doubt it, it reaffirms the state’s right to a monopoly of force. The story of Herod and his murder of innocents is an important and essential part of the Christmas story. It is not there because it is uncommon and unique to this narrative. Rather, it is there because it is extraordinarily ordinary. We can no longer skip it in favor of happier themes. It has a message for us today. What is that message? I’ll let you ponder that for a bit. While you do so, we will have a look at another story. This one is not associated with Christmas. Rather, it is associated with the Jewish festival of Passover. It has much, nevertheless, in common with our Christmas story and can legitimately be considered alongside it. let us deal wisely with them “Let us deal wisely with them.” These words are too important, too pregnant with meaning to be quickly passed over, as is so often done. Herod might have spoken these words to his people as his agents slaughtered Bethlehem’s innocent babies. But these presumptuous words were spoken by another monarch, a pharaoh, some millennia and a half before Herod. We hear in this politically correct assertion of royal wisdom and prerogative another politician who, “responsibly,” lives in and infects others with fear. Patriotic fear. The Israelite population in Egypt is growing. Because of that growth, in just one generation the Israelites have moved from being favored refugees seeking asylum from malnutrition and starvation to being thought dangerous resident aliens that were upsetting demographic balances and threatening national security. Though the evidence for the threat is minute, perhaps even non-existent, the delusion is presented as fact: It will happen that “when there falleth out any war, [the Israelites will] join also unto our enemies, and fight against us…”[8] What could possibly make more sense that this? What could be more responsible and patriotic? Foreigners are criminals, constantly on the verge of open rebellion. Wisdom is indeed called for. By “wisdom” of course, Pharaoh means the institution of zero-tolerance policies that are harsh and extremist. The extremism, as we all know, takes the form of Israelite bondage. But even this isn’t enough to silence the metastasizing fear that the leader has introduced into society. Something more is needed. We must find a sure-fire way of getting everyone’s attention. The children. “And the king of Egypt spake to the Hebrew midwives… ‘When ye do the office of a midwife to the Hebrew women, and see them upon the stools; if it be a son, then ye shall kill him: but if it be a daughter, then she shall live.’”[9] Again, we witness extreme vetting. It would require a huge and dedicated bureaucracy, no doubt, to conduct such a purge. Sensing, however, that this may not be enough, the leader cleverly stokes his subjects’ latent fear—fear of the other, fear of another—anger, and insecurity. This fear and anger and insecurity metastasizes into ugly public cooperation in genocidal violence. Thus we see, as Mormon said, “how much iniquity doth one wicked king cause to be committed, yea, and what great destruction![10] Unfortunately for Pharaoh, his state apparatus, and his undiscerning subjects, he and they really aren’t in charge after all. They will not be allowed to have their way. “And the LORD said, ‘I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows; And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians… Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them.’”[11] We know the rest of the story and how it ends. The rationality and legitimacy of Egyptian power over Israelite life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is questioned and rejected. The nation’s right to murder infants is challenged. Egypt’s oppressive power over oppressed populations is extinguished, not only by the destroying angel, but in the waters of the Red Sea. conclusion Matthew’s Christmas story declares God’s bold entry into a darkened and course and violent world. With God’s entrance, he introduces his unique “grace and fidelity.”[12] He invites individuals and societies to come unto him and partake of his goodness and mercy. He declares himself Savior and Redeemer. But he is more than a personal Savior. He is also Lord and King, Savior of society. These are the “glad tidings of great joy” that we associate with Christmas. But this, too, is part of the Christmas story: such tidings do not gladden everyone. Matthew introduces bad news in the very same breath that he introduces the good news. He does this by introducing Herod onto the stage, and thereby warning us that there are other would-be kings, potentates, rulers, and presidents. They do not welcome a new King. They do not appreciate the light that serves, after all, only to expose their dark arts of domination. The Evangelist, John, utilizes this same pattern of introducing the bitter with the sweet in his Gospel. John, abandoning Matthew’s “historical” example of Herodian resistance, adopts a more “theological” approach. No sooner has he introduced “The Word”—The Word that is the light of the world—than he must address the near universal resistance to that Word. “And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not…. That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him, and the world knew him not. He came unto his own, and his own received him not.”[13] This incomprehension and revolt, too, are part of Matthew’s Christmas story. His story doesn’t begin with just one king, but with two. More than a personal Savior, the child is born to be a king; a king that will challenge the rules and rulers of this world. And, we are warned, he will be challenged and face resistance to his rule every step of the way. These resisters, never very imaginative, will resist in the same old tried and tested ways of antiquity. Predictably, then, their resistance to Christ and his people, as it was with Pharaoh and Herod, will encompass the contemptible attack on innocent men, women, and, yes, children. In our own day, rulers and thugs such as Syria’s Assad, who attacks children of his own countrymen as they cower in bombed out apartments or in beds of devastated hospitals; Saudi Arabia’s Bin Salman, who rains down American made missiles on Yemeni children’s school buses; and America’s Caligula, who threatens, kidnaps, and sicks the American military on refugee children already traumatized by the violence of their home countries; all these and more have rediscovered the same ancient logic. They have brought out of obscurity the same dark and secret “oaths and covenants”[14] ff ancient lore. But, thanks to the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the Christmas stories that introduce it, such dark and benighted attitudes and actions that once passed as “logical” and “responsible,” and “patriotic” are exposed for what they are: anti-Christ. The Christmas babe exposes the lies our modern leaders foist upon their citizens. We are left without doubt—this child, Jesus, and his murdered “peers” are innocent. They pose no threat, but to the most hardened and delusional tyrant. So, it is with all innocents and with all children. Those who would use “national security” as justification for doing them harm clearly identify themselves as modern day Herods. Fortified with the discerning revelation of the gospel, we come to understand that any who would persecute, oppress, and kill children for any reason, but especially in the name of “national security” are anti-Christ. Those who attack such innocents are not simply engaged in “politics as usual.” Rather, they are engaged in something extraordinary. Herod’s attack upon innocent children—associated in his mind with an attack upon a specific potential claimant to the throne, one we know to be “God Himself”—informs us that he and his likeminded brethren of all eras are engaged in deicide; for, “inasmuch as you have done it unto the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”[15] Tragically, even in this post-gospel age, with the full light of this revelation shining so brightly into the darkness, dictators, princes, and presidents continue to practice the dark arts. Even more tragically, they do so with full support of sizable portions of their populations. Most tragically, in America, those who profess to be Christians, have far too often been foremost to pronounce, “Amen,” “so let it be,” to such anti-Christ attitudes and behaviors. This Christmas Season, this preacher invites his readers to seek, and worship, and gift Mary’s holy babe by standing against the current Herodian tactics that assault innocent children everywhere, leaving thousands upon thousands of “Rachels” fearing and weeping for their children; for, such tactical assaults are tantamount to deicide. In doing so, the preacher is not glib. He knows what he is asking. He knows that we are engaged in a war that has its beginnings out in the cosmos before the creation of this world. We are all familiar with Paul’s admonition to “put on the whole armour of God.” “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.”[16] We are familiar with the appurtenances of this battle gear: the breastplate, the sandals, the shield, the helmet, and the sword.[17] We know these help us stand against personal temptation and sin. But we often miss the specific temptations and sins Paul had in mind at the time of his writing these words. “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.”[18] Not unlike the mockers and abusers who stood about the cross of Christ falsely believing that they were strong and free and independent, rulers of the nations of the world who imitate and duplicate the dark atrocities of the ancient world are really stand-ins for the one who controls them: “the prince of this world.” But thanks be to God, Paul also assures us that as we stand against the demonic powers that operate in human forms and institutions, however high and intimidating and self-assured and self-promoting they present themselves to be, “our Lord Jesus Christ… gave himself… that he might deliver us from this present evil world.”[19] The Christmas Season with its beloved Christmas narratives not only remind us that there are powerful forces that oppose the babe born to be king and those who would follow him, but that that same babe born to be king will have the ultimate victory over those satanic powers. In these wonderful narratives, we see “the exceeding greatness of [God’s] power to us-ward who believe.” We see Jesus, set “at his own right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality, and power, and might, and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this world, but also in that which is to come.” Yes, we see that God “hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.[20] And with that happy and victorious ending, we wish you a Merry Christmas! [1] Mormon 2.15 [2] See Alma 31.45 [3] Jeremiah 20.9 [4] Matthew 2.1-2 [5] Matthew 2.11 [6] Ether 12.41 [7] Matthew 2.16-18 [8] Exodus 1.10 [9] Exodus 1.15-16 [10] Mosiah 29.17 [11] Exodus 3.7-9 [12] See John 1.17 [13] John 1.5, 9-11 [14] See Helaman 6.25-26 [15] Matthew 25.40 [16] Ephesians 6.10-11 [17] Ephesians 6.14-17 [18] Ephesians 6.12 [19] Galatians 1.3-4 [20] See Ephesians 1.19-23 I see that that ungodly man/monster, Caligula, has once again shown his ignorance and brutal lack of basic human decency and compassion. Speaking of the recent teargassing of refugees at the U.S. southern border, he ignorantly declared,
“You really say, ‘Why is a parent running up into an area where they know the teargas is forming and it’s going to be formed and they were running up with a child?’” (Turn around, go back home': Trump claims migrants commit more crime than US citizens, theguardian.com) I wonder—no, actually, I don’t wonder; I know what blasphemy would escape his vile lips—what would he have to say to those Israelite parents who took their children into the Red Sea, its waves looming turbulently above their heads, in order to escape oppression and murder, and breath the air of freedom and security? Pure madness. Or, what about those desperate parents of the people formerly known as Mormons who sent their teenage sons into rivers packed with floating winter ice… over, and over, and over again until they were frostbit and, and a few cases, dead? How irresponsible can one be! Such parental neglect! “Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning…” (John 8.44). Two thousand years ago the Roman Empire conspired with Jewish leaders to murder an innocent man, an innocent man who would become the founder of one of the great world religions. The revelations that flow from this death are manifold. From this death, we learn how vulnerable innocents are when they fall into the hands of evil empires. We learn to be skeptical of an empire’s claim to a legitimate monopoly of force—especially the right to take life. We also learn to be skeptical about an empire’s claim that those it kills are, by definition, guilty. It appears that in the case of the American Empire, the death of this innocent man and the revelations to be found in that death were in vain. The American Empire’s leader, Caligula (or should we call him “Pilate”?), has determined that he and his administration will conspire with the government of Saudi Arabia in covering up the murder of an innocent victim. By so doing, Caligula and his administration become accomplices to a murder. This complicity, by Caligula’s own self-condemning witness, is for the purpose of gain, mammon. “Despite mounting evidence of the crown prince’s role, some of which the president has seen in briefings, Trump indicated that the importance of U.S. economic and national security interests — and in particular billions of dollars in arms purchases he said the Saudis would make — outweighed the need to establish whether Mohammed was involved and, if proven, impose punishment…” (Dawsey, Harris, DeYoung, “Trump defends Saudi Arabia’s denial about the planning of Khashoggi’s death,” washingtonpost.com). Now, it is certain that this American Pilate never claimed to know or love Rome’s original innocent victim. He is quite obviously an infidel, as he makes known every day and every time he opens his mouth to speak forth his vile blasphemies. American “Christians,” however, do claim to know and love the innocent victim, Jesus. Yet, they elected and continue to steadfastly support this American Pilate; this accomplice to murder; this criminal; this seller of innocent victims. If they continue to support him; if they do not stand up against him and hold him accountable for this crime, American “Christians” make themselves accomplices in the murder of the innocent victim. They crucify the original victim anew. One is reminded of the original innocent victim’s words. "And some of the Pharisees which were with him heard these words, and said unto him, ‘Are we blind also?’ "Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God… made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant.” (Philippians 2.5-7). I read the following today concerning socioeconomic attitudes of “Tea Partiers,” so many of which are Evangelical and like to think of themselves as Christian, “Liberals were asking them to feel compassion for the downtrodden in the back of the line…. They didn’t want to; they felt downtrodden themselves and wanted only to look ‘up’ to the elite. What was wrong with aspiring high? That was the bigger virtue, they thought. Liberals were asking them to direct their indignation at the ill-gotten gains of the overly rich… the right wanted to aim their indignation down at the poor slackers, some of whom were jumping the line” (Arlie Russell Hochschild, Strangers in their Own Land, Chapter 14). My response to such attitudes is given away in the title of this post. “Which way does Jesus look?” When he came down to meet your needs, to rescue you, was he not under the necessity of looking down and back at you. Is it not, as the Psalmist declares a “humiliation” for him to “behold the things that are in heaven, and in the earth!”[i] Where would you be without his backward glance in your direction? It is one thing to be weak. To find it difficult to follow Jesus and do as he did and does. That is forgivable, and worthy of mercy and grace. But to deny the very doctrine of Christ? To deny, and even hold up to ridicule and hatred the very existence of his invitation—"If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me”?[ii] This is not so easily forgiven. This calls out for justice. Be weak, acknowledge the difficulty. But do not rebelliously deny the reality of the call. Stop pursuing the false and idolatrous “American Dream.” It is a lie. An Illusion. It will ruin you. Make you unprofitable for Christ. If you are going to dream, dream of God. Of following him. Of being like him. [i] Psalms 113.6 [ii] Matthew 16.24 "But Jesus called them to him, and saith unto them, ‘Ye know that they which are accounted to rule over the Gentiles exercise lordship over them; and their great ones exercise authority upon them. But so shall it not be among you: but whosoever will be great among you, shall be your minister: and whosoever of you will be the chiefest, shall be servant of all. For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many” (Mark 10.42-45). “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6.5). It would be one thing if the evil little man simply lacked inspired imagination. Perhaps his “Christian” advisors could provide a little prophetic imagination. But, alas, both he and they lack a shred of inspired or prophetic imagination, let alone even a scintilla of human decency. Oh, but rest assured, they do have an imagination. They have an imagination enflamed by the fires of hell and inspired by satanic designs.
And what has Lucifer put into the little man’s head today? If any of those “criminals” traveling as part of the refugee caravan dare throw stones at our heavily armed soldiers, our brave soldiers will be given license to riddle their bodies with bullet holes. Tit for tat. Who does Caligula think we are… Modern day Israel? I am not sure that scripture provides a better description of any man than the description of a wicked man that is found in Psalm 10—a description that is oh so very apt to our wicked American Caligula. “The wicked in his pride doth persecute the poor: let them be taken in the devices that they have imagined. 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: he lieth in wait to catch the poor: he doth catch the poor, when he draweth him into his net. He croucheth, and humbleth himself, that the poor may fall by his strong ones. He hath said in his heart, ‘God hath forgotten: he hideth his face; he will never see it.’ (Psalm 10.2-11) I’m telling you, if there are any real Christians out there who have our modern-day Pharaoh’s ear, they had better warn him about the perils of hardening his heart against the Lord God in this fashion. “The enemy said, I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil; my lust shall be satisfied upon them; I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them. Thou didst blow with thy wind, the sea covered them: they sank as lead in the mighty waters” (Exodus 15.9-10). "The Lord said unto Enoch: ‘Behold these thy brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency; and unto thy brethren have I said, and also given commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate their own blood…” (Moses 7.32-33) In a June 12, 2018 Mad State of Rebellion posting entitled, “Ten Commandment Deviant-in-chief,” I enumerated a few examples of Caligula’s breach of the Ten Commandments. He has broken every one of them…. repeatedly. I only provided a sampling because I would need all day every day to keep up with each new affront the man commits against God. Well, now, out of his own mouth, we have the man’s confession that, in addition to being a “Ten Commandment Deviant,” he is also an atheist—no great revelation this. At a—I choke and gag at the comically absurd hypocrisy of the next four words--rally for Ted Cruze, Caligula proudly declared, “‘You know, they have a word, it sort of became old-fashioned. It’s called a nationalist. And I say, Really? We’re not supposed to use that word,’ Trump continued. ‘You know what I am? I’m a nationalist. OK? I’m a nationalist’” (Jim Wallis, “Trump’s Strategy of Fear, sojourners.com). The foolish and ignorant man has balls, I’ll give him that. He knows well the abomination of his audiences. But, to kick so openly against the pricks in this manner? Pick a fight that can’t be won? Go to battle against a Being that can’t be beaten? Go to war with God, the greatest Globalist of all time and space? Does he not know (certainly, none of his “Christian” supporters have informed him), or care, that God “hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; that they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us: for in him we live, and move, and have our being; as certain also of your own poets have said, For we are also his offspring”? (Acts 17.26-28) In God, there are no Americans, no Japanese, no Mexicans. No black, no white. How much longer, rebelling against God so brazenly, can this puny little atheist remain “in power”? How much longer will “Christians” support his anti-Christ attitudes, actions, words, policies? How much longer before the great and eternal and cosmic globalist monarch of heaven and earth slaps down this arrogant little nationalist as he has done to so many other nationalistic tyrants before him? "These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings…” (Revelation 17.14) I still have the occasional Caligula devotee—for truly their loyalty, however misplaced, borders on religious—ask me if, in light of the booming economy, I am prepared to admit, even if it be grudgingly, that I have been wrong about the nakedly mad emperor. Apparently, in true idolatrous fashion, a booming economy justifies the wickedness of the wicked, and is even viewed as some kind of evidence of God’s pleasure.[1]
Though tempted to simply declare that for any “Christian” to hold forth such views is tantamount to apostacy, and, with that, be done with it, I will, instead, respond to my inquisitors through homily. I will exercise faith in Alma’s declared discovery. “The preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that which was just—yea, it had had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them…” I will, therefore, as Alma, “try the virtue of the word of God,” and tell a little story. Once upon a time, long, long ago in a country far, far away, there was a king by the name of Jeroboam II. Archaeologists, historians, and scripture all agree: during the reign of Jeroboam II, the northern kingdom of Israel experienced an impressive renaissance. First, Israel enjoyed a series of military victories that resulted in the restoration of territories that previous Israelite and Judean administrations had lost in military campaigns. The Book of Kings informs us that Jeroboam II “restored the coast [borders] of Israel from the entering of Hamath unto the sea of the plain… he recovered Damascus, and Hamath, which belonged to Judah, for Israel.”[2] What this “restoration” and “recovery” meant was that for the first time in many generations—really since the halcyon days of King Solomon—Israel was able to occupy most of the “promised land” that God had stipulated as “Israel” during its earliest days under the administrations of Moses and Joshua. At the same time, the nation was experiencing an economic boom unmatched in Israelite history. In addition to the archaeological record, including settlement surveys and population studies, we find indications of this boom in the prophetic book of Amos. Amos’ ministry took place during Jeroboam’s reign.[3] In his book, Amos speaks of “winter” and “summer” palaces that the wealthy possessed. Such multiple residences are indicative of the profligate financial resources available to the wealthy during Jeroboam’s reign. Amos also speaks of palaces adorned with ivory, an expensive luxury item, then as now.[4] Many of these palaces were constructed using the very finest of building supplies, including stone cut to exact measured specifications. Around these mansions, one found gardens and vineyards of the very best stock.[5] Wineries sprang up everywhere.[6] The wealthy enjoyed frequent banquets during which they enjoyed these fine wines, which they drank from the nicest of goblets as they reclined upon dining sofas inlaid with expensive ivory decorations. No common meats were good enough for the wealthy who enjoyed such feasts. Rather, they enjoyed the best lamb, along with beef from the finest, most carefully cultivated grain-fed cattle. During such feasting, live musicians entertained the wealthy with the viol and other musical instruments designed by a society with plenty of leisure time for such non-essential inventions. In addition to the scents of cooking food, the sweet smell of scented lotions and perfumes wafted about the luxurious dinning apartments of the wealthy.[7] No doubt, the unparalleled military and economic accomplishments, dubious and ephemeral though they were, inspired a resurgence of confident and proud nationalistic feelings, and a firm belief that providence smiled upon the king, his administration, and, indeed, the entire Israelite nation. If such successes were not enough, surely Jeroboam’s secure generation-long reign of forty-one years[8] reinforced such convictions. But they would have been wrong. For Jeroboam “did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.”[9] Jeroboam was an evil man. The economic boom was not to be thought of as some sort of divine approval of the man, his administration, or his policies. The boom, as economic booms so often are, was built upon wickedness. The accumulation of wealth on the part of the more advantaged class was not the result of God’s favor. Rather, the accumulation, enjoyed by only a small portion of the citizenry, was a consequence of sin! The wealthy acquired their wealth by means of unethical financial practices aimed against the less advantaged classes, and always underwritten by government economic policy. Amos’ rhetoric and imagery are powerful, full of furious condemnation of the economic boom and the few who enjoy its questionable benefits. The palaces of the wealthy, filled with all their luxurious appurtenances, Amos declared indecorously, were the consequence of “oppression” and “violence and robbery.” “Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great tumults in the midst thereof, and the oppressed in the midst thereof. For they know not to do right, saith the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.”[10] This wealth-producing oppression, violence, and robbery, certainly made possible and legitimized by government policies, targeted the poorer elements of society. “They sold the righteous for silver, and the poor for a pair of shoes;[11] That pant after the dust of the earth on the head of the poor, and turn aside the way of the meek.”[12] The wealthy ruling class utilized many devious means to steal from the vulnerable in order to fill their own coffers. “Forasmuch therefore as your treading is upon the poor, and ye take from him burdens of wheat: ye have built houses of hewn stone… ye have planted pleasant vineyards….”[13] Here, we not only get confirmation that the economic boom, and the wealthy’s attending accumulation of wealth, was, at least as far as the prophet was concerned, a consequence of wicked and unethical means. We also learn a little something about the nature of those wicked and unethical means, which Amos thought of as “treading” or “stomping” upon the poor. The powerful and wealthy governing class imposed some sort of tax upon the poor that took wheat, the most basic resource and staple of life, right out of the mouths of the poor. In his eighth chapter, Amos reveals a little more concerning the devious practices by which the wealthy acquired their riches—the means by which the economic boom was accomplished for the benefit of the few at the expense of the many. “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?’”[14] So, not only was the wealthy ruling class “stomping” upon the poor, it was also “swallowing” them,” “eating them alive,” if you will. This resort to the language of cannibalism allows us to sense Amos’ intense and condemnatory feelings about the economic policies of the nation and the boom that accompanied them. Economic policies of the regime allowed the merchants to sell bad wheat at inflated prices. Not only did the poor come away with less wheat than was fair, they walked away with a bunch of inedible straw mixed in. If the poor gathered up enough gumption to challenge the wealthy’s immoral practices, the wealthy used their influence, and especially their money to squash such isolated presumption. “For I know your manifold transgressions and your mighty sins: they afflict the just, they take a bribe, and they turn aside the poor in the gate from their right.”[15] The entire judicial system was bought by and sold to the highest bidder. “Justice” had become “poisonous”—King James’ “wormwood”—the thought of utilizing the legal system to do the right thing buried deep under ground.”[16] It didn’t take long for word to get around among the poor. It was a waste of time and resources for a poor man to appeal to the courts. It was the better part of valor to keep one’s head down and just endure the oppression silently. “Therefore the prudent shall keep silence in that time; for it is an evil time.”[17] But Amos, warned to “prophesy not,”[18] would not be cowed into silence. “Ye have turned judgment [justice] into gall, and the fruit of righteousness into hemlock…”[19] If all of this sounds eerily familiar, it should. We could easily be describing our own day and society. We might consider, for example, the millions of children who go to school hungry, perform poorly in class as a result of that hunger, and then at the end of the day go to bed hungry. In response to such an immoral state of affairs, what is the policy desires of our Jeroboam-like government? Reduce the already too meager food subsidies that impact children, while lowering taxes on the wealthiest citizens. All of this during an economic boom! All of this when the wealthiest Americans possess two, four, eight “palaces” in every corner of the globe and float about on the seven seas in one of their dozen yachts! Yes, a dozen! And here, in these palaces and yachts, no cost is spared. Why, even bathroom faucets and toilet seats desire a touch of silver, gold, platinum, marble, quartz, etc., etc. What, I wonder, would Amos say? Actually, no, I do not wonder. Nor can anyone else. It is as obvious and obvious can be what Amos would say about such profligate spending. In addition to the denial of food necessities to so many of our poor, our government allows, through prohibitive health insurance cost structuring, the denial of another “necessity of life”—health care. In today’s world, health care is as necessary to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” as is food. Yet, Jeroboam-like government policies allow health insurers to deny coverage, offer junk policies that pay for nothing, and cheat on and even deny legitimate claims even as those companies and their CEOs walk away with billions in profits. Again, we need not wonder what Amos would have to say about this. “Hear this, O ye that swallow up the needy, even to make the poor of the land to fail, Saying, ‘When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit? That we may buy the poor for silver, and the needy for a pair of shoes; yea, and sell the refuse of the wheat?’”[20] And what, pray tell, is society’s response to the poor’s too meek and too mild complaints? The poor are informed in oh so holier-than-thou tones that it is their fault—a charge that scripture never imagines—that they should work harder. This from the rich who loung on the soft water-proof cushions of their twenty-million-dollar yacht before their night of fine dinning during which they enjoy their vintage wines from 1856 Tuscany—all made possible by government handouts in the form of immorally low taxes. And all of this made possible by corrupt government officials enjoying the kickbacks they receive for their legislative protectionism toward the rich. …And on and on and on it goes…. Where it ends, Amos knows. “And I will smite the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, saith the LORD.”[21] “All the sinners of my people shall die by the sword, which say, The evil shall not overtake nor prevent us.”[22] “Therefore the LORD, the God of hosts, the Lord, saith thus; Wailing shall be in all streets; and they shall say in all the highways, ‘Alas! alas!’ and they shall call the husbandman to mourning, and such as are skilful of lamentation to wailing. And in all vineyards shall be wailing: for I will pass through thee, saith the LORD.”[23] “Therefore thus will I do unto thee, O Israel: and because I will do this unto thee, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”[24] “Shall not the day of the LORD be darkness, and not light? even very dark, and no brightness in it?”[25] No, my friend, do not get me started. Do not suggest that I consider even the smallest part of our current Caligula-style economic boom as anything but an ungodly scandal. Do not attempt to appeal to me by means of some base economic greed. I have too little greed, and understand scripture well enough to know better than to “suppose that gain is godliness.”[26] Notwithstanding America’s latest economic boom, I have no doubt that heaven has already passed its verdict, and recorded it with an iron diamond-tipped pen “Caligula did that which was evil in the sight of the LORD.” In heaven, where things are seen for what they really are, Caligula’s economic boom is seen for what it really is: a big fat bust. Sorry, I ain’t drinking the poison cool-aid. I’ll keep the beast’s blasphemous number off my forehead, thank you very much. [1] We will not, here, debate for whom the economy is booming, or how the poor are being left further and further behind. We will just pretend, notwithstanding all evidence to the contrary, that the economy is booming for everyone. [2] 2 Kings 14.25, 28 [3] Amos 1.1 [4] See 3.15 [5] See 5.11 [6] The prophet criticism surrounding the multiplication of vineyards and wineries is not about “drunkenness.” Rather, it is about the accumulation of wealth, which permits individuals to waste societal resources of pleasure rather than on such moral activities as creating a just and equal society. In the past several years, I have watched with interest as common grocery stores have doubled, doubled, and doubled again their stocks of wine in ever more extravagant wine shops. I have not the faintest doubt that if a prophet such as Amos were around today—sadly he is not—he would proclaim loudly against the American groceries’ wineries as evidence of America’s wealthy decadence. [7] See 6.4-6 [8] 2 Kings 14.24 [9] 2 Kings 14.24 [10] 3.9-10 [11] Note, please, that the “righteous” and the “poor” are found in parallel within the poetry. There is no thought, here or anywhere else in the Bible that the poor are poor for any reason other than they have been taken advantage of. They are not poor because of some character flaw in themselves, but because of the character flaws found in the wealthy, governing class. [12] 2.6-7 [13] 5.11 [14] 8.4-6 [15] 5.12. Note, again, the poetic parallelism. “The just” and the “the poor” are parallel with each other and equated. [16] See 5.7 [17] 5.12 [18] See 2.12 [19] 6.12 [20] 8.4-6 [21] Amos 3.15 [22] Amos 9.10 [23] Amos 6.16-17 [24] Amos 4.12 [25] Amos 5.20 [26] 1 Timothy 6.5 "Ye are of your father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and abode not in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaketh a lie, he speaketh of his own: for he is a liar, and the father of it” (John 8.44). Of all Caligula’s evils, too numerous to count, none are more damaging and damning than his attacks on truth through his consistent and constant lying. His desire to confuse and blur the line between truth and falsehood is clearly working, as evidence by and observation such as the following insane observation of one of his disciples. “‘I bet $500 they are lying,’ he [a Trump supporter] said. ‘I bet it was a liberal who did it. Have you stopped to think why those bombs were only sent to high-level Democrats? They are trying to make it look like Donald Trump is encouraging terrorism….’ “His wife agreed. “‘It seems like a lot’s been planted to make it look like a Trump supporter did it,’ said Carrie Pennington” (Ed Pilkington, “‘I Bet $500 they are lying:’: Trump Fans Skeptical about Pipe Bomb Arrest, theguardian.com). What does one do with such insanity? What response can combat this sort of irrational and delusional attitude. Truth is useless in the face of this sort of willful ignorance. This sort of willful ignorance is simply irresistible. It leaves one with a sense of hopelessness and a belief that America’s “right” is “without principle, and past feeling” (Moroni 9.20). Most discouraging and disturbing is Caligula’s success in blurring the truth among so-called Christians. It is truly brilliantly done. It is its very brilliance that proves that it is giving Caligula too much credit to say that the lying is his “strategy.” He is, obviously, not that smart. He is an ignorant man. No, he is another’s dupe. He is simply an ignorant tool of the cosmos’ most devious and conniving being—Lucifer, the father of lies. Caligula’s lies are not his. They are his father’s. Truly, America is in need of an exorcism. "And there was given unto him a mouth speaking great things and blasphemies; and power was given unto him to continue forty and two months. 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. |
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