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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
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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. "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). With each passing day, it looks increasing likely that Caligula’s fascist administration intends to conspire with Saudi Arabia to cover up the murder of Jamal Khashoggi. He and his administration are utilizing several means to do so: giving Saudi Arabia time to clean up the inconvenient physical mess that chopping humans up into little bitty pieces creates; giving Saudi Arabia time to find expendable individuals who can serve as “rogue” scapegoats; asserting that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince knew nothing about the murder; and, likely, refusing to listen to apparent audio evidence of the butchery in order to give him and his administration “plausible deniability.” The ridiculous nature of each of these is apparent to anyone with half a mind or an ounce of moral integrity. Just consider Caligula’s devilish suggestion that the murder was committed by “rogue elements.” Really? The Saudi Arabian consulate gave entrance to twelve suspicious “rogue” actors, several of whom were the “praetorian guard” of the crown prince? The consulate then remained silent and passive during the long, agonizing screams of a man being quartered and butchered? We should all be offended by Caligula’s assumption that we are such a bunch of idiots that we might accept such absurdities. Then again, his people have accepted one lying explanation after another concerning a host of absurdities. Whether he and his administration will get away with this plot to allow murder for the purposes of getting gain—not just national gain through arms sells, etc., but personal gain that Caligula and his deviant family will gain through various business transactions—is yet to be determine. If past is prelude to the future, he likely will get away with it. The man, as I have written previously, is a sorcerer. He having cast a spell that has sent about 35% of the American citizenry (about half of them “Christian”) into a moral and intellectual stupor, and made his blackened wickedness appear as white as snow. The hypocrisy of the right is breath-taking and repugnant. They pretend to hate a strong and active federal government. They are doing everything in their power to undermine it. Yet, they sit idly by while that same hated federal government exercises its power to cover up a murder, making the nation and its populace complicit in the crime. It seems that the right does not mind having blood on their hands as long as the cost of gas remains unnaturally low, their production of murderous weapons of mass destruction is not disturbed, and the profits from those same weapons is not threatened. No, the “right” wants a strong federal government. They want a strong federal government that will maintain their obscene consumption of the planet. Of course, they want a strong federal government that will be active in such very important tasks as keeping gay people from enjoying their most basic human rights and being married. What they do not want is a strong federal government that takes a pittance of their precious mammon in order to alleviate the suffering of the poor, the elderly, or the millions of disadvantaged children American greed has produced. Such help is anathema to them, for we all know that vulnerable Americas “brought upon [themselves their] misery.” And, of course, those who find helping others so repulsive, have earned every dime by their had work. So, as we have come to expect from them, America’s wrong-headed right goes right on doing the one thing they are told they must not do. “Perhaps thou shalt say: ‘The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just’— But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 4.17-18) But now, this love of money has engendered a new evil, just as Paul said it would—"the love of money is the root of all evil” (1 Timothy 6.10). The love of murder. This latest scandal involving international murder, coverup, and secret combinations demonstrates that Caligula’s hoards are willing to look the other way, accept the most horrific crimes, swallow the most obviously ludicrous alibis, and thus become accomplices in murder as long as their everyday comforts of life are not in any way threatened. They seem not to understand, or willfully refuse to understand, that it is, in fact, the very evil that they countenance in their government that threatens, not only their comfortable life, but their very eternal souls. And now I ask of you, my brethren, how will any of you feel, if ye shall stand before the bar of God, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness? Behold, what will these things testify against you? Behold will they not testify that ye are murderers, yea, and also that ye are guilty of all manner of wickedness?” (Alma 5:22-23) And it came to pass that they formed a secret combination, even as they of old; which combination is most abominable and wicked above all, in the sight of God; for the Lord worketh not in secret combinations, neither doth he will that man should shed blood, but in all things hath forbidden it, from the beginning of man…. Just to be clear, in opining in the previous two Mad State posts that the U.S. is a devotee of Satan’s doctrine that it is appropriate and glorious to “murder and get gain” (as is evident in Caligula’s contention that the death of a lone journalist—not an American, by the way… as if this makes his murder, somehow less egregious—should not be allowed to threaten the profits and jobs of the American weapons industry), I do not wish to suggest that this is something new with Caligula or his deviant administration. Caligula is simply stupid enough, immoral enough, and brazen enough to bring out of the closet what previous administrations have attempted to keep under wraps. Past administrations have engaged in a kind of “secret combination” when it comes to such values. But, increasingly, one of the Doctrine and Covenants’ very first predictions is unfolding right before our very eyes: “iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and… secret acts shall be revealed” (DC 1.3). Some have read this to mean that God would somehow expose human sin, perhaps at the final judgement. But, he needn’t go to the trouble, or wait so long. We are doing for him. Caligula has this week openly spoken a secret American sin that has been committed by pretty much every American administration—Republican and Democrat—since the Second World War. The secret was broadcast from dishes sitting atop buildings and towers, bounced off satellites jetting through in the starry sky, and transmitted through fiber optic cables into the homes of millions of audiences: “We Americans are O.K. with murder, as long as it produces a profit.” There never, ever, ever, ever was any doubt that no moral person, certainly not one called “Christian,” could ever, ever, ever support that vile man. This is just one more nail in the coffin, one more chunk of sulfur from the fires of hell. "The shew of their countenance doth witness against them; “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth that he hath but a short time” (Revelation 12.12). So, you tell me—especially those of you who have been to an LDS temple, and there heard Satan make his boast that he will “buy up armies and navies and reign with blood and horror on this earth”—how can America be viewed as doing anything but Lucifer’s bidding when selling weapons systems to a murderous rouge state such as Saudi Arabia becomes an economic imperative that forces us to look the other way when said rogue state chops a child of God up into little pieces and discards him as so much worthless refuse? It can’t. America is a lynchpin in the Satanic plan for world dominance. From his base of operations in Washington, D.C., he is working to delegitimize God here, on good ol’ planet earth, and from here work his way out into the cosmos until he has dethroned the God of heaven. Workers of America, Unite! Stay firm! Assure that political and corporate elites make provisions that you may keep making your weapons of mass destruction so you can buy your precious toys, and live a life of ease. Remember the great secret, discovered by the first capitalist entrepreneur himself, Mr. Master Mahan: a man “may murder and get gain.” Then, like Mahan, let us all “glory in [our] wickedness” (Moses 5.31). “For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies” (Revelation 18.3). “And Cain said: ‘Truly I am Mahan, the master of this great secret, that I may murder and get gain’” (Moses 5.31). Soooo…. When asked about Saudi Arabia’s apparent murder of a journalist, and possible U.S. reactions, Caligula, being the paragon of virtue that he is, expressed caution, lest the U.S. do anything to threaten the billions of dollars in arms sales to that renegade Arabian nation. He has to think, being the incredibly thoughtful and charitable fellow that he is, about American armament jobs, and Americans’ ability to consume the hell out of the planet. As disgraceful and immoral as this is, there is little doubt that workers who produce the weapons of mass destruction that are so profitable were relieved by Caligula’s wisdom, and agreed with the president: “Let’s not get carried away here. No need to threaten our idolatrous materialism for anything as flimsy as morality.” This is “America First,” and “Make America Great Again” on steroids. With any luck, such unholy steroids will eventually bring about American impotence. P.S…. It appears as of the evening of October 11, 2018, that the U.S. government knows, and has known for certain that the Saudi government ordered and carried out the torture and execution of the journalist, Jamal Khashoggi, as they have listened to audio tapes of Khashoggi being hacked to pieces. No doubt, Caligula is jealous, wondering frustratingly why he can’t dispatch journalist in a similar fashion. "And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn… for no man buyeth their merchandise any more… the merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and horses, and chariots, and slaves, and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly are departed from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. Though I cannot say to American women that I know or feel the pain brought on by the Kavanaugh hearings and subsequent appointment as a supreme court judge. I am pained, to the extent that a privileged white man can be, for and with you. I have been profoundly discouraged, depressed, and almost debilitated, by the atrocities committed by the U.S. senate’s judiciary committee over the past weeks. Now, with today’s appointment, it is painfully clear that the atrocities will continue, not for weeks or months or even years, but for another generation.
Notwithstanding the past meager advances of American women, this pack of white men, insatiably hungry for power, will, sadly, likely subject you to additional brutal and bitter days in the future. Such days are not likely to end until you have broken the white man’s hold on power. These latest brutalities are, I know, only the latest in a 500 year history of white man rule. I hope it does not add salt to your wounds to make the points that follow. But the past weeks hearings and today’s appointment should serve as a reminder of these brutal truths. They should serve to intensify the call to action. First, this is what you must remember about we—for, alas, I am one—white men. We have ruled the world, now, for just a little more than half a millennium. You must know from our history that we white men did not gain that rule by power-sharing or seeking to achieve equality with anyone. More monkey than human, we are not power-sharers. We took control by violent force; by subjecting, and oppressing, and, when the first two failed to achieve our ends, by murdering black men, brown men, yellow men, and red men—all other men, wherever we found them. To this day, no one, anywhere, is safe from our violent greed. This is how we roll. We are not likely to change our ways. Covered in blood as we are, and aware, subconsciously, perhaps, that if we yield power, it may be our blood that is next shed, we are not likely to give that power up to anyone else. Not even our wives and daughters. This brings us to our second point. American women have been calling for “equal rights” for decades now. This… will… not… do. Just think about it for a moment. When have white men ever treated anyone as equals—red, black, yellow, or brown? Having gained power, when have they ever shared power with anyone else? You must not labor and fight for any such mythic achievements as “power-sharing” or “equal rights” with men. They will not share power and they will not treat you as equals. If you wish to climb out from under the kind of oppression that has been speechified the past few days and weeks by the likes of the ol’ white southern plantation master, Lyndsey Graham, you will have to think bigger. You will have to grab “unequal power” and “unequal rights” just as the white men did centuries ago. You will have to dominate, not communicate. The fight will not be pretty. It will not be measured, as we saw in the senate judiciary committee these past weeks. They will utilize extreme measures to maintain their power. You will have to be extreme in return. You will not be able to fight the fire with a splash of water. You’ll have to set fires. Metaphorically, if not literally, there will be blood on the floor. Short of this, they will not yield power. Some may say that this is not in the woman’s nature. I don’t know about that. It is not for me to say. It is for them to decide. But this latest pack of alpha male monkeys cannot be reasoned with any more than those that proceeded them. You should see that after the weeks-long bloodbath in the U.S. senate. If you want “equal” anything, you’ll have to pry, not 50%, but 60, 70, 75 percent out of their grasping and grubby little monkey hands. And you’ll have to define and partition whatever you permit them to retain. The question is, when you have done so, will you wield power any better than they have? The women who sit on the judiciary committee don’t exactly instill confidence. Notwithstanding the uncertainty, though, I, for one, am ready to give it a whorl—turn power over to the women. It is hard to believe that women—be they black, red, yellow, or brown—can do worse than we white men. We have simply made a complete mess of the planet. We have utterly disfigured our faces so that it can no longer be said that we are made in the image and likeness of God. Here’s hoping that Eve, who was also created in the image and likeness of God, can do better than Adam. "All flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven—which causeth silence to reign, and all eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned…” (DC 38.11-12) The supreme court “hearing” conducted on Thursday, September 27, 2018 is one of the most vile, sickening, and disheartening events of my sixty-four-year-old life. There are simply no words to adequately express my disgust. What do I say today? A pox on all their houses, left and right alike; white house, house of representatives, senate, supreme court—the whole sordid, disgusting mess. Indeed, I shake off their filth from my feet, positive that no divine punishment, not even one ten times more severe than that executed against Sodom and Gomorrah, is too severe for these shameless hogs who have turned our government into the very vilest, foulest, and most squalid of pig sties. "O LORD God, to whom vengeance belongeth; “O Lord… we know that… that we are unworthy before thee; because of the fall our natures have become evil continually…” (Ether 3.2) What an ignoble mess we have made of our government! Truly, truly, a thousand times, truly; more truly than even I knew when some two years ago I placed it in the header of this Mad State of Rebellion page, The heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and madness is in their heart while they live…” As long as they live. Every day that they live. Day in and day out until there are no more days. I think that I can hear the same mournful voice that Enoch heard so many thousands of years ago. “…A voice from the bowels [of the earth], 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) For what mad wickedness and filthiness does mother earth now weep? Let me count the ways. Any number of evils. But, for today’s Mad State of Rebellion post, we have one particularly in mind. First, the naked emperor, Caligula, almost certainly nominated a man for supreme court with an eye toward having a corrupt judge in place that would protect the president from being held accountable for any number—literally, take your pick, any number, we’ll find crimes to match it— of crimes, both personal and societal. Then that nominee sits behind an executive desk facing representatives of the people and lies through his teeth, over, over, and over, and… well, pick your number, again, any number; we’ll find lies to match it. Then there’s the latest mess. Lindsey Graham complains through that most noble and concise means of communication, Tweeter, that requesting an FBI investigation “is more about stalling the process until after November's elections than getting to the truth.” He is very likely correct in his assessment of Democratic intentions. Of course, he neglects to say that, with near certainty and equal accuracy, the GOP’s unwillingness to await the results of an impartial FBI investigation is more about getting a corrupt man in place on the supreme court before “November’s election than getting to the truth.” It other words, no one gives a hoot about the truth— not on either side of the aisle. And everyone gives even less than a hoot about the dignity of either individual personally impacted by the scandal. Disgraceful, is too kind a word for what our elected officials have become. But, of course, they were elected! So, disgraceful is equally insufficient to describe what the American electorate has become. Now, no process, however wise, can make up for the madness that resides in the human heart. And, I wouldn’t want to suggest that the “governing” process of the LDS Church is perfect. There is plenty there to given one pause. And yet, there truly is something to be said for its core principle: “unanimity” (It is often said that the Church is led by ‘a’ prophet. But this is inaccurate. We are led by prophetsssssssssssssss. Nothing happens, whatever the head prophet’s wishes, without the other 14 agreeing— unanimously). So, here’s my pie-in-the-sky suggestion. Write it into the constitution, which ought to be, I feel, as you know, a living rather than dead document. Let the president, of whatever political persuasion, make his nomination for the supreme court. Let a judiciary committee of republicans and democrats—pick your number and ratio— review the nominee. Let them make their recommendation to the full senate. BUT THEIR RECOMMENDATION MUST BE UNANIMOUS. No, 6 to 5 votes. No 11 to 1 decisions. Nope. Its 12 to 0, or bust. Impossible, you say? Never get unanimity, you say? Maybe. But, I don’t think so. A policy of unanimity serves as a check on the power of the individual madman, especially one inclined towards despotism, and checks societal madness by forcing cooperation and compromise. What it would mean is that presidents would understand the need to nominate, to begin with, someone qualified, but politically middle of the road. It would mean that we would be getting middle of the road judges. It would mean that judges could go either way, indeed, they would go either way from case to case. No more swings right to left and left to right. Just stay in the center. Steady as she goes. It seems clear to me that in governance, “unanimity” of some sort is of God. It may very well be the divine means of governance in eternity. It is the only protection that is even remotely strong enough to counteract the madness that is in the human heart, and the madness that is the driving force in society at large. “And every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one with the other— (DC 107.27) |
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