Saints They Ain’t

I find it absolutely fascinating, if not terribly hypocritical, concerning how many people are coming after the character of President 45. There is no doubt, that this guy has a lot of flaws, and that he has done some bad things in the past. (Who hasn’t... something comes to mind about casting stones?) And yet, very few want to acknowledge or to give him any credit for the fact that he acknowledges that God is the reason that he was spared from the assassins bullet.  I would tend to agree with him on that. How can you not? (Naw…it was all just “luck.”) However, the entire terrifying experience seems to have done him some good in the long run. 

But the continued attention given to the New York trial and convictions is way over the top in my opinion. It was all an enormous sham…the trial, as well as the convictions. It was all politically motivated mish mash. 45 could have pursued the same course of action with Hillary over a host of issues (Whitewater, Benghazi, etc), but chose not to do so. Then there are all of Bill C’s shenanigans with Gennifer Flowers (not to mention Monica L.)…Nixon (‘nuff said)…and JFK(?). I mean, let’s take a look at JFK. He was a serial philanderer, made some shady deals, and according to some people who are in the know, “was not a very good guy.” Perhaps the funniest, most ironic thing of all, is that JFK’s nephew…RFK Jr…has decided to drop out of the race and is endorsing…that’s right—president 45! Talk about your bad company corrupting good morals!  So, let’s be real…there are not many Mother Teresas in high levels of  authority…maybe Jimmy Carter. (And Ronald R. had to clean up his giant mess in Iran).  But once again…JFK may have had his issues…but he is EXACTLY who this country needed for such a time as that time. We are in a similarly volatile location as a nation right now. We need someone who can lead us through these choppy waters…figuratively (and likely literally). And even though I would love to have a pastor in Chief, a Jimmy Carter as president every four years, the bottom line is, they are not going to lead us in the way that we need to be led in a very dangerous world.

New Age Old Splice

When I was a “young ‘un minister,” the lines between Christianity and humanism were much more defined. We had a much better grasp concerning what was sin and what was not. Now, the world has blurred so many of the lines, using such euphemistic words like “woke”, “openness” and “liberated.” But it is what it is — humanism. People are still killing babies…50 years after it was legalized...and the word still attached is “choice.” 

Some might accuse the GOP candidates of feigning Christianity…but who really knows their hearts? Are we really that good at playing God? Some believe that they are. There is no feigning with the other crew’s leaders…most just flat out hate all things Christian…and the proof is in what they believe and they are unabashed and militant about it. 

Here is the rest of the stat sheet. Our economy has been a disaster with incendiary inflation brought on by many poor economic decisions. Prices of groceries, homes and fuel have skyrocketed over the past three plus years. There is little to no growth in our system…mutual funds, retirement accounts…that by last count, were about breaking even (plus a little) over for this year, but still mediocre for nearly four years. The border is a sieve with absolutely no accountability as it relates to who or what enters this country unchecked…exceedingly unhealthy and dangerous. We have had anti-Semitic protests breaking out all over the country. They have tarnished the Liberty Bell and other monuments in our country. How did all these people get here? Is this going to get better? It is scary. We have (had) a system in place whereby people could enter our country legally…through appropriate and proper checks and balances, but that has long since exploded. I mean, it honestly seems like protecting our country from terrorists and others that would harm…and are currently harming…our society would be common sense, but common sense has checked out in the name of voters or what have you.

Our Commander in Chief presence in the world has been significantly diminished…and frankly has been generally terrible…due to awful decision-making, beginning with Afghanistan, and continuing on through the Ukraine/Russia debacle due in large part to the perception that we have had a weak president by the president of Russia, ruler of China, and which generally has been true. The current government has not only continued to placate Iran and other terrorist states, they have been enabled and emboldened and are now fighting their fight on our soil! 

Many others…primarily the media…have been doing their typical best to sweep it all under a mighty large rug. Certain entities in government, including the current justice department, make it an incredibly unlevel playing field as it relates to all of the inside dealings…and they have all done their best to distance themselves from a Secret Service debacle the likes that has never been seen, but which is also incredibly suspicious and sketchy…and the truth will never be known, which is very unfortunate, but sadly the standard for such matters. It is all disheartening and disgusting. 

People rail…including many Christians…against the concept of the U.S. being a “Christian nation.” They don’t like that moniker. Many just want to pacify all things. I understand it. And yet…how about an “anti-Christian nation”? That is the path we are already on. It’s time to wake up! We have never been an exclusively Christian nation, but this overflow of anti-Semites and anti-Christs into our country is alarming. Some may get the “open” country they want…only to find that it may be “closed” to what really matters to them. They may get the country that they want, but certainly not like the country that they get. I hope and pray that we make some better, Godly decisions in the upcoming months. If not, God could and will turn us over to the desires of the humanists’ hearts. “For our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, and against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” Ephesians 6:12

Open and Closed

I have to say that I’ve seen an awful lot of pushback on Christian‘s being outraged over the Olympics opening ceremony. So many have made arguments as such so as to shame Christians for even speaking out against it. I can understand the need to be kind and gentle with people, certainly one on one, because we do need to make a difference in our lives. We don’t want to turn people off to Christ. At the same time, it is very unfortunate that some have significantly softened their approach to sin. I don’t think that there is an issue, spiritually or Biblically, with expressing outrage over such a blatant display of anti-Christian activity. I would say that it doesn't necessarily matter if they intended to parody the Last Supper. That's the perception, which is what does matter. And there's no doubt the ceremonies were hyper-sexualized, inappropriate for children, and have no place in a major international sports event that is supposed to have a broad appeal. We should rebuke sin and mockery. It’s righteous indignation. People have called out using Jesus overturning the money changers in the temple as “a poor proof text.” I have not seen anyone mention Jesus saying, “Let the children come to me…if anyone causes one of these little ones to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Matthew 18:1-6) No one is being hateful towards the messengers but towards the message. We know the enemy when we see it and we will continue to wrestle against it. This is the battlefield. There needs to be a balance…we can be outraged over such an event, but we can also ask the Lord, His Spirit, to help us to exercise the wisdom to know how to communicate about it in such a way that we’re not excusing sin, and that we are still able to be positive influencers for the cause of Christ.

Elections

Could a US President suspend elections indefinitely using emergency powers?

William Murphy, College Professor at the State University of New York at Oswego says — No. There is no such power. An election was held during the Civil War, and throughout the Great Depression, and in the midst of World War II. There is no possibility at all of suspending it. None.

Tom Conway, Author says — The short answer is “No.”. The President’s emergency powers don’t extend to ignoring the Constitution. The laws the President can ignore are few, and reasonably carefully circumscribed. That’s why several Executive Orders have been successfully challenged in the Courts, and been revised in order to take effect.

Elections for the President, Vice President and Congress are required by the Constitution every couple years. Congress has set dates for elections, and changing those dates would require new legislation. The actual work of elections is done on a basically County level around the country, and generally includes elections at lower levels, including everything from Governors to Dog License Clerk. (Really. There are jurisdictions where dogcatcher is an elected official.) The President has essentially no authority over those elections.

Restricting movement using some kind of war powers would also be dubious. The US had regular elections during both World Wars, and NYC had elections just weeks after the 9/11 attacks. It’s hard to imagine anything short of a large-scale nuclear attack preventing elections in the US.

More philosophically, after the 9/11 attacks several officials in the Bush administration said the President’s first duty was to defend the country. That’s not correct. The President doesn’t take an oath to defend the country, and neither do people in the military or police forces. They take an oath to defend the Constitution. The President’s oath is:

I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.

And the oath of enlistment is:

I, (NAME), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice.

The people who designed our system of government thought how we lived was more important than whether we lived. The notion that the President could discard those institutions is a dangerous one that betrays the foundations of our democracy. 

Steven Levitsky, a professor of government at Harvard University, and co-author of “Tyranny of the Minority: Why American Democracy Reached the Breaking Point,” also said that while he didn’t think Trump’s recent comment was “indicative of an organized plot to end elections in the United States,” it did represent yet another sign that “the guy has got authoritarian reflexes.” “Over the course of 10 or 15 years,” Levitsky added, a growing number of Republicans “convinced themselves that they weren’t going to be able to win elections in this new, multiracial America. I’m not so sure that’s true, but they were deeply fearful that was true. And so Trump, I think more than anything else, he senses … where they’re going and they’re feeling.” 

And concerning Project 2025 that a lot of people are so paranoid about — Trump has nothing to do with Project 2025!  That small organization only endorses Trump and that's all.  Trump does not recognize or accept their endorsement!

So, no…DT is not about to suspend voting. He has no legal or constitutional right to do so. What he can do, is speak ambiguously in such a way as to cause people consternation and fear, because he has a history of doing such, while most likely referencing what he believes was a stolen election in 2020…but also because he has deep convictions and concerns of his own concerning the Republican Party and the course of the country that he loves.