It is Sunday morning and most assuredly it is cold. Where can one find a ray of hope? Where can yours truly find a ray of hope? I am now made to feel ashamed that I attend a Lutheran Church. I'm actually not going to attend this morning. Our new U.S. president has now made the Lutheran Church a target. He has targets all over the place.
This new effort to criticize the Lutheran Church surprises me not one bit. I had seen it coming. Of course I was not assuming he was going to win the presidency again. Biden dropped out but that was not enough. Biden's mistake was to agree to a debate with Trump. Biden was not perfect but he was a good-hearted person. He was in politics for the right reasons. He was willing to be a warrior in the people's interests.
You expected him to be perfect? Well no one in that role is going to be perfect. We can nit-pick anyone from a variety of angles. But Biden had the courage to be "in the arena." What person would want to come forward as the nominee of the Democratic Party nowadays? There is tremendous risk as in someone like DJT launching legal actions if not against you, then against some of your top people.
But it may come down to Biden himself. Republicans like to talk about "lawfare" but it's their own guy who hovers most of all with this weapon. And when he wins like with extorting huge sums of $ from ABC News and now CBS and goodness knows who else when all this is done, his people will bristle and say the facts supported them. Because that's what lawyers always say. It's called advocacy.
But the intent with such things can be dark. To support an autocratic leader. To help someone attain king-like status. Clearly that is what Trump is going for. Can't you all see?
And now that great bulwark of the Christian faith - the Lutheran Church - is drawing his ire. One of his lieutenants, Michael Flynn, is taking the lead on this front. Does MAGA really think they can destroy the Lutheran Church? Well I have learned unfortunately that we just cannot bet against him. Legal charges bounce off him. And when they seem to stick as with E. Jean Carroll, it just does not matter.
The factual record shows that Trump was not even an astute businessperson. He in fact was quite the opposite. He learned the skills of entertainment and this allowed him to "sell" the contrary image of being a genius businessperson. Walk up and down main street of small-town America and you'll find most folks having bought into the generous image. It is a false image.
DJT was born into tons of special advantages. People like this normally invite scorn from the common folks. Instead, Trump used his charm offensive through entertainment media to sell himself entirely. He did it through the magical TV screen.
And should we be surprised? We allowed O.J. Simpson into our homes for many years because of his football abilities. Therefore when it became clear he had committed double murder, most of us were hesitant to outright condemn him - we wanted to listen to his celebrity lawyers like that Mr. Kardashian. Familiar name?
Vince Bugliosi wrote the book that made O.J.'s guilt a conclusive no-brainer. Bugliosi tried lecturing us through our cloud of delusion that formed from having admired O.J. for so long in sports. Sports! That complete alternative universe for our attitude as vicarious participants. Our attention is riveted on the players who look so fresh and graceful in their uniforms. Years later many of these players are run-down wrecks because of how they had entertained us. They suffer. They die prematurely.
But we can always count on a fresh set of bodies to get our attention on Sunday. That is all we care about, though we don't want to admit it.
So Trump found the formula of hypnotizing us from the TV screen in the like fashion. He crafted his image as a super business guy, he sold it. It not only worked for the 2016 election, he kept it going to get elected again in 2024. And in between he was responsible for the awful spectacle of J-6. And for that, who was held accountable? DJT has become so all-powerful, we may find that the good people who investigated and prosecuted the wrongdoing of J-6 are the ones who will be hung out to dry.
This process moves forward in a way that seems unstoppable now, as with all things Trump. I'm just reporting the fact that he has power and he is using it. Do I object? Does it matter if I do?
Is anyone with me in Stevens County re. my concerns? Do you all care if the Lutheran Church even survives this awful wrecking ball? Does our congressperson Michelle Fischbach agree with Trump and Flynn that the Lutheran Church is awful?
Of course the Lutheran Church is not a monolith. Perhaps Trump, Flynn and Fischbach would approve of certain categories with Lutherans. The fringe synods with a conservative reputation I suppose. Would they approve of Good Shepherd Lutheran Church of rural Morris? I don't know - I have seen signs that church is softening some. I compliment them for that! But, if they're winning my compliments, that may be bad news for them.
I am sure they would never countenance any actual gay activism. And they would not approve a known gay to be a pastor. I think such matters are small potatoes. Gay people can overlook this IMHO. A friend of mine who goes to Good Shepherd tells me "gays are welcome to worship at our church."
Well hallelujah. I just wonder what the church's standing now would be with the hardcore MAGA element. Can Good Shepherd separate itself from the local ELCA churches well enough? The poor ol' ELCA of course has the "liberal" tag, and will that become the kiss of death? Seriously, I think it could well be.
Should I just stay away from the fray and cease having anything to do with this newly controversial Lutheran Church? Does the DJT regime want everyone to attend some sort of mega-church with a Bible-thumping fundamentalist pastor? Might this end up becoming our only choice?
I have been a keen observer through all that has happened in Trump's rise. He may wipe out the Lutheran Church. His people are now critical of the Catholics too. But that may be too daunting for them.
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| Paula White |
Watch for Trump to find a way to take over the Federal Reserve. He'll push interest rates down to zero if not into negative territory. If this situation is allowed to persist, what do you think would happen to America? Trump would not care. He'll take care of himself in the end. He could end up in Russia.
Could the Lutheran Church ever be revived? Would the strength of God be enough? Is there hope? Remember how the besieged citizens of L.A. gathered in the church building as the last bastion in the concluding scenes of "War of the Worlds" (1953). So I have to say there is a ray of hope.
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
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