A Word Aptly Spoken

History is repeating itself right here and right now.

It has been a very long time since I have written. But it is time now to speak up and be heard. To be silent is to be complicit. And any one who knows me already understands the wording will not be in the quiet, measured tone that Bishop Budde used. No reason to do that since her plea for mercy to be shown to others caused people to threaten her life.

I guess I shouldn’t be surprised by the actions and words of various branches of the organized church, some leaders of various denominations, and people who claim to love Jesus while atrocities are being carried out.  A brief study of the church will show that what we are seeing is not an anomaly.  The Christian church throughout history has jumped on board with some of the cruel and evil of events.  The Crusades. The Inquisition.  Eugenics.  Slavery. Hitler. The church stood by allowing genocide in many places in the world – actually let’s not use that word – they stood by allowing and condoning the slaughter of wide swaths of human beings.  The church has condoned the activities of the KKK and other groups including many hate groups today. They sat by as American Indian tribes were displaced and/or slaughtered.  They participated in the exclusion of Italians, Irish, Jews, Chinese, Africans, and other any of their fellow humans who are “different.”  They looked the other way when Japanese American citizens were put into prison camps right here in the United States. 

And the church today is following that history.  If you belong to a church that actively supported Donald Trump, you are attending a church that believes that this man (who claims to be a Christian) is a good person, that what he says and what he does are the actions and words Jesus would accept and glory in.  I know I am not able to keep up with everything Donald Trump has done since taking the oath of office, but here are some things that you have allowed by supporting him, Elon Musk, and the members of his party who are not stopping him:

• You are guilty of allowing millions of pounds of food and medication to spoil and go unused while there were starving and sick people awaiting those necessities.  Many of those people have already or will shortly die from starvation and from the lack of medications that could be readily available.  This is what is happening as a result of the executive order getting rid of USAID and barring them from meeting the commitments made.  YOU KILLED THOSE PEOPLE.

• You have supported the dismantling of the Constitution, the protections to democracy that the founders put in place through the separation of powers, and the rule of law.  Thousands of government employess have been fired without cause and not in accordance with the laws passed by Congress.  An executive order aims to destroy the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution. That is illegal.  Convicted fellons who tried to overthrow the govenment, who were searching for the Vice President of the US and chanting “Hang Mike Pence” and who attacked and in some cases caused the death the very police officers that the church claims to support have been pardoned and allowed back on the street with impunity.  YOU HAVE BROKEN ALL OF THESE LAWS BY ABETTING THE CRIMINAL COMMITING THE CRIMES.  

• You have turned your head on actions that are blatantly aimed at harming the poor, the handicapped, people of color, those with differing lifestyles, women, Jews, Muslims, and the list could go on.  By ignoring the fact that executive actions are solely based on racism, misogyny, and antisemitism you are showing yourself to be in agreement.  If you have railed against DEI, please state aloud what you are really against.  Is it diversity since you don’t want anyone who looks, believes, or talks differently than you do to be able to work and get ahead. Maybe it is equality because you don’t believe that all people are created in the image of God. Or is it inclusion because you want to make sure that people with a physical handicap can’t get a job, that there are no women in the workplace, etc.  YOU HAVE PERSECUTED AND ATTACKED PEOPLE – AND, AT THE VERY LEAST, ARE CERTAINLY NOT TREATING OTHERS AS YOU WOULD BE TREATED.

• You are allowing families to be torn apart and people to be deported to countries where they will face certain death through wholesale rounding up of human beings made in the image of God. That is not loving your neighbor as yourself.  These roundups of “criminals” have happened in schools, churches, places of employment.  These roundups have included people who are not immigrants but US citizens born and raised in Puerto Rico which is part of our country.  If you condone this by saying some are breaking the law by being here but you have condoned executive actions that break the law and usurp the Constitution, you are being a hypocrite.  YOU KILLED THOSE PEOPLE.   YOU DID NOT WELCOME THEM AS STRANGERS AS COMMANDED IN THE BIBLE. (Of couse I heard a woman reply to the question, “What if Jesus came to the United States today, would you let him in?” Her response was “Yes, if he had the proper papers.”)

• You have condemned people to suffer and die for a lack of knowledge and facts about health care and disease that should be spread widely but have been deleted from the health cites that people have turned to in the past.  You have condemned people to suffer and die now and in the future by allowing an executive order to stop all research on diseases, separate from people around the world who are working to stop disease and find cures.  You have condemned people to suffer in many ways that are not completely visible yet by placing people in powerful positions within cabinet departments and governmental agencies who have no knowledge, no education, no experience and a complete disdain for the area in which they are placed in power.  Putting a man in charge of the nation’s health and human services who denies the facts in science, who spreads deadly theories, who is hypocritical in the views he espouses as evidenced by his vaccinating his children while telling others that doing so is dangerous and should be banned.  YOU ARE COMPLICIT IN CAUSING THE PAIN, SUFFERING, AND PERHAPS DEATH THROUGH YOUR SILENCE AND UNWILLINGNESS TO LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.

• You have taken away the rules and agencies by which all Americans have been protected from fraud and being abused and used by corporations.  These guardrails have been what Americans relied on as they sought to be dealt with honestly.  The Investigators General and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were created to keep us safe from unscrupulous businesses. This includes Elon Musk’s businesses which directly benefit because these very protections have been challenging his business dealings. He is financially benefitting from these safety guards being taken away. Putting Elon Musk in charge of our government is akin to putting the fox in charge of the hen house. YOU ARE ENCOURAGING UNSCRUPULOUS BUSINESSES TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AMERICAN CITIZENS INCLUDING YOURSELF.

I could go on, but I’ll stop here with the things I believe the church will have to answer to God for.

I have something to say to those who voted for and can continue to support this man and his actions while claiming to be a Christian.  Examine what you believe and whether your actions align.  Think about what are you teaching your children about how to treat others. Are you reading the words of Jesus in your Bible?  Have you read Matthew 25:45?  Matthew 22:36-40 where Jesus tells us what the two important laws are and claims that “the law and the prophets hang on these two commandments”?  Have you read Luke 6:27-31 which ends in the Golden Rule?  How about Hebrews 13:2 that says, “Do not neglect to show hospitality to strangers, for by doing so some have entertained angels without knowing it.”  Or Leviticus 19:33-34 “When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. The foreigners residing among you must be treated as your native-born.  Love them as yourself…” Have you read the Beatitudes in Matthew 5 and Luke 6? I read the words of a pastor who told of an encouter he had with a church member after preaching on the Beatitudes. The member asked where the pastor got all that “liberal” stuff.  The pastor, of course, reminded the man that these were the words of Jesus.  The man’s response was that they were “pretty weak.”

Certainly, I have a disagreement with your political beliefs.  That has never affected a friendship or relationship in the past.  This time it is different.  This isn’t a matter of politics.  It is a matter of character.  Anyone who supports, encourages, and voted for this man shows me a person who is incapable of love, compassion, or empathy.  There is far too much damage being done.  You cannot claim you didn’t know what he intended to do.  You were warned about Project 2025.  The things he told you he would do included these things along with many promises he has no intention of keeping. If you have equated God, guns, and Trump, you are worshipping Trump and guns at the same level as you worship God. You have adopted and helped to raise a man to power

• Who has bragged about assaulting women, 
• Who refused to rent apartments he owned to people of color, 
• Who disparaged and ridiculed people with physical handicaps, 
• Who has been proven to be a compulsive liar, 
• Who has cheated on three wives and paid prostitutes for sex, 
• Who started and elevetated conspiracies 
• Who cheated people through a fake charity and university
• Who has is doing everything in his power to disenfranchise the poor while giving to the wealthiest among us

In a conversation that Maya Angelou had with Oprah Winfrey, Oprah asked her about something that had happened in Angelou’s home. A person made a racist and homophobic remark and was promptly asked to leave. She said she did not allow hatred in her home because it is a poison. It is used to make a person less than human. And that means it’s poison. “I know that if poison is in a vial which says P-O-I-S-O-N and has a skull and cross bones, that is poison. But if you pour the same thing into Bavarian crystal it is still poison.” Nobody can use hateful language safely. The reason Dr. Angelou said she would not allow those people in her home was because she believed it got into the walls, the upholstery, your clothing, and eventually you. She also said, “Hate is a poison for our mind, body, and soul. It is a poison that takes away our peace. Hate does not solve problems, it just creates more problems.” She was a very wise woman with much to teach us. Like her, I have no desire to belong to an organization or remain in relationship with people who are so callous and cold-hearted, who condone such evil, and who are filled with hate. I can agree to disagree on many political ideas, but not on character or morality. Please take your hatred elsewhere.