Civil Commotion

I remarked a few weeks ago that Russell Moore, the head of the Southern Baptist Convention’s Ethics and Religious liberty Commission, was certain to catch hell for his tweet calling upon Donald Trump to resign.

Moore, a raging liberal by SBC standards, is already a controversial figure within the SBC, and this will not go unnoticed within a denomination that generally admires Donald Trump.

What do you know?

SBC report calls never-Trumper Russell Moore’s agency a ‘significant distraction’

A new report claims a decline in giving is linked to controversial statements — including criticism of Trump — by a leading Baptist ethicist.

It may well be true that Moore’s criticisms of Trump have hurt receipts; they adore that corrupt madman and, in spite of their moral pretentiousness, probably don’t like hearing from some fancy-pants ethicist — An educated man! Look out! — that The Donald is … uhhh … morally … challenged.

It’s a nice pointer to how squalid the Southern Baptists actually are.

I live in a mostly rural county adjoining Research Triangle Park and the Raleigh metropolitan area. There is a thin, moderately populated edge of the county, where I live, and the rest of the county probably has more farm animals than people. I can find a traffic jam anytime I like if I go 10-minutes in one direction, and it’s top-down country travel 10-minutes in the other direction.

So, as I watched the news’ horror stories about long lines and difficulties making appointments, I worried about how I’d get vaccinated — twice.

What do you know? My rural county has done a terrific job of getting its residents vaccinated. There have been long lines, to be sure, but folk have been processed through with tremendous efficiency; the process hasn’t added any needless delay.

I am reminded of when I got the swine flu vaccination when I was an undergraduate at Michigan Tech. There were long lines, but they shuffled right along. You showed a nurse your student identification, she wrote down your student number, another nurse gave you a shot with one of those air-jet guns, and away your went; it couldn’t have been done any faster.

Tech had an R.O.T.C. program, and the commander, or captain, or whatever he was, was a prominent presence and had a role in organizing the mass vaccinations. And why not? If there is anything the military can be counted upon to know how to do, it’s put people in a line and process them.

So I am wondering if the county officials, knowing they had no idea how to execute a mass vaccination project, turned it over to the military? It has a military-ish feel. There are a lot of people working the project — and they all have exactly one job. This person directs you into the line; this person reads your drivers license; the next person fills out a vital piece of paper; the next person collects the paper; the next person inspects that your sleeve is rolled-up; the next person actually jabs you; the next person gives you a piece of paper noting what time will signify that 15-minutes have elapsed, and instructs you to put in on your dashboard; the next person waves you out and on your way at the appointed time.

I’m only thinking out loud, but the military would know how to do this; the average rural county medical officer probably wouldn’t. But … whatever. Franklin County, North Carolina, has now jabbed me twice with no more inconvenience than actually necessary, and I’m grateful; they’re doing a very fine job.

Bruce Gerencser has up a new post about the Christian marriage, and those of you who haven’t yet figured-out what a fraudulent business Christianity really is — especially the ‘family values’ marketing lie — ought to go take a look.

I was the head of the home, and all decisions were to be made by me. Polly’s role was to care for our home and children. A greater burden was placed on Polly because she was taught that since her husband was a pastor, she and her children would always come second to the church. Polly was often reminded, both in classes and from the pulpit, that she would have to make great sacrifices for the sake of the ministry; that she must never complain about her preacher husband’s tireless service to Jesus; that men greatly used by God always had wives who understood their husbands’ supernatural calling; that if she would humbly walk in her husband’s shadow, that God would greatly reward her after death. Being naturally passive and reserved, Polly adapted well to her calling, as did I, an outspoken, passionate, quick-to-make-decisions pastor. These teachings would, over time, turn Polly into a martyr.

[ … ]

These experiences, and many others like them, turned Polly into a martyr. No matter what I said or did, she just smiled and obeyed — the perfect IFB pastor’s wife. Instead of giving her opinion or standing her ground, she quietly followed in my footsteps. It was not until we were in our forties that we realized this was no way to live; Polly was supposed to be my partner, not my slave.

Every person who has ever visited a Christian church more than a couple of times has heard it: Put Jesus first in all things; your family will be allright with the leftovers. You’re not the spouse you should be unless Jesus is more important than your spouse. You’re not the parent you should be unless Jesus is more important than your children.

We have all heard that — every single one of us. And that is the teaching of a cult.

How, really, could Christianity teach otherwise? The 1st-Century Christian church was a cult. The New Testament — allegedly authored, or at least inspired by, You-know-who — is the literature of a cult. And all cults since time immemorial, Christianity included, have understood that healthy marriages and families undermine their ownership and control of their members.

Christianity cannot flourish amongst the healthy. Seriously. You want to do something good for your family next Sunday morning? Bundle-up the spouse, the kids, and the dog, and go to a park.

One can only hope that prosecutors in New York State and New York City and perhaps Georgia have the moral courage to pursue Trump and put him behind bars.

Michael Hamar

I thought, right till the vote was called, that there was a good chance that Trump would be convicted. After all …

• The sumbidg is actually guilty as hell. Even Mitch McConnell concedes that.

• If I were a Senator, I’d have a definite attitude problem toward somebody who sicced a mob on my office.

• It’s a documented fact that Trump tweeted criticism of Mike Pence just moments after leaning that Pence’s life had been endangered.

I mean … seriously: We are talking about an insurrection stoked by a sitting president in order to overturn an election — an attack against this country.

What do you know? I underestimated the whorishness of the GOP … again.

Y’all will probably not be surprised to learn that right-minded Americans expected J. Edgar Hoover to do something about the acute Wickedness of Madalyn Murray O’Hair.

Mr. Edgar Hoover
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Washington, D.C.

Dear Sir:

As a citizen of the United States and interested in justice and freedom of religion I am making known my views. This is in regard to Mrs. Madalyn Murray who brags that she is going to bring suits against Sisters teaching in public schools and against churches having tax exemptions. She also plans to establish an atheist center in Stockton, Kansas. She is a communist under cover of atheism. What right does she have to say who teaches in public schools and pays taxes? She is the greatest menace to democracy I ever heard.

Do you intend to let this pass without investigation?

Very truly yours,
[ *** redacted *** ]

What I find so striking about this letter is “communist under cover of atheism,” the curious suspicion that somebody would claim to be an atheist in order to disguise sympathy for communism. After all, there is no necessary relationship whatever between ones belief or unbelief in the existence of supernatural beings and ones ideas about how the economy ought to be organized.

It’s a nice pointer to how muddled is much of what passes for ‘thought’ in the Good Ol’ U.S. of A.