Civil Commotion

I’ve been reading Dynasty of Death, by Taylor Caldwell. It was published in 1937, and is one of those gothic, multi-generational family sagas, full of treachery, illicit romances, fortunes earned, stolen, lost, et cetera, et cetera. The centerpiece families are the Barbours and Bouchards, who are partners in a munitions firm and who make a spectacular fortune by amorally selling to all sides of any war that comes along.

Naturally, there are youngsters in both families who are horrified by the source of the families’ fortunes, and two of them — Jacques and Martin — decide to forgo the family riches and join a Catholic monastery. (Martin’s family is Protestant, but he has converted to Catholicism.) On the cusp of fleeing to the monastery, Martin discovers that there are plots afoot: His brother seems to intend to defraud his sickly father out of his share of the loot. Martin decides to delay his departure in order to defend his parents from his brother.

Jacques is attempting to persuade Martin that he mustn’t delay going to the monastery.

Martin: “I have given up everything! I will have to give up my parents some day, perhaps very soon, when I enter the monastery. Think what it will mean to them! They are not at all religious, and never attend any church in this country, but they are rigid Protestants. What they call ‘Popery’ is a frightful thing to them, and it will break their hearts when they learn that their son has become a ‘Papist.’ But you don’t understand Jacques, you couldn’t. I will give up more than you, for your mother will be proud. So, knowing what sorrow I am going to cause Pa and Ma, I own them a duty, now, to shield them against my brother.”

“Your duty is to Our Lord,” said Jacques, through white lips. “Father Dominick has told you that. You must choose between your unbelieving parents and God.“

Remember: This was published in 1937, more than 80-years ago, and the words Caldwell puts in Jacques’ mouth are exactly — exactly — what you’d expect any bullshit Southern Baptist preacher to say today.

This is not a coincidence: The 1^st-Century Jewish sect that became Christianity was a despised cult, and the ‘inerrant’ New Testament is the literature of a cult — and healthy marriages and families threaten the cult’s total ownership and control of its members. And because the 1^st-Century church was a cult, and its account of itself is ‘inerrant,’ the cult teachings remain in place. ‘Family Values’ is no more than a self-aggrandizing marketing lie. L-I-E.

Happily, most people — including most self-identified Christians — have too much sense and decency to be good Christians. But keep a sharp eye on the rest.

Not long after the 2016 election, over drinks and conversation on the back deck with friends, I made a prediction: Donald Trump would be impeached by the House, convicted by the Senate — and try to remain in office by force. It was clear before the election that Trump is a corrupt madman, and that there was no ‘better’ Donald Trump waiting to emerge once the hurly-burly of campaigning had ended, so how else could the story possibly end?

New York Times columnist Charles Blow has figured it out:

I expect Trump to admit nothing, even if faced with proof positive of his own misconduct. There is nothing in the record to convince me otherwise. He will call the truth a lie and vice versa.

I also don’t think that Trump would ever voluntarily leave office as Nixon did, even if he felt impeachment was imminent. I’m not even sure that he would willingly leave if he were impeached and the Senate moved to convict, a scenario that is hard to imagine at this point.

I don’t think any of this gets better, even as the evidence becomes clearer. I don’t believe that Trump’s supporters would reverse course in the same way that Nixon’s did. I don’t believe that the facts Mueller presents will be considered unassailable. I don’t believe Trump will go down without bringing the country down with him.

In short, I don’t believe we are reaching the end of a nightmare, but rather we are entering one. This will not get easier, but harder.

There are, indeed, ugly times ahead. It’s crazy, but Trump’s cult identifies with him and his fortunes; when he is convicted, they will take it personally and rally to him.

The airwaves are rightly cluttered with memories of George H.W. Bush, the 41^st-President who died yesterday at age 94. There are kind remarks, and recollections of campaign squalor — and universal acknowledgment of his private integrity and kindness. I’ve nothing to add to any of that, so I’ll just point to this 2913 news story of his last, or near last, public appearance.

Former President George H.W. Bush was an official witness at the same-sex wedding of two longtime friends, his spokesman said Wednesday.

Bush and his wife, Barbara Bush, attended the ceremony joining Bonnie Clement and Helen Thorgalsen as private citizens and friends on Saturday, spokesman Jim McGrath said.

Thorgalsen posted a photo on her Facebook page showing Bush signing the marriage license as a witness. She captioned the photo: “Getting our marriage license witnessed!”

That outraged the nutjobs, but I’ll remember Bush as a decent man who at last repudiated the Evangelical Right that he sucked-up to as a politician and finally understood that same-sex marriage ought to be a conservative cause.

The message of the Bible is that because of human rebellion and idolatry, all people are hopelessly lost. Even our best works are unable to eliminate the guilt and shame of our sin. But God, in his great love, has made a way for us to be reconciled. Jesus died to pay the price for our sin, and forgiveness comes through personal faith. This message is as true and necessary for those of us living in the gospel-saturated West as it is for those living in isolation like the Sentinelese.

It is still necessary for a missionary to take the Christian gospel to the Sentinelese people. We may be critical of the methods used in this situation, but we cannot disregard the fact that the good news must be shared in order for these people to know the hope and salvation available to them in Christ.

Scott Hildreth

Mr. Hlldreth is the Director of the Lewis A. Drummond Center for Great Commission Studies at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary in Wake Forest, N.C. He is writing about the missionary, John Chau, who was recently killed as he tried to proselytize an aboriginal people who live on an island off the coast of India. Notice the parts of his remarks that I have highlighted: Y’all are no damn good, and somehow or other we’ve got to lead the Sentinelese people to Jesus.

Bah. These people are idiots.