Civil Commotion

I’m not embarrassed by anything in the Bible … but, then, I’m not a Christian and don’t hope to spend eternity with the author of the Midianite, Amalekite, and Canaanite genocides; He who arrested the transit of the sun across the sky in order to prolong Joshua’s butchery at Jericho; and sent a she-bear to kill a couple dozen schoolchildren for laughing at a bald prophet.

But, honestly, only a deformed and misshapen character can explain those poor saps who yearn to spend eternity with Him.

This is egregious by even the standards of The Donald.

Does Trump know anything about Post Office accounting? There’s no reason to think so. And why would he suggest that the Post Office might be lying about its relationship with Amazon?

Baseless smear upon baseless smear upon baseless smear …

There are all sorts of sound reasons for disliking Amazon. Once upon a time I operated a used bookstore and sold used books in their secondary market, and they are an awful company that treats everybody badly — their employees, their vendors, on and on. It wouldn’t bother me a bit if the antitrust laws were invoked to investigate the company.

I don’t believe for an instant that Trump’s recent antagonism toward Amazon is related to that, however. He hates The Washington Post, which is not part of the Amazon company but owned by Amazon’s owner. This is an indirect attack on the free press and the First Amendment; Trump means to wound Amazon and force Jeff Bezos, Amazon’s owner, to call off the Post’s journo-dogs.

Congress is past due to step-up and defend the country against Trump; he must be removed from office.

Apparently, The Donald was displeased by the oatmeal this morning.

This is the sort of thing a parent might say to a child, “I know you don’t like this, but it’s for your own good.” That Piper et. al. would resort to something like that to explain unanswered prayers, or unaccountable difficulties, et cetera, says volumes about what they really think of the people sitting out in the pews. And, of course, it says much about the so-called adults who submit to the degradations of such as Piper.

Like all thinking, decent-minded people, I’m loving the disappearance of the Pious’ good name; it’s long overdue. The latest comes from Michael Gerson, in The Atlantic.

For a package of political benefits, these evangelical leaders have associated the Christian faith with racism and nativism. They have associated the Christian faith with misogyny and the mocking of the disabled. They have associated the Christian faith with lawlessness, corruption, and routine deception. They have associated the Christian faith with moral confusion about the surpassing evils of white supremacy and neo-Nazism. The world is full of tragic choices and compromises. But for this man? For this cause?

There is no understanding it without an understanding of Christian history, until you grasp that the 1^st-century Jesus Movement was a reaction of the underclass against its betters. Christianity is nihilistic and doesn’t want to build anything; it wants to destroy the good life that’s beyond its reach. It’s a religion grounded on resentment.

If you think I overstate, just (try to) count-up all the times you’ve heard that the Apocalypse is sure to be starting any moment, and … YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!

This is why evangelicals can make common cause with nativists, neo-Nazis, misogynists, mockers of the disabled, white supremacists, the corrupt, serial liars, wife beaters — and The Donald, whose inferiority complex and insecurities are always on blinking-neon display. No matter how he tries, he will always be an outsider and a buffoon … just like those nitwits who believe that all the problems in the world can be traced back to that time a serpent tricked a foolish woman into stealing a bad piece of fruit and sweet-talked her husband into taking a bite.

They, like the Buffoon-in-Chief, like William Jennings Bryan a century ago, are left-behind figures of ridicule — and know it, and want vengeance, and think that Donald Trump is its instrument.

The job before Democracy is to get rid of such canaille; if it fails, they will devour it.

H.L. Mencken

They’re tucking their napkins into their shirt collars right now.

As I’ve said countless times through the years, most people have too much sense and decency to be good Christians; it’s the ones who don’t that you have to watch. I’ve no doubt that the sane people of the country will turn back these relentless assaults on common decency, but it ain’t over yet.