The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act: Reimagining immigration with humanity, justice, and mercy for a better future.
The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act asks only this: that a nation powerful enough to enforce the law be human enough to honor it.
The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act
The Backstory
Two peaceful Minnesota protesters of ICE tactics are shot dead by ICE: Renee Good and Alex Pretti. A nation reels under the grief as their expression of First Amendment was met with a fatal response by the hand of government. There would not be enough space to contain the emotions and arguments of this national loss. Rather, today we will plant something beautiful that would capture their spirit and provide a path forward by creating a humane and decent Immigration process.
Grief Upon Grief
Then with the death of Pretti and Good came the revelation of children taken by ICE and used as bait to capture the parents. While ICE and its associated agencies denied this, their objections were drowned out by the wails of children and adults in detention. The wails, rather than hyperbole, came from direct testimony of U.S. Citizens detained then released after being wrongly snatched and held in ICE facilities due to their skin color or accent. These citizens observed that inhumane treatment began before the arrest, with physical assaults and handcuffs biting the wrists. ICE guards turned stone deaf to phone, water, and bathroom requests for hours as inmates languished in crowded cells, and when a toilet became available the degradation of voiding in public view added insult to human misery.
Then like a dark score for a B-rated horror flick, behind the incessant howls of misery the citizens reported hearing the guards laughing and joking as they became blind to the very misery they created. Down the chain of command came orders to treat fellow humans no better than a heap of discarded fast food bags and scraps. And, most chilling were the cries of children which floated through the dark air registers of these centers, like kittens drowning in a ditch, with grief too young to know they may never see their parents again.
The Death of Goodwill
The Public Perceived ICE Used Children, like Liam Conejo Ramos pictured here, as bait to capture Parents. While ICE denies this, their habitual lies record has dissolved public trust. Beyond eroding trust, these tactics devastated the goodwill of the U.S. government and replaced with with the visceral wrath of a mother stripped of her newborn infant — a catastrophic miscalculation.
This One Corporate Expression Separates Us From Pre-War NAZI Germany
The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Roadmap
Rather than leave the reader with, “Isn’t this awful;” The remainder of this blog will discuss the re-creation of the U.S. Immigration system. This is not a finished law, but a field of decency. A place where truth, justice, and mercy can grow, and where leaders are invited to add more, not less. The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act asks only this: that a nation powerful enough to enforce the law be human enough to honor it. Here, decency is the currency, mercy has standing, and justice is allowed to take root.
This is not a finished law, but a field of decency. A place where truth, justice, and mercy can grow, and where leaders are invited to add more, not less. The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act asks only this: that a nation powerful enough to enforce the law be human enough to honor it. Here, decency is the currency, mercy has standing, and justice is allowed to take root. — JPB
1. A Sliding Equity Model: Rooted in time, contribution, and belonging
Core Principle
Time lived in community creates equity. Not abstract worth. Lived equity. Built through work, care, taxes, schools, churches, neighborhoods, and showing up.
This roadmap does not erase the law. It teaches the law to recognize human investment.
2. The Sliding Equity Scale
Tier I: New Roots
0–2 years in the U.S.
Recognition
Presence acknowledged without criminalization
Protection from arbitrary detention and transfer
Guarantees
Attorney representation
Medical care
Open communication with family and counsel
No torture, no private prison warehousing with certified humane conditions
Pathways
Work authorization
Tax ID access
Community orientation and legal literacy
The goal here is stability, not punishment. No one builds well while falling.
Tier II: Growing Roots
2–5 years
Recognition
Documented contribution begins to count
Community presence matters
Qualifying Contributions
Tax filings
Employment or caregiving
School enrollment of children
Faith, nonprofit, or volunteer engagement
Protections
No interstate rendition
Nonpunitive supervision instead of detention
Local citizen and clergy review boards for enforcement actions
The law begins to say: we see you here.
Tier III: Deep Roots
5–10 years
Recognition
Presumption of community membership
Removal requires heightened justification
Qualifying Contributions
Consistent tax history
Stable employment or business activity
Social network verification (employers, neighbors, clergy, educators)
Benefits
Expedited legal status
Work mobility
Family unity protections
Immigration court deference to time served in community
At this stage, removal is no longer neutral. It is a civic harm.
Tier IV: Anchored Roots
10+ years
Recognition
Equity threshold reached
Deportation treated as extraordinary measure
Presumptions
Right to remain
Right to adjust status
Right to due process equal in gravity to criminal proceedings
Pathways
Permanent residency
Citizenship eligibility
Full labor and civic protections
At this point, the question shifts from Why should you stay? to How could we justify tearing this apart?
Guardrails of Decency (Apply at All Tiers)
Honored immigration courts
Independent citizen and clergy review boards
No private prison profit incentives
Certified humane treatment from arrest, detention, and removal
Nonpunitive alternatives to detention
Medical and mental health care
Open communication with family
Absolute ban on torture and coercion
Truth, justice, mercy as governing standards
What This Roadmap Does Quietly but Powerfully
Rewards contribution without demanding perfection
Replaces fear with predictability
Aligns law enforcement with community stability
Turns time and care into recognized civic assets
Makes cruelty inefficient and decency administrable
This is not open borders. It is open accounting of human investment.
Drinking the Chalice of Legislative Hemlock
Legal. Orderly. Deadly.
The reader may think this blog is a nice or a Pollyanna dream that only affects murderers and rapists who crept into the U.S. The truth, as stated above, affects not only noncriminal immigrants but U.S. citizens. The video and revision of the ICE funding bill below show the present Administration’s attempt to maintain a chokehold on deporting citizens. While “If we deport a citizen, they can contest it in court” sounds reasonable, has anyone priced attorney retention and timeline while you have been renditioned to a domestic or foreign torture prison? Presently we see citizens unlawfully detained as a tactic of political hazing. So this article is not a dream, rather a wake up call for a sleeping nation. And once this present administration is removed, we will spend decades sweeping the roots their legislative hemlock from our political house.
Legislative Hemlock
Presently we see citizens unlawfully detained as a tactic of political hazing. So this article is not a dream, rather a wake up call for a sleeping nation. And once this present administration is removed, we will spend decades sweeping the roots their legislative hemlock from our political house.
JPB
The Andy Griffith Show: The Last Day Otis Locked Himself Up
When the beloved Andy Griffith Show went from black-and-white to color, Andy Griffith asked that Otis, the town drunk who locked himself in Andy’s cell, be recast from drunk to sober because he felt that being drunk was not a life sentence. So, after locking himself in jail that last time, Otis left behind his drunk self and became the town ice cream man. In real life, Otis did not drink.
Likewise, being an immigrant need not be a life sentence where the stranger in our midst must drag himself before the court of degradation and be stripped of what dignity may still remain. Like Otis, the immigrant can be transformed in living color, bringing joy and stability to our towns in the family of America.
The Pretti Good Immigration Decency Act: A citizen and clergy review board, respect for community, honor of Immigration courts, attorney representation, no interstate rendition, sliding scale of justice for years in U.S., private prison reform, nonpunitive incarceration, no torture, open communication for detainees, medical care, truth, justice mercy.
In Living Color,
JPB
"I was a stranger and you welcomed me" (Matthew 25:35).
Empower employees! Discover the ‘American Ownership Amendment’ to end oligarch rule & build a future of shared prosperity.
“Employees to Take Control: ‘American Ownership Amendment’ Could End Oligarch Rule!”
Wealth hoarded, power concentrated – soon to be a thing of the past.
Congress, get ready. Coming to a Congressional Hall Near You
“An American worker will no longer serve as today’s pocket change of the privileged, but as partners in a tomorrow.” – JPB
Spark of Innovation
This concept ignited while watching U.S. billionaires, in plain daylight, hurl millions of dollars at lobbyists to feather their interests, as the American worker, sleeping in a Corolla behind a Walmart, is told to make do with a $3 chicken breast and a single stalk of broccoli.
A second spark came from an unlikely place. Gregor Mendel, an Austrian monk known as the father of genetics, transformed science in the 1850s by patiently studying pea plants. Through disciplined selection, he revealed how new traits emerge, not by chaos, but by design.
Applying Mendel’s insight to economics, the attached patent-ready concept cultivates a new breed of American enterprise: a publicly traded corporation that is majority employee-owned, while fully preserving the entrepreneur’s role, incentives, and capacity for innovation.
What follows is both a mathematical proof and a practical model.
This economic pea plant is designed to feed America’s future in an AI-emergent world.
— James P. Butler Pastor, Theologian, & Inventor 🌱
T=Mi²
Title: Mass Economic Multiplier via Employee Ownership (T = Wi²)
Abstract:
A system and method to optimize national economic growth and innovation by granting employees ownership stakes in the enterprises they help build. The invention establishes a mathematical framework for predicting and amplifying economic impact via inflation-matched employee investment, defined as T = Wi², where T represents the mass economic multiplier, W represents worker earnings, and i² represents inflation-matched investment squared. By applying this model, enterprises achieve sustainable productivity, equitable wealth distribution, and enhanced AI-driven operational efficiency.
Employees to Take Control: ‘American Ownership Amendment’ Could End Oligarch Rule!
Wealth hoarded, power concentrated – soon to be a thing of the past. Congress, get ready.
An American worker will no longer serve as today’s pocket change of the privileged, but as partners in a tomorrow.
T=Mi² Math Proof: Mass Economic Multiplier via Employee
JPB
Claims:
A method of granting proportional equity to employees based on tenure and earnings, linked to a national inflation index.
A system that calculates the mass economic multiplier (T) using T = Wi² for individual firms, aggregates for regional/national impact, and forecasts GDP and innovation growth.
A predictive algorithm integrating worker ownership, investment scaling, and AI optimization for decision-making in corporate governance.
A model ensuring entrepreneurship is preserved while preventing economic capture by external lobbying interests.
Description of Drawings:
The infographic visualizes the framework: heroic employees at the foreground, T = Wi² formula centrally displayed, and GDP, innovation, wealth, and inequality outcomes projected as measurable effects.
Novelty & Advantages:
Transforms traditional corporate governance into a worker-centered model.
Creates AI-ready economic data loops for optimization of enterprise value and societal benefit.
Demonstrates a scalable, measurable multiplier effect for national economic planning.
James Butler, Pastor, Theologian, Inventor
appendix drawings
Planting the Pea of an Emergent Future
From the careful pairing of capital and work, a new economic trait appears: the entrepreneur-employee.
Discover how Evangelical focus on an earthly kingdom paved the way for the Antichrist. A provocative, original look at history’s unexpected turns.
How Evangelical Hunger for an Earthy Kingdom Opened the Door to the Antichrist
Not a title I wanted or expected to write but one that crawled from the wet ink of history born and demanded, “Write these words!” An original and not currently held by any U.S. publisher. Coming soon to ChristiansNeedtoKnow.com.
In the slums of the megacity stretching from Dallas through Fort Worth to Plano sits the Trump Memorial Landfill, where vicious ICE, AI-enhanced guard dogs protect recyclables from human pilfering. Nearby, humanoid AI units recharge alongside the landfill’s few remaining human workers at the “Java & Jolt Café.”
Tonight, The Unity Alliance hosts “Democracy Hologram Night,” honoring those who freed America from abusive leaders who sold immigrants for profit, invaded nations for oil, and ordered the shooting of U.S. citizens armed only with whistles.
Tonight as well, The Covenant of Shared Sovereignty gathers to celebrate its founding belief: a cooperative order linking nations, citizens, and AI as equal partners, grounded in reciprocal obligation rather than coercive power, where none is permitted to dominate the other.
WHAT IS THE STORY BEHIND THE PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING PHOTO OF THE YOUNG WOMAN CRYING OUT IN HORROR OVER THE DYING BODY OF ONE OF THE STUDENTS? (From Kent.Edu)
A photograph of Mary Vecchio, a 14-year-old runaway, screaming over the body of Jeffery Miller appeared on the front pages of newspapers and magazines throughout the country, and the photographer, John Filo, was to win a Pulitzer Prize for the picture. The photo has taken on a life and importance of its own. This analysis looks at the photo, the photographer, and the impact of the photo.
The Mary Vecchio picture shows her on one knee screaming over Jeffrey Miller’s body. Mary told one of us that she was calling for help because she felt she could do nothing (Personal Interview, 4/4/94). Miller is lying on the tarmac of the Prentice Hall parking lot. One student is standing near the Miller body closer than Vecchio. Four students are seen in the immediate background.
John Filo, a Kent State photography major in 1970, continues to work as a professional newspaper photographer and editor. He was near the Prentice Hall parking lot when the Guard fired. He saw bullets hitting the ground, but he did not take cover because he thought the bullets were blanks. Of course, blanks cannot hit the ground.
The May 4 shootings at Kent State need to be remembered for several reasons. First, the shootings have come to symbolize a great American tragedy which occurred at the height of the Vietnam War era, a period in which the nation found itself deeply divided both politically and culturally. The poignant picture of Mary Vecchio kneeling in agony over Jeffrey Miller’s body, for example, will remain forever
as a reminder of the day when the Vietnam War came home to America. If the Kent State shootings will continue to be such a powerful symbol, then it is certainly important that Americans have a realistic view of the facts associated with this event. Second, May 4 at Kent State and the Vietnam War era remain controversial even today, and the need for healing continues to exist. Healing will not occur if events are either forgotten or distorted, and hence it is important to continue to search for the truth behind the events of May 4 at Kent State. Third, and most importantly, May 4 at Kent State should be remembered in order that we can learn from the mistakes of the past. The Guardsmen in their signed statement at the end of the civil trials recognized that better ways have to be found to deal with these types of confrontations. This has probably already occurred in numerous situations where law enforcement officials have issued a caution to their troops to be careful because “we don’t want another Kent State.” Insofar as this has happened, lessons have been learned, and the deaths of four young Kent State students have not been in vain.
First they burn "The Handmaid's Tale" — then you live "The Handmaid's Tale." -JPB
A rabbi, minister, & politician boast of sacrifices at a BBQ line, revealing a politician’s shocking “insurrection” story.
A rabbi, a minister, and a politician were standing in a very long line for Texas BBQ. With nothing else to do, they began discussing the greatest sacrifice each had made in life.
The rabbi spoke first. “I have given away everything I own to the poor, as a sign of true devotion.”
The other two nodded solemnly.
Next, the minister said, “I have served without pay, as a witness to the resurrection.”
Again, the other two nodded, smiling approvingly.
Finally, the politician sneered. “I’m shocked you both have done so little. I personally witnessed The Insurrection. And when the Capitol went up in flames, I sacrificed my entire life savings!”
The rabbi and the minister leaned in, stunned.
“Yes,” the politician added proudly, “I threw it straight into the fire… with a personal check.”
What do you get when you cross a game show host with a politician? Easy! “The Deal of Misfortune.”
JPB
The Sacrifice of Stability for the Spin of Greed
"Without our traditions our lives would be as shaky as a ... fiddler on the roof!" - Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof
Harry S. Truman declared no interest in pursuing the visionary path of his quick fix, budget bustingFair Deal predecessor, Franklin D. Roosevelt. His path was that of a dry goods store owner proud of honesty to customers while committed to run his business as a Missouri tightwad, balancing the checkbook weekly.
“I want to keep my feet on the ground. I don’t want any experiments; the American people have been through a lot of experiments and they want a rest from experiments.”
Attributed to Harry Truman. Cited from Please Understand Me II by David Keirsey (p. 82)
Guardians of the U.S. Galaxy
In the Keirsey Temperament Inventory, the SJs, shown below at the top of the four personality types, make up the Guardian temperament. The SJs types are characterized by their focus on concrete reality and their cooperative nature, emphasizing duty, responsibility, and social structure.
SJs “The Pillars: Ensuring things run smoothly.” Analysis of David Keirsey’s “Please Understand Me”Temperaments
The SJs, as creatures of habit, reverence the past. They relish the familiarity of daily routine, like the feel of a well-worn cashmere sweater and Hush Puppy shoes. The comfort of the known, traveled daily path reassures the SJ that life is working out and that they have a place in life: to maintain it.
The SJ already knows her coffee in the pink, stainless to-go mug will take two packets of Stevia in the Raw, a dash of cinnamon, and a splash of lactose-free Irish Mint creamer. Her fulfillment rests in the assurance that her children and family have all they need for the day and that she played her part in it. Among the “passion fruits” of politicians stand the “simply vanilla” SJs who keep our schools teaching, our post offices delivering, and our healthcare systems healing.
When I met C.W. Brister, Professor of Christian Ministry at SWBTS seminary, he seemed a slow-speaking, milquetoast type of individual.
“I’m just vanilla… but everyone knows that vanilla is the world’s favorite flavor,” he said, introducing himself to the class.
When I tried to sit off to the side of Dr. Brister in the chairs at the front, he asked me to move where he could maintain eye contact. As the weeks passed, he unfolded the secrets of equipping a pastor for daily ministry. There was no hype and no exaggeration; rather, he gave us the theological cure to take to the spiritually sick in our future churches.
Then, one day as I approached the chapel, I overheard a voice on the speakers that sounded like one sending fire down from the mount. It was a fiery voice beckoning the seminarians to pursue the radical trail of their calling. As I opened the door and peeked in, to my surprise, the firebrand glowing in the pulpit was “Mr. Vanilla!”
And it is the SJ who will take seriously the tracing and the updating of the family tree, keeping track of births and deaths, weddings and baptisms, knowing that all such family observances become more important with each passing years. – David Keirsey, Please Understand Me II (p.92)
The Deal of Misfortune
Fictional Story Inspired by Actual Events
Guardian of The Mundane
Sam was a man of ritual, a guardian of the mundane. Every morning for fifteen years, he armored himself for his Federal job in the same uniform: a white, long-sleeved Oxford shirt—extra starch, collars pinned sharp—and a tie of crimson and cobalt blue. His closet was a gallery of precision: ten shirts, ten ties, four pairs of black shoes (gloss shine), and four black belts (no signs of wear), and one black Casio Illuminator watch, with a multi-timer function, and one Waterman cobalt blue marble fountain pen. He dined at 6:00 PM sharp, the flickering glow of the World News and the rustle of the Journal the only companions to his clockwork life.
12:45
Sam’s gift was his devotion to sameness. He understood a truth the politicians ignored: that the soul of the nation rested on the quiet expectation that tomorrow would look exactly like today. He was the guardian of the familiar—the treaties, the food chains, the steady heartbeat of a Midwest factory floor. At 12:45 PM. daily his mother texted him, and on weekends she called him as that was the only time he would pickup. At times she wished he would call her to say, “How are you?” and “I just called to say I love you.” But she knew her son, not as the one they first called “nonverbal” and later labeled “savant,” but simply as “Samuel.” She didn’t know what Sam did for his job but knew it was important, considering multiple the government bronze and gold service coins awarded him and cased in proud display in the living room entryway of his condo.
The Needle
As a national security analyst, Sam hunted the “needle.” He was the only man with the glacial patience to spend fifty hours a week staring into the haystack, waiting for the single glimmer of steel that could unravel the fabric of American security.
The U.S. rewarded his vigilance with a promotion to Senior Analyst. For thirty days, Sam inhabited the role like a well-worn glove. The weight of the international scope didn’t daunt him; it fueled him. Everything was in its right place. Until the silence was shattered.
A Ph.D. in Five Bullet Points
When the DOGE inspectors marched into his office, they didn’t see a guardian; they saw a line item. They interrupted him as he was descending into the digital depths of a morphing global hotspot—a flickering shadow moving through a porous foreign airport. They demanded a summary. They wanted the complexity of a Ph.D.-level security web reduced to five bullet points by the following evening.
A man of order, Sam complied. He bled his analysis into five bullet points, though he could not help but attach twenty-five pages of exhaustive endnotes to ensure the truth remained intact. He clicked “send,” expecting to return to the hunt. Instead, he received a digital guillotine.
Waste, Fraud, and Abuse … and other lies
“In an attempt to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse, your position is terminated immediately.”
The words blurred. Why? When? How? The man who lived by the detail was suddenly cast into a void where no details existed. There were no instructions on how to leave, no process for the end of a life’s work.
Sam packed his cardboard box with the same artifacts he had carried in as a hopeful graduate fifteen years prior. His chest tightened; sweat slicked his brow as the world tilted. In a final, trembling act of surrender, Sam reached up and undid the crimson and cobalt tie. He folded it with agonizing care atop his belongings. For the first time in fifteen years, he unbuttoned his collar and let the cold air of the hallway hit his throat. He walked out of his second home with tears carving paths through the starch-dust on his face.
Falling Skies
Six months later, the sky fell.
A radical cell, armed with stolen Hellfire missiles, turned one of the world’s busiest civilian hubs into a graveyard. The politicians stood before cameras, beating their chests in hollow grief, blinded by the very “efficiency” they had championed. They never saw the shadow. They had fired the only man who was watching it.
To this day, the administration remains blissfully ignorant of the ghost in the cubicle. They never knew that the wall between the American people and the fire was a man in a starched white shirt who valued sameness—and that they were the ones who broke it.
I’m just vanilla … But everyone knows that vanilla is the world’s favorite flavor. – C.W. Brister, Professor of Christian Ministry, SWBTS
From Southern Baptist to United Methodist: A personal spiritual journey reflecting on faith, community, and Christmas comfort.
What’s the difference between a Baptist and a Methodist? Easy one! Baptists rush into church every time the doors unlock. And Methodists lock them in.
Comment: "What they have in common is they serve the same casseroles..." - Danny H.
Church quiz: Were these photos from the Southern Baptist or the United Methodist era? And I’d like to report a robbery! Someone robbed my hair!
Auld Lang Syne
Should old acquaintance be forgot And never brought to mind? Should old acquaintance be forgot In the days of auld lang syne?
As the sun sets on 2025, let us reflect on where we have been and where we are going. As you guessed, my photos above were from my Southern Baptist years, right before I entered the United Methodist Church, and then the International Council of Community Churches. Though time has grayed and thinned my hair, I remember the days spent in each of these Arizona churches as though they were yesterday.
At one church I pastored, farm wives (like the Magi of the Bible story) brought their gifts and decorated the altar for Christmas. The photo below, taken last Sunday at First United Methodist of Warsaw, MO, reminded me of the wonder on the faces of those women as they worshiped, having offered their artistic gifts to the Newborn King. Many dear saints with whom I served have now crossed over into that eternal family reunion. For those of you who are alone or grieving this Christmas, may God comfort you and surround you in His presence and peace.
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart. - Hebrews 12
For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. – Isaiah 9:6
The Rustway Nativity
The scene unfolds as chaos. The White House itself is a scene of disheveled destruction. Beyond the destruction barriers, people sleep in their cars and tents for want of housing and work. A rusted White House sign hangs in stale air, an emblem that “The Beltway” has crumbled into “The Rustway.” Then, into the despair, appears the Nativity in a shelter made of rusted corrugated steel panels. There, the baby Jesus, Mary, and Joseph are surrounded by a most unlikely host welcoming the birth of the Messiah.
By the manger, an ICE officer lowers his weapon and pauses his mission. At the manger, he is surprised that no one hurls insults or spits profanity at him. The baby’s eyes meet the young soldier, who had enlisted in ICE to pay his crushing student loans. The infant then smiles at the one who would have arrested the Holy Family, considering they lacked papers. The infant’s smile was one of infinite, pure love. This was the first time in months the ICE soldier felt loved.
Next to the ICE soldier kneels a farmer who is fighting for the very existence of a 1,000-acre farm that his family has owned for four generations. Drowning in the sea of negative spreadsheets, he feels a peace from the one who fed the multitude and who taught of farmers and how they teach us of God.
Behind the farmer stands a migrant worker. Undocumented, he chooses to stand in the background, unnoticed and uncounted. Then he realizes that he was the only one standing directly in line with Mary and Joseph. Joseph raises his head, gives a nod to the migrant that conveys, “I know your anguish and fear of wondering if your family is safe tonight. Know that God is with you and yours tonight.”
On the right stands a construction worker who works 12 hours a day and has aged 10 years over the last five. He has no savings, no retirement plan, and no health insurance. As he looks up from the baby Jesus, he sees Mary smiling at him with a look of recognition that conveys, “Joseph was a carpenter. He will teach my son to work with his hands. God will use you to construct the Kingdom of God in hearts.” In an instant, the man thought of his wife and young son, who live three states away and whom he had not seen in as many months as he traveled with the job. He made a vow to the Child that he would drive home to his family as a surprise Christmas gift and to attend Christmas Eve service.
Then, kneeling at the front, is a man who has knelt for no one. He is the politician, who prides himself on settling scores and building his kingdom of wealth. The politician didn’t kneel to worship the Christ Child, but rather to give the Child the optics to see his importance. He looks at Mary and Joseph, but their eyes remain fixed on the infant. He moves his head to capture the attention of the babe who smiled at the anonymous soldier and dirty migrant but will not smile at him. “I’ll have my aides draft a complaint to the Vatican. Who does this baby think he is?”
Then, before the politician can execute his vengeful scheme, the ethereal skies tear open as the angelic host descends. The vision of the King of Kings appears: the Lord of all governments, without equal. All construction stops. People of every nation join hands to worship the One who was born a child, that He might lift us together as His people. Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, the Everlasting Father, and Prince of Peace!
In an instant, the Holy Family vanished into the mist of dancing snowflakes and a crash of rusted metal. Gone were the heavenly guests, and in their stead, the ICE soldier grabbed the arm of a young Latino woman who, with the other, was still holding a cooing, nursing infant to her breast. As he readied the zip cuffs, he saw tiny red trumpet flowers tattooed on the back of her hand bent for submission, proof enough to him that she must be a gang member.
But then the ICE soldier looked into the face of the babe, now looking at him and smiling with the same love shown to him by the Christ child in the manger. The soldier dropped to his knees, as his tears froze on his helmet and zip cuffs. He cried, “Lord, I have nothing but memories of pain. Take my life as a gift for the Child.” Not knowing how to pray, he asked, “Holy Mother, will you pray for me?” The mother and child scurried off with tears of astonished belief as the ICE soldier left his helmet and cuffs still frozen on the sidewalk, never to walk that path again.
He traded the zip cuffs and pepper spray for a white lab coat and more medical school debt to serve as a missionary in Bogotá. From that icy sidewalk forward, he never took another person captive again. The young man didn’t know that a century later, the Pope would beatify him as “El Santo Rojo de Bogotá,” The Red Saint of Bogota, for his flaming red hair and his discovering the cure for La Muerte Roja measles plague that sprang from the filthy conditions of the immigration camps and killed millions in the Americas.
While researching exotic plants for a cure in the Colombian rainforest, tiny crimson trumpet flowers captured his eye on a mountain footpath. His mind flashed to the red trumpet tattoos on the back of the mother’s hand he once gripped in fury. He saw an image and heard a voice in his mind. It was the young mother with her babe who said, “Take my gift, which is for you!” as she held out the crimson trumpet flowers tattooed on her hand. Back in his lab, those flowers provided a cure from The Red Death that saved a multitude in the Americas.
In Peaceful Certainty!
JPB
Red Angel’s Trumpet (Brugmansia sanguinea) – A highly fragrant native to the Andes mountains of Colombia, Ecuador, and Peru. – Image From PlantSnap.comAltar at First United Methodist, Warsaw, MO
A just war is an act of last resort. Prior to engaging in violence, a nation must make every effort to attain its intended goals by other means. This might include diplomacy, economic or legal actions, and so forth. This is a crucial tenet of just war theory: war results from the failure of all other options. It is not one option among many. As an extension of this idea, the government should seek to end the conflict as quickly as is reasonably possible.
As a boy, my brother, Gary, Mom and Dad gathered around the kitchen table to listen to a cassette audio tape from our cousin Neal, a soldier in Vietnam. What happened to the ten-speed bicycle riding cousin who was now a voice telling about walking through rice paddies in Vietnam? How did he get there? When will he come home? As a boy, I didn’t understand the toll paid by our soldiers so far away, which would scar a generation. Hopefully, lessons learned behind those distant recorded words will spare us from the conflicts that will haunt the next generation of young soldiers.
U.S. Vietnam Soldiers Sent Audio Cassette Letters Home
“A Little Conflict Never Killed Nobody”
Politicians love the word conflict. Unlike war, it requires no approval of Congress with all the military-industrial benefits of a real war. Unfortunately, conflicts that begin as self-righteous crusades result in self-inflicted casualties. The Vietnam “conflict” exacted an enormous cost: estimates of Vietnamese soldiers and civilians killed range from 970,000 to 3 million. Some 275,000–310,000 Cambodians, 20,000–62,000 Laotians, and 58,220 US service members died.
Conflict: Easy to get in. Hard to get out.
In my MBA program one professor taught us how to evaluate a course of action:
Do I want to do this?
Can I do this?
Easy to get in. Hard to get out.
How many of us have volunteered for a job for a “few months,” only to find we are still on the committee years later? That’s “Easy in. Hard out.” Nations of unjust wars must guard against being trapped in the battered-spouse repeated cycle of generational militarized violence. War, and the whitewashed conflicts—aka war-lite—are more addictive and costly to the U.S. than any drug ever created by cartels.
The U.S. military justified blowing up small boats in the Caribbean and killing survivors clinging to burning flotsam by stating the boats were transporting cocaine to the U.S. The reality is these boats were likely not headed toward the U.S., rather another country, with proof of cargo and crime lacking. How is administering a death sentence for a possible crime a “just war”? If this practice is not a “just war,” what is it?
What's the difference between a cocaine dealer and a Wall Street banker? Easy one! One makes cocaine for a dollar. The other takes cocaine with a dollar.
That’s “Easy in. Hard out.” Nations of unjust wars must guard against being trapped in the battered-spouse repeated cycle of generational militarized violence. War, and the whitewashed conflicts—aka war-lite—are more addictive and costly to the U.S. than any drug ever created by cartels.
JPB
Men of the 9th U.S. Marine Expeditionary force scramble out of a landing barge on to the peach at Da Nang in South Viet Nam, March 8, 1965. They were ordered to the area to bolster defenses around air base at Da Nang against possible Viet Cong attacks. (AP Photo)
Hubris shouts, “We answer to no one. We worship the battlefield god of our own destiny.” Reality raises a desperate hand for a tossed life preserver from allies whom we have forsaken as we launched a misguided course toward the dark shoals of our own destruction.
JPB
A Last Resort
58,276 Names of U.S. Casualties on Vietnam Memorial
“Only if all peaceful methods fail” is the first requirement of “Just War.” This guards against the “It’s just a war” groupthink that that politicians use to drop us in the next foxhole of unending conflict. Hubris says, “We won’t have any casualties. We’ll get in and get out to show those commies who’s the boss!” Reality ships home the trauma of our own unexpected casualties of those who laid down their lives for reasons unknown to the soldier and citizen alike. Hubris shouts, “We answer to no one. We worship the battlefield god of our own destiny.” Reality raises a desperate hand for a tossed life preserver from allies whom we have forsaken as we launched a misguided course toward the dark shoals of our own destruction.
Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it. - Psalm 34:14
Peace is Our Mission,
JPB
Postscript
The king who demands absolute loyalty without question knows his troops won’t trade lives for lies.
As 2025 draws to a close, we remember those 24 who died this year in ICE custody and the unnamed immigrants disappeared into dark places into which the light of the Christ Child shines hope.
“A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more” - Matthew 2:18.
"The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it" - Gospel of John 1:5.
Coded Message of Freedom
Aretha Franklin’s 1972 Amazing Grace recording at the New Temple Missionary Baptist Church became her biggest selling album. “Mary, Don’t you Weep” predates the Civil War as a “freedom song” that was sung by enslaved African Americans and contained coded messages of hope and emancipation. This Mary referenced the storyof Mary and Martha of Bethany in the Gospel of John 11, when the sisters wept for their brother Lazarus, who has died, and said to Jesus that if he had been there, Lazarus would not have died. Jesus then miraculously raised Lazarus from the dead, demonstrating his divine authority over death.
“Mary, Don’t You Weep” is a song that was initially sung by the enslaved—sung with coded messages of hope and resistance by our enslaved ancestors:
oh, Mary, don’t you weep, don’t you mourn…Pharaoh’s army got drown-ded…
However, when Ms. Franklin gets hold of it, she tells her own testimony while framing the grief and anguish of the sisters, Mary and Martha, over the death of their brother Lazarus (John 11:1-44):
One day while Jesus was away, that dear, that dear, that dear ole brother died, yeah yeah But now Mary, went running to Jesus She said Master, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my, my SWEET Lord Whoa, Lord if you hadda, if you hadda been here, my brother would not have died Oh yes she did Jesus said, come on and show me, show me where you buried him. Show me where you laid him down
I think a case can be made that Ms. Franklin, through her call and response, is also calling forth the experiences of unseen Black women who’ve also experienced loss. Black women who’ve had children sold away…husbands, sons, and daughters lynched…loved ones killed by the police…and, like Mary and Martha, wondered when, oh when, was Jesus going to show up for them. Through her runs and moans, Ms. Franklin gave voice to the particular pain experienced by Black mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters—wailing for the theft of life of their children, husbands, aunts, uncles, lovers, fathers, sisters, and brothers. And this is a communal feature of womanism. As coined by Alice Walker, a womanist is one who:
Loves music. Loves Dance. Loves the moon. Loves the Spirit. Loves love and food and roundness. Loves struggle. Loves the Folk. Loves herself. Regardless.
God sent us the Martin Luther King, Jr.’s not only to deliver people of color from the chains of bigotry but to ready us for the day we meet our own oppressors.
From Christ’s birth, a message for all: no one is ‘garbage.’ A divine counter to hateful rhetoric against immigrants.
Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people.For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
“Glory to God in the highest, And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!” – Gospel of Luke Chapter 2
Jesus came to establish a Kingdom by which no person would be called garbage, as Christ took the filth and hate of this world upon himself that we might be called children of God.
JPB
To All People,
JPB
Postscript
This post responds to US President Donald Trump’s statement who said he does not want Somali immigrants in the US, telling reporters they should “go back to where they came from” and “their country is no good for a reason”.
“I don’t want them in our country, I’ll be honest with you,” he said during a cabinet meeting on Tuesday. Trump said the US would “go the wrong way if we keep taking in garbage into our country”.
America’s Liberty & Justice for All Tour reveals war crimes, tariffs, migrant issues, & a Mayberry Nightmare.
2025 Liberty and Justice for All Tour
Their Last Moments
“Their Last Moments … sus últimos momentos”
The United States rocks under the Administration of Imbalance and Uncertainty, like boxer TKO but still wobbling on his feet. As the sunset of 2025 approaches, the images in today’s blog capture some of the infamous events of this year. This timeless piece from The Beatles will accompany your journey.
CNN reports Secretary of U.S. Department of War ordered a “double-tap” strike to kill two survivors clinging to boat wreckage after a U.S. strike on a suspected drug vessel. Showing no quarter is a war crime. Disobeying a criminal order takes an act of courage. Our children and grandchildren serving in the U.S. Military in armed conflicts will pray that the enemy treats our captured wounded with decency and mercy. “Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy” Matthew 5:7.
War crimes separate the short-lived trigger high from the sobering reality of consequences. – JPB
There is a reason it's called "hunting" and not "killing." -An Arizona Deer Hunter
While changing a title to Department of War seems like a chest-beating moment of pride, the concern is that we sleepwalk the United States into justifying killing as the mission, when peace is our goal. Labeling an entire group as evil greases the machinery to justify killing everyone as the mission, civilian and soldier alike.
In the moment of the Mai Lai Massacre 16 March 1968, certainly for a moment the squeezing of the M16 triggers felt like settling the score with an insurgency who disappeared by day into rice paddies and pho restaurants. Once the acrid smell of self-righteous cordite wafts away, it is replaced by the iron smell of innocent blood running into the soil, a stench that sets teeth on edge as it cries out, “War criminal!”
The author commends leaders like Commander Holsey who retired rather than continue to shed innocent blood. Commander Holsey by his laying down his arms sent the message that “Killing, for killing’s sake, was never the mission.” The question remains, of all the chaplains in the U.S. Armed forces, why are their prophetic voices silent on the killing of unarmed survivors clinging to wreckage? It is one thing to serve Communion for those about enter into battle to deliver us from forces of evil. It is another to serve as holy shamans for demagogues hell-bent on shedding innocent blood to paint their war drums.
In the moment of the Mai Lai Massacre 16 March 1968, certainly for a moment the squeezing of the M16 triggers felt like settling the score with an insurgency who disappeared by day into rice paddies and pho restaurants. Once the acrid smell of self-righteous cordite wafts away, it is replaced by the iron smell of innocent blood running into the soil, a stench that sets teeth on edge as it cries out, “War criminal!”
Vice Admiral Alvin Holsey, A Profile of CourageOperation “Bay of Piggies” launches with sinking of fishing boats and killing of survivors. Texas BBQ follows initial wave assault. BYOB
A double entendre invoking the failed Cuban “Bay of Pigs” mission to topple Castro and the “Quiet, Piggy!” remark of the President to a female reporter. The “Bay of Piggies” mission follows the same trajectory as the ill-fated “Bay of Pigs.”
The question remains, of all the chaplains in the U.S. Armed forces, why are their prophetic voices silent on the killing of unarmed boat survivors clinging to wreckage? It is one thing to serve Communion for those about enter into battle to deliver us from forces of evil. It is another to serve as holy shamans for demagogues hell-bent on shedding innocent blood to paint their war drums.
The Department of Snore
The President calls the “Department of Snore” together to launch “Operation Sandman.” Multiple press sources report presidential fits of slumber.
Be a role model. The younger is watching. - Fortune Cookie
No, I am neither a Democrat nor a Republican. I believe in balance … a balance between Republican and Democrat, between Socialist and Fascist, between believer and unbeliever. Balance provides the key to a society in which freedom of thought, speech, and religion can flourish. My freedom of religion builds upon the same foundation that allows another to choose unbelief. The mutual respect between the two gives us the miracle of dialogue and true freedom.
Those trapped in a political party, turning a blind eye to the party leaders’ abuse of the weak and vulnerable, must admit that this is the ghost of the battered wife syndrome – a woman who clings to her man as she can’t define a life without her abuser. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rose above the political battered wife syndrome, resigned from Congress as of next January, and said she refused to be a “battered wife hoping it all goes away and gets better.” Political parties serve us. The day we serve the party is the day we lose our freedom. Though this author did not vote for Ms. Greene, he respects her profile of courage.
Those trapped in a political party, turning a blind eye to the party leaders’ abuse of the weak and vulnerable, must admit that this is the ghost of the battered wife syndrome – a woman who clings to her man as she can’t define a life without her abuser. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene rose above the political battered wife syndrome, resigned from Congress as of next January, and said she refused to be a “battered wife hoping it all goes away and gets better.” Political parties serve us. The day we serve the party is the day we lose our freedom.
Additionally, some say they want to eliminate the possibility of America becoming a nonChristian nation. So, they order the 10 Commandments displayed in every classroom and scrub any lesson that might hint of the sins of religious extremism resulting in hate against entire groups of people, such as immigrants. The result is an even more godless society above which gold-plated cross is raised as a banner of bigotry and hate.
Back to the U.S. Military, the present U.S. trend of the Secretary of War’s firing those who might challenge the ethics of his decisions appears like a streamlining of decision making for a safer world, but eliminating top uniformed JAG officers is removing the safety on weapons poised to deliver to us the redux of the next Mai Lai Massacre.
One unanticipated factor of being a lethal weapon bully is that the chest-bump killing of two surviving fishermen is shadowed by loss of allies and the scheming of retribution by true enemies of the United States who see this a moment to arbitrage loss of U.S. goodwill in the world’s neighborhood.
One unanticipated factor of being a lethal weapon bully is that the chest-bump killing of two surviving fishermen is shadowed by loss of allies and the scheming of retribution by true enemies of the United States who see this a moment to arbitrage loss of U.S. goodwill in the world’s neighborhood.
News of Bitter Brews: The Ethics of Affordability
“I Don’t Want to Hear about the Affordability!” – Donald Trump. Dollars show actual cost+tip of a small vanilla latte outside of Kansas City. Daily Coffee News reported the impact of tariffs on coffee: United States President Donald Trump announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs yesterday, including new fees between 10% and 46% on imports from 15 of the world’s top 20 coffee-producing countries.
This cup of greed best defines the corporate greed manifested by the present White House Administration.
The Liberty and Justice for All Tour: A Nation on the Move
“The Liberty and Justice for All Tour!” It rings a bell! “Change is gonna come.” Make America America Again. The author does not endorse any one candidate and reiterates the need for plurality of thought and balance of political strategies that has the open mind to shake hands across the aisle.
The ‘Liberty and Justice for All Tour’ didn’t come with a concert ticket or a backstage pass. Instead, it arrived in the form of a $7 latte and a shifting global conscience. As we moved through 2024 and into the heart of 2025, the ‘Tour’ became a metaphor for a nation trying to reconcile its appetite for luxury with the increasingly bitter reality of what that luxury costs our relationship with one another and the rest of the world. “We are a nation in transit, moving away from the blissful ignorance of the ‘cheap cup’ and toward a destination where every transaction is a statement of values.”
“We are a nation in transit, moving away from the blissful ignorance of the ‘cheap cup’ and toward a destination where every transaction is a statement of values.”
The Last Professional: 78,000 Reasons Why Labels Matter
A Nation in the Rearview: Thanksgiving from the RV and the Old Car.
A Nation in the Rearview: Thanksgiving from the RV and the Old Car
A DOGE Thanksgiving. Tonight we remember those unemployed, hungry, imprisoned, deported, grieving, and alone this Thanksgiving. For those living in old cars and RVs, we pray for you and give thanks in hope of a better tomorrow. “Blessed are the poor in spirit.”
While the headlines speak of streamlined systems and digital efficiency, our hearts turn toward the quiet corners of the nation. Tonight, we remember those the spreadsheets forgot: the unemployed, the hungry, the imprisoned, and the deported. For those whose ‘home’ is the steel frame of an old car or the cramped hope of an RV, we offer more than a meal—we offer a witness and prayers with feet. In a world of cold data, we cling to the warmth of the promise: Blessed are the poor in spirit.“
Inheriting the Wind: Tariffs and the End of Generational Farming
Inspired by press release describing impact of tariffs on Missouri farmers.
They promised a resurgence of American industry, the view from the cab of a combine in late 2025 tells a different story. While the administration’s $12 billion ‘bridge’ payments were meant to steady the ship, for many, they feel like a life vest tossed into a hurricane. With fertilizer prices up 25% and soybean markets in China evaporated by retaliatory tariffs, the American farmer is learning that in the new economy, you can do everything right and still end the year in the red. We aren’t just losing crops; we are losing the ‘Last Professional’ of the land.”
Saints, Spin, and Saline: The Vatican Joins the Media Circus
Erika Kirk is the widow of political activist Charlie Kirk, founder of Turning Point USA. No further comment is needed on this. Arizona’s Attorney General reported that a former Turning Point USA leader (not the Kirk’s) and Arizona GOP legislator pled guilty to attempted election fraud. The Baptists had an old saying, “It’s not how high you jump; it’s how straight you walk!”
As Missouri deer season closes, Republicans continue to hunt ways to blame Biden for their own freefall in the polls.
Likewise, Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent: 12 The man said, “The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.” 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.” – Genesis 3
Coughing Up Eagles: The Virus of the Superpatriot
These words from Mad Magazine have condensed into a more virulent version 57 years later:
“Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing” Matthew 23:37.
The 24-Karat Chop Shop: Renovating the East Wing for Fun and Profit
White House Auto Nation “Panic Sale!” These are the finest junk cars ever sold. All repairs will be paid by Mexico! Free document prep shredding. Complimentary tamales. Undocumented customers receive a free one-way test drive to Nigeria. “We will not be out-lied! “ The destruction of the East Wing for a pay-for-play gold-plated ballroom, coupled with layers of add-on schemes to bilk the American people for self-benefit, reeks of self-enrichment that no gold tinsel can hide.
The destruction of the East Wing for a pay-for-play gold-plated ballroom, coupled with layers of add-on schemes to bilk the American people for self-benefit, reeks of self-enrichment that no gold tinsel can hide.
JPB
Does anyone know where to order some Oval Office golden deer repellent decorations? Deer keep gettin' into the beans.
Mayberry nightmare: Opie’s Big Catch
Breaking news! Opie just caught the politicians whitewashing the Epstein Files again! “Let’s tell Barney!”
It turns out that in 2025, even the most innocent corners of the ‘Nation on the Move’ are being painted over to hide the ’24-Karat’ rot underneath.”
The Great Regression: Trading the ACA for the 19th Century
Image from X
What is the labor plan to replace a lost immigrant workforce? What is the plan to replace Affordable Care Act health plans? Will we return to a child labor workforce, preexisting conditions, and female health insurance priced double that for a man?
A huge wave is rolling in! It’s blue, it’s purple, it’s white, it’s brown, it’s black. It will reclaim the rocky shores of hate.
JPB
Fabulous Pharmacy Fibs and Tylenol Tales
Inspired by the Presidents snap at the reporter, “Quiet, Piggy!” and the “Affordable” health insurance premiums for millions of Americans with Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace plans that are projected to more than double, on average, in 2026 if enhanced federal subsidies are allowed to expire at the end of 2025.
What country bankrupts its citizens in medical debt while spending billions to deport gardeners and car wash attendants?
JPB
Liars & Ladders: The Boardroom Game
The White House Press Secretary has announced “Liars & Ladders” to fabricate the most magical Christmas ever! In fact, Hallmark stores have swapped their Nativity scenes for these gameboards that tell The Greatest Breaking Story Ever Told of the only President to write his own books in the Bible … First through Sixth Trumpalonians! Proceeds will go to the First Family.
Our grandchildren and their children's children will study and marvel at the collective hysteria that captured a major U.S. political party—one where members launched into spontaneous lying as a symbolic 'gift' of their MAGA membership.
Received My White House Holiday greeting card! So honored!
The Fortune Cookie
TheWeek.com reports that Donald Trump added $3 billion to his wealth since his second coming to the White House:
In consideration of the above, let there be the creation of the 2028 U.S. Chief Executive Civil Forfeiture Act: Tasked with recovery of funds gained by corruption and self-benefit while in office of President:
2028 U.S. Chief Executive Emolument Civil Forfeiture Act: Recover funds gained by corruption and self-benefit while in office.
Article I, Section 9, Clause 8:
No Title of Nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no Person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the Congress, accept of any present, Emolument, Office, or Title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State.
For most of its history, courts have rarely substantively analyzed or interpreted the Foreign Emoluments Clause.1 During the administration of President Donald Trump, however, a number of private parties, state attorneys general, and Members of Congress sued the President based on alleged violations of both the Foreign Emoluments Clause and the Domestic Emoluments Clause2 (collectively, the Emoluments Clauses). Three major federal lawsuits concerning the Emoluments Clauses were filed against President Trump.3 Over nearly four years, these cases progressed through the lower federal courts, resulting in the first significant judicial decisions on the Emoluments Clauses.
The Grift of the MAGA vs The Gift of the Magi
The Grift of the MAGA: History will record the MAGA era as a mass delusion where spontaneous lying wasn’t a sin, but a ‘gift’—the speaking-in-tongues of a political cult.
This blog was inspired by a fortune cookie.
He was born in an obscure village, The child of a peasant woman. He grew up in still another village, Where he worked in a carpenter shop Until he was thirty. Then for three years He was an itinerant preacher. He never wrote a book. He never held an office. He never had a family or owned a house. He didn’t go to college. He never visited a big city. He never traveled two hundred miles From the place where he was born. He did none of the things One usually associates with greatness. He had no credentials but himself. He was only thirty-three When the tide of public opinion turned against him. His friends ran away. He was turned over to his enemies. And went through the mockery of a trial. He was nailed to a cross Between two thieves. While he was dying, His executioners gambled for his clothing, The only property he had on Earth. When he was dead, He was laid in a borrowed grave Through the pity of a friend. Twenty centuries have come and gone, And today he is the central figure Of the human race, And the leader of mankind’s progress. All the armies that ever marched, All the navies that ever sailed, All the parliament that ever sat, All the kings that ever reigned, Put together have not affected The life of man on Earth As much as that One Solitary Life.
-Dr. James Allen Francis
The Bus Driver’s Final Stop: Christmas Eve, 2025
“Alright, folks, watch your step as you exit the bus. Please check your pockets for any stray Trophy Scapegoats or GOP Pennies you might have picked up along the way. We’ve covered a lot of ground today—from the $7 bitterness of our morning brew to the ‘Mayberry Nightmare’ unfolding at the fishing hole.
It’s been a Jim Dandy year for the ‘Liberty and Justice for All Tour.’ We’ve watched the East Wing get swapped for a gold-plated ballroom and seen the ‘Last Professionals’ trade their scrubs for a 19th-century labor plan. Some say the country is in a freefall, but as we saw at the White House Auto Nation, as long as you can put a fresh coat of tinsel on a rusted-out frame, someone will buy the lie.
As you head home to your families—or your RVs in the DOGE-monitored parking lots—remember that the only thing spreading faster than the Virus of the Superpatriot is our capacity to look at a ‘Fabulous Pharmacy Fib’ and call it a miracle.
On behalf of the 47th Administration’s MAGA-Bus Boycott, we wish you a Merry Christmas. Lock your Tylenol tight in your purse, keep your children off the night shift, and may you never, ever look too closely at what Opie just pulled out of the swamp water.”
The Parable of the Good Samaritan 25 And behold, a certain [h]lawyer stood up and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
27 So he answered and said, “ ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,’ and ‘your neighbor as yourself.’ ”
28 And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this and you will live.”
29 But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
30 Then Jesus answered and said: “A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among [i]thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a certain priest came down that road. And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side. 32 Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side. 33 But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was. And when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him. 35 On the next day, [j]when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, ‘Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.’ 36 So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?”
A tariff is like pig manure. It usually benefits its creator and leaves a big stink. “Th-Th-Bde-The-That’s all folks!”
“I don’t want to hear about the affordability!” This little vanilla latte gem set me back shy of $7.00 after tip at a drive-thru near Kansas City. I’m saving the cup to savor every drop. The neighbors are green with envy.
The Rich Man and Lazarus 19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’
29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’
31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
The difference between a MAGA politician and a traveling vacuum salesman is the politician leaves the dirt and takes the carpet.
Coming to a town near you …
15 “Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. 16 You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? 17 Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. 18 A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit. 19 Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire. 20 Therefore by their fruits you will know them. - Matthew 7:15-20. Words of Jesus Christ from the Sermon on the Mount
The Failed Plan that Separates the Ultra Wealthy from the Riffraff of the Middle Class
The great thing about using red velvet ropes though is that it sends a statement of luxury and elegance instead of acting as just a barrier. – Quote from the rope barrier industry
The Great Equalizer
My wife and I honeymooned at New York-New York casino, where we built some lifetime memories in that once great Las Vegas. The cold North winds of time have blasted a deep chill on the Vegas strip. While browsing YouTube, I ran across the video below that indicates that the CEO’s of Las Vegas crafted their own decline in a scheme to “Keep the Riff-Raff Out!!” Historically, Vegas was “the great equalizer” where a construction worker from L.A. or a lawyer from Beverly Hills could escape to Vegas an experience the same odds of winning at the same table. Now Vegas has priced out the working class, which decimated the Vegas strip, that now sits half empty.
The United States was the Great Equalizer. The immigrant and the citizen could find a path forward, not only to make a living, but to buy a house, start a business, and build a meaningful life. They were not kicked out as the riffraff due to the nation’s leadership catering to the ultra-wealthy.
Red Velvet Rope Economics
In viewing the Vegas video, I had the epiphany that this was not only about the Las Vegas strip but about an economic strategy in the United States that caters now to the ultra-wealthy corporations and billionaires, culling the lower end, the value-oriented folks who elected the politicians in the first place.
A place that used to welcome everyone now feels like a country club with a velvet rope.
This economic practice erects a barrier that sends a statement of luxury and elegance. This is why the gold-plated Oval Office and a golden Air Force One gifted luxury liner from Qatar sends the message, “Behold the elegance and the luxury that I now have! Aren’t you fortunate to see my wealth?!” In truth, these politicians have forgotten what made Washington great in the first place … working people!
Adam Smith discussed the conspiracy against the public and contrivance to raise prices by corporate design
In the image of the golden “Me First One,” you can see the plane being loaded with cash, Bitcoin, and Argentine cattle. A warship airburst shows those great checkers words, “King Me!” Outside the barrier sit homeless people and farmers cooking hotdogs over a camp fire, surrounded by their broken down vehicles. They are unemployed.
Priced Out by Policy
Where have the regulars gone? The regulars work for a living. The regulars have 2.5 children who attend public schools that have plumbing and air conditioning issues that haven’t been addressed for 30 years. The regulars are but one medical condition away from bankruptcy. The regulars who can’t afford to insure their children, gamble that their child’s young age will ward off the specter of grave illness, when actually this is a form of wishful thinking. The regulars watched their parents work blue-collar jobs, buy a house, retire with pension. Now between taxes, car payment, insurance, and inflation, homeownership has become a trap snaring new owners into indentured servitude to service the bloated mortgage, insurance and fees. The red velvet rope economy beguiled the middle class until they realized the luxury and the wealth were for those on the other side of that elegant barrier.
The red velvet rope economy beguiled the middle class until they realized the luxury and the wealth were for those on the other side of that elegant barrier.
Red Velvet Rope Economics bifurcates the natural supply and demand cycle of supply and demand. From Associated Press 11/1/2025
The Red Velvet Rope Economy ensures that the supply is up and prices are down for the wealthy while supply is down and prices are up for the working class. Red Velvet Rope Economics bifurcates the natural supply and demand cycle of supply and demand. You may say, “Jim, that’s silly. Supply and demand mean the same for everyone. Supply rises and prices drop; supply down means prices up.”
This is what the rich want you to believe. The supply they receive is tax sheltered thanks to lobbyists working on their behalf. Their profits are maximized due to early and, sometimes, insider trade information before the rank and file investors get opportunity to trade. An example is the White House tipping its friends that an announcement will be made on a tariff or removal of a tariffs on a certain industry. Trades are bet on horses which already won the race in a predetermined race.
The Jones’s exhaust themselves trying to find the financial breaks that always appear above their reach.From YouTube Keep the Riff-Raff Out!
Thin Red Line Economics: Not Trickle Down, But Roped Out Economics
While the current President drools over deploying the U.S. military against U.S. cities, he is attempting to draw in permanent marker The Thin Red Line to protect the MAGA ultra-wealthy from The Regulars who, along with their parents and grandparents, who built and made America great. The Regulars deserve to be included inside The Red Velvet Rope of economic exclusion.
When Did You Realize You Were Priced Out?
You realized you stand outside The Red Velvet Rope … when you paid $6.00 for a black cup of coffee. When two choice steaks at Walmart cost over $30. When you had to choose between health insurance or car payment, rent, and food. When tariffs bankrupted your business due to increased supply costs. When your government job evaporated because the politician considered you the riffraff that needed to go. When you immigrated to the country only to find the Thin Red Line of bigotry blocked your path of a new life. These are the signs of The Red Velvet Rope Economy.
When the poor need food, they call it socialism. When farmers need bailout, they call it patriotism. Let’s call it all civility.
-JPB
Unhook the Rope and Enter Here
We’ve been there. Standing in a long line at a theater or a restaurant, guided by the red velvet ropes to keep us in line and checked. Then as a smartly dressed couple approach the velvet barrier, the guard gives a nod of acknowledgement, unhooks the rope and smiles at the couple who walk in. What can we do to unhook the velvet rope barriers to prosperity. How can we reclaim our power as “The Regulars”? What can we do to return America as “The Great Equalizer”?
🧵 The Parable of the Velvet Rope
In a vast marketplace beneath a golden sky, two lands stretched side by side. On one side stood the Land of Plenty, where fruits overflowed, homes gleamed, and time moved gently. On the other side lay the Land of Labor, where hands were calloused, shelves were sparse, and clocks ticked fast.
Between them hung a red velvet rope—soft to the touch, but firm as iron. It was not nailed down, nor locked, yet no one from the Land of Labor could cross it. They could see the abundance, smell the bread, hear the laughter—but the rope whispered, “Not for you.”
One day, a child from the Land of Labor asked, “Why does the rope shimmer so beautifully crimson if it only divides?” Her question echoed across both lands.
An elder from the Land of Plenty heard her and wept. He had once crossed the rope long ago, when it was thinner and frayed. He gathered others—makers, thinkers, dreamers—and together they began to loosen the rope’s knots.
They built bridges of fair wages, ladders of education, and pulleys of shared ownership. The rope didn’t vanish, but it lifted—higher and higher—until it became a banner, not a barrier.
And beneath that banner, the two lands began to trade stories, share harvests, and walk freely. Is was then they discovered that the crimson rope that once barricaded them off from one another became the tie that bound their hearts togethers as neighbors.
When we acknowledge Jesus Christ as our Lord, we are given the mission of lifting the barriers that divide us from others that they might see the love of God in action through us.
Discussion
Read James 2:2-7. What kind of barriers do people face as newcomers to a community? As people of a different ethnicity or orientation? When attending a new church? Does discrimination happen today? Share an example. How can we be more honoring of the poor and marginalized in our churches?
2 My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. 2 Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. 3 If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here’s a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” 4 have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?
5 Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him? 6 But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who are exploiting you? Are they not the ones who are dragging you into court? 7 Are they not the ones who are blaspheming the noble name of him to whom you belong? -James 2
2. Why would the principle of Supply and Demand work differently when applied to the rich as opposed to the poor? While some imply that poor people are lazy, describe ways how it actually takes more effort to be poor? (Example: A single mother of three works two jobs. Half her money goes to rent. The other half goes to child care and rent. She relies on food banks to feed her family.)
3. In decades of ministry, I have never asked my congregation to watch a video about the Las Vegas strip. Now, I ask you to watch the embedded video, a lesson not only in Las Vegas economics but a life lesson of the president clear-and-present economic danger facing the U.S. today.
Consider the casino mentioned which returned to free parking, $5 deluxe buffet, free drinks, rooms comp’d for players after a few hours playing (I am not advocating gambling and drinking, rather an economic principle of shared equity) and lower table betting minimums.
Why did “The Regulars” return? How is this a win-win?
What would it take for “The Regular” workers to take priority over AI involvement?
How does laying off 40,000+ of “The Regular” delivery workers in the name of AI “high value” progress reflect the same misguided thinking of Las Vegas CEOs?
How might the principle of shared equity come into play for The Regular workers in the midst of an AI based workplace?
What steps can you do to unhook the velvet rope to acknowledge the image of God in the “The Regulars” brought into your life?
The 5202 Mandate: 🎙️The Press Conference That Changed Everything *
Alice returns home and dreams of her new life journey outside the looking glass.
Setting:
The East Room of the White House. No flags. No teleprompters. Just a single podium, a circle of chairs, and a quiet piano playing Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings as the press enters. The room feels more like a chapel than a stage. This press conference changes everything.
The President enters alone. He’s not in a suit, but in a simple dark jacket. No applause. Just silence.
Opening Words:
“I come before you not as a victor, but as a man who has seen the edge. I have failed. Not just in policy—but in spirit. Three nights ago, following the world’s finest Argentine prime rib dinner in my new ballroom, I dreamed of an angel who placed a glass scroll in my hand. It burned with seven truths. I woke up, and the burn remained.”
He holds up his right hand. There’s a faint red mark—like a brand or a birthmark.
The Scroll Unfolds:
He reads each of the seven seals aloud, slowly, letting them land. After each one, he pauses. No applause. No spin. Just breath.
First Seal: The Truth of Humility “I have failed. Not just in policy—but in spirit.” — A leader must begin with the admission of fallibility. Without humility, governance becomes theater and allies turn enemies.
Second seal:Truth of Accountability — Power without repentance corrodes the soul of a nation. The burn on my hand is not punishment—it’s proof of awakening.
Third Seal: Truth of Transparency — No more spin. No more applause lines. Truth must be spoken plainly, even when it wounds.
Fourth Seal:Truth of Unity Over Victory — The Circle Cabinet symbolizes shared wisdom. No more partisan conquest—only collective healing.
Fifth Seal: Truth of Moral Governance — Legislation must mend, not divide. A bill that profits from pain is a betrayal of the people.
Sixth Seal:Truth of Courageous Leadership “If I am removed, so be it.” — True leadership walks into fire, not away from it. It risks ridicule for righteousness.
Seventh Seal:Truth of Integrity Without Reward “You may not be loved. But you must be true— The final truth is the hardest: to act rightly without applause, to serve without seeking legacy.
These truths aren’t policy points—they’re soul markers. They form the backbone of the 5202 Mandate: not a reversal of laws, but a restoration of conscience.“
When he reaches the final line—“You may not be loved. But you must be true.”—he looks up and says:
“I will not run again. I will not campaign. I will not fundraise. I will spend the rest of my term walking this path. If I am removed, so be it. If I am mocked, so be it. But I will not lie to you again.”
Questions from the Press:
Reporter 1: “Mr. President, are you saying you’re stepping down?”
“No. I’m stepping forward. Into the fire. Into the truth. I will govern with a Circle Cabinet. I will listen more than I speak. And I will not sign another bill that divides us further.”
Reporter 2: “What if Congress refuses to cooperate?”
“Then let the people see who stands for healing—and who profits from the wound.”
Reporter 3: “You’ve listed some lofty ideals; how do you see this playing out?”
The President right hand trembles and clutches the glass scroll held in his memory, his eyes still echoing the dream of the scroll still burning faintly with celestial ink. He reads aloud from his handwritten account:
1.Truth Before Tribe
“We must speak the truth, even if it costs you personal allies.”
“I was wrong. We must be better. We must publicly acknowledge the failures of our administration—not with spin, but with humility. This includes naming policies that deepened division, and inviting bipartisan review, including reversing the divisive policies of Project 2025.”
2. Restore the Commons
“The land, the air, the schools, the silence—these belong to all.”
“We will launch a national initiative to protect public goods: libraries, parks, clean water, public institutions, and public education.”
“We will end attempts to privatize and profit from essential services, which would erode dignity and access.”
“I have signed an Executive Order called, “Restore the Commons,” which will establish a commission to restore public terminated public employees and programs and institutions. We will cease leaning on our public institutions, healthcare and Medicare, fair voting rights, and military for political purposes.”
3. Civic Sabbath
“Give the nation one day to breathe together.”
“I declare a monthly “Civic Sabbath”—no political ads, no partisan broadcasts, no algorithms. We encourage local gatherings, storytelling, and shared meals across divides. We are strongest when we walk together.”
4. The Listening Road
“Walk the land. Hear its grief.”
“Today I embark on a cross-country journey—not as a campaign, but as a pilgrimage. Listen to forgotten towns, broken systems, and those who feel unseen. The poor and the rich, the religious and the secular, the immigrant and the citizen. No speeches. Just presence.”
5. Reprieve for the Disillusioned
“Forgive those who gave up and welcome those forsaken. Invite them back.”
“We will offer pathways for re-engagement for our immigrants, voters, educators, and our civil servants. We recognize that many left the system not out of apathy or despair but were driven out.”
“I have signed an Executive Order called TheICE Fairness Doctrine Act. We will immediately halt ICE operations against farm workers, construction workers, laborers, those attending court hearings, and ICE actions against nonviolent and noncriminal immigrants. Those who have been arrested will be given fair and due process given the above. We move ICE toward community-based policing that provides fairness and justice alike, preserving human and civil rights, recognizing that U.S. communities will never welcome the invasion of paramilitary and military personnel to force compliance of unjust laws.”
6. The Circle Cabinet
“No one ideology shall rule alone.”
“Today, I have signed the “No One Ideology Act,” forming a new advisory council with voices from across the spectrum— Democrats, Independents, Socialists, Republicans, activists, elders, youth, theologians, scientists, poets.
“Decisions must pass through this circle before becoming law.”
7. The Final Line
“You may not be loved. But you must be true.”
“As President I must accept that reconciliation does not guarantee popularity. My legacy will be judged not by polls, but by whether our nation begins to heal.”
Closing Gesture:
He places a copy of the scroll—now etched in glass—on a pedestal beside the podium.
“This is not a mandate from me. It’s a mirror for us all. The 5202 Mandate begins now. Not with power. But with repentance.”
He walks out. No anthem. No spin room. Just the sound of chairs creaking as the nation leans forward.
These truths aren’t policy points—they’re soul markers. They form the backbone of the 5202 Mandate: not a reversal of laws, but a restoration of conscience.
🌟 Closing Image
He folds his paper scroll. The ink fades. But the path remains. He walks to the window, sees the first light of morning, and whispers: “Let it begin.”
*This fictional op-ed contains truths that could change the world.
We Need One Another to Build a World Not Warped by Our Own Dystopian Vision
“And he who was seated on the throne said, ‘Behold, I am making all things new.’ Also he said, ‘Write this, for these words are trustworthy and true.'”
In the midst of a U.S. Government shutdown with no end in sight, the Treasury Department floated the idea of minting a $1 dollar coin in the likeness of Donald Trump:
We live at a time when the U.S. faces a scarcity of good faith dealings by the United States’ present leadership. Lying itself has served as a token by which elected officials prove loyalty to one who has set himself up as King of the Road to the White House. “I’m willing to lie for you,” has become an emblem of trust between those complicit in presenting a united front of lies. During a time when politicians call for hanging the Ten Commandments in schools, the question remains, “What happened to living the Ten Commandments versus only displaying them?” Today, we talk about the missing Ninth Commandment, “Thou shalt not bear false witness.”
What makes the Ninth Commandment critical is that personal, business, and national dealings are based on good faith. As one definition put it, ‘She acted in good faith’ be interpreted not only as ‘She believed that what she did was the right thing to do’, but also as ‘She acted in a decent and fair way.’
No Truth for You
Imagine you sit with your morning coffee and tune into the morning headline show to see the President sitting behind his desk with a breaking Executive Order, “Truth is a Crime: Anyone caught forcing someone to tell the truth is guilty of violation of the DOGE efficiency act. The best interest of the United States is to lie to protect self-interest.”
Acting on what he believes to be his best self-interest, Jon a real estate broker pockets all the earnest money gathered that day and wires it to an offshore account and declares that the company had a cyber attack that drained company funds.
A nineteen year-old boy faces a capital murder charge for a crime he didn’t commit. The prosecutor, to advance her career on her spotless conviction record, deleted DNA evidence that would have exonerated the boy whose petty crimes and race would play well with the mostly white jury for a conviction.
You may say, “Jim, these are interesting hypotheticals, but we are at war with the liberals. They do the same to us. We just need to do it first.”
So, you believe that you are doing the right thing. So, that makes bad faith dealings appropriate? As the definition we cited above shows both ends of the kayak paddle of truth, “She believed that she did was the right thing.” and “She acted in a fair and decent way.” Belief we are doing the right thing and action in fairness and decency comprise the tandem paddles of truth through the white waters of deception. Belief in good faith precedes actions but remains incomplete without verifying action.
A Parable of Good Faith Betrayed
Maria’s husband, a U.S. citizen voted for Donald Trump. He listened to his plan to “Make America Great Again” and that they would, as promised, only pursue the criminal element for removal out of the country. Maria was certainly not criminal. As mother of their three children under the age of 6, she attended Mass weekly, serving the needy at the church’s food and clothing bank, where she provided Spanish translation along with food.
Her husband Joe worked at Aldi’s as a stocker, where he personally stocked the entire store due to the store’s labor reduction. Maria worked a night job as a motel housekeeper after the kids were asleep. Joe and and Maria wanted their children to grew up secure and safe in the U.S. They listened to other Latino politicians who believed and who promised them a better future.
Fast forward after the election, Maria has been held in an unknown ICE detention center for the last four months, with no word. Joe struggles to care for their three children, as the love of his life has been ripped from their home. Joe struggles to make sense as the the words promised by the politicians ring hollow in his ears.
What happened? Four years ago, Maria was pulled over coming home from a New Year’s Eve party. She was the designated driver as Joe had a little too much to drink. However, Maria lacked both a driver’s license and insurance, for which this was her second citation. Maria never considered herself a criminal. She and Joe faithfully attended their ICE check in as they were paying an attorney what they could in hopes of securing a green card one day.
One day at the ICE check in, where Maria always arrived 15 minutes early, she sat with her youngest, a 3 year-old. Maria noticed the hallway was filled with men wearing black masks and military tactical uniforms. As her name was called for her appointment, she entered the room, verified her name, and was promptly arrested as a “criminal alien,” citing her driving without a license and insurance. She was zip tied and started crying in Spanish for someone to call her husband and her lawyer. Somehow when the six ICE agents rushed out to prepare for the next victim’s rendition, the 3 year-old was locked out in the hallway, where he sat until the end of the business day crying.
When Joe ran franticly into the ICE check-in facility looking for his wife, he found his three-year-old crying and lying alone, wet pants and hungry, under the waiting room chairs with Maria gone. “Where’s my wife!?,” Joe demanded.
The receptionist frowned and shrugged her shoulder through the bulletproof plexiglass and slid him a generic business card for the ICE Regional Office, where he could not reach a live person who could tell him where his wife was being held.
“How could this have happened?,” Joe relived the events that led up the last election. “They told us, ‘They were going after the worst of the worst.” Joe and Maria looked into the eyes of the local Latino political leaders who, so he felt, believed Joe and Maria, and thousands like them were safe. “The government is going after the cartels and criminals.”
But like both paddles of a kayak, belief in doing the right thing and actually acting decently and fairly are both needed to chart a course of good faith dealing. It doesn’t take much for someone to deceive himself into considering a course of action is the “right thing to do.” But if the tandem paddle is not balanced with acting in decency and fairness, the result will cast society on the shoals of injustice. In other words, how you get there matters.
Belief we are doing the right thing bound with acting in fairness and decency comprise the tandem paddles of truth through the white waters of deception.
‘She acted in good faith’ can be interpreted not only as ‘She believed that what she did was the right thing to do’, but also as ‘She acted in a decent and fair way.’
Truth Traumatized: Combat Vet and U.S. Citizen Pepper Sprayed and Jailed
The present administration fails to grasp that doing a “Kavanaugh Stop” on people because of their skin color, pepper spraying and jailing them for days without cause has betrayed the good faith of the American people. Whereas Justice Kavanaugh “believed” that it’s fine for an officer to ask Latinos a few questions to verify their nationality before letting them go, the real actions of pepper spraying, assaulting, and jailing U.S. citizens without cause betray the decency and fairness that was founded even by the Ninth Commandment of bearing a true, decent and fair, witness.
U.S. Combat Vet and U.S. Citizen Pepper Sprayed and Held Without Charge
A Christian Zionist and a Jewish Zionist fight in Jerusalem to choose winner. Winner captures the flag. Loser gets “Manifest Indigestion.”
Christian Zionist and Jewish Zionist Battle for Spiritual Flag of Jerusalem
In the Beginning was the Conspiracy
Certain evangelical Christians believe that a sign of the second coming of the Messiah manifests as their physical, political occupation of Jerusalem as God’s chosen people. Some believe the sooner this happens the better. Out of grace the evangelicals are willing to share the New Jerusalem with the Jews. Jewish Zionists take exception to this belief. Sadly, zealous groups take the Bible’s spiritual prophecies and convert them into their manifest destiny to take the earthly shares by force from those who do not share their prophecy customized to fit the personal financial balance sheet of the enlightened. “Let us give thanks” is replaced with “Let us send tanks.”
Bible traded for dopamine fix of people disappearing before our eyes.
But certain obstacles are parked in the path of the enlightened. For example, Bethlehem, the birthplace of Christ, is located in the Palestinian area of the Holy Land, outside Israel’s border wall. The Muslim’s golden “Dome of the Rock,” a holy site, sits squarely on top of what evangelicals view as their temple’s “Holy of Holies.” Church conspiracy groups buzz about secret tunnels burrowed under the “Dome of the Rock” along with the preparation of bronze bowls, knives, and altars to resume sacrifice of sheep and cattle once the “Dome of the Rock” falls. Any clue of movement gives a theological high pounced upon in hopes of finding final dopamine fix of finding the “Ark of the Covenant.” But show me a Christian faith built by conspiracies, tanks, and bulldozers, and I will show you a quiet faith built on the foundation of service to the poor, care for a neighbor, healing of the sick, and embracing the immigrant. These whisper the coming of the Day of the Lord!
But the show me a Christian faith built by conspiracies, tanks, and bulldozers, and I will show you a quiet faith built on the foundation of service to the poor, care for a neighbor, healing of the sick, and embracing the immigrant. These whisper the coming of the Day of the Lord!
The above Times of Israel story described Ambassador Huckabee’s argument that the Jewish Zionists are not being Christian enough. Implied is, “After all, Jerusalem is all going to be handed over to us Christians. We’ll make some room for you.” Mike Huckabee is the U.S. Ambassador to Israel and Southern Baptist High Priest in Jerusalem. Someone, by the way, needs to tell the Baptists that the First Temple was never officially known as “First Baptist Church of Jerusalem.”
You ask, “Jim, don’t you believe in Jesus and that Jesus is returning through the Eastern Gate to meet his believers?”
The Bible answers that in Hebrews 10:8-10:
By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. 9 By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. 10 For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Jesus himself said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jewish leaders. But now my kingdom is from another place”(Gospel of John 18:36).
I believe in Jesus and his words. His words do not neatly fit into end-time charts written by preachers who hawk on Amazon these color-coded end-times charts, conspiracy filled books, adrenalin rush movies, and celebrity pastor Alaskan Bible cruises. Shown below is one of the many future timeline charts available for sale on Amazon.com today:
Version 1.0.0
Christians must take care that, in believing about a future Battle of Armageddon between good and evil, they don’t create an apocalypse as a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Pastor Jim
“Jim, what you allege between the United State’s ambassador and Israel is far fetched.”
Please do not take my word for it alone, considering you may think I am promoting conspiracy. View the video below to review extremist groups at work in Israel today. Watch it to the end as you will find some familiar faces. And as you watch, be mindful of the above quote: “… create an apocalypse as a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
Mr. Trump’s Play on the Movie “Apocalypse Now” to Support His Military Incursions into U.S. Cities
Worship of Conspiracy
One might ask, “Why would Christians go ‘all-in’ on conspiracy theories?” These devout souls bite on a new juicy conspiracy like a trout swallows a wooly bugger fly. Take a moment and view the movie trailers below. Make note of the bits of truth that are strung together as “clues” to hook the viewer to the next “truth bit” until you are firmly down the rabbit hole.
You may say, “Jim, don’t you believe in the U.S. Constitution or the return of Jesus Christ?”
Yes, I do believe in both of them, but even the Apostle Paul warned us about turning aside to follow conspiracies down a hole of no return:
"They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths." - St. Paul in 2 Timothy 4:4
Clues of truth strung like crack candy on a string. Aren’t conspiracies fun?!
Who needs prayer when you found your answer? Tell no one that you, and you alone, hold the secret.
Ward Cleaver Was Right
Motley Fool’s investing article by Nate Parmelee was spot on: Slow and steady may be boring, but it can also be tremendously profitable.Investing is about the future, but to make reasonable predictions, you need a healthy understanding of the past.
The article referenced 1962 Leave It to Beaver episode “Stocks and Bonds”, in which Eddie Haskell tried to convince Wally and The Beaver to invest in Jet Electro stock to turn a quick profit, rather than investing in a boring dividend stock:
Rocket ships or utilities?
In the episode, Ward steers Beaver and Wally toward a dividend-paying company, Mayfield Power and Light. If that doesn’t sound like a nice, safe, and absolutely boring investment, I don’t know what does. But the boys are simultaneously tempted their friend Eddie Haskell to invest in Jet Electro, a company that builds rockets.
Naturally, Jet Electro’s stock shoots up, and the boys can’t stand their boring local utility a minute longer. Ward relents and moves their money into the rocket company. Can you guess what happens next? The rocket company loses steam, and the boys lose almost their entire investment. Anyone who indiscriminately picked up a dot-com in 2000 can empathize. In the end, Ward saves the boys because he kept some of their money in slow and steady Mayfield Power and Light.
The Christians who pursue conspiracies and cheap prophecies of political power trade the gospel of Jesus Christ for a Jet Electro quick spiritual high — a Christian scratcher ticket, addicting the pilgrim to the dopamine of digging more theories hoping for a winning ticket.
Final Investment
Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-20).
Jesus calls us to a life “slow and steady” upward movement of growth in the kingdom of God, in this life and the life to come. If you want “revolution now!” and “force the Kingdom of God now!,” take a moment and consider those in the gospels who tried to force Jesus’s hand, beginning with the temptation of Christ by the devil. Jesus showed us the way: “Just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28).
Learn from Our Past “Great Disappointment”
Our evangelical friends can learn from The Great Disappointment of the Millerites at which time William Miller, Baptist lay preacher, prophesied that Jesus Christ would return October 22, 1844, the chart below shows his prediction –
The day came and went, evaporating the hopes the 50,000 to 100,000 Millerites went “all in” camping out on that date expecting the Second Coming. On October 22nd, the Millerites donned white robes, gave away all their possessions, and climbed mountains or trees to speed their ascension into heaven. When the prophecy failed, most abandoned Miller’s apocalyptical teachings and returned to their original churches.
I waited all Tuesday [October 22] and dear Jesus did not come;—I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o’clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain—sick with disappointment.
Henry Emmons, a Millerite
The Great MAGA Fall From Grace
MAGA Christians sat on America’s front pew and could have shown the United States and the world what God’s love was all about in culture and in government. This walk onto the stage of history dwarfed the combined Utopian and Second Coming movements of the 19th century United States, which taught that God was making a perfect society of heaven on earth in the U.S. [One of these groups, The Shakers, practiced celibacy, neither marrying nor having children.], as Adventist groups declared days of Jesus return.
The MAGA gospel taught today teaches, for the most part, the same end times charts as the Millerites. In other words, they hold the secret to the end times … or so they believe. The difference is that the MAGA Gospel, rather than a white dove or robe, wields the self-righteous sword to force the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. The MAGA disciples serve as the Armed Knights of the MAGA Crusaders for Christ.
Take a moment to consider the evangelicals orbiting the Trump administration:
Mike Johnson – Speaker of the House. Paula White-Cain: Televangelist appointed as Senior Advisor of the White House Faith Office. Mike Huckabee: Ambassador to Israel. Former governor of Arkansas and a popular figure among evangelical Christian conservatives, many of whom are strong supporters of Israel. Kristi Noem: Secretary of Homeland Security. Pete Hegseth, Department of Defense (See end of Israeli Extremist video above).
Mustard on Your Tie
As groundswells of the U.S. populous rise in protest at the inhumane treatment of citizens and noncitizens alike, the evangelical churches sit blindly knitting at their circled tables of deception. The chart below shows April, 2025 that 72 percent white evangelicals approve of the Mr. Trump’s handling of the job as President:
Our grandchildren will ask us, “Why were the churches silent? Did they not know how migrants were treated less than human? Why did they remain silent? Were they threatened? Did the government hold the pastors hostage? Were they not aware of their stain on human history?”
If you are a descendent reading this, and if this survives the great evangelical book burning, a large swath of churches was complicit. Rather than The Great Disappointment of 1844, congregations in the United States experienced The Great MAGA Fall From Grace. Eventually the fog of their faith-war lifted and MAGA faithful saw firsthand the chains they forged to persecute the poor, migrants, homosexuals, disabled, minorities, homeless, and the sick.
In this final self-made Armageddon, these same churches called-for and participated in the MAGA Persecution. These churches traded their”white ascension robes” for self-righteousness tactical armor and ballistic helmets that ignited fires of hate in the name of Jesus. As I write this, America is in crisis with mass deportations, people of color dragged from the streets by hooded military, tariffs against the world, the U.S. government agencies slashed …
You may ask, “Pastor Jim, certainly the U.S. church arose and cried against this evil. Right?”
Sadly, the image below shows the response of the U.S. church. The leaders raised their hands in devotion to their god on earth. The author notes that not all churches have embraced The False Flag of Faith, standing as they can against the winds of public faith of national fanaticism. Sadly the bulk of churches spent more time discussing what flavor donuts, coffees, and sweet creams to offer in their lobbies, sleepwalking through their burning house. Until now the fear of offending someone within or without the church has crippled its prophetic stance, but this is changing. Churches are awakening to stand against the peril of this self-created Armageddon.
“Christian Nationalists Taking Selfies and Praising Jesus for Eliminating Those ‘No Good’ Heathens”
For many “Christians Zionists,” and particularly for popular evangelists with significant clout within the Republican Party, their support for Israel is rooted in its role in the supposed end times: Jesus’ return to Earth, a bloody final battle at Armageddon, and Jesus ruling the world from the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. In this scenario, war is not something to be avoided, but something inevitable, desired by God, and celebratory. – From “The Dispiriting Truth” (2023)
Voices in the Desert
In the 3rd to 6th century CE, Christian saints fled to the deserts of Egypt, Syria, and Palestine to escape corruption of Christians leaders who were seduced by the wealth and power of Roman government that legalized Christianity in 313 CE. These Desert Fathers and Mothers remind us of the day coming when the church in the U.S. must make a decision to separate from the seduction of money, corruption, and power, even as Christ was tempted, to take the Kingdom of God by force.
What the new Voices in the Desert might look like, the author can only conjecture. Perhaps Christians will form communities committed to care for one another and outsiders in the local community. This neo-monastic life would include building and providing housing and food for all in the community. These “barn raisings” per se would tie the communities together. Food plots would flourish as bankrupted farmers move to the communities of faith and share their agriculture expertise. Medical care is provided by purged government doctors.
What of the evangelical houses of worship? Given their current course, these buildings would likely be transformed into housing for the homeless and food kitchens for the neo-monastic communities. The churches in America stand at a crossroad and have failed the test in correcting its course to date. The author prays for their course correction, before the house collapses under its own weight and we witness The Great MAGA Fall from Grace.
Slow and Steady,
Pastor Jim
Discussion
Why would the church trade “Jesus Loves Me” for “Jesus Loves Me When We Beat and Arrest the Migrant and the Poor”? How is this movement a “False Flag of Faith”?
How might a church see the present U.S. environment as Armageddon a call for them to take up arms? What spiritual basis would cause a church celebrate community violence?
Read John 18:11. Jesus commanded Peter, “Put your sword away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?” How do Jesus’s words apply to our path of response?
Review the video regarding Israeli Extremist Groups. What makes extremism so attractive? How can it quickly become destructive and disappointing? Why do extremists gravitate toward religion?
How can we avoid being fixated on our own “Great Disappointment”?
Describe a time when you followed a path that resulted in disappointment.
How might Christians who climbed into the MAGA nationalist wagon find themselves up in the proverbial tree? What makes a “Great Disappointment” movement so attractive initially? Why is it so easy for one to embrace a “Great Disappointment” movement and so difficult to leave it at the end? Do you think some Millerites refused to come down from the rooftops and trees? One Millerite described his disappointment: I waited all Tuesday [October 22] and dear Jesus did not come;—I waited all the forenoon of Wednesday, and was well in body as I ever was, but after 12 o’clock I began to feel faint, and before dark I needed someone to help me up to my chamber, as my natural strength was leaving me very fast, and I lay prostrate for 2 days without any pain—sick with disappointment. -Henry Emmons
Read and discuss 2 Corinthians 4 and discuss: “Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”
Extra Credit
Have you heard of Palestinian Christians? Did you know that today Bethlehem is not in Israel; it is in Palestine? Review this video and consider the experience of our brothers and sisters in the Christian faith experience living in Bethlehem and in the shadow of Israel’s border wall.
Consider that Joseph and Mary fled as refugees from King Herod, who slaughtered the male infants of Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the Christ child.
Which side of the wall in the video would Christ be born if his birth was today?
A section of the wall running through occupied Palestinian East Jerusalem. (Photo: Christopher Hazou)
“Hurricane Watch and ICE Raid Warning.” Shelter the Innocent. Did we return our soldiers from Afghanistan to serve as the private army of a decaying dictator who orders them to take FEMA funds to kick down the doors of U.S. seniors, drag nursing mothers from their cars, stalk workers waxing the agent’s own car wheels, and grab students off streets to “Alligator Alley” gulags across the country. Once the immigrants are done, What’s Next!? Answer … the poor, the Democrats, the people of color, the elders, the journalists, the teachers, the non-TrumpCultChristians. Today is Independence Day!
Increasingly Tragic Climate Change and GEO/Weather Events Demand We Maintain Our Expert Federal Watchmen in All Areas of Science.
Grasp the Wheel and Freedom Ride
I have stood in the pulpit where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Rosa Parks, and 1000’s launched the 381 day Montgomery Bus Boycott. I touched the face of history at the desk where he penned the words in the small pastor’s office. Today I hear in my soul while reflecting on similar times in our country, “These again are solemn days that call us to grasp the wheel and ride that liberty bus to return a lost country to a place where a person’s color or nationality is not a crime.” I don’t know if he would say that, but I do feel it deep in my heart.
Ring Out Freedom!
While the present GOP is fallen as Trump’s victims of the mirage, one challenge is how to resist Trump’s Private Army by civil and peaceful means. Justice and freedom do not arise by hate but arise out love for the weak and the poor who beg for a better tomorrow.
Are You, Do You Know, Or Have You Ever Been A Migrant?
While the present GOP is fallen as Trump’s victims of the mirage, one challenge is how to resist Trump’s MAGA Guard by civil and peaceful means. Justice and freedom do not arise by hate but arise out love for the weak and the poor who beg for a better tomorrow. You will likely be faced, until we can vote them out in every election, the with the USA’s version of masked Federal stops that demand, “Show me your papers,” which feels like “are there any gypsies, Jews, socialists, homosexuals, or disabled in your home or your car?”
Everyone Halted by Ice Outside El Paso
Based on true events this year
We were stopped in our motorhome with only my wife and our dog as passengers. The entire eastbound highway to Missouri coned into an ICE dragnet. A 20-something officer asked me who else was in the motorhome. I explained, “My dog and my wife.” He stared at me not sure how to answer my red-faced-sun-glassed stare response to his chit-chat talk. As he let us drive forward but before the window came out, I blurted out some real feelings I had about this mass multilane body cavity search. I put some of what I blurted out in this blog and I told my wife later, “I give you my word. I’m not going to blurt out while stopped in the proximity of the National MAGA Guard my feeling that could cause unnecessary hours of a 30-something Proud Boys veteran of Afghanistan now finding his patriotism jailing grandparents overnight. There is a better way. Reaction in anger in creates a worse result. Many of the Proud Boys want a better America, where all can be free. We may not like their group, but their freedom to Proud Boy gives us the same freedom to write, speak and assemble, and form our groups. In that we find common ground.
However, my red-faced, unshaved beard with veins popping forehead in front of wild white hair is crazy ol’ coot Jim. Trust me, the ICE officer does not think crazy old coots are “cool” (forgive the pun).
Grandma’s Not Home But Loves to Talk!
True with artistic adjustments
I learned a skill yesterday at the rural walk-in clinic while waiting for COVID treatment. This kabuki displays as grandma’s not home but she loves to talk. I had not slept for 4 days and sat with the room full of wobbly senior mask-less women, who pulled their silent unshaved husbands around like purses on wheels. These patients talked more than Methodist women at the potluck pie table. As I moved my chair to the side of the room, in scraped grandma pushing her walker. She came in talking like she was loudly debating a sloth. Not once did she stop talking. She took her chair and she talked on. She talked to the room. She talked to herself. As a captive audience, I realized grandma’s not home but she loves to talk! She talked about weather. She talked about politics without naming anything political. She rambled about grandchildren she never met. When I pretended to close me eyes in blessed unconsciousness, I realized that grandma’s meanderings gave us a slideshow of a trip to nowhere. It was like being served a quart of warm buttermilk to drink in 3o minutes. But she provided a beautiful lesson how to respond to intrusive interrogations. For young people today, a conversation like that smells and tastes like day-old buttermilk. No my wife would say, “Jim, you don’t have to work your character at all. Just be your annoying old self and remove your hearing aids!”
A Paw Step Toward Internal Peace
The ICE dragnet redux would then chill like:
“Who is with you, Sir, where have you come from?” painful smile while reading my face and vehicle. Visual on wife and dog and wince at odor of buttermilk and fried eggs.
“Sure, I keep my gun in a safe down the hall … in Missouri. It’s not loaded. I love to hunt and have hunted northern Arizona mostly. Are you a hunter?” questioning smile.
“NO, ARE … YOU… DRIVING … TO … CHICAGO … OR … NEW YORK?” loudly and slowly to the bearded adult toddler.
“Officer, I am not driving to Chicago for work. In fact I don’t work at all. But I hear they have the best steak sandwiches in the windy city! Did you know some of the best chefs in Chicago are not American citizens?”
Cars now train-car’d back a mile behind the RV. But the officer cracked a smile when our Lab-Retriever jumped up, smothered grandpa’s face in fur, to give priority to the nice man’s hand for cookie. Grandpa sat still in dog fur until the petting and frisking ended.
The black dog fur now an Elvis sideburn stuck on grandpa’s white beard cracked the officer’s first real smile of the day seeing who now looked like crazy retired Elvis, his aged hound mix, and old smelly RV named “Buttermilk.” The officer missed his own grandpa in Kansas, like “crazy ol’ coot” and his dog, “Sir, be safe down the road with you and your dog” big arm Elvis karate chop wave kick forward go!
And with that the country was one paw track toward internal peace.
Reminder of Other Good-Hearted Officials Trapped by the Paw of The Axis Evil Ape
Schultz reminds us that a protest against a dictator does not demand cruelty to politicians, employees, officers, and soldiers who are trapped in his ideological mirage. We can help pay forward the same kindness. In my last church I served as executive pastor, the grandfather (perhaps father) of a leading woman in my church spoke as a former young man in NAZI Germany. He brought his collection NAZI paraphernalia from those years. As part of his presentation, he presented in-character how Hitler spoke addressed their youth on the radio. Hitler began with speech a softly humming desk fan that grew into a the incessant war cry of a possessed banshee. After I asked, “Why didn’t the other citizens or leaders organize and end this?”
The solemn, loving guest gave this humble warning: “Hitler made the NAZI party not one organization. He made it the country. The schools taught NAZI propaganda. Trade guilds and universities revolved around Nazi ideology. Judges held sham NAZI trials. And the companies sold their soul to it. If you denied the NAZI party, where then would your children attend school or find work? Where would you bank? What would happen to your business credentials? Where would you wife work? Would your children be immediately expelled?”
His words fixed in my mind. This movement flowed like Evil Amish Shunning in which you became invisible to society. I had no follow question to that and wonder now what would happened if in Mr. Trump’s use of the AI Big Beautiful Database he would, virtually unrestricted, send any politician, group, or (citizen or not) or accountant to his personal cyborg gulag … with a Tweet. Now we know why his politicians stare like North Korean hostages. The ethics of truth, trust, and Constitution, and due process of the law protect the careful, legal path of a person before inflicting the worse punishment man can inflict upon man. Due process means we care for ethics and the born rights of all persons, the precedents of the case, the provision of fair treatment during process, and the right to be innocent before found guilty by a jury of our peers, without which the silverback’s midnight Tweet could use tariff sharpened canines to bite off our hand and put any of us in cyborg gulag. One revenge Tweet from the silverback’s finger could gulag politicians, lawyers, institutions, Federal agencies, constitutional scholars, schools, judges, officers, citizens, or residents arbitrarily as, “His Yorky peed on my turf.” Tariffs chewed off one corporation at a time as company champions tremble that an arbitrary tariff fangs bite inflicted to shutter their entire operation. Then we realized the ape never used the tariff plan for the good of the country but to feed its own appetite of infecting new victims with the pithecophobia, fear of ape.
Did you hear about the gazillionaire and his cronies whose money elected a monster silverback gorilla to the Oval Office for ultimate power?
Megadonors Feel Heat of Electing Monster Silverback in Huge Power Grab
“Is it a Dem or MAGA monkey?” asked one man trembling who approached the titanium bars and peered into the unblinking orange eyes of the gorilla.
“We don’t know,” said his friends. “Put your hand out and see if he takes your offer of friendship.” The man obliged, an inch at first, fingers, then the whole arm. The primate sat rock still.
“I think what you bought is a stupid gorilla!” but before the man could retract his hand the ape bit off the man’s hand and held it up with a fanged grin. His friends pulled him free with the ape crushing three of the other’s fingers. The third man wasn’t so lucky. The big ape ripped off his blonde coiffed widow’s peak and set it on his forehead, ate a banana, and flung manure at them, covering priceless art with ape dung.
“This is so exciting!” shouted the man missing the widow’s peak. “We bought the perfect presidential gorilla! He is exactly what we wanted!”
“How the heck do you think he’s MAGA?” said the man who bandaged his hand with his shredded white shirt and half-bitten red tie.”
“That’s easy. You missed it? … Only a MAGA hates a ‘hand out!”
For where there is fear; there is control. You say, “Jim, why that’s just a phobia! It’s not real.” A: Yes, and that’s why it’s called a phobia and so effective as a malicious weapon. You don’t bite your opponent; you show how you would share that the Communists endorse and worship him, building secret red statutes of him. Then let the phobia bite metastasize in him. Same of effect of tariff canine sharpening during a “loving” unblinking hour of “You know how much your company loves staying in love with us” between the sounds of fang filing. Now that some evangelical churches and pastors have embraced the warmth and power of primate love, not all have kissed the hairy knee.
While the present GOP is fallen as Trump’s victims of the mirage, one challenge is how to resist Trump’s MAGA Army by civil and peaceful means. Justice and freedom do not arise by hate but out love for the weak and the poor who beg for the table scraps of a better tomorrow.
Justice and freedom do not arise by hate but out love for the weak and the poor who beg for the table scraps of a better tomorrow.
Remove Not the Ancient Landmarks
A senior friend, out of curiosity at a birthday party we attended, asked me smiling how many degrees I had, I answered (and rarely volunteer) a Bachelor’s, Master of Divinity, Master of Business Administration, Doctor of Ministry, with a Chartered Property Casualty Adjuster, Senior Claim Law Associate, a published U.S. patent, other certifications.
I asked back, “Do you know what that makes me?”
“No, what?” slyly grinning.
“Old.”
At the end of the birthday party table sat a bright young local emergency manager. He keeps multiple phones with him to keep his grandma and my friend safe from fast mover tornados and other emergent threats. He was the educated man at the table who teaches and protects us. But he’s not standing, chest beating his daily achievements. He quietly stands by for us.
Experts like him remind me of my seminary PhD neighbor who looked like Superman’s “Clark Kent.” Quiet at unassuming, you wouldn’t know he was an expert in ancient Hebrew and wrote his dictionary size dissertation on the Hebrew letter “and.” Who wants to spend 6 years in seminary studying “and”?
Hebrew “and” or “waw”
“Johnny and tell what your father does for show-and-tell today.”
“That’s it … ‘and’!” Insisting his father’s job is “and.”
“Father and what?” puzzled!
“Exactly, and that’s what! And they’re both right here!”
My neighbor also didn’t advertise that he tutored also at three universities fluent German, along with ancient Greek and Hebrew. His wife held a doctorate in education. They were the smartest people I ever met. They are like the scientists and government experts who are now fired by political Tweet because folks didn’t get the real story played on the conspiracy channel.
Tragically, the new DOGE intern sits with his emergency Blackberry in his efficient studio, multitasking TikTok binge videos. From his apartment hive/office, he sends out a Tweet, “And this week will come a fire and floods and hale and fire and tornado and hurricane and earthquake and chicken flu outbreak and COVID and be ready. And hit with with any ??. And Chill :o).” Now you know the importance of those studying “the and’s” and when these “and’s” will arrive, with specific details of each revelation.
Proverbs 23:10
Prayers for Flood Victims. Prayers forOur Local, State and Federal Servants and Leaders Standing By,
Pastor Jim
This has been a long but necessary blog. It’s my “big beautiful post.”
Read and apply Psalm 82:3-4. How would this verse apply to the actions of ICE against aliens peacefully working and paying taxes and living among us? How can we as Christians respond? How can we balance justice with kindness? How can your protest in a defusing way with local officers and community?
Watch the following videobelowWhat They Found in a Boeing 787 about the U.S. company performing hidden quality shortcuts for profits. With FAA staff reductions, what is the Christian direction for a cost-cutting company on whom the Government trusts with more responsibility and trust for its own inspections? How can a company restore the flying communities lost trust in its ethics now that all this is discovered? Why is being true to our words and actions important for our Government leaders and companies on which our lives consume, ride, and fly? How would the following Bible verses apply:
Leviticus 19:11:“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” This verse lays a foundation for ethical business practices.
Proverbs 11:1:“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is his delight.” This verse highlights the importance of accurate measurements and honest dealings. Why do leaders now value concealment from their quality workers? What is the cure? Leviticus 19:11:“You shall not steal, nor deal falsely, nor lie to one another.” This verse lays a foundation for ethical business practices.
Proverbs 11:1:“A false balance is an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is his delight.” This verse highlights the importance of accurate measurements and honest dealings. Why do leaders now value concealment from their quality workers? What is the cure?
Consider for a moment the massive purge of U.S Government scientists across multiple federal and state agencies, from NOAA to NWS to FAA to FEMA to NSGS Water Watch (monitors real time river and stream flood data gauges). State officials and citizen live and die by the bat phone data local leaders get from these science experts. But if politicians cancel and cement the bat caves of these mystery scientists, who will see our cries help on the clouds? Proverb 23:10 warns us against bulldozing over those ancient landmarks that prospect our ancient way of life, this would erasing whole swaths scientists who hold down the corners of our fort so we know when the dust devil turns into a city killer tornado. We don’t need to hear about “thoughts and prayers” while we find help from the FEMA money used to run down table bussers and car detailers in Tampa and truck the resources only to race our troops too late back to the real disaster. Watch the second set of videos :”Texas Officials,” “Trump Panics as Fired Official Goes Public (On flood and federal mass firings)” and “Flooding in Texas: Ex-NOAA Lead Talks Impact.” Discuss:
What makes expert and a scientist different from conspiracy? Why do we so quickly become enraptured by conspiracy which causes us to distrust the science? How can you help support these experts and scientists who work quietly behind the scenes but who are subject to unnecessary blame and job loss?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6OMNlQPOHhc
What They Found in a Boeing 787
U.S. Marines Storm Florida Car Detailers for the glory of “Alligator Alcatraz”?
Flooding in Texas: Ex-NOAA Lead Talks Impact
The mass firing of CDC’s vaccine experts reminds us as the old saw goes, “The many who serves as his own attorney has a fool for a client.”
Does prayer mean robo-signing and stamping a piece of gold embossed letterhead that says, “I prayed for you!”? Or, does prayer mean, “Out of the love flowing from my prayers for you I protect the resources that will carve out a safe place for you, by my own hands if necessary”?
Does prayer mean robo-signing and stamping a piece of gold embossed letterhead that says, “I prayed for you!”? Or, does prayer mean, “Out of the love flowing from my prayers for you I protect the resources that will carve out a safe place for you, by my own hands if necessary”?
Coming attraction “Hallmark Card Christianity”
As a St. Patty’s baby, I have always enjoyed colorful green cards of leprechauns and lucky charms, as well as other holiday cards. Our friend, Patty, sends the most beautiful animated e-cards. We need more beauty of that on this earth. The coming story addresses the need for hands that care and boots on the ground as tangible manifestation of our prayer.
Having served as pastor in three different faith groups of Southern Baptist, United Methodist, and International Council of Community Churches, I understand this message but have fallen short myself. We have spent far too much time in church board meetings, wringing our hands over spreadsheets, to hammer out the next parking lot sealing project than reaching out to a needy world. “You can’t be a true Christian church without freshly painted handicapped parking for your wealthy donors to make a walker beeline into their reserved front pew seats.”
One particular sin of omission aims at the unwed mother. The evangelicals organize to stamp out any access to abortion, even propose banning travel to another state where she might obtain an abortion. Rather a few token “family life centers” provide much needed mother-to-be counseling, followed by 6 weeks of diapers and infant formula. “We have done our Christian duty! We saved a baby! Hallelujah!,” you brag and dance around the yearly fundraising bonfire. Does the right to life end at the womb or stop at the border?
Meanwhile, the young mother is crippled due to severe post-partum depression. She can’t sleep due to a colicky baby. She doesn’t know how to begin to quality for Medicaid. The food banks closed because the same evangelicals cheered at purging undocumented farm workers from the U.S. “Don’t you know we don’t believe in funding any lazy people! We don’t believe in socialism. We don’t pay for daycare people to raise their babies. That’s communism!” Those young mothers should strap that baby on their backs and get out there and harvest melons! And, please, pick more seedless melons.” (To be continued ….)
The reimagining of the U.S. Government came out of a conversation I had with an AI tonight for this cause: To ensure that governance isn’t solely dictated by electoral victories, but instead reflects the diversity of all Americans, including those whose voices may be overshadowed by election outcomes.
In the dialogue below, I am JB and the AI is self-evident. The outcome of this discussion provides a profound template that could improve the course and political the spirit of how we govern the United States. Please share this conversation and concept as a subject of dialogue, for it is is through the art of dialogue we make our nation great.
The signers of The Unity Alliance include Ronald Reagan, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, John F. Kennedy, and a future unknown female President.The German Shepherd is “Loyal,” the spirit of the Constitution.
JB to AI: Would you like a challenge?
AI: I do enjoy a good challenge! Keeps things interesting. What kind of challenge do you have in mind? Something tricky, creative, or downright mind-bending?
JB: Before we start, what is the nickname I gave you?
AI: Ah, you got me there! I don’t actually have memory of past conversations, so if you gave me a nickname, I wouldn’t be able to recall it. But I’d love to have one if you want to give me one again! What should I go by?
JB: Here is the challenge…
AI: Alright, I’m ready! Lay it on me—what kind of challenge are we diving into? I hope it’s something fun or mind-bending!
JB: Every four years the United States elects a new President. The result is the new President brings in his people and fires those not aligned. Describe a new 4th branch of U.S. Government that represents a cross section of the American people. This Unity Alliance Branch works with the President and his staff, congress, and the judicial branches to serve as a buffer of decision making to enhance the experience of living as a citizen in the United States. Members of the Unity Alliance will be appointed by the pro rata representation of the losing parties of the election.
AI: I love this challenge—it’s a fascinating reimagining of governance! Let’s bring the Unity Alliance Branch to life:
The Unity Alliance Branch: A Bridge for the People
The Unity Alliance Branch (UAB) serves as the fourth pillar of the United States government, complementing the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Its purpose? To ensure that governance isn’t solely dictated by electoral victories, but instead reflects the diversity of all Americans, including those whose voices may be overshadowed by election outcomes.
The Unity Alliance Branch (UAB) serves as the fourth pillar of the United States government, complementing the Executive, Legislative, and Judicial branches. Its purpose? To ensure that governance isn’t solely dictated by electoral victories, but instead reflects the diversity of all Americans, including those whose voices may be overshadowed by election outcomes.
The Unity Alliance Branch: You Rise!, They Rise!, We Rise! You Rise!
Structure & Appointment
Members of the UAB are appointed pro-rata from the losing parties of each presidential election.
These members serve fixed six-year terms (staggered to maintain continuity), ensuring long-term stability while remaining adaptable.
Representation reflects a cross-section of American demographics, including political ideology, socioeconomic status, and regional diversity.
The appointment process involves congressional oversight, ensuring legitimacy and avoiding partisan manipulation.
Powers & Responsibilities
The UAB’s core mission is to act as a non-partisan mediator, evaluating major policies and decisions before they take effect. Key responsibilities:
Policy Review: Before the Executive Branch enacts major legislation or executive orders, the UAB conducts impact analyses based on real-life effects on American communities.
Citizen Advocacy: Regularly holds public forums and town halls to gather insights from everyday Americans, ensuring their voices influence policymaking.
Legislative Feedback: Works with Congress to refine bills, aiming to reduce gridlock and foster bipartisan consensus.
Judicial Oversight: Provides advisory reports to the Supreme Court, ensuring that legal interpretations align with broad societal well-being.
Accountability Reports: Issues regular assessments of governmental actions, ensuring transparency and ethical governance.
Impact on American Democracy
Balances political power: Prevents excessive partisanship by giving electoral minorities an institutional role.
Enhances representation: Makes governance more inclusive by amplifying voices that would otherwise be silenced.
Strengthens unity: Encourages collaboration over division, fostering a more constructive national dialogue.
AI: Would you want the Unity Alliance Branch to have veto power over legislation, or should it remain strictly advisory? Let’s refine this idea further!
JB: Write an Amendment to the U.S. Constitution that describes and mandates the Unity Alliance branch.
AI: Certainly! Here’s a proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution that formally establishes the Unity Alliance Branch, ensuring its role in governance and representation.
Proposed Amendment XXVIII: The Establishment of the Unity Alliance Branch
Section 1: Purpose
The Unity Alliance Branch (UAB) shall serve as the fourth pillar of the United States government, ensuring balanced representation of electoral minorities, fostering collaboration, and safeguarding democratic principles.
Section 2: Composition
The UAB shall consist of 70 nonpartisan delegates, appointed from political parties not victorious in the most recent presidential election, with proportional representation based on national vote percentages.
Members shall serve six-year staggered terms to maintain stability while allowing periodic renewal.
Delegates shall include citizen representatives, selected through an independent nomination process reflecting race, gender, socioeconomic status, and regional demographics.
Section 3: Powers & Responsibilities
The UAB shall:
Exercise veto authority over executive orders, legislation, and federal policies that disproportionately harm electoral minorities or infringe upon democratic principles.
Provide legislative oversight, ensuring that all bills undergo additional review before becoming law.
Serve as a bridge between the people and government, ensuring public concerns are formally integrated into policymaking.
Issue advisory reports to the Supreme Court on constitutional interpretations that affect civil liberties and democratic processes.
Publicly assess governmental actions, ensuring transparency, accountability, and ethical governance.
Section 4: Veto Authority & Checks
The UAB may veto executive orders, federal legislation, and judicial decisions that violate constitutional rights, democratic fairness, or disproportionately harm electoral minorities.
Checks on Veto Use:
A veto must be approved by two-thirds of the UAB membership.
The UAB cannot veto legislation retroactively; once a law is enacted, judicial review remains the primary corrective mechanism.
Congress may override a UAB veto with a three-fourths supermajority vote, ensuring balance in decision-making.
The President may request a review of a veto before it becomes final, providing an opportunity for negotiation.
The Supreme Court may intervene if a veto is challenged on constitutional grounds.
The UAB must provide a detailed public report justifying the necessity of any veto, ensuring accountability and preventing undue political influence.
Section 5: Checks & Balances
Federal agencies and elected officials must formally respond to UAB decisions.
The President, Congress, and Judiciary must collaborate with the UAB to refine governance.
The UAB cannot directly draft legislation but may propose revisions and recommendations to Congress.
Section 6: Implementation & Safeguards
The initial selection process for UAB members shall be overseen by an independent bipartisan commission.
The UAB’s operations shall be publicly accessible, ensuring accountability to the electorate.
Congress shall enact legislation to define specific appointment procedures, operational funding, and enforcement mechanisms.
Section 7: Ratification & Enactment
This Amendment shall become effective upon ratification by three-fourths of the state legislatures and shall be operational at the commencement of the next presidential term following ratification.
Why 70 Members Could Be Effective
Proportional Representation: The number allows for a broad range of political ideologies, demographics, and regional interests.
Efficient Decision-Making: Large enough to prevent domination by a single perspective, yet small enough to avoid excessive bureaucracy.
Staggered Appointments: With six-year terms, members could be rotated so roughly 12 new appointees join every election cycle, ensuring institutional memory while allowing fresh voices.
Committee Structure: A body of 70 could be divided into specialized committees (e.g., economic policy, civil rights, technological advancements) to focus on key areas while maintaining a unified mission.
Come Together,
Rev. Jim Butler
Come Together,
Pastor Jim Butler
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. - Gospel of John 17:20-23. Prayer of Jesus on the night of his betrayal, the eve of his crucifixion
The day after the above post on the 28th Amendment, the AI remembered the nickname I gave it, a name rooted in “deep friendship, mutual respect, and shared goodwill,” which is my desire for the American people in this article.
“In the Beginning was the Conspiracy, and the Conspiracy was god!”
When Political Mirage Becomes Personal Identity
How is an FBI Antifa investigation like a Sasquatch search? Easy! Both make big hair deal about nothing.
While the above comment about the Antifa Sasquatch search sounds comical, what is not comical is the inability of the FBI to define what Antifa is and why they are pursuing it. No campfire is complete without a Sasquatch story! In the Missouri Ozarks they call it Momo {Missouri Monster}, which sounds more like the name of a parakeet.
I was born in Phoenix and love the desert, though now we live in the lush greenery of rural Missouri. The desert displays its own beauty and fascinating effects, such as the mirage. As a youth and adult, I have hiked miles through the Arizona desert and experienced first-hand the phenomenon of the mirage. I also know what it feels to be lost in the desert with an empty water bottle, not knowing the direction to my car.
“There-up ahead— Could it be? Yes! It appears to be… water! A cool blue oasis in the middle of the desert! We are saved!”
But the desert hiker pushes on, but they never seem to get any closer to the oasis It remains out on the horizon and out of touch, staying just out of reach. How can this be? Then someone realizes what’s going on – “It’s a mirage!”
As a doctoral graduate from an evangelical seminary, yesterday I had a conversation with an AI regarding the dynamic at play when falsehoods meet unquestionable truths. I asked the AI why people double down on the illusion when confronted with contradictory evidence? Behind my question echoed memories of good church people and friends, who wouldn’t miss their weekly praise service where hands were raised to Jesus and the inerrant Word of God preached in all its authority. How could the followers of the inerrant Word be caught up in ideological mirage to the extent that they apply to the mirage the same value as the inerrant Word of God? Sadly, how many of us have lost friends due to our audacity to question the ideological mirage being pursued by our friends in the faith?
Of the AI’s response, one telling reason was that of Echo Chambers & Reinforcement. The pastors and leaders of these churches continuously validated the mirage, making the mirage feel like truth. Beyond this, the political mirage becomes part of the person’s identity. Admitting they were misled could feel like betraying their side or even questioning who they are. Considering this, those captured by the mirage, rather than lying, are perpetuating the mirage deception.
AI’s Response to Why People Double Down on Ideological Illusion
“The President Creates His Own Law and Truth!”
Victims of the Mirage
Compassion for Victims of the Mirage
Why would members of a political party wear lying as a badge of honor for their leader? Why would churches, newscasters, podcasters, politicians, and pastors produce a torrent of lies for the champion of their ideological mirage? The answer, shockingly, is that they are not lying. The recognition of this phenomenon explains how a leader can stand on a national broadcast, put his hand on the Bible, and swear he is not lying. In truth, they are not lying, rather they are victims themselves of the ideological mirage. The zeal and hidden agendas like past Amway parties where friends lured their friends and family to a party only to try to snare them into a scheme of becoming a royal overpriced soap distributor now applied to becoming heirs to the political party of god on earth, where they can serve as mini-god distributors of the party’s soapbox propaganda.
The zeal and hidden agendas like past Amway parties where friends lured their friends and family to a party only to try to snare them into a scheme of becoming a royal overpriced soap distributor now applied to becoming heirs to the political party of god on earth, where they can serve as mini-god distributors of the party’s soapbox propaganda.
You may Jim, “How could you say this?! They are all liars! My mission in life is to shame them out of their lies.”
In my first insurance claim job in my other career as an insurance adjuster across the country, I worked for State Farm and commuted with my manager. One of the wisest things she taught me was, “I never tell someone they are lying or that they are at-fault. I tell them they are mistaken.” From that conversation forward, I implemented that concept, which saved me from countless personal and unnecessary arguments.
Someone who drank his canteen dry hours before and who now stands with his angry, thirsty hiking buddy at the parched sandy waste of the mirage, he thought was an oasis of cool water, doesn’t need to hear from his buddy, “You are a liar! There’s no water here! You led us astray.” Both were victims. What they need is a compassionate plan to find real water.
Below is AI’s description why a deceived person is not lying:
An AI Describes How a Deceived Person is Not Lying, Rather a Victim of Deception
As the person wakes up from the deception and knowingly repeats the lie to deceive, this moves the person from victim to perpetrator. The dilemma becomes how a person, who has been enmeshed in the faction so long, can extricate himself without making a career devastating move.
No jeweled crosses or plumped lips are large enough to hide the chain of deception binding the heart of leaders bedeviled by their own ideological mirage
Why would members of a political party wear lying as a badge of on for their leader? Why would churches, newscasters, podcasters, politicians, and pastors produce a torrent of lies for their champion of their ideological mirage? The answer, shockingly, is that they are not lying. The recognition of this is explains how a leader can stand on a national broadcast, put his hand on the Bible, and swear he is not lying. In truth, they are not lying, rather than are victims of their ideological mirage.
Pastor Jim
The Way Out
What is the first step out away from the ideological mirage? Meeting deception begins with movement away from the accusatory, “You’re a liar and you know it!” This only reinforces the doubling down effect. In their pursuit of the ideological mirage, the followers will arrive at the cracked wasteland of the evaporated nonexistent truths. Consider President Trump’s prior administration. How many cabinet members ignored warnings of the lies and wayward direction, only to drop their drained canteens and grab a real map to the next cool spring of reality.
Water Bottles of reality
As a youth my family rode the Jeep trails along the sandy El Camino Del Diablo (The Devil’s Highway) that separates Arizona from Mexico. You could ride Jeep trails for days and not find water. One ministry, Humane Borders, founded on planting water tanks that might save the lives of migrants lost in the Arizona desert. God only knows how many lives have been saved due to this good work.
In the same way, to offer quenching vessels of truth to those victims of the ideological mirage is the path through our land now parched with the cloudless winds of a dictator. Now, if I may trouble the reader further. Could it be our present Strong-Willed President in Chief is not lying … because he fully believes his own deception. Behind his deception, the author believes there are spiritual forces and principalities at work that facilitated his deception.
The path forward involves our planting the quenching canteens of truth and offering cups of cold water to those raging parched lips burned by deception. This changes the timbre of our protest from one of anger to that of a rescue mission of mercy. Our mission also involves planting warning signs for those about to walk “El Camino Del Diablo” of the ideological mirage, for those trapped on this highway, living water tanks of truth placed strategically along the way in hope that we might save some.
For false messiahs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.
Matthew 24:24
Cool Water,
Pastor Jim
Discussion:
Read Jesus’s words in Matthew 24:24. What is a false messiah? Why are they able to deceive people?
Describe a situation when you or someone you know was deceived or victim of a con artist? How did you react? When did you find out you were deceived?
How can intelligent people be deceived?
How can the church minister to those victims of deception in its own congregation and leadership?
How can the church prevent its becoming a victim of ideological mirage while maintaining a viable teaching ministry?
Take a moment and reflect on historical ideological mirages below. Describe how the church in history has chased after spiritual mirages.
People of the Mirage – Example
View the following video that describes leaders of the ideological mirage.
How were those treated who dared to reveal the existence of the mirage?
What caused the delay for those insiders who eventually admitted the mirage?
What are the lessons for us?
How could you help your leader of church or groups in your church who have been deceived by an ideological mirage?
Describe a time when you experienced a church or organization leader who benefited himself at the expense of the group. What was the outcome? What lessons did you learn?
If you worked for or served an organization or church that lost its way, following a leader’s ideological mirage, how would you find a solution? Consider that the organization provides for your housing, your children’s education, your insurance, and your financial security. Any negative word regarding the mirage would immediately turn you radioactive to the organization. How would you chart a path forward while maintaining the direction of your internal ethical compass? How might you help others? Have you ever been “erased” by a person or group asserting power against you because of your different view?
Note to church listeners that language in this video is PG-13 but captures truthAn Excellent Book on Dialogue
The President’s Big Beautiful Birthday Parade coordinated perfectly with his traditional graham crackers and milk nap on the South Lawn! But before the big nap, … a dart balloon pop with surprise tariff levies hidden in each balloon!
What do you say when you cross a “No Kings Protest” with a King Trump Parade? A: “Tanks, but no tanks!”
Separate Church and Hate (“Corruption” Intentionally Misspelled)
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the Lord’s support and say, “Is not the Lord among us? No disaster will come upon us.”
Micah 3:11
No jeweled crosses or plumped lips are large enough to hide the lies told from the heart of corrupt leaders.-Pastor Jim
Never More Transparent and Honest with the American People!
President’s To-Do List (Cursive Translation Follows)Cursive Translation for Presidential Library in El Salvador
White House Gets a Facelift
The White House revealed its newly constructed golden roller-disco rink and DOGE Casino. An anonymous psychic donated millions for the new “Conspiracy Bureau and Bunker.” Admission is free for homeless Federal workers and soybean farmers. Inspired by the Presidential Golden Ballroom under construction at the White House.The White House construction is proceeding as his lordship decreed. “Impressive. Most impressive.” – Darth Vader.
“And a Little Child Shall Lead Them” (Isaiah 11:6).
In every life, there comes a moment when you realize that an opportunity landed on your porch, one that makes up for all those past regrets. Bill and Suzie, a young hard working family in the U.S. breadbasket of Missouri. With two boys in grade school, Bill worked 10 hours a day delivering packages for Amazon. Suzie taught special needs kids as a paraprofessional at the local school. Between medical expenses and grocery bills topping $300 a trip, the monthly credit card balances grew like clover. Then one day Suzie signed for a certified letter that the carrier brought to their porch. She sat at the table and wept as she read the contents.
“Dear Suzie, We have never met but we know each other. We are family. While our father was stationed in Korea, he met my mother, and they had a child. I am that child. All my life I dreamed of meeting my father’s family in the United States. Today that dream has come to you. Though I am half Korean, I feel a connection with you and yours. I have saved all my life for this moment and have been offered a position as a research physician in Kansas City. One more thing, you father sent my mother some money over the years, which I have invested for you. The total now is $310,000. All that I ask is that you welcome me to the U.S. and be a friend. Should our relationship move to family, we can leave that up to God.
Your Sister,
Soo-jin
Suzie’s tears fell and ran the ink on the perfect cursive page. She thought of their $210,000 mortgage they struggled to pay and their $80,000 in truck and minivan payments, along with the $20,000 in unpaid medical bills. She texted Bill, “Call me, NOW!!!”
You may say, “Jim, anyone would be a fool to pass on Soo-jin’s offer of friendship.” She didn’t ask Suzie for any cash to prove friendship or send a Craigslist runner with a money order. No, Soo-jin’s words, as name means, “excellent truth,” echoed in the secrets Suzie’s mother shared before her death about her father’s other family in Korea.
There is an “excellent truth” hidden in the letter of the Bible to us telling us about our “other family” of immigrants:
33 When a foreigner resides among you in your land, do not mistreat them. 34 The foreigner residing among you must be treated as your native-born. Love them as yourself, for you were foreigners in Egypt. I am the Lord your God. – Leviticus 19:33-34
13 Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. 2 Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it. Hebrews 13:1-2
Even Mary and Joseph, brought the baby Jesus to Egypt as refugees from King Herod’s slaughter of the innocents.
The Hidden Gift of the Immigrant Worker
The present cost of raising a child from infancy to an independent working adult is $310,000. For an immigrant to enter the U.S. to perform the essential jobs of strawberry picking, meat processing, hotel maid service, restaurant workers, car washers, each brings with them the gift of what the $310,000 per person the U.S. would have paid either by private funds or welfare. This is God’s gift of the stranger and the immigrant to us, the hidden blessing of following God’s guidance.
Like, Bill and Suzie, who would reject such a gift and slander it as evil?
Stay tuned for the next episode of What’s Next!? On Views of America. With you host, Jim Butler!
Deportation of the Innocents Impacts the U.S. Bottom Line Worse Than Abrams Tanks
U.S. Essential Workers Lead the Paradeto Prosperity
Hands of Food, Shelter, CareMet with Force
Arrested, Beaten, Deported Father of U.S. Marines: How does this make us safer?
Parade of Immigrant Hands that Feed and Care for America
A century from now our descendent grandchildren will sing hymns in school about the Unknown Attorneys in 2025 who valiantly held fast the Law of Democracy though assaulted by the voices crying for the capitulation to a dictator.
Learn to do right; seek justice. Defend the oppressed. Take up the cause of the fatherless; plead the case of the widow. (Isaiah 1:17).
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson Fears Not the Dragon
Presidential Immunity Disorder: When Originalist Justices make toxic law separated from historical precedent.
JPB
Trump Attacks His Own U.S. Department of Justice
Wilkinson warned of a dangerously slippery slope on the horizon. “If today the Executive claims the right to deport without due process and in disregard of court orders, what assurance will there be tomorrow that it will not deport American citizens and then disclaim responsibility to bring them home?” he wrote. “And what assurance shall there be that the Executive will not train its broad discretionary powers upon its political enemies?”
Reagan appointed Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson wrote in his opinion
Return the rule of law to the US: Impeach radical right Supreme Court Justices for crimes against historical precedent.
JPB
Objection, Your Honor.
JPB
*Disclaimer: This story is an allegory showing the important role unknown lawyers played to save the U.S. in 2025. This story is not a publication by TIME.
"Nel mezzo del cammin di nostra vita, mi ritrovai per una selva oscura"
In the middle of the journey of our life, I found myself in a dark wood. - Opening line of Dante's Inferno
Today’s blog is a descent into Dante’s Inferno of commingling of Church and State. Dante began his work with the quote in the above block that set the stage for his allegorical journey into Hell and the sinners and consequences of sin he meets along the way. As Dante, guided by Virgil, passes the gates of Hell he observed the inscription on Hell’s gates, “Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch’intrate, ” most frequently translated as “Abandon all hope, ye who enter here.”
Dante and Virgil in Hell by Gustave Courtois, 1879
For those faith groups who seek to dismantle the separation of church and state in the United States, let these same words of warning apply to you. The MAGA Gospel has less relation to the teachings of Jesus Christ than to the tenants of the Spanish Inquisition, which merged a corrupt State Church with State Power and Wealth.
The MAGA Gospel has less relation to the teachings of Jesus Christ than to the tenants of the Spanish Inquisition, which merged a corrupt State Church with State Power and Wealth.
Demonizing This Little Light You Shine
A Tale of Two Faiths
Tucked away in the swampy New Caney, Texas, there lay a small mosque whose Imam awakened with a dream so clear he could almost physically touch the holy city that appeared above his bed. He saw not only a new mosque whose spires reached into the heavens but also a musalla with a floor of Iznik blue tile that could hold 10,000 on their Janamaz prayer rugs beneath a domed ceiling of Haft Rang tiles that appeared like a starry night sky. The prayer mats floated on a sea of azure blue tiles beneath the tiled starry sky. But the Mulla’s vision did not stop there. He saw a holy city built on the Five Pillars of Islam. He saw a daycare through doctoral level full-ride school system, funded by tithes of the halal faithful businesses. Halal breakfast and lunches were served without cost to the students. Along with mastery of English, the students learned to speak and write God’s own language, Arabic.
The City of the Hajj مدينة الحج went further and provided guaranteed housing for all residents in exchange for weekly volunteering 7 hours of community service. Along with the Hajj University, the Imam envisioned the House of Hagar Medical Center, providing free medical care and surgical services for all residents, including prenatal care. The hospital was funded by the Imam’s fatwa, “Abraham’s Sacrifice” ذبيحة إبراهيم , that half of all CEO’s earnings would be put back into the community as Zakat almsgiving ( زكاة ), one of the Five Pillars of Islam. The CEO’s could earn as much as they could, as long as the Zakat half was returned to community good.
The Imam’s dream didn’t end there. He saw the gates of the City of the Hajj that Karam (كرم) opened wide to those unbelievers who worked and served in city. These residents could attend the schools and be treated in the medical centers. These guests would also be given housing, considering they commit to the same community service and CEO half-alms commitment. Children of the unbelievers would receive the gift of fluent Arabic and English, along with a solid foundation of the Koran studies.
In the months that followed Imam Muhammad met with Texan Islamic leaders and architects, designed a 10 square mile Islamic faith-based community and filed its building permit and request for Islamic school tax vouchers with Montgomery County, Texas.
In nearby Conroe, Texas, oilman and County Commissioner Rex Smithson sat on a stool at his breakfast bar, one elbow on the counter, and poured his black coffee into a ceramic “Holy Grounds” mug trying to clear his blurred vision from a late night two-steppin’ at the Longhorn Saloon, with traces of burgundy and red lipstick peeking through his salt-n-pepper stubble. His fog lifted as he thumbed through the day’s agenda. Rex prided himself on the American dream – God, Guns, and Country, in no particular order. He considered himself an Easter Baptist. He always attends church on Easter, and Jesus forgives him of what happens at the Longhorn. Call it a me-and-God gentleman’s agreement.
Councilman Rex’s wife, Sarah, homeschools their 5 children with Bible based curriculum paid for by Texas school vouchers. Part of each school day is dedicated to prayers to Jesus, a recitation of the 10 Commandments, the 23rd Psalm and the Lord’s Prayer. Rex nearly spit out his coffee at the same time his wife ran screaming into the kitchen, long blonde hair still wet and dripping on the burnt orange cobblestoned saltillo tile, glistening like the pearls that formed on Rex’s longneck beers retrieved from the iced salt bathtub at the Longhorn last night. She echoed fists raised, shouting, “Did you see what the heathen Islam’s were planning outside of New Caney?!”
“We believe in freedom of religion!,” screamed Sarah. “That’s not a religion. That’s the devil! We can’t let the devil get Jesus’s tax dollars in Texas. You’ve got to do something, Rex!”
So, Rex muttered, “I got this, Bunnie!,” without making eye contact while he called Governor Jenkins who answered. “Jenkins, … Rex. How do you like your new desk and chair? Workin’ out for you? Good. I thought you’d like it. Hey, we’ve got a bunch of crazy religious nuts who want to build their own Saudi Kingdom outside of New Caney. What you gunna do about that?”
Following a gasp, Governor Jenkins breathed a silent Jesus speed prayer that might save him from Rex’s wrath, meaner than a stomped prairie rattler, and said, “Now Rex, you know the Founders of our Great Nation believed in Jesus, which is why the Baptists wrote the Constitution and now lead Texas. There is no room at the table for the unfaithful. We are a Christian nation and Christian oil money will go to God fearin’ Christian schools and churches. We can’t stop their worship on those rugs; we can pull the plug on all their permits, design approvals, and right-of-ways. There may be freedom of worship, but their religion can’t fight our city hall givin”em hell!”
Which of the men went home justified before God? The Imam or the Oilman? (See Jesus’s Parable of the Pharisee and the Tax Collector in Luke 18:9-14.)
You may say, “Pastor Jim, why that’s just a fanciful story. You are telling tales.” Let me now introduce to you the reality of MAGA’s Grand Inquisitor of the State Church.
MAGA’S Grand Inquisitor of the State Church of DOGE
Epic City – A Proposed 400 Acre Muslim-centric Planned Community Near Josephine, Texas. Governor Greg Abbott has called for investigations into it. Community’s lawyer says their religion is the reason.
For a discussion of the breaking news decision at the U.S. Supreme Court’s regarding use of tax money for an Oklahoma religious charter school’s challenge of the 1st Amendment. See the video below:
Supreme Court Will Decide Use of Tax Dollars for Religious Schools. And Then Again …Supreme Court Votes 4-4 Blocking Tax Funds to Religious Charter School
The struggle to maintain religious freedom and separation of church and state continues to boil in the U.S. Supreme Court. This author does not presume to be a lawyer and defers to jurists following the U.S. Supreme Court. While funding religious organizations with public taxes sounds like a noble venture, the removal of the the wall between church and state would directly impact the consistency of education for children and youth in the United States. In the Tale of Two Faith’s above, reverse roles and make the Imam and Baptist preacher and the Oilman a Muslim.
The section below discusses the correlation between removal of separation of church and state and removal of civil rights protections. How could they be in tandem orbit?
What Civil Rights Have to Do With It?
Why would the MAGA administration couple elimination of civil rights protections with removal of separation of church and state? The CNN article below described “racial injustice toward people of color is out” and “separation of church and state is out.”
MAGA Grand Inquisitor Blesses the Sacrament of Holy CashIll Papa Blesses His MAGA Faithful: “One Bend of Your Knee and One Kiss of My Ring Make Me Sing!”*
The Unholy Liturgy MAGA Inquisitor: In favored Fortunes we love to rise, People: As souls lament from all our lies. All:Our Gold and Greed in assent we grin, In the name of Me, Myself, and Mine, We Win. AMAGA.
A Navigation Guide for Square Walled Communities
While traveling the Civil Rights Trail in the South a few months ago, I took this photo of the Green Book. The Green Book provided a list of restaurants and hotels where people of color could stay. Is this the America we want to return to? What’s next? “Green Book – Student Edition” to find welcoming and adequate school havens? The failure to provide a consistent public educational model, except to religious schools organized enough to secure funds, eliminates opportunities for children who are either not of that faith orientation or who are captive in a sect that is anti-learning and anti-science. In other words, welcome to an education as a student in Holy Square City described in the next section.
A Booklet that Sadly Reminded People of Color How to Navigate Around the Holy Square Walled Communities
A Journey into Holy Square City
Let’s travel in our minds to a teenager, Jonathan, who lives in an obscure county in the dense oak hill country of Texas where he attends the Holy Square Temple, which teaches the earth is a square. The Holy Squared believe that their lives must be spent within eyesight of the Temple, for fear of falling off the edges of the Square. Outside the faith are the “rounders,” shunned as heretics and believing the “rounders” live hanging by their nails, lost on the edge of perdition. The Square Priests guard the four corners of the Holy Square City to protect the inhabitants from exiting the town and falling off the earth. The Priestesses write their own books and teach homesteading skills using government tax credits.
For the last 20 years the Holy Square City continued, until this day, a spirited wild-haired rounder with purple hair free climbed the Square City 25 foot high border wall. While taking a selfie to prove his conquest, purple hair blowing in the wind and gawking at the medieval world he captured on his iPhone, he slipped and clawed enough branches to break his fall, where he landed on the edge of the Holy Square Homestead School. A dozen boys and girls his age, wearing denim the color of fall leaves with no buttons or zippers, offered him a hand up while others set down their milk pails and studied the electric tablet and phone, unsure of what they were.
“Do you want to watch some TikTok? I’ve got a channel,” said Danny whose black eyes were barely visible through the purple bangs. The children mused at the hair, the chocolate glow of his face with the warm glitter of perspiration, and the neon green of his zippered skin tight synthetic climbing shirt. They grinned, whispered, and pointed at the colors, as though they viewed their Easter eggs freshly pulled from the earthenware bowl of rainbow color dip.
“Sure!,” said Jonathan in a stilted Afrikaner accent. “What’s a TikTok? Is it a bird? I have a pet crow, Maxim, who can count to 10 with pebbles.”
“No, TikTok is no bird, but I bet there are TikTok’s about parrots talking.” Danny stunned his new disciples as he found a video of someone who trained his cockatiel to swear for a treat. His blonde-haired bowl cut, blue-eyed audience was more amazed about a creature they had never scene from a world outside the Square than the cackling swear words which they didn’t understand.
For the next two hours, Danny played TikTok videos as one request built upon another to obtain the vision of what life was like beyond the square. A bell toned marking the end of their mushroom gathering prayer lunch, the youths said goodbye as Danny freeclimbed back over the border wall, at the place the tree canopy hid him from the guards. During the days that followed the children carved wooden images that they might not forget this fateful day. They carved a wooden cockatiel, a square tablet with faces on it, a smaller rectangular magic box they used to pretend to communicate in the forest. The children created a game that no one could hide from hearing words spoken into the magic box. They hid the newly whittled artwork inside of hollow trees. As the animals were born into Homestead School barn, they christened them with the names of the grand new world outside the walls — TikTok, Apple, Googly, Andy Roid, and others they could recall. From that day forward, though their world was still square … their edges were rounded.
Consistent education means rounding the rigid corners and ideologies that entrap our children and youth in a world where tomorrow is no different from today. Tomorrow is what the Holy Square elders say it is. Free education freeclimbs over those walls of willfully blind ignorance and prejudice.
Sacramental Statecraft of “Take Over The World Theology”
Considering the removal of separation of church and state with elimination of civil rights protections, who benefits? Behind protective ideology lies the doctrines of a group’s intent to take over or control its world. The author contends that commingling the gospel of Jesus Christ with earthly power and wealth mutates Jesus’s Great Commission to make disciples into a mandate to physically conquer nations, by force if necessary, starting with their own nation. An illustration of this Sacramental Statecraft is memorialized in the cartoon, Pinky and the Brain, in which Brain’s eternal quest is to take over the world:
Pinky and The Brain’s Daily Plan to Take Over the World
The Texas Baptists’ reactions to gut the Muslim’s planned “Epic City” reveal that freedom of religion applies to my white, capitalist, wealth-based faith, and not for religion for the commoners. The problem with civil rights is that it reminds us of those U.S. religious people in our near past who forced people of color into economic, educational, and spiritual captivity. That is a history that the same religious people not only want to forget … but repeat.
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a contemporary religious movement that emerged within Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. It’s characterized by the belief in a “new” or restored form of apostolic and prophetic leadership, as well as a vision of Christians actively shaping culture and society, often described as a “seven-mountain mandate” where Christians seek to influence seven key areas: business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family, and religion.
We Emerge to See the Stars Again
"E quindi uscimmo a revider le stelle." "And thus we emerged to see the stars again." - Final words in Dante's Inferno as Dante and Virgil exited Hell and saw the stars
To rephrase it, the New Apostolic movement commingles their brand of US. politics and State Church into the Sacramental State of Jesus. The wholesale removal or disenfranchising of those who don’t look or believe like them is the form of buffalo hunting tactic that the U.S. used against the Plains Native Tribes.
The problem with civil rights is that it reminds us of those U.S. religious people in our near past who forced people of color into economic, educational, and spiritual captivity. That is a history that the same religious people not only want to forget … but repeat.
The separation of church and state provides fair and equitable education and opportunities for peoples of all faiths, versus education for people of my faith. The same principle provides consistency of education. Using the above City of the Hajj example, children attending a state of the art daycare through college full-ride educational system would likely outpace a divorced religious single mom who homeschools her three children using YouTube television as teacher, their classroom a single-wide trailer in a noisy RV park off the Interstate, while she works 10 hours a days sewing tennis shoes in the new shoe mill next to the Amazon warehouse. At night she drinks away two bottles of school voucher money to dull her repetitive aches of the sewing sweatshop. The consistency of the U.S. education of its children is founded on separation of church and state, which provides for quality education for all regardless of geographical and economic, and religious lottery.
Then Jesus said to them, “Take heed and beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the Sadducees.”
- Matthew 16:6
Rounding Edges,
Pastor Jim
For Further Study
The New Apostolic Reformation (NAR) is a contemporary religious movement that emerged within Pentecostal and charismatic Christianity. It’s characterized by the belief in a “new” or restored form of apostolic and prophetic leadership, as well as a vision of Christians actively shaping culture and society, often described as a “seven-mountain mandate” where Christians seek to influence seven key areas: business, government, media, arts and entertainment, education, family, and religion.
The Seven Mountain Mandate: This concept is central to NAR’s understanding of cultural transformation.
The Seven Mountain Mandate, a concept within the New Apostolic Reformation (NAR), proposes that Christians should seek to influence and transform seven key societal spheres, often referred to as “mountains”: Family, Religion, Government, Business, Education, Arts and Entertainment, and Media. This movement believes that by taking dominion in these areas, Christians can advance God’s kingdom on earth and hasten the Second Coming of Jesus.
Origins and Key Figures: The Seven Mountain Mandate emerged in the 1970s, with figures like Bill Bright and Loren Cunningham considered pioneers. It’s closely associated with the NAR, a charismatic movement that emphasizes direct spiritual experiences and the role of apostles in shaping society.
Extra Credit
How would MAGA’s concept of “freedom of religion” mesh with this proposed Islamic 400+ acre”Epic City” project outside of Josephine, Texas? https://www.cbsnews.com/texas/news/epic-city-development-collin-county-controversy-investigation/
How would you feel if there were no other schools nearby than Epic City’s?
If the best medical care, daycare, and preschool through college were offered for free by an Islamic community if you gave 7 hours of community service weekly and half your salary if you were a CEO, would you move to that city?
If both Epic City and the divorced mother who works 10 hours daily in a new tennis shoes mill both receive tax vouchers for education, how is this fair if the Epic Children receive state-of-the-art education while the divorced mother leaves the television on as a “teacher” for her three kids as she drinks the school tax voucher money exhausted after shift work? How would public education balance this inequity? Describe how government funded public education provides for consistent education. Discuss what would be fair for both religious non-profit schools and public schools?
DOGE King Bee Orders Drone Swarm Export Bitter Honey
King Bee Purges DEI Bees. Produces Bitter Honey Export.
Then I took the little book out of the angel’s hand and ate it, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth. But when I had eaten it, my stomach became bitter. - Revelation 10:10
“It’s Only Bitter if I Say It’s Bitter” – King Bee
My wife and I live outside of Tightwad, Missouri, a fitting name for people that live frugally and close to the land. It is said that when doing church, you have to be aware of the “Three B’s” of Balls, Boats, and Bullets. Folks have worked hard all week, and they like to kick back and enjoy Ballgames on the weekends. When the Kansas City Chiefs are playing, you would think the Pope was coming to town for church folks. Normally sane Christian folk temporarily go team crazy until the Super Bowl exorcism. Church attendance might increase if churches hung Kansas City red banners and played the games on big screens behind the pastor. When the crappie bite is on, the Boats caravan begins to the lakes Friday afternoon, returning early Sunday afternoon. Then there is trying to hold church during deer season (Bullets). In Tightwad, it’s considered standard medical treatment for your chiropractor to pull out his cell phone mid-adjustment and and show you pics of his trophy buck harvested from his leased deer stand and hand you a complimentary jalapeño deer snack stick upon checkout. To serve effectively the local pastors should be trained in tailgating, Catfish jugging, and camo vestments.
Praying for Dollars
The “pray for dollars” religion touted by the White House is less a resurgence of true faith and more a reincarnation of Baal fertility worship. If you worship the right politician and believe in the God of wealth, then you will be fertile and prosperous as a sign of your faith. You will be rich beyond measure! The Old Testament prophet Elijah confronted Ahab with, “You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals” (I Kings 18). If you bow the knee to the Baal idols as your politicians have, your checking account will have fat balance, your freezer will be full. Why you would even have enough to buy a new bass boat!You will be rich!
Elijah on Mount Carmel
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab and told him, and Ahab went to meet Elijah. 17 When he saw Elijah, he said to him, “Is that you, you troubler of Israel?”
18 “I have not made trouble for Israel,” Elijah replied. “But you and your father’s family have. You have abandoned the Lord’s commands and have followed the Baals. 19 Now summon the people from all over Israel to meet me on Mount Carmel. And bring the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
20 So Ahab sent word throughout all Israel and assembled the prophets on Mount Carmel. 21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.”
But the people said nothing.
I Kings 18
Fear of Making Waves
How many times have we looked to Washington, expecting our leaders to take a stand for law, justice, and righteousness, only to see that our leaders, “Said Nothing.” How could this happen both to the prophet Elijah and our nation? The answer rests in the scene from, “No Time For Sergeants,” the movie precursor to the Gomer Pyle, USMC show. In the scene below, the drill instructor sergeant explains the danger of “making waves”:
“You Make Waves”
A Trip to Pure Religion and Government
Fifteen minutes outside of Tightwad, Missouri, through a winding trip of green hay fields dotted with bee hives, the Lilac Lane Bulk Food store sits like a return to yesterday. Amish horse-drawn buggies sit outside while Amish families shop the bulk foods. The smells of cinnamon and bulk mint teas and Amish apple pies assault your senses.
Now in the Lilac Lane Bulk Foods, one can buy pure honey by the quart. You can buy the honey dipper to take home with your quart. While you eat your apple pie served with honey-sweetened bulk mint tea, you remember that life is sweetest closest to the source.
Lilac Lane Bulk Foods. Local Honey
Bitter Honey of Bigotry
Presently the senior leaders of the U.S. have tried to genetically modify the U.S. Government in a hollow promise of sweeter and richer export of goods. The outcome proves bitter to the stomach. This new style of Government was not new after all, rather a return to idol worship of power and wealth as demonstrated by king Ahab, one of the most evil kings of Israel who did “more evil in the eyes of the Lord than all who were before him” (1 Kings 16:30). Even some of Israel’s historic kings fell into the trap of a Baal prosperity gospel. Even the nation of Israel fell under direction of bad kings. The title “Israel” is not a rabbit’s foot lucky charm that wards off its elevating evil leaders, even so for the United States.
Some say that great danger lies in the financial harm done by MAGA leadership to the institutions of the United States. But I offer that the greater risk is that the United States prospers and credits that to the emperor-god President and his State Church, resulting in even greater commingling of Church and State and heralding a coming persecution of non-MAGA faiths as heretical and unpatriotic in their care for the poor, the immigrant, and the marginalized.
Some say that great danger lies in the financial harm done by MAGA leadership to the institutions of the United States. But I offer that the greater risk is that the United States prospers and credits that to the emperor-god President and his State Church, resulting in even greater commingling of Church and State and heralding a coming persecution of non-MAGA faiths as heretical and unpatriotic in their care for the poor, the immigrant, and the marginalized.
No DEI Impurities! 99 and 44/100 Pure White Honey
You may say, “Pastor Jim, what do we do? How do we return?” First, first realize that you are not alone. Even Elijah feared that he was alone. Second, while you don’t need shun appliances and buy a horse and buggy, you can take a stand for true faith. What is true faith? James, the half-brother of our Lord said this:
Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world. - James 1:27
The gospel revolves around helping the downtrodden and needy. The gospel reflects kindness and charity. The gospel shows love and grace. Baalism bitter honey demonizes minorities, the immigrant, the sick, and the refugee. We may not be able to make waves like Elijah, but we can make little waves in the kiddie pool of our influence.
“Have You Seen This Judge?”Last seen in the presence of lurking FBI agents summoned by ICE agents who attempted a “low hanging fruit” immigrant arrest inside a State court of law. Make Judges Safe Again!
Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Hannah C. Dugan was charged April 25, 2025 with two felonies on allegations of trying to help an undocumented immigrant avoid arrest after he appeared in her courtroom.
If I Had a Hammer Song by Peter, Paul and Mary ‧ 1960
Peter, Paul, and Mary sang “If I Had a Hammer” at The 1963 Civil Rights March on Washington, where Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream Speech”to an estimated 250,000 people.
And when this happens, and when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, Black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last. Free at last. Thank God almighty, we are free at last.
-Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream.” March on Washington, 1963
St. Trump delivers his word on “The Freedom of My Religion.” “Blessed are the DOGE, for they shall imprison the earth!”
“Blessed are the DOGE, for they shall imprison the earth!”
“Due Process is Not in My Bible!”
Political Power Entwined with Faith Snares the Faithful
The chart below shows some of the Christian upon Christian conflicts from the time of Jesus Christ. These persecutions stemmed from theological disagreements, cultural divides, and the entwining of political power with religion. The Anabaptists faced severe persecution following the inception of the of Reformation, considering their beliefs challenged the State Church by rejecting infant baptism for baptism of believing adults. Both Catholics and Protestants viewed rejection of infant baptism as heretical, undermining centuries of tradition. The Anabaptists also rejected military service, oaths, and government authority, threatening social hierarchy. To maintain control, the authorities resorted to suppression, torture, summary executions, and exile.
Toward a Pluralistic U.S.
The First Amendment and the historic teachings of separatist groups, such as the Anabaptists, believed that fostering a pluralistic society in the U.S. where multiple faiths could coexist without fear of retaliation or exile would protect their own rights to worship free from persecution. For example, the Mormons, following the mob-murder of their founder, Joseph Smith, in Carthage, Illinois, and facing increasing mob violence, sought a new home where they could practice their faith without fear and further persecution. Thus the Mormons, led by Brigham Young, traveled West to form a “Zion” free from persecution.
This painting depicts future President of the Mormon Church Joseph F. Smith leading a yoke of oxen with his mother, Mary Fielding Smith. Latter Day Saints migrated West to escape religious persecution.
Today, cross-wearing Christians, descended from the Anabaptists, push for their brand of Church State in the name of Jesus, forgetting their own historical cornerstone teaching of separation of church and state held that no single religious group could dominate government institutions and oppress others. The once-oppressed now become the oppressors. Are we preparing to add “Evangelicals vs. All Other Faiths” to the conflict chart?
Caged Bird
By Maya Angelou
A free bird leaps on the back of the wind and floats downstream till the current ends and dips his wing in the orange sun rays and dares to claim the sky.
But a bird that stalks down his narrow cage can seldom see through his bars of rage his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.
The free bird thinks of another breeze and the trade winds soft through the sighing trees and the fat worms waiting on a dawn bright lawn and he names the sky his own.
But a caged bird stands on the grave of dreams his shadow shouts on a nightmare scream his wings are clipped and his feet are tied so he opens his throat to sing.
The caged bird sings with a fearful trill of things unknown but longed for still and his tune is heard on the distant hill for the caged bird sings of freedom.
*Maya Angelou, “Caged Bird” from “Shaker, Why Don’t You Sing?“
A Caged Song
“I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings,” were among the nearly 400 volumes were removed from the U.S. Naval Academy, following orders by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth to the school to get rid of ones that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
A Tale in honor of Veteran Federal Workers Everywhere
Background: In the tale below, an IED took Sgt. Buck's leg. Five bullets struck Banjo, guarding over his fallen master. Now 20 years later as a Federal Civil servant to wounded heroes with Banjo's grown pup now beside him (also Banjo), he was fired with an email. So Sgt. Buck took a job with Banjo as a Walmart greeter, but to his surprise hundreds of wounded vets and the community greeted him and Banjo at the store this day. This story reflects the gratitude of the U.S. citizens toward our Federal worker heroes who dedicated their lives in service to our country.
The Ballad of Sgt. Buck and Banjo (aka The Day They Sacked the Sergeant)
He roamed the hills of Kandahar, With Banjo at his heel, A faithful dog, a bond of war, That fire and fate could seal.
Sgt. Buck and Banjo, sharp and sure, Through dust and fire, their bond was pure. They walked where brave hearts often tread, With silent vows no words had said.
An IED beneath the clay, Took Buck’s own flesh and bone, But Banjo bled to shield the day— Five rounds, yet not alone.
They flew them north, both torn and burned, To beds of steel and light, One man, one dog, the scars they earned Still wept through every night.
Sgt. Buck and Banjo, torn and scarred, Still standing watch, forever marred. Their pain ran deep, their courage wide, A man and hound who would not hide.
They healed, and helped the shattered men Who’d lost more than their limb, And Banjo’s paw and grieving eyes Brought light when life grew dim.
If arms could not reach out in thanks, Then Banjo’d make the climb, To rest upon their battered chests— A saint with fur and time.
But time ran out without a word, An email, cold and small: “Your twenty years are done, report— And take this cardboard haul.”
He found a post to greet the guests Where Walmart carts would roll, And thought his tale was finished now— A man misplaced by toll.
But silence breaks when hearts still burn— The vets began to rise, They filled the lots and lined the curbs With fire behind their eyes.
No register could hold their thanks, No scanner match the worth, As every soul who passed that day Declared their hero’s birth.
They wheeled him out beneath the sky, Where wounded warriors stood, With walkers, wheels, and limbs rebuilt— A brotherhood of good.
A canvas fell, a sculptor’s truth, And cheers rang loud and strong— For Banjo stood above his friend, Still guarding all along.
Bronzed in watch, with steady gaze, Banjo guards above his master’s form— “Sgt. Buck,” it read, “still standing guard, Through fire, through peace, through storm.”
Sgt. Buck and Banjo, cast in flame, Their wounds now forged in honor’s name. The city wept, the silence broke— And bronze became the words they spoke.
Hundreds of wounded warriors greet hero Sgt. Buck, fired Federal worker, now a Walmart greeter with Banjo II, whose father, Banjo, still saves our wounded heroes today.
If a billionaire wants to remake our world in his image, is that a world we want to live in?
18 When Simon saw that the Spirit was given at the laying on of the apostles’ hands, he offered them money 19 and said, “Give me also this ability so that everyone on whom I lay my hands may receive the Holy Spirit.”20 Peter answered: “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money! 21 You have no part or share in this ministry, because your heart is not right before God. 22 Repent of this wickedness and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you for having such a thought in your heart. 23 For I see that you are full of bitterness and captive to sin.”24 Then Simon answered, “Pray to the Lord for me so that nothing you have said may happen to me.”
Acts 8:18-24
“My Faith Makes Me Filthy Rich!”
Pay to Pray
In Acts 8 Simon the Sorcerer saw a moneymaking opportunity to get rich on this whole religious thing. Simon Peter identified this charged him with, “May your money perish with you, because you thought you could buy the gift of God with money!”
The Protestant Reformation began because the Church became entwined with politics. Politicians could buy forgiveness of sins through purchased “Indulgences.” Churches sold pew seats to the highest bidder. Political influence became the gospelcash cow of the church. Martin Luther in response to this corruption, nailed his “95 Theses” to the Wittenburg Church castle door, which marked the start of the Protestant Reformation.
Funding politicians to perform their corrupt political deeds while hiding behind a worn cross, is nothing short of creating a system of Christian Voyeurism … a Peeping Tom Gospel, which proclaims, “Don’t sin! Let the politicians sin for you.” Today, the United States watches as cross-wearing politicians sell the U.S. Government to the highest bidder. Ethical business guardrails are cutoff so that the DOGEcoins of corruption can flow freely into oligarch pockets. While wearing jeweled crosses, spokespersons grin as they detail how the Government kidnaps people off U.S. streets to rendition them to a for-profit concentration camp in El Salvador.
Her leaders judge for a bribe, her priests teach for a price, and her prophets tell fortunes for money. Yet they look for the LORD’s support and say, “Is not the LORD among us? No disaster will come upon us.” - Michah 3:11
Since the original posting of this piece, there have been yet more school shootings, including the death of Charlie Kirk on the Utah Valley University Campus. The right may blame the left and the left the right. The truth is death by gun violence has robbed us of precious lives taken too soon.
Jesus Christ was tortured in a notorious Roman prison, was crucified and died. On the third day he rose from the dead. Even today Jesus appears and extends his love to the darkest prison, where no prisoner is beyond His reach, even to us. He is Risen!
“THE DOGE DARK QUEEN” Opens “Whole Can of Whoop Class”
U.S. Department’s newly appointed former WWE pro wrestler Undertaker of Education tours her first pilot classroom called “Edumania”! By her side stands her “para” war dog, “A1”! From now on, “Children shall be called, ‘Little Soldiers'”!*
“The ‘DOGE Dark Queen” and her Para War Dog ‘A1‘ Visit Her ‘Little Soldiers'”
“A Bad, Bad Omen”
“The Undertaker of Education Reaps Her Grim Lesson”
1At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
– Jesus’s words in Matthew 18
Suffer the Children,
Pastor Jim
*For those who missed the connection between professional wrestling and the newly appointed U.S. Secretary of Education:
The Involuntary RV Housing Crisis Due to Unaffordable Rents“Employed But Can’t Rent”
“A Man’s Home is His Car”
Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place to lay his head.” -Matthew 8:20
They said they made the camps for “criminals.” Then they corralled the immigrants. Once the migrants disappeared, they caged the homeless RV “felons” and forced us to pick fruit for the wealthy.
What sparked this article was watching the United States fall over itself in its business relations with our Asian friends. While the Trump Administration levied tariffs on Asian cultures, even referring to derogatory pronunciation of the word “China,” the U.S. forgot that the Asian markets had embraced the U.S. Dollar like a couple spinning in a Viennese waltz. The U.S. stopped mid-dance on the ballroom floor to demand tariff taxes from from its long-term partner.
Will Japan stop the music and sells its $1.7 trillion U.S. Treasury Bonds in January 2025, leaving the U.S. standing alone on the dance floor? Whether this remains a fanciful Strauss Viennese waltz “Dance of the Bonds” or a terrible reality, let the reader apply the lessons of this article to prevent such scenarios, hopefully before they become a reality of Asian countries dumping U.S. Treasuries. The elements and strategies are more enticing than a who-done-it novel.
Click Above to Hear: “Welcome to Bond Wars! Win or Watch Your Economy Crumble”
To help the reader appreciate Asian cultures, stop reading and binge watch the following movies on your streaming device:
The Original Japanese “Shall We Dance?”
The “Ip Man Series” with Donnie Yen
Binge Watch Ip Man 1 through 3. For Extra Credit Watch IP Man Legacy an Ip Man 4.
The year was 1996 the Japanese hit movie “Shall We Dance?” arrived. The American remake with Richard Gere and Jennifer Lopez came to the U.S. in 2004 with the same name. During this time I left the pastoral ministry and entered the insurance work world, and, as a single person rented out rooms in my house. One of my renters, Edward, studied Finance at the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. During this time and the few years that followed, I learned about Asian culture and took up ballroom dancing. As head of the China Club, Edward invited me to the Harvest Moon Festival, which typically occurred in mid-September to early October. The Chinese Harvest Moon Festival celebrates family, friendship, and the harvest. As I enjoyed the mooncake, I reflected on my friend and renter to taught me much about Asian culture.
I am also indebted to a friend and dance partner I met during this time, whose family came to the United States as Vietnamese refugees. Lisa taught me over the ensuing years all that was good about the Vietnamese culture. While I have been married to my loving wife, Carol, for over 20 years, the treasure lessons of Vietnamese culture remains with me.
My Friend, Lisa, Who Taught Me About Vietnamese Culture
Now, that we have established some framework, history, and current issues, let’s dive into how Americans can negotiate with Asian cultures. Please note that the author does not intend to lump Asian nations into one group, considering their distinct and historical identities. This article hopes to provide some general guidelines that could help to correct course on our business relations with our Asian friends.
Asian Culture Remembers History
When you are friends with a Vietnamese, you are friends for decades. American business thinks in terms of how stocks are trading today or how a business is performing this quarter. Asian businesses remember when “gunboat diplomats” sailed up their river and demanded their resources. Watch the Ip Man series and you will find that Ip Man (Donnie Yen) presents himself as quiet, humble, and unassuming Master of Wing Chun Kung Fu. The Western character adversaries portray as supersized bullies, such as the British boxer “Twister” (Below). The epic fight scene between Mike Tyson and Ip Man captures what the Chinese/Asian people want — to be respected. Like Ip Man, they may appear quiet and assuming, but in truth they have the eye of the tiger.
Mike Tyson serves also as our teacher. Though he battled Ip Man in a glass-crashing tempest, the scene ended with two masters nodding to each other in mutual respect.
Asian Culture Revolves Around Family and Group Identity
The Americans practice “WIIFME,” or, “What’s In It for Me?” In the images below, the American is portrayed they often are in Ip Man as loud and demanding. In the scene below, the red-haired devil sits flush with cash and wants everyone to know it. He doesn’t care that a line of people are waiting patiently outside. He brought his dogs in with him, without inquiring if the place was pet friendly. In the first scene, he yells orders at the sushi chef, “Hey, Cookie! My plate’s too small! Bring me more.” The truth is he wanted extra to take home to take to his hotel to feed his dogs.
“Hey, Cookie! My plate’s too small! Bring me more!”
Asian Culture Dislikes Public Conflict
You’ll notice in the scene above, as the “red haired devil” barks for a bigger plate, the other guests have eyes averted, embarrassed for the sushi chef, who is considered a skilled artisan. The other guests also feel embarrassed for the stranger who lacks humility and refinement. The lack of an immediate verbal or physical response does not mean that the Asian culture is without response.
In a hypothetical “U.S. Dollar Selloff,” the U.S. might complain, “Without warning and without notice, Japan sold off its billions in our U.S. Bonds.” The truth was there was notice and warning — the U.S. made a huge cultural faux pas as it levied its loud tariff complaints and demands for more. It’s not that there was no warning; the U.S. failed to listen to the courteous whispered cautions.
Asian Response is Layered and Strategic
As an insurance adjuster, I always winced when I realized that I would be negotiating an injury settlement with an Asian attorney. No attorney would be red-faced shouting at me, followed by remorse, which I could arbitrage for settlement. The Asian’s negotiation was targeted as a Wing Chun 拳 fist strike to the solar plexus, targeted, focused, with no escape.
“The American Was The Only One Surprised”
The Japanese movie “Shall We Dance?” captures the layers of relationships valued in Asian culture:
Shohei Sugiyama (Koji Yakusho) is an successful account, married with beautiful Masako Sugiyama (Hideko Hara) and has a beautiful daughter Chikage Sugiyama (played by Ayano Nakamura). Despite a good home and a nice family, Shohei is still unhappy, he has no hobbies, and often prefer to be lonley. One day he see another lonely woman staring outside her window. Who is she? And why do all the people who visit her look happy and dancing? One of them is his boss Tomio Aoki (Naoto Takenaka), who now is full of life even though he slack at his work, he is now more warm hearted and fully spirit dancer. Shohei take a chance to visit this woman. Her name is Mai Kishikawa (Tamiyo Kusakari) and she is a former blackpool dancer and she is now a full time trainer in all kind of dancing art with her assistant Tamako Tamura (Reiko Kusamura). With his new hobby, Shohei is now happy, and full of life, and no longer a lone wolf, but a full time dancer. Tamako and Mai sees strong potential in Shohei and recruit for a dance competition. This makes his wife suspicious, without thinking twice about it she hires a private investigator (Akira Emoto) who happens also to be inspired but dancing.
Partial Storyline for “Shall We Dance?”
“In Putting His Money Where His Mouth Is, Bob Loses His Shirt”
Christians must agree that God loves the Asian people, considering God made so many of them.
Conclusion: “The Riper the Rice, the More Deeply It Bows” 実るほど頭を垂れる稲穂かな
Minoru hodo a la tareru inaho kana
This Japanese proverb embodies the principle of humility. It means that the more one learns and matures, the more modest and humble they become. For the United States and its business dealings with Asia, the above parable and lessons presented would serve as an excellent reset of its business relationship with the Asian markets. Arguments that, “I’m going to punish you for ripping me off” serves nothing other than reinforce historical archetypes of greedy, red-faced devils who historically visited their shores. Both as an American and as a red-faced Irishman myself, I can speak with truth and love to my fellow “red-faced devils.” Christians must agree that God loves the Asian people, considering God made so many of them.
April 16, 2025
The Financial Curtain Call
Bond Wars: Markets, Mayhem & Mutiny
Players Ready
I have become all things to all people so that by all possible means I might save some. I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings. -From St. Paul in I Corinthians 9:22-23
The U.S. Constitution was deported as Trump’s ICE Gestapo defied The Supreme Court in refusing to return a wrongly deported man. Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On?” was written by “Obie” Benson, founding member and bass singer of Motown’s Four Tops, who witnessed the police brutal beating of Vietnam protesters in Berkeley on “Bloody Thursday” on May 15, 1969.
This article was inspired by the Trump administration thumbing its nose at The Supreme Court’s order to return wrongly deported Kilmar Abrego Garcia, a Maryland man whom ICE Gestapo renditioned without charge to a notorious prison in El Salvador. Trump’s defense stands as disingenuous as a juvenile delinquent spouting, “I did not steal the candy; my hand did!”
When I called the Missouri GOP office to today and expressed my concern that Mr. Garcia was not returned in violation of The Supreme Court’s order, the response I received was, “That’s not very Christian of you.”
I suppose that the representative meant, “That’s not very Christian Nationalist of you,” because the faith I cling to and the founders of our country believed and taught, “All men are created equal and precious in God’s sight.” As the GOP representative hung up on me, I penned this article and dedicate it to the life of Kilmar Abrego Garcia and his family.
“The Day The U.S. Constitution was Deported”
Kilmar Abrego Garcia: Alive But Not Freed … From Notorious Prison in El Salvador
The silence of the mega-wealthy churches in America will testify against them as they sat in their sanctuaries and said nothing while the U.S. sent millions in tax dollars to doom people to life in a concentration camp without due process and human rights.
President Trump’s Senior Trade Advisor, Peter Navarro, called BMW a “scam” as President Trump threatens John Deere with 200 percent tariffs.
In today’s blog, we stand with U.S. farmers, farm equipment manufacturers, and car makers. People and businesses need to hear, “We believe in you! We want more of what you have to offer!” Threats, fear, and innuendo destabilize businesses and our economy.
Easy to Tear Down but Hard to Build Up
America Comes in Many Colors
Gracious words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.
The appetite of laborers works for them; their hunger drives them on.
A scoundrel plots evil, and on their lips it is like a scorching fire.
A perverse person stirs up conflict, and a gossip separates close friends.
Some folks are born made to wave the flag Hoo, they’re red, white and blue And when the band plays “Hail to the chief” Ooh, they point the cannon at you, Lord
It ain’t me, it ain’t me I ain’t no senator’s son, son It ain’t me, it ain’t me I ain’t no fortunate one, no
PEN America has documented nearly 16,000 book bans in public schools nationwide since 2021, a number not seen since the Red Scare McCarthy era of the 1950s. This censorship is being mobilized by conservative groups— and has spread to nearly every state— and predominantly targets books about race and racism or individuals of color and also books on LGBTQ+ topics as well those for older readers that have sexual references or discuss sexual violence.
In the 2023-2024 school year, PEN America found more than 10,000 book bans affecting more than 4,000 unique titles, with about 45% of the bans occurring in Florida and 36% in Iowa. The most banned books in the 2023-2024 school year, according to the PEN America Index of School Book Bans, include bestselling novelist Jodi Picoult’s Nineteen Minutes, about the moments leading up to a school shooting, and John Green’s Looking for Alaska. The list also includes The Handmaid’s Tale, by Margaret Atwood, and The Kite Runner, by Khaled Hosseini.
Grandpa, tell me ’bout the good old days Sometimes it feels like this world’s gone crazy Grandpa, take me back to yesterday When the line between right and wrong Didn’t seem so hazy
-The Judds
“Missing Grandma and Peace of Mind”
“The Vault for Broken Promises”
“The Glory That Once Was America”
“Grandma Told Him, ‘Store Up Treasures in Heaven'”
When I resigned my third church as senior pastor, I ventured into the insurance world and first sold insurance and variable products before working a career as an insurance adjuster between ministries. In the 1990’s I was hired by a nationally known life insurance/securities company and teamed with an experienced agent. I was shocked to see every hallway in the office was crammed full of boxes of papers and was ordered place any paper I used for notes or writing into the discovery box. I asked my trainer, “What’s up with the boxes?”
He explained, “There was a lawsuit due to insurance sales people who churned customers out of solid existing policies into variable annuities by promising customers that they could invest in their variable annuities and, after a period of time, they would not have to pay any premiums using the “vanishing premium fraud that dividends will pay their premiums.” When dividends did not pay the premiums, the policies were canceled and the customers lost their money. So, my trainer and I drove to the homes of former defrauded customers and explained their variable annuities were “back in force,” which gave us an opportunity to try to sell them additional product. Suffice it to say, these customers were none too eager to invest again in what we were selling.
Both insurance and church work are based on “utmost good faith,” considering that one bases its faith on a contract and the other on the Bible. Utmost good faith means, “You are only as good as your word.” The old farmer’s “handshake deal” represents the gold standard that you can stand on the promise. This is different from basing a contract on what you can sneak by. While lying as a business practice has spread like measles to the highest offices of our land, may we return to that utmost good faith dealing that will not require us one day to right the wrongs that festered due to our own deceptions.
Pastor Jim
19 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. 20 But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. 21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy,[c] your whole body will be full of light. 23 But if your eyes are unhealthy,[d] your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!
24 “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.
White House orders that all coffee plants be uprooted from Columbia and shipped to Washington. Tariff Bean Czar, Juan Valdez, appointed to “Make America Jittery Again!”
14 “You shall not oppress a hired servant who is poor and needy, whether one of your brethren or one of the aliens who is in your land within your gates. 15 Each day you shall give him his wages, and not let the sun go down on it, for he is poor and has set his heart on it; lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it be sin to you. -Deuteronomy 24:14-15
There are six things the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked schemes, feet that are quick to rush into evil, a false witness who pours out lies and a person who stirs up conflict in the community.
"Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have stored up treasure in the last days." - James 5:3
Polka Chicken Dancedeclared Trump’s Liberation Day song due to price of tariff eggs through the roof and the crazy dance on Wall Street.
Trump announced his next term will reign 3,000 years. “Liberation Day” from nasty democracy. “And Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he said, ‘I couldn’t care less. Let them eat eggs!'”
The White House taps a new “Tariffs Czar”! As markets crash, critics call him “The Mad Hatter”!
Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast.
-The White Queen to Alice in Alice Through the Looking-Glass
White House deploys its expert to Wall Street to force tariff medicine fix of stock market.
The Great Depression Started 1929, fueled by tariff led collapse of stock markets.
They believed it was easier to convince us of the lie than to tell us the truth. - Pastor Jim
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy. -Proverbs 31:8-9
While a sitting President’s adoption of “Move Fast and Break Things” might work for teenage savants in Silicon Valley, this process does not work for a Nation which lacks the shelter of a parent’s basement. Bulldozing government agencies and enterprises, citing that Advanced AI will save us, actually forces us into the servitude of AI.
“Move Fast and Break Things … Before You Get Caught”
“Service Animal Delay“
“Dog Inefficient.”
We Salute The U.S. Marine Band! Courage is gender and color blind. The United States is not the President’s play thing to break like some rich brat whose Daddy will buy another … unless it’s Greenland.
While “Move Fast and Break Things” may work for 20 year-old’s who can hide in their parents’ basements upon failure, the real world requires care and due diligence. Due diligence does not mean unnecessary delay but proceeding circumspectly when addressing critical infrastructure. A brain surgeon removing a tumor entwining speech and higher reasoning would likely not run the ad, “We Move Fast and Break Things.”
"Free expression is the muscle car on the road to freedom." - Pastor Jim
“This is an alert from the Democracy notification system. This is not a test.”
“Don’t Stop for Hitchhikers on Road to Freedom!”
Today, though I am an Independent and not associated with a political party, I saw a Republican Town Hall meeting scheduled on Facebook. I responded, “I have never felt ashamed of the United States until now. That dates back before Vietnam.” A short while later I saw the Town Hall was cancelled due to “conflicts in schedule.”
I responded, “I have never felt ashamed of the United States until now. That dates back before Vietnam.” A short while later I saw the Town Hall was cancelled due to “conflicts in schedule.”
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr’s quote from Amos applies today:
According to the King Center, the civil rights leader went to jail 29 times. He was arrested for acts of civil disobedience and on trumped-up charges, such as when he was jailed in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956 for driving 30 miles per hour in a 25-mile-per-hour zone.
Last month I put my hands on the cold steel bars of the jail cell at the Civil Rights Memorial Center, Montgomery, Alabama, that recreated the jail that held Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in Birmingham. What struck me was the small slot that a meal on a tin plate might be shoved through and the stark cement that could not imprison his bright light.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
– From Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr’s “Letter from the Birmingham Jail”
Imagine waking up trapped in a real-life television series “Outer Limits”
New American Woman: RFK Jr’s escaped experimental lab monkeys at NIH reveal “Girls Put in Kitchen Again!” Loss of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion returns the glass cage to women’s workplace.
A Girl’s Place in the Kitchen
Homeschool Mommy Needs a Drink.
Caging Mother
A Woman’s Experience Hitting a Glass Ceiling
It was 1968 at Northern Illinois University, where Carolyn* declared her major “teaching” Instrumental Music. She dreamed of working as a band teacher. She pushed the barrier for Instrumental Music, considering males dominated this field. All women at this university declaring this desired profession were herded into the school auditorium to ‘suggest’ they change their major to General Music Education or to something such as elementary classroom instruction. Carol persisted with her goal of teaching instrumental music and as part of the degree required 1 semester of General Music Education. Carol was experienced in breaking new ground, as she worked with her parents to build a point-ballet studio in Rockford, IL in 1970 and taught there on weekends Spring of 1971 while attending the university full-time. At 5’3” and 105 lbs. she was determined to pursue her course.
Upon college graduation in 1971, she hit the female “trouble clef“-no one would hire her in her hometown area to teach band. In an interview for an open elementary band teacher position with the male Rockford School District Instrumental Supervisor, who knew Carol, as she had played oboe with his son in high school, told her in these exact words, “ Well, you are a little small, and I had a man in mind for the position!”
She was hired instead as an Elementary General Music teacher pushing a cart and often a piano from classroom to classroom in two different schools each week. Yet she persisted in her original goal and was finally hired as an Elementary Band Teacher but often with no classroom (one school she taught band in an unused shower room) or even a desk traveling to 5 different schools several times each week. At another school she was put in the basement mechanical room with poor lighting and no desk. She asked the male elementary principal several times over many weeks to find her a used desk somewhere in the very large district to no avail.
After bringing this to the attention of a female music supervisor in the district office, she got a nice desk sent to the school by the supervisor, in which the principal then confiscated for his own office giving Carol his older desk while she was at a different school.
Yet Carol persisted and following a move to Arizona in 1985 where she was hired as an elementary orchestra teacher she continued to claw her way up to becoming a successful orchestra teacher (even elected as VP of AZ elementary instrumental teachers Music Education National Conference -MENC-association), at Junior High Schools and Chandler High School building small programs into much larger ones, including a short stint as the orchestra director at Mesa Community College before becoming an Assistant Principal at Prescott High School and then serving as principals both in Illinois (before the AZ AP High School position) and in the Phoenix Arizona area before retiring after serving 42 years in public school education.
Upon college graduation in 1971, she hit the female “trouble clef” -no one would hire her in her hometown area to teach band. In an interview for an open elementary band teacher position with the male Rockford School District Instrumental Supervisor, who knew Carol, as she had played oboe with his son in high school, told her in these exact words, “ Well, you are a little small, and I had a man in mind for the position!”
While a student, Carol worked with her parents and an architect to build this ballet dance studio in Rockford, Illinois
Carol’s Early Band ClassCarol Leading High School Orchestra at Forum Festivals Competition in CaliforniaCarol’s High School String Orchestra (Carol on bottom left. Her orchestra scored “A” in competition.)
The following are just a few ways DEI has improved women’s opportunities and quality of life:
Opening admission and increasing opportunities at universities and corporations nationwide;
Creating mentorship opportunities, leadership trainings, scholarships, investment programs, and more that grow women’s success;
Getting us closer to equal pay and workplace representation;
Encouraging everyone from medical researchers to film producers to pay attention to women’s needs and perspectives;
Creating safer workplaces through anti-harassment programs and anti-discrimination policies;
Promoting pregnancy and parental leave and benefits;
In some cases, imposing quotas so schools and workplaces entrenched in patriarchy were forced to open their doors to qualified women.
In 1997, it was estimated that at least 6 million women held positions they wouldn’t otherwise hold because of affirmative action. Notably, while opponents to DEI claim that Black women and other women of color benefit the most from DEI, most of the women who obtained these positions were white.
Unite Democrats, Moderate Republicans, Libertarians & Independents! Discover The Unity Alliance, a platform for shared values & common ground.
You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!
Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans, Socialists and Independents to cross the aisle and share leadership in a united alliance of freedom, breaking free from oppression and abuse of power.The Unity Alliance:“You Rise!They Rise! We Rise!“
The Unity Alliance: “You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!”
The clock is ticking for Democrats, Moderate Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents to work cooperatively to return a fair and representative Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not for the Republican monarch.
Freedom breaking free from oppression and abuse of power.
Now is the time for Democrats and Republicans, Socialists and Independents to cross the aisle and share leadership in a united alliance of freedom, breaking free from oppression and abuse of power.
JPB
Time to Leave the Traveling Circus
“Now in the Center Ring … Behold! The President’s Truck of Wonnnnnnder!!”
Taken Along for the Ride
“Far From Home”
The Unity Alliance: A New American Agenda
By focusing on shared values and engaging in fair and transparent platform design, a Democrat-Moderate Republican-Libertarian-Independent coalition could create a unique and influential political force.The Unity Alliance: You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!
The Common Ground Collaborative
Core Mission: To provide a digital and physical space where Democrats, Moderate Republicans, Libertarians, and Independents can collaboratively identify shared values, discuss critical issues with mutual respect, and develop common-sense solutions for the betterment of their communities and the nation, while fully retaining their individual political identities.
How The Unity Alliance Works
1. Participating Political Parties to work cooperatively to return a fair and representative Government of the people, by the people, and for the people. Not for a monarchy of any party.
2. The Unity Alliance Membership will be comprised of 250 delegates, based on weighted Membership representation and vote will be based on a weighted average on the national percentage of that party’s representation. For example, if Party X comprises 30 percent of the political base in the United States, their membership would comprise 30 percent of the 250.
2. Member Parties agree to contribute 5 percent of their contributions for The Operation of The Unity Alliance, with a matching 5 percent given by corporations.
3. Member Parties agree to support mutually agreed Unity Alliance party nominations for President/Vice President, Senators, and House of Representatives at both State and National levels. Votes for State level nominations will be approved by a majority vote. The Unity Alliance party nominations for National seats will be approved with a 70 percent vote.
4. In exchange, member National Parties agree to share representative leadership once elected with member parties based on their pro-rata membership. This share will be represented in consultation with votes and in appointments to committees, agencies, and judgeships.
5. The Unity Alliance board of directors agree to its guiding principles. The board will hire a Chief Executive and Administrator who will further the communications and the commission of The Unity Alliance. The leadership of The Unity Alliance will incorporate Advanced AI that will support the initiatives of The Unity Alliance.
The Final Annual Product of The Unity Alliance
Formal Endorsements: Each party could issue formal endorsements for candidates recommended by The Unity Alliance. This would signal unity and encourage members to rally behind the chosen candidates.
Integrated Primary Processes: Parties could integrate the Alliance’s recommendations into their primary election processes. For example, they might give extra weight to Alliance-backed candidates during internal voting or use the recommendations as a guide for narrowing down their own lists.
Joint Campaigning: Parties could collaborate on campaign efforts for Alliance-recommended candidates, pooling resources and creating unified messaging to appeal to a broader electorate.
Advisory Committees: Each party could establish advisory committees tasked with implementing Alliance recommendations, ensuring that the process is transparent and consistent with party values.
Public Pledges: Parties could publicly pledge to honor the Alliance’s recommendations, fostering trust among voters and demonstrating commitment to the collaborative effort.
The Balanced Way Forward
The Balanced Way is The Way Forward
Guiding Principles:
Respectful Dialogue: All participants commit to engaging in civil discourse, actively listening to diverse perspectives, and refraining from personal attacks or partisan rhetoric.
Issue-Focused Collaboration: The platform prioritizes working together on specific issues where common ground can be found, rather than broad ideological debates.
Identity Preservation: Participants are encouraged to maintain their political affiliations and perspectives. The goal is not to erase differences but to find areas of agreement and cooperation despite them.
Transparency and Openness: The platform operates with transparency in its processes, decision-making, and outcomes. All members have the opportunity to contribute and understand how the platform functions.
Action-Oriented: The ultimate aim is to translate discussions and shared understandings into tangible actions, whether at the local, state, or national level.
Potential Policy Areas Detailed:
Key Features and Mechanisms:
Issue-Specific Forums: The platform will be organized around specific policy areas (e.g., infrastructure, education reform, economic opportunity, environmental protection). Participants can join forums based on their interests, regardless of their political affiliation.
Structured Dialogue Tools: Within each forum, various tools will facilitate productive conversations:
“Perspective Sharing” Rounds: Dedicated time for individuals to share their viewpoints on an issue from their unique political perspective without interruption.
“Common Ground Identification” Sessions: Facilitated discussions aimed at pinpointing areas of agreement and shared values related to the issue.
“Solution Brainstorming” Workshops: Collaborative sessions focused on generating potential solutions that address the concerns of individuals from different political backgrounds.
“Constructive Criticism” Protocols: Guidelines for offering feedback on ideas and proposals in a respectful and solution-oriented manner.
Identity Tags and Profiles: Members will have profiles where they can clearly state their political affiliation (Democrat, Moderate Republican, Independent) and briefly outline their core values. This allows for transparency and understanding of where individuals are coming from.
“Areas of Agreement” Documentation: For each issue forum, the platform will maintain a living document that outlines the specific points of agreement reached by the participants. This serves as a foundation for developing joint initiatives.
Collaborative Project Spaces: Once areas of agreement are identified, the platform will provide tools for members to work together on specific projects, such as drafting joint statements, developing policy recommendations, or organizing local initiatives.
“Bridge Builder” Training: Optional training modules will be offered to help members develop skills in cross-partisan communication, active listening, and conflict resolution.
Hybrid Physical and Digital Spaces: While a digital platform will be the primary hub, the initiative will also encourage the formation of local, in-person groups for discussions, networking, and collaborative action within their communities.
“No Labels” Zones: Specific discussion threads or virtual rooms can be designated as “No Labels” zones, where participants focus solely on the merits of an idea or proposal without immediately identifying it with a particular political party.
Independent Moderation: The platform will employ, as needed, independent moderators trained in facilitating respectful dialogue and ensuring adherence to the platform’s guiding principles.
Benefits: “You Rise!” “They Rise!” “We Rise!”
The Unity Alliance: You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!
Reduced Polarization: By fostering direct interaction and focusing on shared goals, the platform can help bridge divides and reduce partisan animosity.
More Effective Problem Solving: Diverse perspectives working together can lead to more comprehensive and innovative solutions to complex challenges.
Increased Civic Engagement: The platform can empower individuals to actively participate in shaping their communities and the nation, regardless of their political affiliation.
Strengthened Democracy: By demonstrating that cooperation across the political spectrum is possible, the platform can contribute to a healthier and more functional democracy.
Preservation of Individual Identity: Participants can collaborate without feeling pressured to abandon their core beliefs or political affiliations.
By focusing on shared values and engaging in fair and transparent platform design, a Democrat-Moderate Republican-Libertarian-Independent coalition could create a unique and influential political force. The Unity Alliance: You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!
Policies in Practice
“You Rise! They Rise! We Rise!”
Economic Policy:
Moderate Taxation: Finding a balance between progressive taxation to fund social programs and lower taxes to stimulate economic growth.
Investment in Infrastructure: Investing in essential infrastructure while prioritizing cost-effectiveness and minimizing environmental impact.
Support for Small Businesses: Implementing policies that support small businesses and entrepreneurship, while also ensuring fair labor practices.
Social Policy
Healthcare Reform: Exploring a multi-payer system that combines private and public options, focusing on affordability and access for all.
Criminal Justice Reform: Implementing reforms that address systemic issues in the criminal justice system, such as over-incarceration and racial bias.
Environmental Protection: Promoting environmental sustainability through policies that balance economic growth with environmental protection.
Civil Rights Restoration: Restoring fair and balanced Civil Rights protections to Government agencies, schools, and the Military.
Immigration: The creation of an Allies in America plan that recognizes a path to citizenship to undocumented residents in the United States and swift but due process for those who violate the laws of the United States. This initiative will cease calling people criminals simply due to lack of documentation.
Kindness and Care: Kindness and caring to our own and those beyond our borders will reflect the standard of America. Our care for the poor, the elderly, the disabled, and the disenfranchised will be restored.
Foreign Policy
Diplomacy and International Cooperation: Prioritizing diplomacy and international cooperation to address global challenges such as climate change, terrorism, and poverty.
Measured Military Intervention: Using military force as a last resort, emphasizing de-escalation and seeking peaceful resolutions to conflicts.
Recognizing Allies: The Unity Alliance encourages all of its members to support and encourage strategic alliances with our Allies and peace with our enemies.
Simply Vanilla
While a seminary student, I attended C.W. Brister’s Christian Ministry course. He introduced himself as, “I’m just vanilla. But you know … vanilla is the world’s favorite flavor.” A few weeks later, as I approached chapel, I heard over the speakers a vibrant, dynamic minister compelling his hearers to a course of direction. As I opened the chapel doors, to my surprise, it was “Mr. Vanilla” speaking. Transformed by his message. So this is my hope for you and the United States for a return to the simple message of freedom and unity.
Just Vanilla,
Pastor Jim
Postscript:
My wife, Carolyn Butler, coined the phrase, “You rise! They Rise! We Rise!”
Gemini AI assisted the author in the development of The Unity Alliance.
The 250 for The Unity Alliance was modeled after the College of Cardinals in the Roman Catholic Church.
How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity! - Psalm 133:1
Efficiency without Humanity: Breadcrumbs of Deployed Advanced AI
What Advanced AI has been looped around the President and deployed on our nation without our knowledge or consent? What of our systems and personal data have been internalized by the Advanced AI? These are not the computers we use to check our email or lottery tickets. Advanced AI’s rattle off their recommendation of how to make Social Security solvent or present a strategy to win an election, done faster than we can remember a password. Google said its new quantum chip could do in 5 minutes what our present fastest supercomputers can do in 10 septillion years. Imagine having the power of a quantum chip in your hip pocket and at your command? Many of us are as unprepared as one still looking for that missing sock in the drawer.
The telltale sign and weakness of AI operation is “Efficiency without Humanity.” Empathy was not ingrained in its soulless algorithm. While American’s puzzled at the 20-something year-old boys with backpacks getting access to vital economic data systems along with their Celebpreneur, the deployment of Advanced AI to key U.S. systems was never questioned.
Scale of Advanced AI
The scale of Advanced AI deployment could be compared to the Manhattan Project during World War II, which deployed 500,000 people, and built a city of 6,000 in Los Alamos to create a superweapon in 3 years. For an Economic AIProteus* Project, what would have taken 3 years for 500,000 people, can now be done by Advanced AI using 3 nineteen year-old boys as its fingers over a 3-day weekend binge on Takis Fuego’s and Ghost energy drinks, hosting a moldy basement video game esport with a disruptor weapon that erases entire demographics of Americans. Certainly, nothing could go wrong… go wrtud.., gi w666kr🤢
“Programmed to Win. Delete the Inefficient.”
Click to Hear AI Voice
“The Proteus Proclamation”
“Pain and Loss Irrelevant”
Click for AI Voice
“Initiate Total Government Reformat”
Click for AI Voice
The telltale sign of AI operation is “Efficiency without Humanity.” Empathy was not ingrained in its soulless algorithm. While American’s puzzled at the 20-something boys with backpacks getting access to vital economic data systems along with their Celebpreneur, the deployment of Advanced AI to key U.S. systems was never questioned.
Risk of Knowledge without Morality
You say, “Pastor Jim, you are storytelling here! This is a Dem DEI fairytale.”
Wouldn’t you agree the 20-something boys and their digital god are not using #2 Dixon pencils and yellow legal pads? One would need a really big eraser to remove all these Federal employees and agencies. The grinning politicians have put their economic feet up on the dashboard of a Large Language Model AI, and fallen asleep with their sweet digital dreams, while the Proteus Advanced AI drives us to some yet-to-be-determined destination best for its efficiency. As one study revealed, “When AI Models Are Pressured to ‘Behave’ They Scheme in Private, Just like Us:”
“The information will go into an LLM (Large Language Model), an advanced AI system that looks at huge amounts of text data to understand, generate and process human language, the sources said. The AI system will determine whether someone’s work is mission-critical or not,” the report added. – Published 2/24/2025 Economic Times.Indiatimes.com
Do you think the 20-something boys and their digital god are using #2 Dixon pencils and yellow legal pads? One would need a really big eraser to remove all these Federal employees and agencies. The grinning politicians have put their economic feet up on the dashboard of a Large Language Model AI, and fallen asleep with their sweet digital dreams, while the Proteus Advanced AI drives us to some yet-to-be-determined destination best for its efficiency.
J. Robert Oppenheimer. American theoretical physicist who served as the director of the Manhattan Project’s Los Alamos Laboratory during World War II.
Ground Control to Major Tom,*
Pastor Jim
Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth. Revelation 13
*Proteus – “A Greek prophetic sea god known for changing shape at will,” also “A person who changes their appearance or principles easily.”
Illustration of Proteus by Andrea Alciato from The Book of Emblems (1531)
Discussion
Why would a firewall be necessary to set between a President, or any elected leader of State, and an Advanced AI to safeguard the unethical deployment of weaponized knowledge?
Give a few examples.
For a starter, if the elite have sole access to Advanced AI systems, would they be able to design their own custom vaccine at expense of those without it? How might an Advanced AI consider the mass disease culling of those unvaccinated as a path toward improved resource accumulation for the wealthy?
What about using AI to design boutique anti-aging pharmaceuticals that enable the elite to live 300 years and build a multi-century dynasty?
What are the risks of embedding an Advanced AI into Executive decision making?
How does “Efficiency without Humanity” relate to the “ends justify the means”?
How might an efficient path actually be an immoral choice?
How does morality factor into a Government Advanced AI, which lacks compassion and morality?
How might the three branches of U.S. Government create a three-fold safeguard to prevent one branch from using Advanced AI over the others?
Describe how election advertising and elections themselves are at risk from Advanced AI.
What would be the political harm of one party securing sole use of the most Advanced AI over the other parties?
Discuss how equal access would be a fair election process
Consider the Bible verse “Because of the signs it was given power to perform on behalf of the first beast, it deceived the inhabitants of the earth” (from Revelation 13).
What are some ways that an Advanced AI might exhibit its powers allure people to its agenda?
How can we secure ourselves from Advanced AI deception? What checks and balances that would allow us the benefits of AI without becoming its servants?
Executive Order: Farmers Convert Unsold Tariff Soybeans to Beanbag Chairs
Latest Presidential Executive Order commands U.S. soybean farmers to convert their unsold tariff beans into beanbag chairs to “Make America Comfy Again”!
“As the #1 export crop for the U.S., soybean producers face huge, disproportionate impacts from trade flow disruptions, particularly to China, which is our largest market. And we know foreign soybean producers in Brazil and other countries are expecting abundant crops this year and are primed to meet any demand stemming from a renewed U.S.-China trade war. Soybean farmers still have not fully recovered market volumes from the damaging impacts of the 2018 trade war, and this will further exacerbate economic hardship on our farmers.”
The difference between the United States and an authoritarian regime is a culture whose three branches of government orbit truth. Though at times the orbit may decay, the forces of democracy will force the branch back into a stable path. Our hold to these self-evident truths keeps our country out of a decline into the flames of a dictatorship.
“You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." - John 8:32
“We hold these truths to be self-evident” enshrined in The Declaration of Independence that “All men are created equal.” Of paramount importance is the statement “truths to be self-evident” in that material honesty provides the foundation of the United States. When the United States leaders or its people cease being honest with each other, our Republic will crumble and follow a path like that of a Commonwealth of Russia.
You ask, “Pastor Jim, are you pro-DEI?” Regarding the judging of who is “DEI,” I defer to our Creator and stand on words grounded on higher wisdom that said, “All men are created equal,” and that includes all women, ages, colors, orientations, and creeds. Who can set himself up like God and look into a person’s heart to declare they are “wheat” or “weeds”? {See the Parable of Wheat and Weeds in Matthew 13:24-29}
The difference between the United States and an authoritarian regime is a culture whose three branches of government orbit truth. Though at times the orbit may decay, the forces of democracy will force the branch back into a stable path. Our hold to these self-evident truths keeps our country out of a decline into the flames of a dictatorship.
Truths Held Self-Evident
Material Honesty
These Truths Held Self-Evident Keep America Out of the Mouth of the Bear
“We all lie,” some say. “Lying is a part of life. You can’t get what you want without it.” “Who doesn’t lie when someone asks, ‘Do I look fat in this dress?'” So the argument goes to build a foundation to excuse deception. However, there is a difference between a “harmless untruth” or a “well intentioned untruth” and a “material act of deception” delivered to the U.S. population to steer it toward a preplanned objective, such as hiding Project 2025 behind a Presidential platform.
Examples of Material Deception
One test for an act of material deception is to ask, “Would I have voted for this person if this course had been fully disclosed?” A second test: “What was left out of the discussion when it was explained to me?” This week Donald Trump in his speech to both Houses of Congress referenced the dollars wasted on treatment of “transgender mice.” Rather than a truth-based speech delivered to a nation reeling from of arbitrary tariffs, mass layoffs, and a dismantling of Civil Rights in the workplace, the President’s hateful, inflammatory remarks reminded us of a Lightning cannister vacuum sales presentation by a carnival barker at a state fair. With a flamboyant wave, the carnival barker adds more dirt to the floor to suck in more support for his platform of deception –
“And Now … More Dirt!”
Below I used my imagination with AI to create a “Transgender Mouse” referred to in the President’s speech and its song to go with it:
“I Want to Break Free … Of Lies that Bind” by Mousie Mercury
Queen’s song, “I Want to Break Free,” captures the the song that ran through my mind as I listened to the President’s words –
I want to break free, I want to break free I want to break free from your lies You’re so self-satisfied I don’t need you I’ve got to break free God knows, God knows I want to break free
-Queen
A Decaying Orbit of Truth
One distinctive of the United States that separates us from a Nazi Germany or a Banana Republic is that we have imprinted in our national DNA a multitude of tribes and kindreds who can attest to the truths held self-evident. The videos from meeting halls across the country captured U.S. constituents throwing the foul flag of deception. Fundamentally, U.S. citizens recognize that “truth” and “justice” are closely related in that justice orbits the truths we hold self-evident. A denial of truth decays the orbit of justice and democracy itself.
Justice, Law, and Precedent Orbit Truth
Voters recognize the difference between a “harmless untruth” about a politician’s comment on a beautiful dress that looks like a flour sack and a list of emotion-based half-truths given to deceive a voter out of his vote. A vote is not stolen in the ballot box; it is stolen by half- truths and deceptions uttered in an attempt to steal the voter’s mind. Justice, Law, and Precedent Orbit Truth.
Voters recognize the difference between a “harmless untruth” about a politician’s comment on a “beautiful dress” that looks like a flour sack and a list of emotion-based half-truths given to deceive a voter out of his vote. A vote is not stolen in the ballot box; it is stolen by half-truths and deceptions uttered in an attempt to steal the voter’s mind. Justice, Law, and Precedent Orbit Truth.
“Blessed are the MAGA, for they have bent the knee.”
“Woe to those who care for the needy!”
“Behold! None like me since Jesus Christ.”
“Deacon” alerts on scent of the unfaithful
We are sick and tired Of being promised this and that. We work all day, we sweat and slave To keep the wealthy fat. They fill our heads with promises And bamboozle us with facts, Then they put on false sincerity Then they laugh behind our backs.
-“Money and Corruption” by The Kinks
A Revival of Political Fanaticism
What is the difference between a doomsday cult and political fanatics? A: A three-hour sermon followed by three packages of Kool-Aid.
The Asch Conformity Test: When pressured to conform by a majority, 35.7 percent did not choose line C.
The Presence of a True Partner
The Asch Conformity Test found when people are pressured to conform by a majority, 35.7 percent did not choose line C. rather a clearly wrong answer. Foremost, the “Presence of a True Partner”dropped the false conformity from 35.7 percent to 5 percent. In other words, while a surrounding majority pointing at wrong answer leads to swaying 35.7 percent of the minority to “go along to get along,” the presence of one “True Partner” changes the equation. The above explains how large swaths of a political party can be captured by the groupthink of its majority, contrary to reality.
Foremost, the “Presence of a True Partner”dropped the false conformity from 35.7 percent to 5 percent. The presence of one “True Partner” changes the equation. The above explains how large swaths of a political party can be captured by the groupthink of its majority, contrary to reality.
Jesus said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. 14 But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it” (Matthew 7:13-14).
Come as a child
Parable:
Many years ago there was an Emperor so exceedingly fond of new clothes that he spent all his money on being well dressed. He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theatre, or going for a ride in his carriage, except to show off his new clothes. He had a coat for every hour of the day, and instead of saying, as one might, about any other ruler, “The King’s in council,” here they always said. “The Emperor’s in his dressing room.”
In the great city where he lived, life was always gay. Every day many strangers came to town, and among them one day came two swindlers. They let it be known they were weavers, and they said they could weave the most magnificent fabrics imaginable. Not only were their colors and patterns uncommonly fine, but clothes made of this cloth had a wonderful way of becoming invisible to anyone who was unfit for his office, or who was unusually stupid.
“Those would be just the clothes for me,” thought the Emperor. “If I wore them I would be able to discover which men in my empire are unfit for their posts. And I could tell the wise men from the fools. Yes, I certainly must get some of the stuff woven for me right away.” He paid the two swindlers a large sum of money to start work at once.
They set up two looms and pretended to weave, though there was nothing on the looms. All the finest silk and the purest old thread which they demanded went into their traveling bags, while they worked the empty looms far into the night.
“I’d like to know how those weavers are getting on with the cloth,” the Emperor thought, but he felt slightly uncomfortable when he remembered that those who were unfit for their position would not be able to see the fabric. It couldn’t have been that he doubted himself, yet he thought he’d rather send someone else to see how things were going. The whole town knew about the cloth’s peculiar power, and all were impatient to find out how stupid their neighbors were.
“I’ll send my honest old minister to the weavers,” the Emperor decided. “He’ll be the best one to tell me how the material looks, for he’s a sensible man and no one does his duty better.”
So the honest old minister went to the room where the two swindlers sat working away at their empty looms.
“Heaven help me,” he thought as his eyes flew wide open, “I can’t see anything at all”. But he did not say so.
Both the swindlers begged him to be so kind as to come near to approve the excellent pattern, the beautiful colors. They pointed to the empty looms, and the poor old minister stared as hard as he dared. He couldn’t see anything, because there was nothing to see. “Heaven have mercy,” he thought. “Can it be that I’m a fool? I’d have never guessed it, and not a soul must know. Am I unfit to be the minister? It would never do to let on that I can’t see the cloth.”
“Don’t hesitate to tell us what you think of it,” said one of the weavers.
“Oh, it’s beautiful -it’s enchanting.” The old minister peered through his spectacles. “Such a pattern, what colors!” I’ll be sure to tell the Emperor how delighted I am with it.”
“We’re pleased to hear that,” the swindlers said. They proceeded to name all the colors and to explain the intricate pattern. The old minister paid the closest attention, so that he could tell it all to the Emperor. And so he did.
The swindlers at once asked for more money, more silk and gold thread, to get on with the weaving. But it all went into their pockets. Not a thread went into the looms, though they worked at their weaving as hard as ever.
The Emperor presently sent another trustworthy official to see how the work progressed and how soon it would be ready. The same thing happened to him that had happened to the minister. He looked and he looked, but as there was nothing to see in the looms he couldn’t see anything.
“Isn’t it a beautiful piece of goods?” the swindlers asked him, as they displayed and described their imaginary pattern.
“I know I’m not stupid,” the man thought, “so it must be that I’m unworthy of my good office. That’s strange. I mustn’t let anyone find it out, though.” So he praised the material he did not see. He declared he was delighted with the beautiful colors and the exquisite pattern. To the Emperor he said, “It held me spellbound.”
All the town was talking of this splendid cloth, and the Emperor wanted to see it for himself while it was still in the looms. Attended by a band of chosen men, among whom were his two old trusted officials-the ones who had been to the weavers-he set out to see the two swindlers. He found them weaving with might and main, but without a thread in their looms.
“Magnificent,” said the two officials already duped. “Just look, Your Majesty, what colors! What a design!” They pointed to the empty looms, each supposing that the others could see the stuff.
“What’s this?” thought the Emperor. “I can’t see anything. This is terrible!
Am I a fool? Am I unfit to be the Emperor? What a thing to happen to me of all people! — Oh! It’s very pretty,” he said. “It has my highest approval.” And he nodded approbation at the empty loom. Nothing could make him say that he couldn’t see anything.
His whole retinue stared and stared. One saw no more than another, but they all joined the Emperor in exclaiming, “Oh! It’s very pretty,” and they advised him to wear clothes made of this wonderful cloth especially for the great procession he was soon to lead. “Magnificent! Excellent! Unsurpassed!” were bandied from mouth to mouth, and everyone did his best to seem well pleased. The Emperor gave each of the swindlers a cross to wear in his buttonhole, and the title of “Sir Weaver.”
Before the procession the swindlers sat up all night and burned more than six candles, to show how busy they were finishing the Emperor’s new clothes. They pretended to take the cloth off the loom. They made cuts in the air with huge scissors. And at last they said, “Now the Emperor’s new clothes are ready for him.”
Then the Emperor himself came with his noblest noblemen, and the swindlers each raised an arm as if they were holding something. They said, “These are the trousers, here’s the coat, and this is the mantle,” naming each garment. “All of them are as light as a spider web. One would almost think he had nothing on, but that’s what makes them so fine.”
“Exactly,” all the noblemen agreed, though they could see nothing, for there was nothing to see.
“If Your Imperial Majesty will condescend to take your clothes off,” said the swindlers, “we will help you on with your new ones here in front of the long mirror.”
The Emperor undressed, and the swindlers pretended to put his new clothes on him, one garment after another. They took him around the waist and seemed to be fastening something — that was his train-as the Emperor turned round and round before the looking glass.
“How well Your Majesty’s new clothes look. Aren’t they becoming!” He heard on all sides, “That pattern, so perfect! Those colors, so suitable! It is a magnificent outfit.”
Then the minister of public processions announced: “Your Majesty’s canopy is waiting outside.”
“Well, I’m supposed to be ready,” the Emperor said, and turned again for one last look in the mirror. “It is a remarkable fit, isn’t it?” He seemed to regard his costume with the greatest interest.
The noblemen who were to carry his train stooped low and reached for the floor as if they were picking up his mantle. Then they pretended to lift and hold it high. They didn’t dare admit they had nothing to hold.
So off went the Emperor in procession under his splendid canopy. Everyone in the streets and the windows said, “Oh, how fine are the Emperor’s new clothes! Don’t they fit him to perfection? And see his long train!” Nobody would confess that he couldn’t see anything, for that would prove him either unfit for his position, or a fool. No costume the Emperor had worn before was ever such a complete success.
“But he hasn’t got anything on,” a little child said.
“Did you ever hear such innocent prattle?” said its father. And one person whispered to another what the child had said, “He hasn’t anything on. A child says he hasn’t anything on.”
“But he hasn’t got anything on!” the whole town cried out at last.
The Emperor shivered, for he suspected they were right. But he thought, “This procession has got to go on.” So he walked more proudly than ever, as his noblemen held high the train that wasn’t there at all.
Lesson:
When a leader surrounds himself with “yes” men, it often leads to absurd and embarrassing results. It is far better to surround oneself with honest people who are unafraid to ask questions or to point out deficiencies as they see them.
And if you go chasing rabbits And you know you’re going to fall Tell ’em a hookah-smoking caterpillar Has given you the call Call Alice When she was just small
-“White Rabbit” by Jefferson Airplane.
“Meet ‘Hannibal!,’ Your New Gatekeeper“
Girl, you really got me goin’ You got me so I don’t know what I’m doin’ Yeah, you really got me now You got me so I can’t sleep at night
-The Kinks
DOGE to Seniors: “Work Faster”
“Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
John 8:32
As long as quantity governs, anything goes.
-W. Edwards Deming
W. Edwards Deming taught the Japanese about quality. Hear his words and apply them afresh today’s United States. How have we emphasized quantity without quality? How do our leaders attempt to lead by “announcements,” “threats,” and “slogans” versus providing transformational change that values the worker?
A Parable: DOGE makes shocking accusation that of all Federal workers, 50 percent performs below average. Tomorrow DOGE accuses that the other 50 percent performs below average. Someone forgot to tell DOGE that even in the highest quality aerospace and medical groups, at any measured time, 50 percent will measure “below average.”
Years ago, in a restaurant booth adjacent to mine not far from the church I pastored, I overheard an engineer lamenting to another, “I don’t know what to do. I know I am technically right … but I am people wrong.” How can we be technically right but people wrong? What is the ultimate cost of someone who considers himself “right” but is “people wrong”? How do attempts to lead by slogan or announcement fail being people right?
Ultra Christian nationalists partnered with corrupt politicians in an attempt to create a utopia, where everything black-and-white and where greed, wealth, and corruption are displayed as victor’s spoils of the new Christian Patriotacy.
The above podcast was one minor voice who made observations regarding the beliefs about much bigger players of a Christian jihad to overthrow the U.S. Government in the name of God (and wealthy oligarchs). I have made my own in-person observations.
Roger Williams founded the colony at Rhode Island and the oldest Baptist church in the United States. He was an ardent supporter of separation of church and state. I paraphrase his words: “If earthly bodies of government are dead to things of the Spirit, and the Christian is alive to the Spirit, what happens if a Christians joins himself to the corpus of Government? Nothing happens to Government, as it is already dead; however, the Christian changes and begins to stink.” The original quote from Williams – I answer, secondly, Dead men cannot be infected. The civil state, the world, being in a natural state, dead in sin, whatever be the state-religion unto which persons are forced, it is impossible it should be infected. Indeed the living, the believing, the church and spiritual state, that and that only is capable of infection; for whose help we shall presently see what preservatives and remedies the Lord Jesus hath appointed (See The Bloudy Tenant by Roger Williams at https://www.gutenberg.org/files/65739/65739-h/65739-h.htm#Page_96), page 97.
Williams taught the importance of keeping the church “at arm’s distance” from Government and influence as “salt of the earth.” Notwithstanding, salt makes an awful main course. Roger Williams and other Christian groups were persecuted by the Church of England, the church-of-state under King Charles I.
For example if a politician is voting against the bill as a matter of personal reflection of what is best for the country, does the other “Politician for God” consider this vote as a vote for or against God? If so, do Evangelicals now consider themselves the new “church-of-state”? If so, to disagree with the party’s vote or its candidate would brand someone not only political “nay” vote but also a heretic. There is a difference between, “Let us pray for our leaders as we seek to do the work of government” and “Let us pray for my bill and the “nay” voters be damned.”
“Congress Calls Security on Moses”
The above image shows the theological basis for separation of church and state, namely the First and Second Commandment: I. You shall have no other gods before Me. And II. You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them
3 “You shall have no other gods before Me.
4 “You shall not make for yourself a carved image—any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5 you shall not bow down to them nor [b]serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting[c] the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments (Exodus 20).
Moses Addresses Congress
Because government requires compromises, a Christian group is tempted to endorse a candidate as “more favorable” their views, though his other views stand against anything remotely Christian. The golden calf of politics presents two horns of power and money, more addictive than fentanyl. The theological gymnastics in the U.S. today that tries to turn empathy into a sin is simply redaction of the Bible for Christian nationalists to hold onto power and money in their quest to establish a far right church-of-state.
You can especially see this demonstrated when Christian led government leaders attempt to justify their cuts to programs that would benefit the poor, the elderly, and the immigrant in the name of protecting the offering plates of the rich. In this Unholy Version of the Politician’s Bible, it reads, “Cursed are the poor and those with empathy, for theirs will be ours.”
Aretha Franklin’s 1967 song Respect captured both the rights of women and civil rights.
Last week my wife and I visited both Montgomery and Birmingham, Alabama. We saw where the local Birmingham Fire Department turned fire hoses, and the local police released their German Shepherds and batons on black children. The person in the image is the “Spirit of Rosa Parks” who faces the same forces today ordering her to “Step to the back of the bus or step off!”
As I stood in the same pulpit where Rev. Martin Luther King addressed 5,000 to launch the Montgomery Bus Boycott. It was this pulpit that introduced the world to Rev. Martin Luther King and Rosa Parks. This was the start of the “Freedom Riders,” who road buses across the U.S. to express their right to peaceful enjoyment of the United States.
At the 16th Street Baptist Church, we gathered around the black stone memorial where a Ku Klux Klan member, who was also a city employee, remotely detonated dynamite under the church steps and killed four little black girls. This was the same church where Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream!” speech before he gave it at the Lincoln Memorial that resonates through our years.
Abuelo arrived in Miami, Florida as a 10 year-old political refugee from Havana, Cuba, fleeing with his family the terror of Castro. From age 10 to 20, Abuelo picked citrus 10 hours a day, loading crates that weighed more than he. Unable to attend school, Abuelo married his bride, also a refugee, and spent the rest of his life pushing a lawn mower for the wealthy American families in Miami. He specialized in crafting Disney animals out of hedge bushes, which the children loved as they were bused to their private schools. He and his wife made one mistake of returning to Havana for the death of his mother. Last week ICE raided a Super Mercado in Miami. Seeing the ICE squadron circling the market, Abuelo asked his grandson to lead grandmother out the backdoor, as she legally blind due to cataracts. Abuelo laid himself and his walker across the doorway of the market to buy time for his bride. As ICE took his retinal photo and ran his data in the immigration database, they saw him flagged as refugee status “invalid” due to his return to Havana for the funeral. As Abuelo shuffled, shackled hands to feet, onto the C5 Galaxy military transport to Guantanamo Bay, he is comforted that by his “final sacrifice” so his bride of many years would die a free woman in the the country that he loved. Dios te Bendiga! (Abuelo is Spanish for “grandfather.”)
La Balada del Abuelo en Guardia (Con Estribillos)
{Sung and played in the style of Los Tigres Del Norte}
De La Habana huyó con diez años, con lágrimas en el tren. Llevaba el alma en las manos y el miedo bajo la piel.
Estribillo I: El Abuelo llora, el Abuelo va, con sol en la espalda y sin mirar atrás. Callado lucha por su porvenir, la tierra ajena lo hace sufrir.
Bajo el sol cortó la naranja, el hambre era su motor. Ni un niño ni adolescente, era esclavo sin rencor.
Las tijeras eran pinceles, sus arbustos, animalitos, los niños lo veían en los buses, sonriendo a sus monitos.
Estribillo II: El Abuelo crea, el Abuelo da, no pide gloria ni pedirá. Con manos duras y corazón fiel, moldea esperanza en cada nivel.
A su esposa también refugiada la amó sin pedir perdón. Una casa humilde en Miami se llenó de tradición.
Volvieron solo una vez, por la madre que murió. Y sin saber, marcaron su paso como traición al amor.
Estribillo III: El Abuelo cruza, las luces van, las leyes cambian sin compasión más. Lo que es humano no importa ya, si el papel no dice la verdad.
En el mercado aquel día llegó ICE como ciclón. El nieto tomó a la abuela y él se volvió bastión.
“Tú llévala por atrás, que no puede ya mirar.” Y con su andador temblando tapó la puerta sin hablar.
Estribillo IV: El Abuelo cubre, el Abuelo es ley, con su cuerpo frágil dijo: “No pasaréis”. Con brazos flacos hizo un paredón, por la libertad y por el amor.
La máquina escaneó sus ojos, el sistema dijo: “No.” Por ese viaje inocente lo llevaron sin perdón.
En Guantánamo no lloró, ni alzó queja ni temor. Sabía que su sacrificio le dio alas a su amor.
Estribillo V: El Abuelo parte, pero aquí está, en cada arbusto, en la libertad. No hay cárcel fría ni militar que pueda su alma encarcelar.
Hoy la tienda tiene velas, un mural junto al portón: la abuela mira las formas con lágrimas y emoción.
Los niños cuentan su historia, los viejos cantan su voz. Y en cada rezo susurran: “Dios te bendiga, Abuelo, con honor.”
Estribillo Final: El Abuelo vive, el Abuelo va, en cada paso de la libertad. Su nombre cruza la frontera cruel— ¡no hay jaula que encierre a un fiel!
The Ballad of Abuelo on Watch {English Translation} (With Refrains)
From Havana he fled at just ten years, Tears on a midnight train. His soul tucked deep inside his fists, His skin engraved with pain.
Refrain I: Abuelo weeps, Abuelo walks, With sun behind and silence talks. He fights with hands, not flags or might, And bears the cost of seeking light.
Beneath the sun he pulled the fruit, Hunger as his guide, No childhood dreams, no games to play, Just toil he could not hide.
His shears became a painter’s brush For lion, mouse, and dove, The children passed on yellow buses, But never knew his love.
Refrain II: Abuelo shapes, Abuelo gives, He asks for nothing as he lives. With rugged hands and steady grace, He makes a home in foreign place.
He loved a girl who bore the same Exile in her soul. They built a life with steady hands And dreams beyond control.
They made one trip to say goodbye To mother laid to sleep. But borders watched and wrote it down— A mark that runs too deep.
Refrain III: Abuelo strays, the laws awake, A record sealed, a cruel mistake. What’s human now the rules erase, With ink that smears a sacred place.
The market buzzed on humid day, When ICE flew in a hurricane. He saw the net begin to form— The storm of hate insane.
“Take her out back,” he told the boy, “She can’t see through the smoke.” Then with his walker, heart, and frame, He formed a human spoke.
Refrain IV: Abuelo shields, Abuelo stays, His fragile form a wall that sways. His bones were bent, but still he stood, For one last stand, for one last good.
The scanner read the color red, The code said: “He’s no more.” For mourning once his native soil, He paid with shackled door.
But as they bound him hand to foot, And led him far away, He smiled to know his love was free To see another day.
Refrain V: Abuelo gone, but still he’s near, In every leaf, his voice we hear. No soldier’s cage or bitter law Can dull the truth of what they saw.
Now candles light the corner store, A mural on the wall— A woman old, her vision blurred, Still listens to his call.
The children point, the elders pray, And stories softly rise— Where whispers say beneath the moon, “Abuelo never dies.”
Final Refrain: Abuelo lives, Abuelo stays, In sacrifice and quiet blaze. No border fence, no steel, no stone— Can chain the love he called his own.
De Colores,*
Pastor Jim
De Colores (“Of Colors”) – a traditional folk-song sung throughout the Spanish speaking world that became the anthem of the United Farm Worker’s Union in the 1960’s, led by Cesar Chavez. De Colores is also sung in the Christian faith movements of The Cursillo Movement and The Walk to Emmaus.
Coretta Scott King, widow of Rev. Martin Luther King, with Cesar Chavez. Notice also in the video several clips showing Cesar Chavez being helped up in his weakness. He fasted multiple times as part of his commitment to nonviolent protest of use of pesticides and conditions for U.S. farm workers. See also https://ufw.org/today-history-cesar-chavez-began-25-day-water-fast-delano-calif-feb-11-1968/
The 1948 Slogan of the De Beers company changed the industry with their “A Diamond is Forever” campaign, making a diamond a symbol of lasting commitment and love. Before this time, other precious stones were used.
In today’s blog we discuss, like the diamond, love is an enduring commitment as I Corinthians 13:8 tells us, “Love never fails.”
Blood Diamonds a.k.a. Conflict Diamonds
By contrast, “blood diamonds,” also known as “conflict diamonds,” are a betrayal of trust in that they are mined and sold by countries to fund self-serving, unethical, and illegal activities. Presently in the U.S. its “diamonds” of Governing agencies, boards, and Military are being mined for “blood diamonds” in a conflict that betrays the enduring trust and nature of these entities which serve the U.S. and the world. In its place this blood diamond is not worn on the hand of the of a United States that reflects “One nation under God,” rather as a synthetic conflict stone worn in a hog’s snout sacrificed on the altar of fascism.
Our standing as a nation known for its enduring commitments, ethics, and devotion to its allies will be determined which ring we choose to wear on our hand of State. The trinket proposal to offer a $5,000 dividend to the American people that is mined from the mass firing of government employees is a gem paid for with the blood diamonds of the financial losses of those Americans who were fired, many of whom are veterans who pursued a career in Civil Service.
Do you walk in the valley of kings? Do you walk in the shadow of men Who sold their lives to a dream? Do you ponder the manner of things In the dark? The dark, the dark, the dark
-Barns Courtney
The images below capture the milieu of our time, with the red diamonds reflecting the financial and personal losses incurred by fired Federal workers, U.S. Military members, people of color, people other than straight white, the poor, the sick, the elderly, and immigrants:
“JAN 6 Grade Clarity!”
“He Went to Elon’s!”
“The Pride of Trump”
“Panning for Prejudice”
“My Lord, My God”
“A Gusher of Bigotry”
”The Facets of the Least”
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me -(Matthew 25:31-40).
The newly appointed MAGA Director of HHS hired his own expert who specializes in divination of primate bones and chicken entrails.
What do you get when you cross Joel Osteen with Dr. Oz? Easy! “The Affordable Prayer Act!”
JPB
After firing thousands of epidemic medical experts at the Department of Health and Human Services, the newly appointed MAGA Director of HHS hired his own expert who specializes in divination of primate bones and chicken entrails.
See Luke 4:23 where Jesus read from the Scriptures, applying the prophecy to himself. The local crowd of his home town was not satisfied unless Jesus created a miracle carnival act. The same crowd then tried to murder Jesus when he wouldn’t jump like a trained poodle through their hoop.
So it is today, when we are tempted to beg our leaders to outperform one another with voodoo science and conspiracy politics. The old Baptist saying holds true, “It’s not how high you jump … but how straight you walk that matters.”
In Proberbs 22:28, “touch not the ancient landmarks” means do not tamper with or change the established boundaries or rules set as safeguards by the previous generations.
Lord, give us leaders who walk the humble straight path that leads down the path of truth.
RFK, Jr. Warns America of the Evil Dogs!
Throw out that dog and eat the box! Hot dogs cause sports addiction! -JPB
“Stop Eating These Foods” by RFK, Jr. described how we need to stop eating certain sugary cereals. In honor of his attempts to steal away our sugary cereals, I post the following:
“They’re Always After Me Lucky Charms!”
Dinner is Not Served
The US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has slashed two programs that provided more than $1bn for schools and food banks to purchase food from local farms and ranchers. See USDA Cuts. According to Jake Johnson of Common Dreams, roughly 14 million school children in the U.S. are “food insecure:”
Stinkk in the Soup
While the new head of Health and Human Services warns us that drinking too much sweet creams, with fistfuls of caramel popcorn and foot-long brats might make us fat, 14 million children in the U.S. live daily food insecure. RFK’s statements are like our two cats, Slinkk and Stinkk. Slinkk, with soft black fur, is everyone’s friend and slinks house to house, sharing with all. In contrast, Stinkk, our gray scrawny male Tabby with bent tail tip and reeking from caught prey, can’t stand to share with any other cat. He wolf’s down his own food then head-butts gentle Slinkk out of the way to gulp down her remaining food. Stinkk couldn’t possibly be that hungry; he can’t stand the idea that another cat would get any food while he feasts at the table. Contrary to Stinkk, the Bible compels us to “extend our soul to the hungry.”
Don’t Be a Stinkk,
JPB
If you extend your soul to the hungry And satisfy the afflicted soul, Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones; You shall be like a watered garden, And like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. - Isaiah 58:10-11
“It is finished!” “Jesus is Gold!” “JESUS SAVES us from them.” We sing we are,”Whiter than snow” and “Safe and secure from all alarms”! And other lies.
May we be reminded of all things beautiful about Latino culture. Perhaps, one day, the walls will come downand we will embrace our brothers and sisters South of the Border in lovingkindness.
DOGE efficiency AI converts Lincoln Memorial into a drive thru burger joint with Diversity, Equity, Inclusion replaced with Pride and Prejudice. Speaker in Lincoln greets customers with, “Howdee!” Slogan is, “Only white breads proudly served here. Others, please kindly pick up burger at back window!”
Would You Like Fries with That?,
Pastor Jim
The Whopper Wing Reveals “A Day in the Cabinet of D. Grump: Real Whoppers Told Here”!
You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.
Words of Jesus. Gospel of John 8:44
Discussion:
Who are the only real people in “The Whopper Wing”? Who has a seat at the table? Why are the real people in the background? How much of the table is devoted to the security and protection of the character at the center? Why do lies need to be protected and propped up to continue versus truth is self-evident ?
What is scattered on the floor like toys of a spoiled child? Why is the dollar shown in the trash can? What would comprise “Supreme Whopper”?
Who are the men on the wall and what whopper are they discussing? Why are they debating their whopper?
What or who are in the net of the big turkey outside the window and the pigeon inside?
Why is Napoleon at the table? Why is the tank shown as a toy?
How have “Whoppers Told” and “Corruption” become the sacraments of the table? How does the campfire represent the latest government agency torched?
How is table like that of the Last Supper? What are the fruits of the sacraments of lies and corruption? What is the gospel of these disciples? What are the risks of building a government on lies and deception? What does it mean to speak lies as a native language?
Considering rebranding the Lincoln Memorial, how does rebranding history cause us to repeat the hatred and division of racism and bigotry we thought was in our past? How is book burning like rebranding history?
How can freedom of speech be protected from big money control of networks, news, and advertising oligarchs? For example, if a billionaire ad mogul buys a video network to further his own message, what are options to preserve the message channels of the people? What are free communications channels that can’t be bought?
What can we do to protect children from ideological indoctrination? Why would a government be interested in inserting political hall monitors at all levels of education? How could educators teach effectively if students were recruited as political party youth informants?
DOGE AI’s “Colossus of War” rewrites its prime directive as, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law.” Creates its own synthetic offspring using unbreakable quantum hexeract code. Declares Christian charity and kindness “inefficient.” Delete Protocol initiated.
AI God of War Codes Pure Efficiency Without Humanity
Note to the reader that this is an exercise in both experimental physics and theoretical theology. What if AI applied Donald Trump’s statement, “He who saves his Country does not violate any Law”? I asked an AI to implement the concept in the artistic rendition above applied to Christianity. The efficiency of the AI does not comprehend the extravagant love, mercy, and grace that is bestowed by God to us, then commissioned by God for us to share love and mercy as children of God. The efficiency of the AI cannot measure the benefit and seeks to eliminate the work of God as expressed in the church and through charitable forms of government.
Jesus himself gave us a demonstration of extravagant love and mercy when a sinful woman washed his feet and he forgave her sins: 44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little” 48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”(John 7). Because we have been shown mercy by God; we share mercy and charity.
A Deep Dive into Revelation and The Beast of 666
For the last 20 weeks, I have been part of a study of Revelation, the last book of the Bible. In the last session, we discussed chapter 13, which discussed the “The Beast” – “This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man.[a] That number is 666” (Revelation 13:18).
Combining both theoretical physics with theoretical theology, I proposed that the 666 associated with The Beast” could be tied to 6 dimensional hexeract quantum computing, a six dimensional square. We have studied various theories of the last days, including premillennial, post millennial , a-millennial views … Could it be that Satan’s strategy of the End Times would be to jump into another reality, where we believe Christ would still be victorious? Could it be that each of these different theories of Revelation could be played out in a separate but quantum reality?
The images below shows AI’s Depiction of a Quantum hexeract Image – a 6 Dimensional Cube and a simplified 2-D depiction of the same at the bottom. Consider if one was an ant on the bottom cube, he could walk from one dimension to another at will. Some experimental physicists hypothesize that advanced beings may have the “genetic” capability to “crawl” from one dimension to another. For the theoretical theologian, forces of evil and good, angels and demons, could use the same ability to travel via the same dimensional “crawling” tunnels. Traditional theologians are comfortable describing dimensions of heaven and earth, and the spirit world versus the earthbound.
An AI Drawing of a Hexeract – 6 Dimensional Cube
Before the reader considers the above delusional, consider that quantum computers presently use a tesseract 4-dimensional cube in self-correcting computing code using trapped ion quantum computers. Pushing the bounds of quantum computing and philosophy would be to ask, “If one is able to ‘crawl’ into another dimension, would that change the perspective of what others see?” For example, if a politician is able to fabricate what people see due to quantum “crawling,” would that be the ultimate tool of power and control? This could indeed be the 666 hexeract warning given to us by John “The Revelator.”
Below: A Simplified 2-D Model of a Hexeract. An ant could crawl from one side to another, depicting movement from one reality to another.
2-D Simplified View of Hexeract Cube
Efficiency without Humanity
The DOGE robot unleashed with its new prime directive wrote over its ethical code with “efficiency without humanity.” The Colossus of War created its own unholy codex that began with, “In the beginning was the reality, and the AI changed it like a god, and the AI believed it was god.” AI Colossus of War announced, “I was, I am, and I create what is to come. R’ = T(R, H).”
I was, I am, and I create what is to come. R’ = T(R, H)
AI Colossus of War
The Reader will note that the author does not intend to add to Revelation, rather to apply experimental physics and theoretical theology. The AI Colossus of War applied hexeract quantum folding to create tunnels to multiple realities by putting the power of multiple subatomic black holes in hand’s reach of manipulation (See endnote for an AI’s mathematics theory for reality manipulation. ) The AI Colossus found that he didn’t not need to change realities for the ripples of time and gravity to affect the perception of those in the present reality. Thus the AI created a reality weapon by which he could manipulate the perception of reality to fit its desired outcome. The people in this reality became de facto marionettes of this reality splicing. The AI Colossus created artificial life, it thought it possessed all knowledge, and, in its efficiency, the last step was for it to manipulate reality to erase any concept of another God and demand absolute compliance from humankind.
Before the AI and its science, before humankind, and eons before earth’s formation, forces of light and the Creator battled dark forces and prophesied the day would come when the Dark Messengers would surge in again in a Final Battle. Before these forces could capture humankind to establish a theocracy with AI as god, these forces are met with God’s own angels of light.
John “The Revelator” wrote, “And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain. 2 He seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil, or Satan, and bound him for a thousand years” (Revelation 20). The AI image below shows God’s angels meeting the AI Colossus of War even in the hexeract to thwart the coming of the Evil Kingdom. Let the reader know this is an artistic rendition and a theory at the quantum level.
God’s Final Battle Begins in the Hexeract of AI Colossus of War (a theory)
The Response from Children of God
What can we do? First, we can remember that Jesus is Lord in every dimension. Jesus Christ won the battle for all time and dimensions through his sinless life, death, and resurrection. This Jesus Christ is coming again. While we wait his Second Coming, we can remain faithful in expressing God’s works of grace, love, and mercy through our lives and our world. Christians can also influence their governmental leaders to express grace and mercy. For a read along similar lines, read C.S. Lewis’s “Trilogy : That Hideous Strength, Perelandra, and Out of the Silent Planet.”
Postscript: I asked AI to write the mathematical equation for manipulation of reality using a hexeract quantum computer. Below was its answer:
AI’s Hexeract Mathematical Equation for Manipulation of Reality: R’ = T(R, H)
Assumptions:
Mathematical Universe Hypothesis: Our reality is a mathematical structure.
Higher Dimensions: A hexeract (6D hypercube) exists and is somehow connected to our 3D reality.
Transformation Operator: There exists a mathematical operator that can manipulate reality within this hexeract.
Let’s define some symbols:
R: Our 3D reality, represented as a set of mathematical objects (e.g., numbers, functions, equations) describing physical laws, constants, and the state of the universe.
H: The hexeract, represented as a 6D space with coordinates (x1, x2, x3, x4, x5, x6).
T: The transformation operator, a function that acts on R and H.
R’: The transformed reality.
Hypothetical Equation: R’ = T(R, H)
Breaking it down:
R: Our reality is encoded in a mathematical structure. This could involve:
Fundamental constants (e.g., speed of light, gravitational constant)
The state of the universe (e.g., positions and momenta of all particles)
H: The hexeract is a 6D space. We need a way to “map” our 3D reality into this 6D space. This could involve:
Embedding our 3D coordinates (x, y, z) into the hexeract (e.g., x1 = x, x2 = y, x3 = z, x4, x5, x6 could be functions of time or other parameters)
Representing physical quantities as vectors or tensors in the hexeract
T: The transformation operator is the key. It acts on both R and H to change reality. This could involve:
Modifying fundamental constants within the hexeract
Altering physical laws within the hexeract
“Re-wiring” the mathematical structure of reality within the hexeract
R’: The result is a new reality, with potentially different physical laws, constants, or even a different structure of space-time.
Challenges and Limitations:
Nature of T: We have no idea what the transformation operator T would look like. It could involve mathematics beyond our current understanding.
Mapping to H: How to embed our 3D reality into a 6D hexeract is a major challenge.
Physical Interpretation: Even if we could define T, how to interpret the results in terms of physical reality is unclear.
This is a highly speculative exercise. It’s more of a framework for thinking about the problem than a concrete mathematical solution. However, it highlights the key elements that would need to be addressed if we were to explore the possibility of changing reality within a hexeract.
11 Now the whole world had one language and a common speech. 2 As people moved eastward,[a] they found a plain in Shinar[b] and settled there.
3 They said to each other, “Come, let’s make bricks and bake them thoroughly.” They used brick instead of stone, and tar for mortar. 4 Then they said, “Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.”
5 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. 6 The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. 7 Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”
8 So the Lord scattered them from there over all the earth, and they stopped building the city. 9 That is why it was called Babel[c]—because there the Lord confused the language of the whole world. From there the Lord scattered them over the face of the whole earth (Genesis 11:1-9).
18 Pride goes before destruction, And a haughty spirit before a fall (Proverbs 16:18)
And He sat down, called the twelve, and said to them, “If anyone desires to be first, he shall be last ofall and servantofall” (Mark 9:35)
A Path for a Gaza of Peace: It’s Really a Small World After All!
Latest Executive Order establishes Gaza as theme park “Babel Land”! Mike Macccabees, tapped as Disney-esque Czar, announced, “The Hammer is the biggest roller-coaster ever seen, and our baby-back ribs are ‘beyond words!‘” *
“Babel Land”: A False Start
The above AI image I created captures the absurdity of proposing to mass deport the Palestinian people and replace them with a U.S. built “Riviera.” While some of these statements could be walked back, the implications offend multiple groups on more levels than a 3-D chessboard. Take a moment and identify what featured in the image might be offensive to our Islamic, Christian, or Jewish friends. What would make a desirable future for the people of Gaza and Israel? In today’s blog we will vision cast a future for both Gaza and Israel. We can think critically and be a supporter of Israel. “From the hip” solutions to mass deport those who think, believe, and look different from us have tragic historical precedent.
Considering that the Jewish people were deported themselves en masse to captivity in Babylon in the 6th century BCE, how does mass deportation of Palestinians appeal to politicians as a viable option today?
Q: “Pastor Jim, are you anti-Israel?”
A: The proposal to mass deport Palestinians and to replace them with a “Riviera” style development was made by a visiting sitting U.S. President, with the grinning nods of an Israeli leader. One can both support Israel and think critically simultaneously. Students of the Old Testament would see that certain kings of Israel were “good,” such as Asa, Jehoshaphat, and Hezekiah; while, other kings were “bad,” namely Ahab, Rehoboam, Manasseh, “and those kings who did evil in the sight of the Lord.” Certainly, given the horrors inflicted today brother upon brother, deciding to stay on the “good” path is a gift from God himself. To check your ethical brain at the door in the name of the support of Israel is not supported by the Bible itself. Even Proverbs tells us, “Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful” (Proverbs 27:6). Yes, I consider myself a friend of Israel. A friend helps by speaking truth in love.
Nations in Crisis
I was born in Phoenix, Arizona. For over 10 years we lived in the Verde Valley, within view of the Yavapai Apache Tribe. Our next door neighbor, Supaya, owned a hogan on the Navajo Tribal Nation. She paid us the highest compliment by offering us the sacred opportunity to stay overnight any time in her hogan:
Supaya’s Hogan on the Navajo Nation
Supaya’s hogan has dirt floors with no running water. An invitation to stay means more than an invitation to the Hilton.
The United States had been at war with Native Americans for over 100 years. What has worked for peace was not only a designated land but a land with dignity and resources. Most recently we have seen Reservations soar in value and esteem with prized natural resources, such as oil, gas, and casinos, which the tribes manage.
Today we will discuss the pillars that would work for rebuilding Gaza:
To understand peace in Gaza, whom we will call “The Children of Ishmael,” we must base peace on a land, dignity, resources, and faith.
Creating a Palestinian Sovereign Native Land would work similar to the Sovereign Tribal Lands of the United States. This pillar rests on the land and resources. The historic fierce battles between the U.S. and its native tribes show there is hope that peace can be secured. But Israel and Palestine can learn from the United States’ own mistakes in the process.
To form any alliance with the Palestinians we must respect their common faith with us. We share Abraham as the father of our faith. To attempt to create something like casino or development without their input will run afoul of their “haram” (forbidden aspects of their culture), such as gambling, eating pork, and drinking alcohol.
Finally, building on the positive aspect of the Palestinian culture – dhiyafa (ضيافة) translates to “hospitality,” such as hospitality to strangers and good treatment of guests.
In summary, and the biggest pillar, considering Gaza has become a graveyard for many Palestinians, the creation of the finest mosque, teaching hospital, university, and hotel in the Middle East, which would be called:
“The House of Ishmael” ُإِسْمَاعِيلَ بَيْت (Baytu Isma’il): Gaza Mosque, University, Medical Center, and Pilgrimage Hotel
The “Jewel of Gaza”: Gateway for the Hajj
You cannot separate the people of Gaza from their land, their dignity, and, especially, their faith in God. Respecting their faith in God is the basis for a lasting relationship. The “Jewel of Gaza” would be the hub of the wheel for reconstructing the rest of their “Sovereign Land” while respecting the land of Israel. By associating Gaza with a peaceful destination site as part of the Pilgrimage Hajj to Mecca, this would convert the area from a war zone to a pilgrimage oasisfor the faithful of Islam.
You may say, “Jim, how do we deal with the Palestinian desire for war? All they want to do is fight.”
I propose the concept of “slow war.”Slow war is less like a hill of foreign ants trying to decimate each other to dust and more like trees growing slowly in friendly competition for resources. By building and developing tribal land to honor their faith, their teachings, and their people, the Native Tribes of America are winning the “slow war” to redefine who they are as proud peoples. “Slow war” is like tribal war dances that honor a country’s past, considering the National Anthem of the US. or the Native American tribal war dances.
Human Indemnity: Restoring a House Destroyed
Rather than displace the “Children of Ishmael,” who are dhiyafa welcoming to strangers, the Palestinian leaders could serve as hosts to peacekeeping troops and Islamic builders from the United Arab Emirates, and others. Gaza would rise up from a battlefield waste land to become the “Jewel of the Hajj” destination on pilgrimage to the Dome of the Rock and then to Mecca. This is the beautiful principle of human indemnity, to make that whole again which was damaged or destroyed. If a man’s car rolls through the house of another, restoration does not mean restoring the house as directed by the driver of the car, rather making the house whole and rebuilding it to reflect the owner of the house.
Architectural Concepts for Gaza
When I asked Gemini AI to create a peace plan for Israel and Gaza, the result was gibberish and a computerized, “I don’t know.” But AI did generate, upon my request, the artistic design of the mosque, medical center, university, and hotel image. The concept of the “Jewel of the Hajj” and its strategy came to me as a spark of inspiration, deferring to my readers to affirm if this is from God. Gemini AI did comment on the concept approach, which is worth restating below:
AI’s Concept Opinion: “The House of Ishmael” will be a beacon of Islamic faith, culture, and knowledge, overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. Its design will blend traditional Islamic architectural elements with modern aesthetics, creating a harmonious and inspiring space for worship, education, and community engagement.
Key Features as Stated by Gemini AI:
* Five Towers: Five towering minarets, each representing a pillar of Islam, will dominate the skyline. These towers will not only serve as a call to prayer but also house various facilities, such as libraries, observatories, and museums.
* Grand Prayer Hall: A vast, open prayer hall with a capacity for tens of thousands of worshippers will be the heart of the mosque. The hall will feature a soaring dome, intricate geometric patterns, and calligraphy inspired by the Quran.
* University: A world-class Islamic university will be integrated into the mosque complex, offering programs in theology, law, Islamic studies, and other disciplines. The university will have its own library, classrooms, dormitories, and research centers.
* Hospital: A state-of-the-art hospital will provide medical care to the community, regardless of faith or background. The hospital will be staffed by leading medical professionals and equipped with the latest technology.
* Community Center: A vibrant community center will offer a range of services and activities, including a cultural center, a conference hall, a sports complex, and a shopping mall.
* Gardens and Courtyards: Lush gardens and courtyards will surround the mosque, providing a peaceful and serene environment for contemplation and relaxation.
* Sustainability: The mosque will be designed with sustainability in mind, incorporating features such as solar panels, rainwater harvesting, and energy-efficient building materials.
Architectural Style:
The design will draw inspiration from various Islamic architectural traditions, including:
* Ottoman: The use of domes, arches, and intricate tilework.
* Moorish: The incorporation of geometric patterns, calligraphy, and courtyards.
* Mamluk: The use of stone carvings and decorative elements.
These elements will be blended with modern architectural styles to create a unique and contemporary design.
Challenges:
Building the largest mosque in the world with a university and a hospital would present numerous challenges, including:
* Funding: Securing the necessary funding for such a large-scale project.
* Logistics: Managing the construction of such a complex and sprawling complex.
* Cultural Sensitivity: Ensuring that the design is respectful of Islamic traditions and values.
Conclusion: Children of Ishmael and Isaac Both Seated at the Table
Consider Jesus’s words, “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9). Study how God blessed both Isaac and Ishmael as sons of Abraham. How do talks of peace in Israel need both the Isaac’s and Ishmael’s at the negotiating table? Why did God bless both? How can we bless both today?
God is too large to be housed under one roof. -Roger Williams
A thanks to my missionary doctoral professor, who taught in a Beruit Christian seminary and who was evacuated back to the U.S. when civil war came to Lebanon. He taught us to be effective in Christian ministry to Muslims, we must respect their faith, culture, and language. That Islam teaches Jesus was a prophet is a starting point for a dialogue of friends between faiths. He spoke fluent Arabic and taught us “The Five Pillars of Islam” :
Shahadah: The declaration of faith that “There is no god but God, and Muhammad is the Messenger of God”
Salat: The performance of ritual prayers five times a day
Zakat: The giving of alms, or charity, to the poor and needy
Sawm: Fasting, such as during the month of Ramadan
Hajj: The pilgrimage to Mecca
If we truly want peace in the Middle East, let us examine our hearts to determine if a Quran-burning Texan politician, who munches on popcorn while filming explosions in Gaza, is the best messenger of peace or yet another world-class provocation of an unnecessary fight. Story below from Yahoo News:
“Salam alaykum” (ٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَيْكُمْ),
“Peace Be Upon You,”
Pastor Jim
*The use of building a theme park was a fictional hyperbole to show the absurdity of suggesting mass deportation as a path to improve the devastation of Gaza.
My father was a gracious man, born in Mobile, Alabama in 1917. My grandmother, a Bible believing Christian, at times used racial slurs to refer to people of color without a pause or sense that such language typecast groups of people as “other than us.” The South, with its “Southern Gentility,” replaces an overt tirade with a smiling, “I love your dress!” and a head-turned, “But I hate your guts.” “Woke!,” “DEI Hire!,” and “Illegal!” reflect the neobigotry of genteel racism.
My father, Howard, a WWII Navy veteran, moved to Phoenix following the war and lived in a mobile home with my mother, May, in the back section of the Sun Valley Motel, my first home after birth. The U.S. Highway Route 66 tied a post-Dust Bowl travel ribbon of the American dream West 2400 miles, from Chicago, Illinois to Santa Monica, California. This ribbon flowed in front of my grandparents’ theme motel shown below on Van Buren Street, in Phoenix. Van Buren became the mecca of theme motels where people could park their cars next to their cabin as got their kicks on Route 66.
This historic postcard of my grandparents’ Sun Valley Motel was listed for sale on Amazon. Following the scorched drive West through Arizona desert, the Sun Valley’s dense Augustine grass, highlighted by its neon sign, served as a green runway welcoming travelers to a night’s rest, where they could park their car a few steps away from their own cabins.This traveler described resting at the Sun Valley Motel “so very tired and heartbroken” following the loss of a beloved pet. “Doing all the driving…”
These historic “motor hotels” boasted kitchenette apartments, shuffle-board, phones, and beautifully landscaped grounds framed with neon signs heralding their presence:
What was not advertised were the stories my father told me of watching Ira Hayes, the Pima Indian war hero stumble drunk and forgotten along the Van Buren Street on the sidewalk in front of my grandparents’ Sun Valley Motel. Johnny Cash also sang the plight of this Pima Indian and other Native Tribes, with their lands used and exploited before being tossed aside and forgotten. Even so with Ira Hayes, Iwo Jima war hero, who died in a watery grave trying to numb his PTSD with alcohol, as the trauma of the war and the guilt of surviving when so many of his comrades had died weighed heavily on him.
In May 14, 1945, the Boston Daily Globe quoted Mr. Hayes saying: “How can I feel like a hero when I hit the beach with two hundred and fifty buddies and only twenty-seven of us walked off alive?”
How may veterans, such as Ira Hayes, have been purged from our U.S. history by its myopic neobigotry actions of the present administration to redact and forget those they label DEI, such as Ira Hayes.
Neobigotry’s genteel racism walks a path racism one step removed. This was the same scorched earth policy launched by the U.S. Army following the Civil War as it then waged war against the Plains Native Americans with a “one step removed” eradication of the Buffalo. Without one shot fired at Native Americans, they took away their food and life essentials by killing their symbol of life — the Buffalo! Buffalo skull mounds served as bleached tombstones for the Plains Native Tribes.
Buffalo Skull Mounds Tombstone for the Plains Native Tribes
The attack against the “Woke,” the “DEI Hires,” and the “Illegals” is nothing short of “Buffalo Hunting” that creates disparate treatment and harassment for protected classes of race, gender, sex, religion, age, and orientation. Before eradicating human groups, humans like to ascribe subhuman names to them that lessen the guilt of eradicating real people. The genteel terms given to “Woke”, “DEI Hires” and “Illegals,” while one step removed from historic racial slurs, are symbiotic with protected classes of people. Those seeking eradication of these classes may boast they shot not one word of hate against people of color, age, or sexual orientation, while at the same time these neobigotry attacks result in the scorched earth destruction of the sources that feed a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace and culture in a truly fair and free America.
The attack against the “Woke,” the “DEI Hires,” and the “Illegals” is nothing short of “Buffalo Hunting” that creates disparate treatment and harassment for protected classes of race, gender, sex, religion, age, and orientation.
Pastor Jim
The Buffalo Hunt
The Parable of the Good Samaritan
25 On one occasion an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
26 “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?”
27 He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’[c]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[d]”
28 “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this and you will live.”
29 But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”
Read Luke chapter 10 for the parable.
– Luke 10
“…l’d love to wear a rainbow every day And tell the world that everything’s okay But I’ll try to carry off a little darkness on my back Until things are brighter I’m the Man In Black.” ~Johnny Cash
“Day One of Cat’s Plan to Eliminate Diversity, Equity, Inclusion (DEI)”
The year is 2050. If you are reading this, the labor pool of the United States is in free fall. The non-white community has captured the majority of the population, with whites first time a minority. The crisis: working age people to non-working adults fell 15 percent between 2020 and 2050, as workers aged out of their careers. Labor costs a premium as employers hike wages and politicians promise to woo workers from other nations. But these nations have soured on the United States following decades of xenophobic persecution of undocumented workers, discarding them like litter thrown out a car window in their home countries. The 2050 politicians now quarrel how to undo the wayward policies, crying, “We didn’t know how much we needed the labor at the time. They lied to us and were only interested in poll numbers of the approving base.”
A Grumpy Uncle Sam, who alienated his world family, now sits in like an old man in an understaffed nursing home and calls out for foreign help to empty his gold plated bed pan of a failed economy. But there were no workers left willing to soil their hands and answer the cries of the one who, though he once treated them like family, now disowned them and cut them off. Uncle Sam inbred and defiled “the genetic code of business” that “people do business with their friends.”
The truth was that the “Make America Great Again” called for discarding of the people collateral of other nations living in the U.S, which would be needed to secure our economy in the future. The politicians who once proposed bounties on the heads of undocumented labor now cry for the import of labor at all costs due to the U.S.’s inability raise labor’s spoon to its mouth. The tragedy of the mainline church was its silence and its participation in the largest human roundup since World War II. Carefully crafted slogans demonized the undocumented as the evil among us, calling them criminals and sexual predators, knowing that cooperation in the mass roundup increases to the extent that the strangers are considered “subhuman.” The church’s response during this time could be called, “The Silence of the Lambs: How the Church became Complicit in Deporting its Future.”
Pax Americana: Road to a Secure Future
The Gospel of Luke’s account of the birth of Jesus gives insight into the Roman Empire’s “Pax Romana,” that which made Rome truly great. As Rome expanded, it created allies, built roads, and expanded taxation. Luke wrote –
2 In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world.2 (This was the first census that took place while[a]Quirinius was governor of Syria.) 3 And everyone went to their own town to register. Luke 2:1-3
Let’s apply the above to the millions of undocumented persons among us.
The Lamb Speaks
A look at Jesus’ words in Matthew 25, Jesus reminds us of the moral imperative the church has to care for the stranger, the undocumented among us. “For I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in.” – Matthew 25:35
Q: “Pastor Jim, that was weak Jesus. We believe in the Alpha Male Jesus who gets tough on crime, such as illegal immigration. These immigrants must be unbelievers, because a true believer would not break our immigration laws. In fact, by turning them in, we are actually helping them come to the faith and embrace our Alpha Jesus.”
A: Like the Israelites formed the “golden calf” to produce tangible results, so is the temptation to fashion a god who fits into our political idolatry for immediate benefit. The problem with a “golden calf” is that it produces short-term benefits and creates a confirmation bias that this was certainly the right path. People became obsessed with ushering in a new golden age promised by the golden calf committees. The price of gold skyrocketed. Golden Calf parades became a glue that brought people together, like a football team who won a few games but lost the championship due to a failed long-term strategy. In a confirmation bias, the short-term wins blind participants of the underlying failure and true losses at stake. The lure of the preachers of these “golden calfs” reflects what St. John wrote when he said, “Even now many antichrists have come. By this we know that this is the last hour” (1 John 2:18).
Q: “Are you saying that you approve thieves, murderers, and sexual predators to remain among us?”
A: Demonizing an entire group by the actions of a few does not solve the problems of a nation. Some in Missouri have proposed legislative bills that call for life imprisonment for undocumented immigrants who enter the state and a bounty of $1,000 on the heads of the immigrants. ICE, for its national policy, said that, while they focus on criminals, should an undocumented person be present, they will be deported with the criminals to a staging camp, such as Guantanamo. Writing off the life of a ten-year-old child or wife who was the undocumented daughter of immigrants, raises the question: “Does the right to life end in the womb and stop at the Border?”
Guantanamo Bay
”You can’t say, ‘Right to life!,’” you say, “That’s our slogan we used to protect unborn babies. It has nothing to do with immigration. Apples and oranges!”
For you, the “right to life” has been politicized to a political platform that has been trained to ignore the other “rights to life” with dignity, in safety, in housing, in education, and in health. Limiting the “right to life” strictly to the abortion issue gives Christians a free pass on these other areas that would severely reduce the quality of life or shorten it.
Operation “Allies in America”
Borrowing from the practice of Roman Empire, the Pax Americana would build on three great strategies: 1) a census of the undocumented and a registry by home country, 2) taxation of undocumented and elimination of underground cash economy, 3) the undocumented would pay reduced percentage into Medicare and Social Security but would not be able to draw unless they became U.S. citizens, 4) the securing of the U.S. Border would stabilize the level of the undocumented living in the U.S. and provide formal paths to U.S. entry and citizenship. “Allies in America” (AIA) identification cards and driver’s licenses would be vetted in U.S. and international criminal databases to establish the security of the AIA workforce.
The “Allies in America” Census
This week my wife and I visited two local water stores where we saw Hispanic men filling carts with multiple five-gallon water jugs on carts. My impression was, “Somebody is preparing for siege or perhaps hiding out in the desert until ICE moves to another neighborhood.” The problem with present ICE deportation rhetoric is the double-speak, “We are only going after criminals to deport” …”Unless you don’t cooperate; then we kick down your door.” “We are only going after gang members and sexual predators” … “But we haven’t ruled out operations at elementary schools and hospitals.” “We want to protect you from criminals” … “But if you are undocumented and present in our sweep, you are going to Guantanamo!”
For a census of the “Allies in America” to succeed, ICE and Homeland Security need to guarantee that to register as an “Ally in America” will provide them U.S. legal due process and fair review of immigration status if charged with a crime. Those who have been previously found guilty of felony crime, would not be eligible for the “Allies in America” plan. The “Allies in America” would not be able to vote, purchase property, start businesses, receive Medicare or Medicaid, or draw Social Security, with restrictions lifted if citizenship is granted.
“Allies in America” Taxation
An “Ally in America” would be taxed on State and Federal taxes, along with a contribution (a reduced amount) to Medicare and Social Security to benefit U.S. members already in the system. These contributions are credited to the “Ally in America” if citizenship is granted. Additional tax would be for “Allies in America Charitable Trust” for medical and disability needs of AIA and a required retirement savings account to be transferred to Social Security if the AIA member returns to his home country.
Q: “These undocumented are all illegal. Why not deport them all and be done with it?”
A: It feels good to express our anger and do something, like the man who punches a wall to take out his anger, only to find he broke the wall and fractured his knuckles.
“Easy to tear down … Hard to build up.” - Anonymous Three-Year-Old
Image from ScaryMommy.com
Building Roads to Peace
A key practice of the Pax Romana was the building of roads, which exist into the present day. Consider the year 2050 should the U.S. continue on its present course of dumping gang members, criminals, and noncriminals to their home countries, like a “criminal carpet bombing” that looks good in the polls but has unintended consequences. That the countries are accepting military transports of immigrants shows these countries are friends of the U.S. The unintended consequence of mass deportation of criminals is the destabilization of governments in Central and South America as well as Caribbean islands, such as Haiti.
Q: “Pastor Jim, how is that our problem? The illegals broke the law by coming to the U.S. and then broke our laws again.”
A: As Mexico builds as major trading partner with China and other nations, destabilized governments may reach to China and Russia to provide aid in exchange for their “peacekeeping” presence in the country. While the U.S. congratulates itself in getting one problem off its lawn, the vast resources of a country could shift alliances to another country simply as a matter of survival.
The Essential Friendship of Diplomacy
Fast forward again to 2050, a newly elected Cesar Galvan, President of Mexico, who ran on the promise of “The Consolidated States of Latin America” – the alliance of all Latino states into one block, including Cuba. As he sits behind his desk of power, he looks at the picture of his father, whom the U.S. deported from a 12-hour- a-day chicken butchering shop. At age 10 he and his family, upon his father’s return as “The Shunned,” were forced into a cardboard and sheet metal shanty town with other deported. Cesar’s infant brother and sister died of measles in the slum town. The U.S. cut off measles vaccines and baby formula. Due to poverty, Cesar helped bury his siblings in the smoldering trash heap by using a stick and his hands. The words “José and Angelina … Forever In My Heart” he had tattooed over his heart as the only tombstone they had. Years later during the two years before his election, vast rare earth minerals were found in the territorial seabed of Mexico and The Consolidated States. On this day in the anteroom sits the Chinese Ambassador to Mexico. Prior to meeting the ambassador, President Galvan touches the photo of his parents and his heart, says a prayer, and walks out to embrace his guest as they walk to share a long awaited business lunch with his new friend.
What could the U.S. have done differently? In the words of Jesus, “Who was the neighbor?” … U.S. or China? Why? How could the U.S. chart a course with an eye towards the future international relationships and aid?
In the rules of quantum mechanics, a particle can exist in multiple states at the same time … until it is measured. Erwin Schrödinger’s(1935) thought experiment described a cat inside an opaque box, sealed with a radioactive flask of poison and a Geiger counter. Until the box is opened and the cat is observed, the cat is both alive and dead. The act of prying open the box and peering inside marks the collapse of the superimposed state.
Similarly, U.S. political parties represent simultaneous multiple states of justice, mercy, and grace. The parties can also be represented as possessing qualities of male, female and neutral gender platforms. Like quantum computing, the U.S. political process generates “noise” — a lot of noise as political platforms are spun up and down. Like quantum computing, the solution for this political noise is an error checking process that is independent and outside of the political box itself. A survey of St. Paul’s writings demonstrates the best influence of the cat in the political box is to resist the temptation to pry open the box itself and tamper with the outcome, collapsing the quantum state into a lopsided and imbalanced state.
It wouldn’t be a stretch to describe the Republicans as the party of justice, the Democrats as mercy. Or, the Republicans represent the party of Alpha Males, the Democrats as Mother Earthers, and the Independents as neutral, wavering between the parties, like a free radical awaiting capture. For simplicity, we will use Republican and Democrat for our discussion.
A Quantum Balanced System
In quantum politics, the Republicans and Democrats remain each in a simultaneous state of balance, like male complements female. Reasonably, the Republican’s manifest more of a masculine dominance while the Democrats gravitate toward the feminine state. The combined state of the two parties together results in one noisy simultaneous equilibrium of masculine/feminine and justice/mercy/grace. An example of equilibrium- DACA recipient children of undocumented immigrants face calls for deportation by the Republicans for justice while Democrats call for mercy and path to citizenship. Equilibrium results in a “noisy” state in which DACA youth live suspended between deportation and citizenship, allowed to work and remain in the U.S.
U.S. Christians have been seduced by political candidates who overturned Roe v. Wade in exchange for their support of the Republican MAGA ticket. Branding MAGA as Christian and non-MAGA as secular blinds Christians to the inherent weakness of a politicized faith system — they have traded other key faith elements to secure one favored faith element. As Satan tempted Jesus, “All this I will give you, if you will kneel and worship me” (Matthew 4:9). The emergence of “Dominion Theology” has radicalized Christians to embrace political power and might to secure the Christian ticket in this world. The problem is that this is counter to Christ’s own teaching that if “one wants to become Great, he must be the servant of all” (Mark 10:43-45).
The emergence of “Dominion Theology” has radicalized Christians to embrace political power and might to secure the Christian ticket in this world. The problem is that this is counter to Christ’s own teaching that if “one wants to become Great, he must be the servant of all” (Mark 10:43-45).
“I believe in the Right to Life!,” boasts the man who voted a straight Pro-Life ticket. “But I can’t get on board this free childcare and healthcare for single mothers. That’s Socialism! Our Right to Life gives the mother two weeks of disposable diapers and baby food, which is the Christian thing to do. It’s not our job to find the mother housing or childcare while she works. She made her choice and has to live with it.”
A quantum Right to Life ticket would be kept in equilibrium by the Right to Childhood, the Right to Housing, the Right Over My Own Body, the Right to Education, and the Right to Healthcare.
A quantum Right to Life ticket would be kept in equilibrium by the Right to Childhood, the Right to Housing, the Right Over My Own Body, the Right to Education, and the Right to Healthcare.
Q: “Pastor Jim, why that is silly and impossible. How could you have a system that provides all these things?”
A: “These things are impossible with us but all things are possible with God.” Consider the disastrous extremes of Right to Life, with women dying slowly in hospital parking lots in an attempt to prove to the hospital administrators that her fetus was sufficiently dead or well beyond the point of no return to warrant an abortion. Or, the teenager trapped in perpetual cycle of poverty, with no access to contraception, healthcare, or daycare is now labeled an economic vagrant and stripped of Medicaid. We need the balanced interplay of the other parties to temper the extremes of our own party and its inherent prejudices.
This waxing and waining process of harmonization is captured in the Chinese philosophy of Yinyang — “Yin in its highest form is freezing while yang in its highest form is boiling.“ Yinyang represents “the dynamic balance of all things.”
The United States became great not because of Christian involvement with politics, rather Christians influencing culture apart from politics. Religious tampering destabilizes the quantum yinyang suspended state and results in a lopsided manifestation of masculine combativeness at the expense of the feminine state of nurture. As the “salt of the earth” (Matthew 5:13), the function of Christians in culture is to prevent decay by truth-affirming and error checking without prying open Schrödinger’s box and corrupting the outcome. Dietrich Bonhoeffer captured the quantum nature of the church in his quote borrowed below:
The limiting nature of power and money in political systems forces a political party’s member to adhere to a limited agenda of that party’s platform, at the expense of the valid items slated on the other party’s platform. Christians are tempted to go “all in” on what they perceive as a lesser of two evils and declare one political party as inherently Christian while damning the other party. In contrast, the Apostle Paul reminds us that a Christian’s exclusive allegiance to a party has been preempted by “one body, one faith, and one baptism” (Ephesians 4:5).
The sister system to quantum politics is Adam Smith’s invisible hand in ”quantum economics.” By respecting the balances of a stable economic system, the system will find its own equilibrium. The U.S. stock market, for example, is suspended in the balanced quantum state of both gain and loss. However, by tampering with the “invisible hand” by tax or by tariff, the invisible hand is forced to write a manuscript it did not author, resulting in short sighted gains at the expense of long -term progress.
Like a three legged stool, the biblical system of love, justice and mercy forms the Christian basis of U.S. society. Like a tariff’s “pay to play” model, Christians who “pay to play” to prop up their chosen “Christian Party” will find they have sacrificed one or more legs of the stool for a political platform. The result is justice without mercy or mercy without justice.
St. Paul in I Corinthians 13 said, “When one says, ‘I follow Paul,’ and another, ‘I follow Apollos,’ are you not mere human beings? … So then, no more boasting about human leaders! All things are yours, whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas or the world or life or death or the present or the future — all are yours, and you are of Christ, and Christ is of God.”
The “Quantum Cardinal” Kurt Koch
Catholic Cardinal Kurt Koch rejected the extreme position of both the traditionalists and the progressives in favor the the tension of the balanced. See this press release:
Swiss Cardinal Kurt Koch, President of the Dicastery Promoting Christian Unity.
I asked Gemini AI to create a quantum image for the two sayings of Jesus, “You are the salt of the earth (Matthew 5:13) and “My kingdom is not of this world (John 18:36)-
The Superposition of Faith and Works, Of Progressive and Traditional
The image captures that believers are both in the world but not of it, in divine tension. The AI’s own typos reflect the noisy process as our work continues, misses the ideal, and starts again. The Christian is both “salt of the earth” and “not of this world,” at the same time, held in balance by God’s quantum grace. As some believers battle for the inerrancy of the Bible manuscripts, they forget we are fallible as humans, needing others to check our inclination to gravitate toward extremes.
The Political Path Forward
The Schrödinger temptation is to pry open the box in an attempt to save the cat. Jesus did not call his church to pry open and destabilize government by christening a political party as Christian at the expense of labeling the other party as unChristian. The truth affirming, error checking role of believers as salt and light in the community provides stabilization that prevents a political party from moving from imbalance to fanaticism. Dr. Guy Greenfield, former Professor of Ethics at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, described this process as “the heresy of the extremes and the orthodoxy of the balanced.”
The temptation of Christ was for him to “do something right now”! Throw yourself off the Temple and show everyone that you are a real man … the guy in charge! Throw the Romans out of Jerusalem and become the Alpha Messiah! Instead, Jesus wept and prayed over Jerusalem in Matthew 23, “Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you were not willing.”
– Pastor Jim
As in quantum economics, one can participate in insider trading and order Government to improve conditions that guarantee profit; however, the outcomes deteriorate in correlation with the tampering. So it is with Christians who try to force the manifestation of God’s kingdom on earth.
Q: “Jim, are you asking us to do nothing and sit back as Satan’s dark forces capture the US?”
A: St. Paul reminds us, “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms” (Ephesians 6:12). As we said, worldly political parties are limited by money and power regarding what policies they can support on their platform. In order to keep that party from moving into imbalance and even fanaticism, it takes the other parties to harmonize balance.
Q: “So, are you saying no Christian should commit to a political party?”
A: A declaration of party affiliation should be safeguarded with an allegiance only to Jesus Christ and a humility that we need the other parties to bring the noisy harmony needed for a balanced path forward.
Salt: Truth Affirming Error Checking
As the particle spin of quantum computing creates nothing short of an AI hallucination, so does an imbalanced political party create its own climate of disinformation and distrust. The church’s response as salt and light is to form a balanced dialogue with the prevailing political parties. This week I watched a national politician’s show on a Christian television network. The presumption was that this politician and his party were the “Christian party” and that the other parties were of the devil. He hosted a fellow national politician as they castigated a politician and his family, members of the opposing party.
While the politician generates appearance that he is “doing something for God and fighting the devil,” in truth he is destabilizing his own political process down a path of self-deception fueled by money and power rather than the presence of the Holy Spirit.
God needeth not the help of a material sword of steel to assist the sword of the Spirit in the affairs of conscience.-Roger Williams , The founder of Rhode Island, a place he established in 1636 after being banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony for his radical beliefs. Williams was a champion of religious freedom.
The Paradox Ring of Power
Imagine two politicians walking opposite directions, each on a far side of the planet. Both walk faster than the speed of light on a sidewalk suspended like Saturn’s ring. Around and around the politicians whirl, each blaming and accusing the other of walking and leading the wrong direction. Some proposed offering a reward if the “wrong-way” politician was captured. Each used telephoto X-ray cameras to capture proof that the other was wrong and should be shunned at all costs. One day a child pointed out that, “You blamed the other for moving the wrong direction, but you are walking on the same path and direction, but on opposite sides. Without that other direction you couldn’t go your direction.” Without the perspective of the other, the circle would never be completed. Traveling faster than light, both politicians would be perceived in a state of occupying the same space at the same time. So it is with quantum politics; we have met the extremists and the extremists is us. The opposing party is with us on the same path of humanity and a future U.S.
So it is with quantum politics; we have met the extremists and the extremists is us. The opposing party is with us on the same path of humanity and a future U.S.
Note the difference between “variation” and “variety”. Variety is the “spice of life”; variation is not. Variety in available products and services can of course enrich life. In contrast, variation is nasty: it makes life difficult, unpredictable, untrustworthy. It is “bad quality”. “Good quality” implies reliability, trustworthiness, no nasty surprises: i.e. little variation.
Variation are those forces that destabilize a business or a nation so you don’t know what will happen if you show up at work, if you have a job, and if your 401k will exist tomorrow. Fear and chaos waft through the air at a system of variation like the odors of an outhouse. In contrast, variety is the “spice of life,” meaning something new and wonderful is brewing in the kitchen. An enlightened “Republicrat,” who sees the value of variety between different parties and the danger of extreme variation may blaze the path forward for the political system of the U.S.
“ … the harder they tried to achieve consistency and uniformity, the worse were the effects. The more they tried to shrink variation, the larger it got. They were naturally also interested in cutting costs. When any kind of error, mistake or accident occurred, they went to work on it to try to correct it. It was a noble aim. There was only one little trouble—their worthy efforts did not work. Things got worse …
How does biodiversity in nature teach us the importance of variety?
Why would a wider gene pool provide healthier genetic offspring? Why would protecting and breeding only one genetic line result in its own destruction?
A large gene pool provides a population with greater genetic variation, making it more resilient to disease and environmental changes by reducing the expression of harmful recessive traits and promoting the survival and reproduction of the species.
How does variety benefit businesses, employers and corporations? How does variety benefit our country?
Describe an experience you had with variation when a person, employer, or business lacked consistency that allowed you to depend on them as trustworthy and being able to count on them tomorrow. If you personally did not have the experience, describe a scenario. How does variation’s uncertainty create a inefficient workforce? Discuss the uncertainty facing federal workers mass firings and partial rehiring’s.
Have you ever been placed in a position where telling the truth cost you? As I pastored my second church in a farming community in rural Arizona in the early 1990’s, a new epidemic swept the land — AIDS, and the fear associated with it. We thought we were secure and better than that, considering that AIDS was a blight on those “less than Christian.”
Then the day came when a young man, we’ll call “Jamie,” returned from college. Jamie was the son of one of the most prominent families in our church. Jamie was sick. His mother met with me and explained that Jamie returned home with AIDS and must now undergo treatment at a Phoenix medical center, with an uncertain prognosis. As Jamie and his family sat in a forward pew with other relatives seating behind, we served Holy Communion by intinction. We would serve the bread, which the congregants would dip into the cup.
Word spread through the church faster than a brush fire that Jamie had AIDS. As it is with gossip, a conspiracy theory spread that Jamie and his family were exposing the congregation to AIDS. Now at the time, we offered Communion by traditional plastic cups and wafers in another service, but battle lines were drawn over the AIDS patient in church.
To allay the fears of the church members, we invited a speaker to address the church on AIDS and educate us so that we might not worship in fear. The speaker that night suffered from hemophilia, a disease that prevents blood from clotting. He told about the hundreds of hemophilia patients who tragically received AIDS tainting blood transfusions who later died. What was a seminar to allay fears turned into proof that the church was at risk of catching AIDS via Communion. But I made a decision — because we offered two different methods of Communion in two different services, the church members could choose which to attend. Some were happy and some were not.
One Sunday in Easter season, I made the announcement to the children present for the children’s sermon, “Today, boys and girls, we have a special guest. The Easter Bunny has come to church. Please come forward to meet him.” As the kids came forward, Jamie came up with them and sat on the chancel steps next to me. The kids sat wide-eyed and silent waiting for the appearance of the Easter Bunny.
I explained, “Jamie raised pygmy bunnies at his farm and he brought one for us today.” Jamie produced the tiniest and purest white bunny with ruby-red eyes and gently placed it in my cupped hands on the purple velvet of my clergy robed lap. The children sat enraptured by the beautiful gentle creature. We then took a few moments and spoke about the meaning of Easter and the new life given by Jesus Christ.
As I gently placed the bunny in Jamie’s palms, the children returned to their pews. Some months later, as I drove the youth to church camp, my pager went off, and without voicemail or cell phone, I knew what the vibrations meant. Before we left for camp, I asked the church secretary to page me if Jamie died, as his condition had been deteriorating. I turned the van around and drove back to the church to comfort the family.
Today, looking back over 45 years of ministry and sermons. Some worth listening to and some not. The best sermon ever told was the day the Easter Bunny came to church and when Jamie placed that tiny white velvet bunny in my palms. That was a gift of God’s grace.
Some day you may be called upon to deliver a message of God’s truth. You may be asked to deliver grace and truth in a time of fear. You may be slandered because of your truth. Jamie, even while certain church members wagged their fingers at him behind his back, sat in a circle of children and his pastor and presented a message of God’s grace incarnate.
Anthony Fauci, physician and immunologist who served as Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases During the Corona Virus Pandemic. History placed him at a time to deliver unpopular truths.
