I want to focus on Noem's "standing in the gap" phrase which because I am a secular person did not understand and needed to look up. Mary intimated it had a religious meaning and oh boy, yes it does. It is where the king stands, between god and the lowlifes on earth; the man who stands in the gap is speaking directly to god.
My point is that this language is creeping into and oozing through our government's mouths. Mary, could you please do a focus on this? One of the biggest, baddest enemies to a democratic republic is religion. This is as dangerous as any way of creating an alternative narrative, remaking a present day event or revising historical record. Bring god in and all bets of reality are off the table. Now, magical thinking moves in.
I've come to believe that religion (not spirituality) is one of the biggest causes of evil in the world. Regardless of what religion it is, the original teachings are corrupted to legitimize the agenda of the current leaders (most often men) and have little resemblance to what the original spiritual leader taught.
Some good substacks to follow that regularly address the Christian nationalist narrative would be Kristin du mez and jamar tisby. They are two progressive Christians who are both very knowledgeable about the subject.
Tim Whitaker (@timwhitaker speaks) is another good substack that provides excellent commentary on the Christian Nationalist movement from a "reformed" evangelical perspective.
That we are named a civilized nation is a misnomer. Facts matter. They are to be used for evidence leading to learning, improving, even and best yet ..maturing.
The truth may not be ‘pretty’ or ‘easy’ but changing it is used only by cowards. Anything else is simply a lie and that ‘why’ ..mostly uncovers real character defect.
Trust is built , an important foundation for good character reference, any ‘house’ lasts with a good foundation much longer. These applications serve any relationship, contract, law, they build by an inner code …they are paths to peace -be they personal, family, community, country, our world.
It is a longed for by most ..that peace thing, and trust is a huge part of it.
I trust we can find peace, that most will walk the long miles needed to attain it, to learn the different isn’t a threat, to see warning flags and intervene when necessary , that justice meets greed and guardrails prevail to lessen the many dangers while improving the guardrails that garner better peace.
Much of the damning evidence against Columbus came from his own personal accounts. My husband is an Italian American glad to celebrate Indigenous People's Day. Christian Nationalism is an evil distortion of quasi Christian ideas. Nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. I hope we can throw these evil leaders out using our laws, congress and the court system.
I'm wondering if by killing Gonzalez they're not only sending a warning, they're also trying to eliminate future Abrego Garcias. They don't want to be seen having to obey laws and judges
"What the order really does is grant federal agencies license to treat dissent as terrorism." I keep thinking of Nazi films from their occupation of France, where French people were too terrified to salute, but had tears streaming down their faces.
As for Stephanopolous pulling the plug on Vance - yep, watched that a few times myself. 😉
Many of us as school kids were taught the whitewashed version of American history - and that version is on course to get even whiter. I only remember the innocuous ditty "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." And slavery? Merely a footnote. The current Christian Nationalist cult is sliding into every facet of our lives.
Be aware. Be vigilant.
From Indivisible: "Find a No Kings protest to join this Saturday -- and help make October 18 the biggest day of peaceful protest in modern US history. We have even more events planned on Saturday than we did for the first No Kings Day in June, putting us on track for a truly historic day of defiance! Make your plan to join today, and then invite a few people to join you."
I am an engineer by education and am used to studying phase delays in natural phenomena and physical and chemical processes. we are seeing that now in our country with social, financial, and political systems... the policies are immediate, the damage slowly mounts over months and years and will take many generations to dissipate. the trust we have lost in the world was accomplished in a matter of weeks or even days. the impact has not really been felt yet, and will take many years to recover, if ever. how America is perceived by anyone who is not a white male has been severely damaged and will take years to recover. everyone keeps talking about 2028... God willing there will be a change, but it will take probably generations to recover what we lost, and that is assuming that the next administration actively reverses trumps actions, puts real guard rails in place to avoid it happening again and as a country we will have to actively pursue the unvarnished truth about who we were and who we are, and do some deep soul searching about who we want to be
I want to focus on Noem's "standing in the gap" phrase which because I am a secular person did not understand and needed to look up. Mary intimated it had a religious meaning and oh boy, yes it does. It is where the king stands, between god and the lowlifes on earth; the man who stands in the gap is speaking directly to god.
My point is that this language is creeping into and oozing through our government's mouths. Mary, could you please do a focus on this? One of the biggest, baddest enemies to a democratic republic is religion. This is as dangerous as any way of creating an alternative narrative, remaking a present day event or revising historical record. Bring god in and all bets of reality are off the table. Now, magical thinking moves in.
I've come to believe that religion (not spirituality) is one of the biggest causes of evil in the world. Regardless of what religion it is, the original teachings are corrupted to legitimize the agenda of the current leaders (most often men) and have little resemblance to what the original spiritual leader taught.
Some good substacks to follow that regularly address the Christian nationalist narrative would be Kristin du mez and jamar tisby. They are two progressive Christians who are both very knowledgeable about the subject.
Tim Whitaker (@timwhitaker speaks) is another good substack that provides excellent commentary on the Christian Nationalist movement from a "reformed" evangelical perspective.
Kristi is confusing “the gap” with the gravel pit!
That we are named a civilized nation is a misnomer. Facts matter. They are to be used for evidence leading to learning, improving, even and best yet ..maturing.
The truth may not be ‘pretty’ or ‘easy’ but changing it is used only by cowards. Anything else is simply a lie and that ‘why’ ..mostly uncovers real character defect.
Trust is built , an important foundation for good character reference, any ‘house’ lasts with a good foundation much longer. These applications serve any relationship, contract, law, they build by an inner code …they are paths to peace -be they personal, family, community, country, our world.
It is a longed for by most ..that peace thing, and trust is a huge part of it.
I trust we can find peace, that most will walk the long miles needed to attain it, to learn the different isn’t a threat, to see warning flags and intervene when necessary , that justice meets greed and guardrails prevail to lessen the many dangers while improving the guardrails that garner better peace.
These lessons need truths and steady hands .
We.Can.Do.This.
Much of the damning evidence against Columbus came from his own personal accounts. My husband is an Italian American glad to celebrate Indigenous People's Day. Christian Nationalism is an evil distortion of quasi Christian ideas. Nothing to do with the teachings of Jesus. I hope we can throw these evil leaders out using our laws, congress and the court system.
Way to go, George S. Vance looked like the fool that he is
I'm wondering if by killing Gonzalez they're not only sending a warning, they're also trying to eliminate future Abrego Garcias. They don't want to be seen having to obey laws and judges
"What the order really does is grant federal agencies license to treat dissent as terrorism." I keep thinking of Nazi films from their occupation of France, where French people were too terrified to salute, but had tears streaming down their faces.
As for Stephanopolous pulling the plug on Vance - yep, watched that a few times myself. 😉
Many of us as school kids were taught the whitewashed version of American history - and that version is on course to get even whiter. I only remember the innocuous ditty "in 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue." And slavery? Merely a footnote. The current Christian Nationalist cult is sliding into every facet of our lives.
Be aware. Be vigilant.
From Indivisible: "Find a No Kings protest to join this Saturday -- and help make October 18 the biggest day of peaceful protest in modern US history. We have even more events planned on Saturday than we did for the first No Kings Day in June, putting us on track for a truly historic day of defiance! Make your plan to join today, and then invite a few people to join you."
jd vance is why its best to keep trump - a rotten pumpkin hanging around the gop neck
I am an engineer by education and am used to studying phase delays in natural phenomena and physical and chemical processes. we are seeing that now in our country with social, financial, and political systems... the policies are immediate, the damage slowly mounts over months and years and will take many generations to dissipate. the trust we have lost in the world was accomplished in a matter of weeks or even days. the impact has not really been felt yet, and will take many years to recover, if ever. how America is perceived by anyone who is not a white male has been severely damaged and will take years to recover. everyone keeps talking about 2028... God willing there will be a change, but it will take probably generations to recover what we lost, and that is assuming that the next administration actively reverses trumps actions, puts real guard rails in place to avoid it happening again and as a country we will have to actively pursue the unvarnished truth about who we were and who we are, and do some deep soul searching about who we want to be