"It's a game" or so it seems to me, from afar, as to how the American tug-of-war plays out - the Plantation Capitalists on one end of the rope, tugging with their might and main, and those who see Democracy for what it is - equality for all before the law, and equality of opportunity, supported by laws to keep the Oligarchs under control and enable the rest of us to have a fair and decent chance at life.

From afar, it feels like a game.

But up close and personal, it's a struggle to the death.

Plantation Capitalists won't have it any other way, but their own.

For them, to own it all, to make all the decisions, to be sure that government stays out of their way and supports their claims, protecting their property - human and material.

They hate Democracy.

On the other hand, from the founding mothers and fathers to the present, the impulse of freedom, trying to figure out how to balance the scales of justice and opportunity, to make America a haven for the world, an example of how people can live together - without an aristocracy and kings and queens, without the landed powerful lording it over the rest of us, with a government that works for all of us, and not just the few.

From Lincoln to Teddy Roosevelt, from FDR to Eisenhower, to this moment with Biden, the voice of liberty cries out to be heard, while others are doing everything they can to still the pure voice of hope.

Who will win?

Democracy is under fire right now, and autocracy holds out the promise of efficiency and power - the alluring vision of Mussolini, Franco, Hitler and tinpot dictators throughout history, including our former president and those who surrounded him with their praise and adulation.

But the human heart can still sing, and there is always hope. America has come through some of the worst, and it will come through again. 

Liberty, Democracy, Hope, will win.

Anti-abortionists: Fanatical and Uncaring.

The fanaticism of anti-abortionists confirms that it's not about abortion per se, but all about getting their way, no matter what. They're unreasonable, unyielding, and given to lies and thoughtless appeals to religion. Hardly the stuff of compassion, kindness, and mercy.

At the root of it all, misogyny.

Women are not to be trusted, but to be kept.

The chief end of women, of course: to produce babies for the Empire, and then the men will protect the mothers and the children ... and then protect the church, and then protect the nation from godless communism and such enemies of God. 

John Wayne kinda men ... bold, hard, square-jawed, and ready to kill the bad guys. Locked and loaded ...

None of this makes any sense when examined, but it's great pulpit fodder for easily misled evangelicals, who have been primed since birth to show up, shut up, and do as they're told.

If an image is needed, return to the days of yore - the veranda of an ante-bellum Virginia plantation ... dashing men with their horses and dogs, and women in hoop skirts, with "colored" nannies.

Pretty miserable stuff.

And there's no dealing with it.

Conversation is impossible.

I don't know how it can be resolved.

It's a first-rate mess.

The Politics of Daily Bread

 "Give us this day our daily bread," says Jesus, when asked by the disciples to give 'em some guidance on prayer.

The prayer begins, of course, with a focus upon God, God's Holiness, and then this explosive conjunction of heaven and earth, "thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven." This is not a petition, not an asking, nor hope nor dream, but a reality, a reality unfolding and emerging; it's happening, it will happen, it has happened, and it's going to to happen, inevitably, inexorably, without fail, though tried and tested, resisted and manipulated, by the powers and principalities of this age (Ephesians 6.12).

And then bread, of all things.

Not debts and forgiveness, nor the requests for guidance and safety, nor any other petition.

But bread.

Basic stuff.

The staff of life, the first and the foremost, the belly, and daily bread ... because bread is life: who grows the grain, who makes it, who has it, who gets it, who's denied it, and who have to settle for the crumbs ... bread is a world of social imbalance and control, as with the rich fool who builds bigger silos to store his harvest and squeeze the market for higher prices. Those with plenty use their means to manipulate the ebb and flow of commodities, and further enhance their wealth.

To ask for daily bread is to ask for the fare share, the living wage, what's right and just and decent, what's needed for a person to live, for a family to make it, and those with too much to go with a bit less so those with too little can enjoy a wee bit more (2 Corinthians 8.13ff).

The petition for bread is corporate, as is the whole of the prayer - it's not me, nor mine, but "us" - all of us, the whole of creation, my neighbor, the folks down street, and the children at the border. It's all of us, or none of us - that's political, that's explosive, that's a game-changer, when it comes to the markets and mechanisms of fair trade, the accumulation of wealth and power, and the needs of the many. "Thoughts and prayers" are not included (don't waste your breath!). It is bread, the loaves and crusts and all the rest, to grace a table, or with a few fish at a lawn party, to fill a belly, with leftovers aplenty (Matthew 13.14).

It's the first petition in our LORD's Prayer - because bread is the fundamental question of life, life together, life in the kingdom of God, life moving in concert with God's will ... as it is in heaven, where justice reigns powerfully and beautifully, the lights never go out, and doors are never shut (Revelation 21), sadness, sorrow, lies and deceit are gone, no one left behind, all creatures great and small, the whole of creation, you and me brother, you and me sister.

Give us this day our daily bread!

Abortion: What Republicans Really Want

 Misogyny, the hatred of women.

Why?

Because, with the first woman, Eve, sin entered the world. Without Eve, there'd be no sin; without women to tempt men, there'd be no ??? Well, who knows. But it's the woman's fault.

The point is this: WOMEN NEED TO BE CORRALLED, CONTROLLED, AND IMPREGNATED!

WHY?

Women, of course, can't be trusted. They are, after all, "the weaker sex." They're overly emotional, they cry, they haven't the intelligence needed to make their way in the world; they need a man's care, provisioning, and guidance, and above all, they need to make babies.

This is the GOP dream world.

If you wanna know what this world looks like, look no further than El Salvador - a sadly troubled land, with some of the world's most severe anti-abortion laws. Written and conceived by the descendants of Torquemada. 

The Roman Catholic Church is happy! in a maniacal sort of way - what do these old men do all day long, but dream of sex, and hating themselves for it, do everything they can to banish the idea, or, to put it more directly: deal with the cause. WOMEN!!!! 

Punish women for wanting to be fully human; punish them for wanting a voice in their pregnancies. Punish them ... punish them ... punish, punish, punish. It feels soooooo good.

This is what the GOP wants. GOP men, and their women, must think about sex and the bedroom morning, noon, and night - crafting legislation and approving laws that target women, gays, and trans - because such folks upset the sexual applecart, and we can have any of that. No siree bob. 

You can read about it HERE.

Pray, with me, that this case, now in the courts will reverse the draconian anti-abortion laws of El Salvador, and when you read "anti-abortion," read anti-women. Whatever the language anti-abortionists might use, it's not about the child; it's all about the woman!

Thanks to the Los Angeles Times for this article, April 19, 2021

150 Years from Now

 150 years from now, Americans will look back upon our gun-diseased culture and shake their heads in bewilderment, that something so barbaric was looked upon as a "right."

The Chinese no longer bind women's feet ... 

Dueling is no longer acceptable ... 

Slavery is illegal ... 

And women can vote. 

See: The Honor Code ... by Kwame Anthony Appiah

There are challenges to all of these once acceptable social behaviors, but progress is made, and continues to move along the rough and tumble pathway of human foibles and failures. But life prevails.

There will be a time when gun-numbers are greatly reduced, when we have sane and serious laws to monitor the manufacturing and sale of guns and ammo.

It will happen ...

What a Friend We Have in Jesus

There is a growing movement in evangelicalism, an exodus, if you will, of younger writers, who are discovering that the "scary Jesus" of their childhood, the Jesus of judgment and blood, punishment and violence, is not the Jesus of the Bible. And they're discovering the Jesus who liberates, the Jesus of justice, peace, kindness, and hope. 

One writer gaining traction with evangelicals who are looking for an alternative to the violence of their childhood churches are discovering a friend in Diana Butler Bass, and her new book, Freeing Jesus.

I give thanks for what God seems to be doing - a massive deconstruction of American Evangelicalism, a deconstruction that occurred earlier for mainline Christianity, a deconstruction cheered on by evangelicals as "proof" of their virtue and confirmation of our failings.

Failings, indeed, and we've learned, and continue to learn, our hard lessons.

While the evangelicals were more than happy to dance on our graves.

But now evangelicals themselves are entering into a time of deconstruction. It's painful, but full of hope.

What Is Truth?

 I pray for friends and family imprisoned by The Big Lie; I pray for their deliverance. Only a miracle, by the Spirit of God, can set them free. 

Part of the miracle is our determination to know the truth, to tell the truth, to push ahead, and to push on. And to rely upon the work of truth-tellers like Dr Heather Cox Richardson​. 

You ask me, "What is truth?" And I say, "Truth is in the pudding." Does it affirm life for the many, or just the few? Does it rely upon the distinctions of race and class as if these were weapons of war against

others? Does it instill fear, irrational fear, a fear of conspiracies, space lasers, and vaccination chips? Truth stands on its own two legs, but lies cannot stand at all, and require a constant propping up, a constant effort to maintain the lie, because lies are fragile; lies have no inner life, no ability to bless, but only to bruise. Only by extreme effort, an effort that saps our strength and depletes the mind can a lie be sustained.

Truth, however, is of faith, hope, and love ... truth is of grace, mercy, and peace ... truth is a child laughing, a mother proud, a father pleased ... truth is generosity, kindness, and welcome ... truth is voting rights, marriage equality, and a woman's right to choose. Every one of these truths lifts up and broadens the expansion of life. That's how I know truth, and mostly likely you do, too.

Something I wrote in another blog that has bearing: "No Politics in Religion???" ...