In a matter of hours will be the official Vice Presidential debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz. Here are my official predictions:
1. The media will say Walz won hands down; subsequently, they will say Vance is three grades lower than the devil. They might even make fun of his beard.
2. Question to Walz will begin with “how have you helped…”; questions to Vance will begin with “can you explain how you could hold such [racist, misogynist, homophobic, islamaphobic, white supremacist] views?”
3. When asking how the debate went, Kamala Harris will remind us that she grew up in a middle class household.
4. The media will “fact-check” Vance several times that will by tomorrow be fact-checked as bogus and they (the media) should simply just shut their cake holes.
5. Walz will say things such as “men can become pregnant” and the media will soon like damsels in a melodrama.
6. The results of the debate won’t change anybody’s mind, yet the media will say it’s the final nail in the coffin of the Trump/Vance campaign.
7. When asked about the disastrous flooding in the south, Kamala will remind us that she grew up in a middle class family in…[checks notes]…North Carolina.
8. The media will proclaim Walz to be the new face of masculinity.
9. Walz will claim he owns a gun, and the media won’t ask what caliber or nonsensical details like that. (If they do, Walz will probably say the ones that go “pew.” And gun owners across America will laugh and make memes in his name.
10. The media will express true surprise and bewilderment at the fact that most of middle America doesn’t believe a stinking word they say.
11. I will be in front of another tv, blissfully watching The X-Files.
12. Tonight will be yet another contribution to the parody that the media has become.
Over the last few weeks, I have broken my cardinal rule of not posting political things on my social media accounts.
Strangely enough, my posts were not intended to be political but to be a commentary on America running off the cliff into the abyss of relativism. More specifically, it was my assessment of American institutions—government, media, academia, etc.—whose objective has become to feed a narrative rather than seek truth.
America has ceased seeking truth for years; however, in the four years and particularly in the summer of 2024, we have gone from ceasing to simply seek truth to actively and deliberately running from it.
This concerns me greatly. A nation concerned more about outcomes than it about pursuing truth cannot stand. It will implode.
Of course, trying to raise this concern without being perceived as political is a hefty task. Actually, it’s nearly impossible.
Nearly every time I posted, the comments immediately turned political. Almost immediately, comments turned to: 1) Donald Trump is a dangerous enough threat toward democracy that he should be taken out, and 2) Kamala Harris is the greatest thing since perforated toilet paper.
I had refused—not perfectly—to jump into the comments when they turned political, and frankly it was at times it was hard to hold my tongue (E.g. Kamala is an eloquent speaker–?!). I can’t tell how many times I wrote a response only to delete. Whenever the comments turned political—including my own, it missed the point of my initial purpose—to point out the danger of a society bedding itself with relativism.
What do I mean by relativism? This concept was first introduced to the universe when they serpent told Adam and Eve: they will be like God.
The serpent was trying to get these imago dei humans to eat from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil.One may immediately wonder: what’s wrong with knowing good from evil? Isn’t that a good thing?
When you connect “you will be like God” with eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, it is moee than just knowing the difference.
It means defining the difference. It means I get to decide. It means each of us gets to decide what is good and evil.
Billions of humans each deciding what is good and evil for themselves.
That spells chaos.
That explains why America is on the precipice.
Without objective truth, each of us alone defines right and wrong. If we feel something is evil by own definition, it doesn’t take much at all to dehumanize the other and justify defeating them by any means necessary—whether it be destroying their livelihoods, their relationships, their character or even their very lives. After all, if it is good or bad in our own eyes we can do whatever it takes to take the life of whomever we might call evil.
Which would also explain why 28% of surveyed Democrats, according to a Rasmussen poll, wished Trump’s shooter hadn’t missed. It makes one wonder how many more quietly wished it even while uttering the meaningless platitude that they are against all political violence before going into the Trump is a villain rant.
Sidenote: Now right here, I know someone will ask how come I only bring up examples on the democratic side? Frankly, my response is because the press won’t hold their side accountable. I contend that the media, the institution of government, academia, social media, and the entertainment industry are all mouth pieces for the left. Very, very few of them have anything negative to say about Harris despite her many, many shortcomings, flaws, and black marks on her record.
Conservatives hear about their side’s shortcomings real and imagined so frequently they become memes in our circles. I will bet anything that whoever the GOP picks in 2028 will be labelled a misogynist white nationalist—even if its Tim Scott or Nikki Haley, will be labeled a threat to democracy, and there will likely be at least 12 women lining up to testify they were sexually assaulted by said candidate 50 years ago.
Instead of trying to deflect, understand that the left isn’t all halos and good times. There are a lot of things I don’t like about the GOP, which is why I am registered as an Independent. Trump is a bulldozer in a china shop. Eight months ago, I wish it was someone else. Harris on the other hand is empty, vapid, and deceitful. If she is a moderate, then I have some swamp land in Arizona to sell you.
Honestly, I am not crazy about Trump. But I am vehemently against Harris.
Back to my point (see, even I was starting to roll around in the political sewer). We must return to that objective truth that says no outcome is worth turning a blind eye to the nefarious ways of getting there. If one has to put their thumb on the scale to reach an outcome, their cause is not worthy and their legitimacy will always be in question.
But we can’t see anything beyond the desired outcome. We must return to a definition of right and wrong that come from beyond ourselves.
The United States will exist in some form after this November 5. But we will be nothing more than a shell of our former goodness.
We must seek—no, demand—truth from all American institutions. Not shift the goal posts. Not nuance away. Not deny. Not justify.
I am tired of being lied to–by the press, by our government, and by the “experts.” I am done trusting these institutions if given no reason to trust them. Either tell me the truth or stay out of my way.
That shouldn’t be too hard of a request.
When a public official takes the oath of office, they are swearing that oath to his or her ultimate boss, We the People. And we the people have to have the wisdom and discernment to hold them accountable. We can’t rely on conspiracy theories or unverified facts by some joker (like me!) on social media. We must research for ourselves. We must verify. We must be smart.
But most importantly we must be a moral person, moral not by whatever definition we personally make up but by an objective morality.
If we have no moral compass, no passion for truth, then our once great nation will die a humiliating and painful death.
The good news is, however, that whatever that outcome in November, we can take assurance that our King will still be on the throne.
It’s only been about 24 hours—one single day—since a would-be assassin nearly took aim at a former president. When I first heard about it, I posted a brief satire about possible ways the media would respond. My goal was to highlight the parody the media has become.
Sure enough, American journalism didn’t let us down. One prominent reporter for NBC was one of many who blamed Trump’s “heated rhetoric” as the reason a gunman tried to kill him. Another posted on X that there was no need to worry: “Trump’s ear was safe.” Another brushed aside the events of yesterday as though presidential assassination in almost common occurrence. Time magazine announced in a post on X that the political motivations of the shooter were unclear. (Fortunately, that post got ratioed and community notes were added mentioning the photo of a “Biden-Harris” bumper sticker on his truck, the over 20 donations to the Democratic Party, and several posts declaring Trump must be stopped.)
And the list of insanity among America’s “elite” goes on and on.
Honestly, if the earth moved under my feet, and the press was broadcasting that we just had an earthquake, I would be skeptical to believe them. They’ve lost that much credibility.
I am irritated by the media’s lack of self-awareness. They will look at the American people right in the eye as they tell us how objective they are. This lack of self-awareness is due, I contend, from the fact that the left controls not only the media, but big tech, the entertainment industry, academia, and big corporations. They can say pretty much whatever they want knowing it is very likely they won’t be called out for such a stupid comment.
Just once I would like to hear someone from the left condemn this specific act, not just the vague condemnation of “all political violence” before immediately going into the “both sides do it” deflection to try to lessen the shock that someone tried to kill a former president.
Honestly, the 2024 election cycle in the United States has made me wonder if God has removed his lampstand from this nation.
There is no truth in us. One candidate’s entire strategy is avoidance and deception. The other gets shot at after years of vilification from the left who now insist it’s the victims fault. And most of the country can barely look up from their cell phones to understand what is going on.
Our country cannot go on like this. We need to be a people who pursue truth more than their cause.
However, I have said before that I don’t see that happening. We’re too far gone. I truly believe God has turned the United States over to our sin.
Christ-followers need to pursue truth more than our cause. We need to be lovers of the Truth and call out the father of lies—even if they are proclaimed within our own political philosophy.
We have to become human again and quit justifying specific acts of violence to better fit our narrative.
We need to be honest with ourselves. And, unlike the media, we must be self-aware.
Can we get there? Sadly, I am not so sure. I can already anticipate the responses of “Yeah but,” and “What about…”
And I don’t think we Americans have the intellectual capacity to go beyond that level of response.
Has God removed his lampstand from this country? Truly only God knows that answer. Personally, I am afraid he has.
To get it back we must cry out to a merciful God for forgiveness. And we must be pursuers of truth, not justifiers of lies. There is no cause worthy of a lie. None.
Second assassination attempt today on a former president in about two months. Here’s a list of probable media responses:
1) Forget about by Tuesday
2) Downplay it by Monday
3) Question if it was real bullets from a real gun
4) Blame Trump for being so divisive, thus bringing it on himself
5) Link Trump to white supremacy, thus bringing it on himself
6) Make calls for toning down the heated rhetoric, especially that coming from that white fascist who is an existential threat to democracy and therefore must be stopped
7) Remind us that Kamala wants to heal our land
8) Publish a statement from the Harris Campaign that will read, “We condemn all violence. Vice President Harris grew up in a middle class family and loves the smell of cut grass. She understands what people are going through. Oh, and she doesn’t want to ban guns, except for the guns she wants to ban, but she believes in the 2nd Amendment with the exception of the guns most Americans own because her values haven’t changed. And did we mention that she understands the plight of the American people. And…who got shot at again?”
9) Write a Pulitzer worthy scoop about how the shooter used the word “trump” in a high school essay and is thus a Trump supporter and thus a white supremacist.
10) If the shooter turns out to be a liberal, refer to number 8 above as quickly as possible.
I wish this wasn’t funny, but the collective has made a parody of themselves.
have been breaking my cardinal rule recently about not (or at least trying not) to post political topics on social media. Why is it different this time?
For me, it is not an election about debating idea, but an election about hiding truth and rewriting reality.
Let me start off by saying that I have never been a real fan of Donald Trump. I didn’t vote for him the first time and reluctantly voted for him the second time. Though I agree with his policies, I wasn’t crazy about the man. It was kind of like Democrats/media said about Bill Clinton in the 90s when he perjured himself: character doesn’t matter; he was a “good president.” I didn’t agree then, and I hold to that now.
Personally, I wish he hadn’t run in this election. I felt that there were other good candidates. But Trump was nominated, and here we are.
I am told constantly what a bad man Trump is.
However, what bothers me is I am told this by people who will not hold their candidate to even a fraction of the same standards.
Truth is, I am tired—even fed up—with being lied to by institutions I should normally trust.
Beginning with COVID in 2020, it became clear that I was being fed a line by public health officials (and come to find politicians) about precautions and school closings—the latter of which we’re still dealing with the repercussions in education. People were being pressured with nazi-like tactics to receive a largely unproven vaccine. I remember vividly thinking then: if public health officials are behaving this way with covid, what’s going to happen when there is a far worse pandemic? Most—including myself—are no longer going to believe what they say.
I remember election night 2020. I went to sleep around 1 a.m. with Trump ahead of Biden. I woke up with Biden as President. I remember thinking: wow, in the remaining votes to be counted, over 80% broke for Biden—something statistically improbable. When I lived in Portland, I was always amazed how Multnomah election officials (and it was ALWAYS Multnomah County) constantly found boxes of uncounted ballots under the stairs somewhere in the building a couple hours after the polls closed. Can I prove something nefarious went on? No. Does that mean I trust the system? No, I don’t.
I try not to make accusation I can’t substantiate, but that doesn’t mean I am going to trust. I am particularly concerned that questions are not allowed to even being asked without mockery.
Next, in the last years, I am told constantly that everything is ok. It’s the greatest, fast-growing economy in history. Government officials state it, and the media mindlessly parrots it; however, walking out of Walmart with $200 worth of groceries that doesn’t even fill my cart or that the gas prices are still a dollar a gallon more than it was before 2020, it makes me wonder if the president isn’t trying out a Jedi mind trick on me (“this isn’t the economy your looking for”).
I have come to realize that government statements and quarterly reports are just spin and narrative control. Even on the rare occasion a sliver of truth is contained within, it will be spun to better fit a narrative. Even though, I might not be able to prove it, it doesn’t make me not suspect that I am being lied to.
Now we have a wildly unpopular, failure of a Vice-President overnight become a legitimate and visionary presidential candidate whose solely strategy is to not talk to her fawning media, hide her record (there is in-context video!), plagiarize at least three of Trump’s policies, and downright lie to us: “my values haven’t changed.” Even CNN had to call out her campaign after Harris released an ad in Arizona showing her support for a border wall that until July she had called racist. Last night was a debate that was a parody of itself. The media is not even trying to mask its intentions.
And though few people trust the media, we continue to let them.
Because our cause is greater than truth.
America cannot sustain itself on mistrust. We must demand truth from our leaders, our institutions, our media. We must hold them accountable for the deception they feed us daily. But in order to do so, we must be smarter.
And we must keep our moral compass.
Sadly, I am not sure that is even possible anymore.
I no longer have faith in the American people to make smart or moral choices. 2024 has shown that we as nation are heading for a cliff, and there seems little we can do to stop it. We cannot mandate intelligence; we cannot dictate morality. So we must let everything run its course and let this great nation implode.
I know I serve a God far bigger than this world. Yet I am also sad to see a great idea come to an end. Through history nations have crumbled due to their loss of a moral compass. America is no different.
I’ve officially began binging the tv series “The X-Files,” something I do every four year during a presidential election to avoid, um, everything to do with a presidential election. Tonight, it struck me that the show’s tagline was “The truth is out there.”
Huh. The good ol’ days when the truth was something we’ve actively sought.
Nowadays, not so much.
It amazes and befuddles me how little truth is sought in America. Actually, the last thing we want is to find truth. We spend more time trying to quash or hide truth. Preferred outcomes is what we seek. And this is dangerous.
I am starting to feel a little seasick from being whipped about from the continual rewriting of truth before our very eyes.
In this election, I see one candidate planning her election through avoidance and outright deception. For three years, this candidate served as the “border czar,” acknowledged by widely by the press until she wasn’t. 20 million illegal border crossings later, including several on the terrorist watch list, this term was an utter failure. Now, before our very eyes, she was merely assigned to “look for root causes to illegal immigration,” which is absolutely not true (there is video). For the last couple of weeks, the media has completely run cover for her. Now, today, she is running ads in Arizona saying how successful she was at cracking down on border crossings.
Then, suddenly, out of the blue, she promised no taxes on tips, and the press had a collective orgasm over her compassion. Trump made that promise weeks ago. Well, they nuance, these are different scenarios. No. Not true at all. It’s the narrative that matters.
Further, this candidate’s primary strategy seems to hiding from the press. JD Vance on Sunday did three hostile interviews, but Harris is promising an interview “by the end of the month.” (She hasn’t had one in the four weeks she became the nominee.
I’m sorry, I thought elections were about debating policy, not deceiving or hiding truth. I get the feeling her strategy is just not to say something stupid in the next three months.
I have seen too many interviews this week asking Harris supporters what she might bring to the White House. Their response: “She brings good vibes.” Never mind that six weeks ago, Harris was the most unpopular vice president in recent history. Now she’s the one for the job.
God help us.
The X-Files tagline is correct: the truth is out there. But we no longer seek it. We merely seek preferred outcomes, and truth be damned.
We’re absolutely being lied to. But the problem is: it working. Running from truth is a successful strategy. America is completely and willingly falling for it.
Our nation cannot sustain itself without seeking truth. We are running hell-bent toward the cliff. And I am deeply afraid that as a nation America will not stop.
Pending a sudden change of direction, or a merciful act by God, we’re going over that cliff. No matter who wins in November, we are going to come crashing down. And it won’t be pretty.
All because we refuse to seek truth. We only have ourselves to blame.
For now, I will continue watching The X-Files, relishing in the irony that the search for truth is being done more honestly in fiction than in the media.
I am going to do something I fight with myself every day to keep from doing: dive into politics on social media. In truth, what’s on my heart goes much deeper than political issues, and given America’s lack of ability to go beyond mere surface issues, it will likely go there. Still, I am going to put myself out there. Forgive the length.
In 2024, America is a dumpster fire. Sure, one can argue that the country has been a dumpster fire throughout the last decade; however, I feel that, over this summer, the flames have reached the half-filled gas cans and chemicals at the bottom of the dumpster and are about to explode.
2024 is a presidential election season, so we can usually expect a clown show that makes the movie “Idiocracy” less satirical and more prophetical.
But this one has been utterly bizarre. Since July, we watched a presidential debate which caused one campaign to implode. We witnessed an assassination attempt of a candidate by a 20-year-old kid who outsmarted what was thought to be the world’s most elite protection agency. Fortunately, a mere cock of the head made the difference between a clean shot to the temple and the a glance off the top of the ear. Then came Joe Biden suspending his campaign after being “encouraged” to do so. Then Vice-President Kamala Harris accepted the nomination without a single vote. This was followed by a media frenzy to literally rewrite history before our very eyes in order to sanitize her extreme radical statements and word salads into a more moderate position.
Then came the Olympics, from the opening ceremony to the women’s boxing controversy with a female competitor forfeiting the match after two blows to the head by a wannabe woman.
This summer has been unsettling to say the least. Questions rose within me, which really are more rhetorical than not but which will likely be deflected as “talking points” by people who would rather not think about them. They’re real questions asked by someone who is trying to truly understand the dumpster fire we’re currently in.
First, how did the media spend the last three-plus years trying to convince the masses that the president was sharp as a tack only to express surprise at his mental decline following the debate? For that matter, how did the White House press secretary get away with zero accountability after blaming Biden’s strange movements and distant expressions as “cheap fakes” only to drop the term following the debate?
How did a 20-year-old kid get on a rooftop 140 yards from his target with a rifle and a range finder under the watchful eye of the Secret Service? How is it that after three weeks they still don’t seem to know what happened?
Why are far too many people—from social media geeks to a firefighter to a city council member to a police sergeant—lamenting the fact that the shooter missed? How has society grown so barbaric?
How is it that following the shooting, the president tells the nation to tone down the heated rhetoric only to then call his opponent the greatest threat to democracy?
How is it those in charge proclaim with absolute certainty that they are fully accountable for the failures without actually being held accountable?
How is MSNBC’s Joy Reid still taken seriously after saying a case of Covid is just no different than getting shot in the head? For that matter, a week after the shooting, how can Whoopi Goldberg criticize Trump’s granddaughter’s speech for humanizing the man, urging her viewers that we can’t let them humanize him?
Have we lost the ability to detect irony? For that matter, how is it we are supposed to trust any of these institutions any more in word or in deed?
Is the media bipolar? How is it that the same media fawn all over Biden the last three years only to demand he step aside following the debate and before once again fawning all over him as “the greatest president ever” once he finally did so?
How is it the Vice-President with favorability ratings consistently the high 20s suddenly jump overnight be nearly 50%? Why is it that someone known to be the queen of word salads and zero accomplishments as VP, is now said to be the next greatest president ever?
Why are we letting the media scrub the internet of Harris as “border czar” even though they used that term regularly over the last few years? How come the title “most liberal senator” is now something that’s trying so hard to be hidden? How is she being hailed as a moderate even though there’s actual video of her saying the most insane things?
In the world of sports, how can the opening ceremony be hailed as unifying when it offends 25% of the world’s population? How can the organizers and participants claim that the last supper scene with drag queens was both based on that scene while at the same time saying it was a festival celebrating Dionysius? Is Dionysius the first thing that comes to mind when thinking of French culture?
How is Christians protesting the ceremony are told to get over it by the same people who in a million years would never do anything close to that with the prophet Muhammad? Or is the terrorist attack against the satirical magazine “Charlie Hebdo” still too fresh in their minds?
How is it that female boxer had to forfeit everything she worked for after getting hit in the head twice in 30 seconds by a wannabe woman? In pretty much everywhere, wouldn’t that be called domestic violence? Even after she said she (the real woman) had never felt a punch so hard before, she nevertheless received criticism for not shaking the dude’s hand after the match? Why is the media trying so hard to downplay this?
Why is it conservatives are called weird for their beliefs by a presidential candidate who has her picture taken alongside a dude with a beard in a dress while insisting men can have periods and get pregnant? How is this considered normal?
Further, how is it possible that anyone who asks questions like these considered bigoted and full of hate?
Honestly, any attempt to answer any of these questions will likely fall flat.
I am asking these questions—truly unsettling to one who is trying to get his head around what’s going on. These questions are really a reflection of a far bigger problem: us.
We the people.
We no longer strive for truth, but only what we want to hear. We are willing to be intellectually dishonest in order to justify our beliefs. We nuance, redefine, or move the goalposts to support our biases. We will even agree with that previous statement while having no intention of ceasing to do it ourselves.
Sadly, I am seeing a potential end of our society, and this is not because of whichever candidate wins the White House. I see it because we the people refuse to hold any standards or accountability toward politicians with whom we agree while accusing the others of setting double standards.
No matter who wins in November, the dumpster fire will continue to burn.
We the people are to blame for allowing these institutions to pour fuel on the fire.
Fifty—a hundred—years from now, history is going to shine its light on this past week in the United States and cringe if not maybe throw up in its mouth a little.
One week ago today, former president—and current presidential candidate—Donald Trump was shot during a campaign rally. By what many called divine intervention, Trump turned his head as the shooter pulled the trigger, marking the difference between a clean head-shot and a mere grazing of the ear.
Before this, every presidential assassination—or attempt—has caused the nation to pause. It didn’t matter if one was a Democrat or Republican, Americans have instinctively circled the wagons around their leader to collectively share their horror, grief, and anger following the event.
I was in the seventh grade with President Ronald Reagan was shot by John Hinckley, Jr. Lesson plans were put on hold as my teacher wheeled in a TV set to watch the updates following the horrific event. Politics paused. Debate took a breath. America became united that day.
At least for a time.
That was when we were still human.
That was when we saw each other as human.
That was when we weren’t categorized by our political or religious opinions.
This last week was the antithesis to all of American history.
The week following Trump’s assassination attempt was not the starting point of this change. It was more of a culmination.
In the hours since a bloodied Trump was rushed off-stage, posts surfaced on social media of individuals grieving that fact that the shooter missed. And this wasn’t just limited to wannabe influencers screaming in their parents’ basements. A Pennsylvania Fire Chief advised the shooter: “A little to the right next time please.”[1] (Ironically, the one individual killed during the assassination attempt was Pennsylvania firefighter Corey Comperatore.) A police sergeant in Dallas posted: “Aim better.”[2] A staffer for the New Jersey Education Association, stated: “What we know: they missed. Smh.”[3] A teacher in Ardmore City Schools in Oklahoma wished the Trump shooter “had [a] better scope.”[4] A school counselor in Yadkin County Schools posted: “I’m currently sitting on the beach this afternoon, disturbed by the fact, sickened with myself, that I was disappointed the shooter missed when I saw the news.”[5]
Fortunately, all of those examples posted above were either fired or resigned following the exposure to their hatred.
How did America get to this? How have we crossed the line between arguing over different political philosophies and wishing political opponents dead.
The media has to take a great deal of the blame. The late commentator Dr. Charles Krauthammer once said “Conservatives think liberals are stupid. Liberals think conservatives are evil.”
The media, government bureaucracy, and the entertainment industry has run with the latter.
For nine years, Trump was vilified, demonized, and dehumanized in these institutions. In this campaign, the Democrats have run solely on Trump being “an existential threat to American democracy.” Joe Biden himself stated that Donald Trump and his voters “represent an extremism that threatens the very foundations of our Republic.”[6]
For nine years, America has seen photos of “comedian” Kathy Griffin holding up a bloodied, severed head of Trump, Madonna saying she would like to blow up the White House, TV anchors and journalist calling everything Trump said were “lies” without specifically describing what those lies are. Then a week before the assassination attempt, one magazine cover showed a close-up of Trump with a Hitler mustache. Recently, New York congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, tapping into her hyperbole and lack of historical understanding, referred to Trump as a Nazi. This vitriolic rhetoric has come from the highest levels, including Biden himself. Even the White House itself has called Trump a fascist, racist, and “existential threat to democracy.”
With that kind of rhetoric, it is no surprise that one off-kilter ne’er-do-well decided to take it in his own hands to “neutralize” this threat to democracy. With that kind of vitriol, it was simply a matter of time before something like this was to happen.
My hope in the days after the Trump shooting would be that America would pause in the same way it had done throughout history. I prayed we would take time to reflect how we got here. There were calls to tone down the heated rhetoric. However, in typical American methodology, we acknowledged the heated rhetoric while at the same time justifying their own rhetoric because the other side is so evil.
I at least hoped that the media would stop and reflect what part they played in the heated rhetoric.
Sadly, that was not to happen.
The initial CNN headline initially reporting the assassination attempt was—and I wish I was joking: “Secret Service Rushes Trump Off Stage After He Falls at Rally.” The Associated Press’s headline read: “Donald Trump Has Been Escorted Off The Stage During A Rally After Loud Noises Ring Out In The Crowd.”[7]
In the days to follow, individuals seriously asked if the shooting was staged with one report stating in a poll 12% “suspected the event was ‘planned’, and 33% of Joe Biden’s supporters thought it was a set up.”[8] (And I thought conservatives were supposed to be the conspiracy theorists.) Fortunately, most of the main press openly corrected that misinformation.
Still, one does not look far to see the media downplay the shooting or simply to redraw the focus. When Trump stands after being shot and shouts “Fight! Fight! Fight!”, CNN’s Jamie Gangel lamented that this is “not the message that we want to be sending right now.”[9] CNN played victim in the aftermath: “You’re Next: Some Trump supporters blame the media for the assassination attempt.”[10] ABC’s George Stephanopoulos while basically denying President Biden contributed to the heated rhetoric implied Trump and his supporters share some of the blame: “President Trump and his supporters have – have contributed to this violent rhetoric as well.”[11] (Note: to a point, he is correct; however, to compare the Conservative’s rhetoric with that of Progressive’s is like comparing the shooting a bullet and throwing one.)
Likely the most retarded—and I use the literally definition of the word—came from MSNBC’s Joy Reid who, not only questioned if Trump was even shot, compared President Biden getting COVID (something that has happened to him three times) with Trump getting shot (something that has happened only a handful of times in American history:
This current President of the United States is 81 years old and has COVID, should he be fine in a couple of days, doesn’t that convey exactly the same thing? That he’s strong enough – older than Trump – to have gotten something that used to really be fatal to people his age. So, if he does fine out of it and comes back and is able to do rallies, isn’t that exactly the same?[12]
Sadly, America has not used the time following the shooting to reflect and commit to doing rhetoric differently. We have not looked within to see how we ourselves, individually and institutionally, contributed to the problem. (I even see a progressive response to this essay as: “well, you’re doing it right now” although I propose that shining a light on ugly examples of heated rhetoric is not the same as calling someone Hitler or wishing death upon political opponents.)
On Friday(July 19), congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee lost the battle to cancer at the age of 72. She was a Democrat and very liberal. Instead of celebrating her death, Republican Senator Ted Cruz posts: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my friend & colleague Sheila Jackson Lee. She was a tireless advocate for Houston. I will always cherish our friendship & the laughter we shared throughout the years. Heidi & I offer our prayers and sincerest condolences to her family.”[13]
We can and will have heated political discourse. That’s the strength of our republic.
But we have to stop seeing each other as evil. No one running for office is an “existential threat to democracy.” Anyone who has a novice knowledge of history knows that no one running for office is anything close to Adolf Hitler.
It is a difference of opinion. Everyone has one.
The person expressing a difference is still a human, one created in God’s image.
It is clear we can’t trust the media to tone down the heated rhetoric.
Instead, we have to do it ourselves.
I truly believe this is an area where the kingdom of God can clearly lead.
I had the honor to address the Graduating Class of 2024 on May 17. Several parents have asked if they could get a copy of my speech, so I am posting it here. Congratulations to all graduates! Cling to the cross in your future endeavors!
Photo by Aaron Bartosik
By nature, I am a storyteller. It is through story that meaning is best remembered and preserved. So tonight, permit me to speak to you through a metaphor.
Life is often described as a continual cycle of hills and valleys. At some point—perhaps like tonight—you find yourself atop a high mountain, overlooking breath-taking scenery stretching to the horizon. At other times, perhaps a few weeks or months ago, you stood in a valley, gazing up at the looming mountains around you, feeling too small and with too little energy to overcome them.
According to this metaphor, if you reach a mountaintop, a valley surely will follow.
However, I don’t think this metaphor is quite accurate. First, it seems to cast us into a frustrating, endless cycle of mountains and valleys. Second, the mountaintop experiences tend to be few and far between, and all too brief. As grand as mountaintops are, imagine reaching a summit only to see before you another wide chasm separating you from the next one.
Tonight, I want to leave with a different picture. Instead of a series of mountains and valleys, I want you to picture an amusement park. An amusement park called “Life.”
At just a few years of age, you enter the park through no choice of your own. Immediately, you are overwhelmed by the bright colors, swirling lights, and cacophony of laughter, screams, and chatter. Eventually, your parents hand you off to others outside the family to be your guides. These are elementary-school teachers. With great skill and patience, they lead you through the kiddie rides. They build your trust and encourage you—even gently push you—to try new experiences while they lay the foundation for more challenging rides.
Eventually, these guides pass you off to another group—the middle school teachers. In a new section of the park, they lead you through being a tweener—a crazy, topsy-turvy world of the funhouse with contraptions which spin you around like a dryer and mirrors, in which you everything about you looks wacky and distorted. They teach you how to use your mind, and a strange new tool called logic. They help you take the simple data you learned in elementary school and start to process it. They help you learn to make the best choices you can with the information you have—and they hold you accountable for those choices, whether good or bad.
Finally, these guides put you in a line to another ride, only this time they don’t hand you off to others. They just leave you there. This line is to a thrilling ride called “high school.”
This ride looks huge and terrifying. And you’re pretty sure much of the screaming you’ve heard since entering the park has come from THIS ride.
Four years ago, your turn finally came. You had no choice but to move forward, climb in, and strap yourself into the seat. With a tremendous lurch, your car slowly starts crawling forward.
Forward and up.
Way up.
You do not realize how steep and high it is until you start climbing that first hill.
Anticipation, horror, and excitement build as the ground gets further and further away. Your stomach knots up. You clutch the safety bar until your knuckles get white.
Suddenly, the car gradually levels out as you reach the top. You inhale for a scream as the car points almost straight down. With sudden exhilaration, you plummet. You can’t hear yourself scream.
This ride called “high school” is a rush.
A fast, dizzying, thrilling rush.
For the next four years, there is no chance to react or even catch your breath as you race through a series of hills, corkscrews, and loops. Your life is filled with complex math formulas, research papers, debates, sports, dramas, spirit weeks, and the beloved final exam. Sometimes there are moments of uncertainty that stretch you beyond what you thought were your limits. Other times there are the great thrills of placing at the state tournament, scoring a plum part in a play, or standing before the school to give a speech.
These four years have been a blur.
However, now the car has slowed down and returned the station. The ride is over. The years of thrills, excitement, frustration, laughter—even the occasional meltdown—have finally come to a stop. The safety bar is released. You climb out of the car, wide-eyed and weak-kneed; with eyes wide open, you can do is look at the person beside you and gasp, “What a ride!”
And here you are, trying to catch your breath, staring out at a crowd of people who are here to celebrate your great achievement.
Take this moment. Catch your breath. Remember this moment. Be still.
Because this is not an ending, but a beginning.
In the months to come, you are about to climb aboard an even scarier ride in the amusement park called “Life.” For each of you, it will be one like you’ve never experienced. It will have even “twister-y” twists and turns you never thought possible. At some point, you might feel like you’re facing the wrong way, and you might be thrown from this ride, winding up in an entirely new direction.
It is likely this ride will introduce you to new co-riders, not your fellow classmates here on this stage with you. It could even take you hundreds or thousands of miles from here.
Just like the last couple of months, as you’ve suffered from acute and pathological senioritis, you will at times wonder whether or not you can make it through the next ride.
But I am here to tell you: you will.
Everything you went through up to this point—every athletic event, dramatic performance, science experiment, and research paper—has prepared you for the next ride you will climb aboard. This next stage won’t be easy. It will have new challenges. And they will be different for each of you.
This ride is likely to include the joys of marriage, family, a satisfying career, and a life of service to others. I can attest that all of those things are great gifts. And I sincerely wish those gifts for you.
However, sooner or later it may also include a severe work challenge, an unwanted diagnosis, or the loss of a loved one. If God blesses you with long life, you may experience all of those difficulties and more. And I can attest that most of us do not naturally welcome such sorrows into our lives.
So I want to leave with you some important truths to take with you, and to cling to in your most uncertain moments.
First, remember that there is One who created this park. One who knows every facet of the park and sees things you cannot see. To this Creator, there are no surprises. He knows you and created you in his image. This Creator, whether you see him or not, has joined you on this ride. He writes himself into your journey and guides you with love and patience. He will laugh with you and guide you in the scariest moments. Your job is to trust him. Not only with salvation, but in every facet of your life.
Second, remember there is an enemy prowling around in this park doing everything he can to keep you from progressing to the next ride. He will try to lure you over to his rigged game, promising you great prizes at far too high a cost. He will show you an easier way through the park with far less effort. On face value it will seem like a good deal, but if you follow this enemy, you will quickly find yourself frustrated, lost, and in danger. Even though God created this park, it became corrupted by the enemy, making us to believe we humans can run it ourselves, without him. Because the park has been corrupted by the enemy, remember that life doesn’t play fair. It will throw you curve balls. It will broadside you. It will jerk you around like a rag doll. We live in a fallen world. This is why you must cling to the Creator. He’s bigger than life, more importantly, he’s far bigger than the enemy trying to pull you away from your journey.
Finally, remember this amusement park isn’t just about riding the rides. It is about helping others find their way. Whether your next steps take you on to college or into the workplace, never stay exclusively inward-focused. There are others on the ride with you. Others who are lost, confused, without hope. Love them. Serve them. Don’t become so focused on your journey that you pass them by. Jesus calls you to “make disciples.” That requires relationship. Be ready for whomever God brings your way. Your own experiences can help to guide them. Be the servant to others that God has prepared you to be. Ministry just doesn’t happen at church or on the mission field. It happens every time you walk out your front door – and also behind that door, in your own home.
I pray your years at Helena Christian School have helped prepare you for your journey through this park. Now you are ready to navigate it on your own. In Christ, you’ve got this. I leave you finally with this: always—always—cling to him when you need him most, and represent him to others when THEY do.
Eventually, you will climb off this exhilarating, frightening, and exhausting ride. And if you stick with him through it all, at that time the Creator and Redeemer will greet you, hold you, look into your eyes, and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Helena Christian School Class of 2024, I congratulate you. I love you and I am so proud of you.
And don’t forget to stop by and let us know how you’re doing.
It’s been twenty-four hours since the world celebrated what is undoubtedly the most important day in human history.
It’s the day we remember when a tiny group of people, who by the very nature of their existence, came to save humanity once and for all from ourselves.
Of course, I am talking about the “Transgender Day of Visibility.”
Though it’s been around for the last few years, this important day gained great traction in the culture in 2023 after a nine-year-old Christian kid in Tennessee shot up a transgender community, killing several.
Wait a sec.
I am pretty sure that’s not the way it went. Instead, it was a transgender person, who driven by raw hatred toward Christians (according to leaked pages from her manifesto that authorities have yet to release), killed six children and faculty from the Covenant School in Franklin, Tennessee.
To pour salt in the wound, within hours, White House Press Secretary Karim Jean-Pierre expressed remorse—not for the Christian community—but for transgender people: “It is shameful, it is disturbing, and our hearts go out to the trans community as they are under attack right now.”
Apparently, it doesn’t take much these days to confuse the victim with the attacker even in the White House.
But you would never know who the actual victims are if you were one of the few individuals outside of the media who still listen to the Biden Administration and then actually believe what they say.
Out of that brief bit of confusion of major details, President Joe Biden emphasized March 31 as the Transgender Day of Visibility.
Never mind that the LGBTQ group also get:
Anniversary of the Appointment of the First Openly Gay United States Federal Judge, Joseph Gale – February 6th
Two-Spirit and Indigenous LGBTQ+ Awareness to Celebration Day – March 21st
Bisexual Health Awareness Month – March
National LGBTQ+ Health Awareness Week – Every last week of March
National Youth HIV & AIDS Awareness Day – April 10th
National Transgender HIV Testing Day – April 18th
Nonbinary Parents Day – Every third Sunday in April
Lesbian Visibility Day – April 26th
International Family Equality Day – Every 1st Sunday of May
National Honor Our LGBT Elders Day – May 16th
International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia – May 17th
Harvey Milk Day – May 22nd
Pansexual and Panromantic Visibility Day – May 24th
Queer and Transgender Asian American/Pacific Islander Week – Every last week of May
Pride Month –June
Disability Pride Month – July
Transgender Flag Day – August 19th
Transgender History Month – August
Celebrate Bisexuality Day / Bi Visibility Day – September 23rd
National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day – Last Friday of September
Bisexual Awareness Week – Starts on the Sunday before September 23rd
International Lesbian Day – October 8th
National Coming Out Day – October 11th
International Pronouns Day – October 18th
Spirit Day for LGBTQ+ Youth – October 19th
Intersex Awareness Day – October 26th
National Transgender Children Day – October 26th
International Transgender Day of Remembrance – November 20th
Transgender Awareness Week – First two full weeks of November
Pansexual/Panromantic Pride Day – December 8th
Trans Youth Day – December 28th
Those are just some. I have seen counts of as high as 145 days of LGBTQ holidays within the calendar year.
And Christians only get two.
However, to most of pretty much everyone not directly involved in the LGTBQ movement or politicians who are not trying to virtue signal, these are just normal days on the calendar. We go on with our lives while politicians bloviate the importance of this community to a press that hardly anybody listens to.
That’s why yesterday–March 31, 2024—was an unusual day. It was a perfect storm—a day wherein the Transgender Day of Visibility overlapped with Resurrection Sunday.
On top of Biden not allowing religious symbols during the White House Easter Egg Roll, and making no acknowledgement of the day to the Christian community, the president got really sappy-goopy about the TDOV: “Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved. You are heard. You are understood. You belong. You are America, and my entire Administration and I have your back.”[1]
Boy, I’ll sleep good tonight.
Of course, the Christian community did not take this pandering lightly. Social media went absolutely apoplectic, describing their rage at this offense. Even Trump jumped on board, demanding an apology from the White House.
The cynic in me wonders if this is done intentionally. The world seems to love to get a rise out of the Christian community. It almost wants us to react to support their narrative. However, this conspiracy is little more than a sneaking suspicion.
But the Christian community reacted.
The backlash was so great that even Jean-Pierre on Monday morning pooh-poohed the response by using the standard White House go-to deflection—misinformation: “So surprised by the misinformation that’s been out there around this and I want to be very clear” (Of course tone-deaf individuals would be surprised). She then went on to educate us faith-filled simpletons all the while continuing to miss the point: “Every year for the past several years on March 31, Transgender Day of Visibility is marked.”
The truth is, I agree with the frustration and outrage that a lot of Christians felt yesterday. Jesus is my Savior and king, and his act of redemption got snubbed by the groveling over a group of people who are literally groveled over every other day of the year by those trying to score political points.
It was deeply offensive and even downright hurtful. To not even acknowledge the most sacred days of tens of millions is, to me, yet another example of what those in the White House think of us.
Then again, the world hates us. They hate the very thing we stand for. But Jesus said we shouldn’t be surprised by this:
“If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you” (John 15:18-19).
It’s been that way since the first Good Friday.
It should come as no surprise that the world is going to try to deflect from the power of the cross and the empty tomb.
I stewed over this all day yesterday. I was really frustrated and annoyed.
Then it hit me: I literally spent Resurrection Sunday thinking more about the parody show at the White House than I did about the empty tomb.
In truth, Jesus doesn’t need to be defended. Jesus has withstood far tougher attacks from far more powerful kings through history. The Biden Administration’s declaration doesn’t concern him. Yet a lot of Christians like me were more concerned about the slight. I am starting to think Satan used this to get Christians’ attention onto TDOV and not the resurrection itself.
Jesus himself said, “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself” (John 12:32).
The Christ-follower’s job is not to defend Jesus. It is not to be offended on his behalf. Our job is to worship him, to stand in awe of the empty tomb, and to celebrate the risen Savior.
