Jan
10
Our Country, Capitol, and Character
I’m struggling.
Struggling with feelings of anger, frustration, appallment, disappointment, fear, sadness, etc., in regards to both our nation (the U.S.) and the invasion of the U.S. Capitol building by mostly-pro-Trump protesters on Jan. 6. (And it was neither an attempted “coup” nor “domestic terrorism”, by the way.) On the other hand, the Bible says that I as a follower of Christ should cast my cares on Him (I Peter 5:7) and trust in the Sovereign God who is in control (Psalm 33). I also struggle with what to believe and what to say about the latter events, particularly because of the great amount of rumor, assumption, distraction, and general deception one must wade through.
I may or may not eventually post something about the storming of the Capitol and its repercussions. In the meantime, I would like to share a few comments I saw and appreciated on Facebook.
A friend posted the first commentary here, though it’s not by him and he doesn’t know who wrote it. Regardless, it summarizes a lot of the alarming stuff that is going on in this nation….
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“This morning, I realized that everything is about to change. No matter how I vote, no matter what I say, lives are never going to be the same.
I have been confused by the hostility of family and friends. I look at people I have known all my life so hate-filled that they agree with opinions they would never express as their own. I think that I may well have entered the Twilight Zone.
You can’t justify this insanity. We have become a nation that has lost its collective mind.
We see other countries going Socialist and collapsing, but it seems like a great plan to us.
Somehow it’s un-American for the census to count how many Americans are in America.
People who say there is no such thing as gender are demanding a female President.
Universities that advocate equality, discriminate against Asian-Americans in favor of African-Americans.
Some people are held responsible for things that happened before they were born, and other people are not held responsible for what they are doing right now.
Criminals are caught-and-released to hurt more people, but stopping them is bad because it’s a violation of THEIR rights.
People who have never owned slaves should pay slavery reparations to people who have never been slaves.
After legislating gender, if a dude pretends to be a woman, you are required to pretend with him.
It was cool for Joe Biden to “blackmail” the President of Ukraine, but it’s an impeachable offense if Donald Trump inquiries about it.
People who have never been to college should pay the debts of college students who took out huge loans for their degrees.
Immigrants with tuberculosis and polio are welcome, but you’d better be able to prove your dog is vaccinated.
Irish doctors and German engineers who want to immigrate to the US must go through a rigorous vetting process, but any illiterate gang-bangers who jump the southern fence are welcomed.
$5 billion for border security is too expensive, but $1.5 trillion for “free” health care is not.
If you cheat to get into college you go to prison, but if you cheat to get into the country you go to college for free.
And, pointing out all this hypocrisy somehow makes us “racists”!
Nothing makes sense anymore, no values, no morals, no civility and people are dying of a Chinese virus, but it is racist to refer to it as Chinese even though it began in China.
We are clearly living in an upside-down world where right is wrong and wrong is right, where moral is immoral and immoral is moral, where good is evil and evil is good, where killing murderers is wrong, but killing innocent babies is right.
Wake up America. The great unsinkable ship Titanic America has hit an iceberg, is taking on water and sinking fast.”
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The following piece is from an acquaintance by the name of Joseph Gervais. (We have FB friends in common.) We don’t always agree, but he’s a sharp guy and worth “listening” to:
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“Over the last couple of days I’ve heard many, many leading Republicans denounce what happened in DC yesterday. In fact, I haven’t heard of even one defending it. However, I can GUARANTEE that if the roles were reversed and yesterday’s events unfolded at the hands of a pro-[Democrat president] group, NOT ONE SINGLE leading Democrat would denounce it. FACT.
And THAT, my friends, is EXACTLY why there’s such division in this country. One side is willing to call out bad actors on their side of the fence and the other is not.
If a kind of behavior or statement is bad for one side to engage in, it must be bad for the other side, as well.
Until those on the left are willing to call out their own for the ridiculous, incendiary, and stupid things they say and do, there is absolutely ZERO chance of any unity in this country. Democrats could end the division in the country TODAY if they stopped applying double standards of judgment and started holding other Democrats to same standards of decency that Republicans hold other Republicans to. But they won’t. There’s too much power at stake for Democrat leadership to encourage anything but continued division.
The left continually tries to blame conservatives for the bitter divide among citizens, but who is it that controls the core institutions in our country?
News Media: The left.
Entertainment Media (Hollywood): The left.
Academia: The left.
Big Tech: The left.Don’t blame conservatives for the anger and caustic infighting going on. They’ve not controlled any of the core institutions for decades. Responsibility for this nation’s divide rests solely at the feet of those on the left who have, for decades, systematically used these institutions to tear down our country in a quest to gain and wield unmitigated political power. And what we’ve just done, as a nation, over the past couple of months, by giving Democrats control of ALL OF GOVERNMENT is say to them that the immoral, repugnant, fascist behavior of the left is A-OK.
The division will continue. Good people on the left have not stood up against the transgressions of their own party and there’s no indication they will any time soon. The gut-wrenching is about to get a whole lot worse. Enjoy.”
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This final quote is from Christian philosopher William Lane Craig:
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“THE LESSON OF DONALD TRUMP
The case of Donald Trump is an object lesson how a man’s flawed character can lead to his own undoing. Given his considerable accomplishments — such as the appointment of three Supreme Court justices, brokering a Mideast peace agreement, engineering a revival of the US economy, revitalizing the US military, confronting China’s economic and military threat, stemming the tide of illegal immigration, and much more — he could have been a great US president. But he has been his own worst enemy. Like a figure in a Greek tragedy, his nemesis is his own deeply flawed character, which has contributed to his downfall. This should be a lesson to every Christian, but especially to those in leadership positions, to be mindful of our character development, to try to recognize, as best we can, our own sinful proclivities, and to allow the Holy Spirit to do His work in conforming us to the image of Christ, lest we bring disrepute upon His name.”
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Whether or not you agree with everything above, there are some very good observations and advice in there. Definitely food for thought, as we try to figure out how to move forward.
