Turning Point

This is adapted from a Facebook post I put up on September 15th. It got 30 responses, substantially more than I get when I post my blog pieces. I've put my new additions in bold.

 I really haven't posted or said much about the Charlie Kirk assassination. It's a horrible thing, and that it happens so often in this country makes me very upset, especially the mass shootings in schools, churches, shopping areas, and more. Everyone wants to blame the shooter as a leftist or a right-wing extremist. I don't know. Trying to look at it is like looking through a kaleidoscope - every time you twist it, you can come up with a different answer.

Presently, there is more coming out about a connection between the shooter and a transgender friend. Although the killer seems mostly apolitical, he may have been recently riled up about Charlie Kirk's extreme and hateful rhetoric against the lgbtq community, with special vitriol reserved for the transgender community. The killer was part of a gaming group, who, from the posts I've seen, are just kids, typical online gamers, like my son, Benjamin.

Still, don't jump to conclusions. The kaleidoscope is still twisting.

The same is true with Charlie Kirk. Is he an exemplary Christian, or is he a leading promoter of the heresy of Christian Nationalism? The quotes I see from him clearly identify him as racist, misogynistic, anti-LBGTQ, pro-Russian/anti-Ukraine, in favor of the Gaza genocide being perpetrated by Netanyahu, against children getting free school lunches, and more values that seem to me more anti-Christian than pro-Christian.

However, perhaps I'm only seeing things from those who share my views. There may be some quotes and positions that I'm missing. So, please, if you manage to break through the Facebook algorithms and see this, are there any quotes you know of that are pro-Christian and not representative of the push towards Christian Nationalism? I would appreciate it if you could point to any.

As far as the kaleidoscope goes, be aware that the dials that are twisting are now in the hands of a very partisan FBI and Department of Justice. Trump knows what he wants this to look like, and he won't stop pushing until he gets it.

So, the tragedy of this (the horrible, inexcusable loss of an American for speaking out) is going to be amplified, and taken in directions that will only increase the stain of hate and violence that has dominated this country, especially since the escalator ride more than a decade ago.

Charlie Kirk represented an organization known as Turning Point USA. The conservative movement was losing the youth vote significantly, and Charlie was meant to help stem the tide. He boldly went on to college campuses and challenged anyone to prove him wrong. His tactics may have been manipulative and full of false equivalencies; nevertheless, he was willing to engage in rhetorical battle. Although I can argue about his techniques, I can't be against the idea of the free exercise of speech. The turning point he was looking for was to turn as many young people as he could back to MAGA and Christian Nationalists' ideals. Not pleasant, but within the realms of our democracy.

This is not the turning point that Trump, Miller, and other extremeists are looking for. The turning point they are looking for is nothing less than stamping out all opposition, including eliminating the Democratic Party, and starting the dance of one-party rule.

The persecution of the lgbtq community will accelerate, with special venom saved for the transgendered. People who have dared to not canonize Kirk have lost their jobs. All incidents of right-wing violence have been edited out of existence. They will go after educators. They will threaten corporations and businesses that don't toe the line.

At some point, this may play itself out. Trump has little staying power on any topic. However, we can clearly see what they want and what they are hoping for.

They are looking for the turning point, the excuse to put out the dying embers of democracy.

We must resist for as long as we can.

HERESY!

 Recently, I posted this on Facebook:

As bold as I've been in stating my opinion, I may still not have made something absolutely clear. Christian Nationalism is a heresy. And those who profess it are not Christians; they are heretics. They do not deserve a seat at the table.

It received 35 likes/loves. As far as my posts go, that's a pretty high number.

What it did not receive were any dislikes, nor did it receive any negative comments.

I just called out one of the major religious movements in America, and nobody was there to defend it, or get upset that I was calling them out?

Why?

First, there is the fierce algorithmic control exerted by Facebook. It's possible that very few on the opposite side saw this. I am reminded of the joke about a new person entering heaven and being shown around by an angel. They get to a mountain and look down into a valley where all the Baptists are. The new person asked why they were isolated, and the angel answered, "Shh! They don't know anyone else is here!"

This isolationary algorithm may be giving us a warped idea of what's out there. This may be affecting our view of what's happening regarding our opinions of what's happening to LaVonnia Moore, the librarian fired for a patron-selected display that included an award-winning book that featured a transgender child. We see our Facebook feeds, those of us who support her, and think, 'Wow!' There is a ton of support for her and very little opposition! Surely we are in the majority!

What we don't see are the voluminous number of hateful bogots on the other side. They have been muted from our social media feeds.

Second, this may have gotten little negative response, because many don't recognize that they are Christian Nationalists. I doubt if many churches are blunt about identifying what they are. So, many think I'm talking about somebody else.

No, let's be clear. I am talking about YOU. Virtually all the white churches in this area range from Christian Nationalist heavy to Christian Nationalist lite. They either openly espouse Christian Nationalist philosophy, or they are tolerant of it, and don't call it out as a heresy.

In future posts, I hope to clarify what Christian Nationalism is and which churches here lean most heavily into it.

Briefly, if yours is more of a God of Fear than a God of Love, then you lean more towards Christian Nationalism. If you think of America as God's chosen people, you lean more towards Christian Nationalism. If you value authority and control more than democracy and tolerance, you lean towards Christian Nationalism. If you view immigrants as less than human and want them deported, especially to maintain some fancied cultural purity, then you lean Christian Nationalist.

That's just for starters.

Grace Episcopal Church in Waycross (my church) is not a Christian Nationalist church. That does not mean we don't have individual parishioners who are influenced by Christian Nationalism. But that is not the theme of the church, and it is not espoused by church leadership. The same is true of Blackshear First United Methodist Church.

I live in a county where 90% of those who were able to vote voted for Trump. The devotion to him ranges from cult-like to seeing him as a useful tool. I find him to be the most anti-Christian leader we've ever had.

The New Testament warns of false prophets. Many are selling out their faith, moving themselves farther and farther from anything Jesus espoused, to cozy up to a narcissistic con-man who only cares about himself, and is the least religious/spiritual man to ever occupy the White House.

I have faith Christianity will survive. Most heresies burn themselves out. The true spirit of Jesus, the God of Love, will triumph in the end.

I pray that is so.