Open War is Upon You, Whether You Would Risk It or Not

Yesterday, we heard from Peter Birkenhead as he, in essence, told us to stop waiting around for the miraculous Pauline conversion on the Damascus Road of the MAGA Cult. The central lesson of the New Testament is that, for every Paul, there are seventy disciples and a dozen apostles who take forever to get a clue, as well as lots of people ready to beat the snot out of them, crucify them, and put them to the sword. Conversion is always a miracle of grace, but most such miracles take years to happen. The Twelve spent three years with Jesus, along with 70 other disciples. They too thought that on Palm Sunday, his triumph was assured and that those who opposed Jesus would just fold like a house of cards without any effort on their part at all. It turned out that they were wrong not only about the imminent instant conversion of the population of Jerusalem, but about their own conversion as well. They barely believed Jesus more than the mob did and they all fled as he warned them they would do. The mob could at least plead ignorance. What was the apostles’ excuse? What was Peter’s excuse?

Speaking of the mob that demanded Jesus’ crucifixion at the behest of their corrupt leaders, I think that, broadly speaking, a democracy gives us the government we want and deserve. Trump has been the most effective catalyst for evil in my lifetime. He is a remarkably seductive satanic presence. But the thing about the devil is that he does not and cannot make us sin. My working assumption is that God only allows such episodes in history as we are living through in order to expose a pre-existing cancer to light prior to surgery. Trump didn’t create this sin that so many “faithful, pro-life Christians” have now embraced. He simply gave it permission to manifest itself and a disturbing percentage of us said, “Hell yeah!” while another disturbing percentage could not be bothered to stop it. There remains hope. But we have a lot of contrition, repentance, and firm purpose of amendment to do. Because the origins of Trumpism are spiritual, not political.

That is why my other working assumption is that this is why God has not yet removed him. He is not the source of the problem: we are. He gave us what the worst of us wanted and what a wide swath of us could not be bothered to care about. When we start to attack the real issue–the sin we cling to that Trump catalyzes like an enzyme–then we will be rid of him because we will finally be facing the heart of the problem: ourselves and our sin. Till then, it appears God will be pursuing the “If that’s what you want, then smoke the whole pack right now, kid” method of letting us experience the Joy of Perverted Free Will Liberated from All Responsibility that Trump lives and that we have stupidly envied since the Fall.

It’s hard to argue that Trump is not a reflection of the American people. The biggest lie we have told ourselves for the past eight years is, “This is not who we are.” I prefer the words of the Confiteor to such denialist bullshit. I also prefer clear speech about the fact that Trump is a lawless Tyrant to this rubbish:

“Legally questionable” my ass. It’s tyrannical and signals his intention to double down on defying the Supreme Court in order to kidnap innocents and throw them in concentration camps forever. Speak the truth, for the love of God! Stop intoning “This is not who we are” in the very act of proving that it is who we are because you are too gutless to oppose it.

It is not who we have to be and we can repent and change. But if this is “not who we are” then why have we elected this monster twice? I think it’s wiser to start with “We have sinned, like our fathers before us” and “Through my fault, through my fault, through my own most grievous fault.” If you are personally innocent of supporting this bullshit, then offer your innocent sufferings in union with Christ who was absolutely innocent, but who still united himself with those who murdered him. We are Americans. We did this. We have to fix it by the grace of God because, as we keep demonstrating over and over, we sure as hell are terrible at fixing it without the grace of God.

Meanwhile, what will be necessary in the present hour will be to defeat the active and wilful evil of this malignant cult and the satanic Christofascist heresy that fuels it. This must done with the Weapons of the Spirit or we will simply be swapping whose hand wears the One Ring. And that means that those of us with recourse to prayer must do so, not as a prophylactic against action (as the Cult always does with their blasphemous “thoughts and prayers” in order to avoid taking responsibility) but with prayer as the preparation for smart, wise-as-serpents-and-innocent-as-doves action empowered by the Holy Spirit. Instead of waiting around for our enemies to do our job for us by magically changing when they have shown us a thousand times they have no intention of doing so, we have to bring the fight to them. We must stop deluding ourselves that the Cult is going to wake up and say, “Jeepers! We’ve been lied to.” They haven’t merely been lied to. They have chosen to lie to themselves. They have actively opted for unreality. They hug it to their breast and will kill, if necessary, those who try to change their hearts and minds. Trump, above all, means to hold on to power by any means necessary and will not hesitate to murder if he thinks he can get away with it. Every day sees him pushing boundaries in an effort to reach that point.

Fortunately, he is also a moron and a coward, and that buys us time through unforced errors and delays in rolling out the agenda. As Tolkien observes (commenting about Hitler in a letter written during the war), “[T]he odd thing about demonic inspiration and impetus is that it in no way enhances the purely intellectual stature: it chiefly affects the mere will”. I think Trump is demonically inspired and that we underestimate his will to power at our grave peril. He’s an idiot, as was Hitler, with a mind hermetically sealed to new ideas and information because his pride tells him he is a genius. But what he lacks in intelligence (beyond raw predatory cunning) he (nearly) makes up for in the sheer dogged will to persist in lies and cruelty.

And, for about 35% of Americans, that is enough to win allegiance. They will have to be defeated, not persuaded. Merely waiting around for people who have clamped their eyes shut to see the Light is lazy folly. We have to be the proactive ones and bring the fight to them, not wait for them to admit they are wrong.

That is not to say persuasion will not remain a vital part of this fight for the other 2/3s who do not yet realize their peril. Five million stood up against the Tyrant on April 5 and more are joining every day. But those numbers out of a potential electorate of 244,666,890 are still small. In 2024 only 156,302,318 (63.9%) got around to voting at all. We have a lot of work to do to persuade that 156 million, let alone the other 88 million who did not bother to vote that everything they have known of liberty and sanity and basic ordinary life as Americans stands on a knife edge if this mad cult gains a permanent upper hand and the power to murder and throw innocents into what is already the largest gulag in history any and every citizen the Tyrant arbitrarily wills.

Take nothing for granted, but do not despair either. This is but the latest phase in an ancient war and it is our part to fight as well as we can.

Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having fastened the belt of truth around your waist, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and having shod your feet with the equipment of the gospel of peace; besides all these, taking the shield of faith, with which you can quench all the flaming darts of the Evil One. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. Pray at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints. (Eph 6:10–18)