WHAT I CAN TELL YOU ABOUT THE VICTIMS

When the news broke of the release of the report about the pedophile scandal in the Catholic Church in Pennsylvania, all hell broke loose on social media, and everyone seemed to be focused on lengthy discussions about how to punish the evildoers, and how to fix the Catholic Church so that this does not happen any more.

At first, I joined the conversations. As a convert, I was horrified by the revelations of the ever-widening scope of the pedophile ring. Then I realized that none of the posts I was reading made mention of the victims. The focus seemed entirely on the perpetrators, present and future. I found that odd.

After questioning many people about this remarkable lack of interest in the victims, and reading many weak and unconvincing arguments about why it was somehow 'right' to ignore them, I realized that there is STILL considerable squeamishness around this topic. WHY? Evidently, the fact that the victims were subjected to sexual abuse makes other people feel uncomfortable.

As a victim of several instances of childhood sexual abuse and rape, I am speaking out for the victims in the Catholic Church scandal. Rapes and assaults are not part of the "sexual history" of someone who has been assaulted, and there is no reason why anyone should be embarrassed about the fact that they have been victimized. Assault and rape are not "sex." They are crimes against innocent persons. Though my PTSD would flare dramatically if I was made to recount the details, I do not mind presenting my credentials as one of a huge group of people violated by adults when we were children.

I was sexually abused by my father when I was a toddler.

My first stepfather tried to rape me when I was 7 years old.

My second step father tried to strangle me when I was 11.

When I was 14, I was drugged, gang raped, and thrown into a river to die.

Instead of just jumping right into a vigorous discussion about how to punish the latest batch of perpetrators and their co-conspirators, I would ask, what would Jesus do? His first care would be for the victims, which is what I recommend.

Empathy, sympathy, kindness, emotional support, prayer vigils; these are all good things, but mostly I recommend that, instead of barging in and making pronouncements of the causes and cures of the pedophilia problem in the Catholic Church, we should first care for the victims.

While most of us will not have access to the actual victims of these specific crimes, neither do we have access to the movers and shakers in the curia. Our impact on the authorities at the top of the institutional hierarchy is no different than the impact we might have on the victims. There is really no good reason why we should be ignoring the victims and jumping on top of the "crime and punishment" aspect of the issue, nattering endlessly about what caused this and how to fix.

It is nearly hilarious the large number of people who behave as if their opinion about what the Church should do is very very important. Very. Never mind that none of us has any power over what the Vatican does! Their opinion is important, darn it! (Sarcasm.) There are fights breaking out. It is unnecessary, and I have the feeling that all the effort spent in arguing for one's personal opinion just rubs the emotional wounds raw. We are powerless in the grip of disturbing news about the government and about the church, and it is all too much.

Don't get me wrong. I have an opinion, but I'm not married to it. Basically, I think the cause of this widespread problem in the institution of the church is Satan. Satan loves to attack The Church. He infiltrates as a wolf among the sheep. He enters the seminaries. He rises in the ranks.

Putting aside the spiritual reality of the situation, I offer the observation that predators are attracted to any situation in which he or she will have access to their prey. You find them in the schools, in the support staff for team sports, in day care centers. Wherever there is easy access to the predator's preferred prey, they are there.

For instance, divorced mothers with young children are famously vulnerable to pedophiles who  move into the home and, at night when the wife is asleep, or when they are 'babysitting,' they assault the children. Scores of vulnerable women have been fooled into letting men into their home and trusting these virtual strangers to have access to their children, based upon nothing more substantial than a bunch of sweet sounding words, a few expensive dinners, and some gifts. The man did not become a pedophile AFTER he moved into the home. He was always a pedophile. He targeted that home and those children.

Many people are saying that "The Church" created predators. In their mind, it is because of celibacy or clericalism or the lack of female priests. Homosexuality gets the blame by some, who mistakenly believe that abuse of boys by men assumes that the perpetrator is homosexual. (Some ARE homosexual, but if they routinely violate children, they are pedophiles! Homosexuality and pedophilia are two separate things!)

The Church, like schools and day care centers and young mothers with underage children, represent opportunities in which predators hope to enjoy close access to prey. Access to prey doesn't CREATE the predators. Predators are the wolves. The Church is a pen that holds the lambs. The wolves do whatever they have to do to get access to the lambs.

But, whatever the cause of these crimes, I would suggest that everyone stop wasting their time trying to figure it out on Facebook. The public at large is not in possession of all the facts necessary to come to a proper conclusion, no matter how convinced we are of our accuracy in diagnosing the causes and cures of the problems the church currently faces. It is way beyond our pay grade.

So, what SHOULD we do? First, I recommend continual prayers for the victims and, if you have the ability, donate your time and your money to agencies that help with mental health concerns because people who have been assaulted by predators usually grow into adults with considerable emotional and psychological baggage. Some commit suicide. MANY go on to become abusers themselves, and that's a real tragedy. We should stay centered in love, care and concern for these souls who continue to suffer for the rest of their lives. The damage of abuse can be ameliorated, but it is never eliminated.

This is the jumping off point where research into the agencies that administer programs for adult survivors of abuse can be helpful. We do not have to find those specific people who suffered at the hands of these particular priests. Anyone who has been violated is in need of our prayers, and the community of sufferers in our society is huge.

There are many possible avenues of help, and this little blog is not meant to be exhaustive. I am just trying to get people to give some attention to the victims instead of pontificating about punishments.

It is worth noting, also, that many people are using this opportunity to trash Catholic moral teaching on sexual matters, wrongly claiming that celibacy is responsible for the assaults. There is absolutely NO evidence for that point of view whatsoever. Many religions advocate for the restraint of the sexual urges as a means of accessing higher mystical realms.

We can only have faith that, somehow, the institutional church will repair itself. Like everyone else, I have many ideas about how that might be accomplished, but it would be a waste of my time and yours to prattle on about it here.

I know several people who are leaving because of this scandal. My approach is to stay and fight Satan, but I understand some people do not feel strong enough to do it. They will learn, in future, that "The Catholic Church" did not create the predators and that Satan and his minions are everywhere. Perhaps the disaffected Catholics will return, once the overwhelming reality of the situation is demonstrated to them.

OF COURSE we should let our feelings be known and heard at the highest levels in the church hierarchy, but effective change will not be easily made, because this problem has been known for many many years, and the hierarchy is so clogged with perverts, little has been done.

But let us not forget to care for the victims. After all, when we happen upon a terrible accident on the highway, we take care of the injured first.

God save us all.

Silver Rose

THE POPE SHOULD MEET WITH THE VICTIMS

Social media is abuzz with ideas about what should be done about the Catholic hierarchy, specifically the Bishops, after the just-released report of the pedophile ring in the Pennsylvania Catholic churches.

Many people are loudly advocating that ALL American bishops should resign. Apparently, the Venezuelan bishops made the gesture, but not all of the resignations were accepted by the Pope.

We do not need grand empty gestures. I am quite sure that the victims need more than "thoughts and prayers" and gestures and more words. Words words words.

Our Jesus was a hands-on kind of guy. People loved Jesus because he turned his face upon them and accepted them personally and individually, despite their low position in society.

If the Pope really is on the side of the victims, he should come to America and meet with each victim individually because that is what Jesus would do. 

It is the institutional hierarchy that allowed these horrors to occur, therefore, the ultimate authority in that hierarchy must submit itself to those injured by it.

The Pope must come to America and humble himself before each and every victim that wishes to speak with him. That is where we must start - with the personal, individual healing of each and every victim.

I urge every Catholic to petition Rome for the Pope to come here, meet with the victims, and begin the healing.

God save us.

Silver Rose

THE POWER OF THE MIND

Saint Julian of Norwich

Anchoress

I went to mass yesterday for the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. There was a visiting priest who spoke about beginning one's transformation into a person of Christ by starting with a turn of the mind to think well of others, such as the immigrant, the poor, etc. I appreciated his homily very much, as it spoke to my background as a contemplative nun.

Everything begins in the mind. Every action we take is an expression of something that has started in the mind. Whatever forms the basis of your overall value structure is going to be reflected in your actions.

To the degree to which our stated values differ from our actions is the degree to which our commitment to those values is deformed. In simplistic terms, if we say we are Christian, but we refuse to forgive our enemies and, instead, advocate for retaliation, our actions betray us, since they are in stark contradiction to the Christian values we espouse.

Yesterday, we awoke to news that Donald Trump had retaliated against another detractor by pulling his security clearance, a clear abuse of power that has come to be commonplace for this dictator wannabe whose brutal tactics and vulgar xenophobic, racist and misogynistic language have made the United States universally hated. Many of us no longer feel safe in America, thanks to this malignant narcissist and his fascist sycophants.

Also in the news was the shocking final result of the investigation into the pedophilia scandal of the Pennsylvania Catholic Church. Something like 300 priests violated more than 1,000 children, one as young as 18 months old! The priests were protected by the bishop and others. Reports of the incidents used code words like "boundary issues" to describe assaults and rapes. Horrific details of the violations of these children filtered out through multiple newscasts and reports, resulting in a chaos of grief and anger on social media and among my friends.

We have reached a dangerous point in our national history. We can no longer depend upon the government for stability, integrity, and the rule of law and, just when we most need the church to hold onto, we find that it, also, has been infiltrated by Satan. What can we do?

The very first thing to do is remind ourselves and one another that, while Satan has infiltrated our church, we cannot give up our hope. We cannot give up our faith. Christ is not diminished by the wolves in sheep's clothing that have savaged our children and marred the edifice of the institutional church in the process. Our faith is no less valid now than when it was given to us by Christ, and we must not judge our religion by the reprehensible acts of individuals who have failed to live up to its lofty aims.

In addition to practical measures that need to be taken to fight Satan where he has infiltrated our government and our religious institutions, we must continue to remind ourselves of Christ and to look upon the world with the eyes of Christ. We must continue to incline our minds toward the Lord and think as he does. Contemplation and meditation helps us do this.

This is a very simple practice. In a quiet place, sit comfortably erect, if you can, and meditate upon Christ. Just think of him and his qualities. Think upon him sitting in your heart, the center of your being. Establish the feeling of Him within yourself. Then, take a lesson from the Gospels in which Jesus has demonstrated a love for the poor, for instance, and adopt that love as your own, in your mind.

Think of Jesus sitting in your heart. Think upon his loving heart. His heart becomes your heart. Gaze upon the world from that perspective. That is it. Deceptively simple, but give it a try.  Even if you only have a few moments, try to do this practice whenever you can - preferably three times a day.

Our true foundation and all our stability comes entirely from Christ - not from our government or our religious institutions. We must continue to establish our entire being in Him and Him in us.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

BARABBAS IN THE MODERN WORLD

I chose Christianity, not because of childhood indoctrination, but because I read the works of some Catholic mystics while I was living as a Hindu-style nun, and became inspired. Considering that my value system also resonated with Christian principles of morality and social justice, it made sense to explore the faith. I thought I might become a Catholic nun. So I left the Hindu convent, went back to work at a law firm in Beverly Hills, and started RCIA classes in a nearby Catholic Church. I could not do anything else, because I had found The Truth and, although I loved my life in the Vedanta convent, which provided an ideal mix of group living and independence, I could not remain there. I felt I had found the higher truth.

When I first read about the angry mobs who screamed for Jesus to be locked up, and again when they chose Barabbas instead of The Lord, I read these passages with the sense that these people were obviously a primitive lot because no one would be so stupid as to pick a common criminal instead of Jesus. I had picked Jesus, and I was nothing special. Even I could see his greatness. I mistakenly thought that 2,000 years of Christianity must have civilized us to the extent that those angry, misguided people who chose Barabbas over our Lord were just a whisper of dusty history. I was wrong.

The mob howls for Barabbas

The angry mob is here with us today, but, again, instead of choosing the way of our meek and loving Jesus, instead of loving one's enemies and one's neighbors and doing good to the poor, hungry and naked, they're shrieking their approval of a carnival barker styled conman who encourages their selfishness, xenophobia and prejudices.

Trump supporter gives "the finger" to journalists

at a Trump rally 

Donald Trump is not a criminal mastermind. Instead, he is a bumbling Anti-Christ whose callow self-interest and massive narcissism is broadly displayed for everyone to see. Evidently, that is his appeal. The crowd sees him as an everyman like themselves, scarfing cheeseburgers and sodas in his ubiquitous red sports cap so evocative of the common man who toils for his living.

The fact that Trump has never toiled, having been given millions of dollars by his father to start a business, is ignored by the mob. It is enough for them that Trump appears to be like them in a few deliberately cultivated expressions.

It is a relief to them to feel free to express their closely guarded prejudices against immigrants, brown people, gays, and the educated classes whom they dub "the elite." Trump has given them permission to celebrate their basest instincts. He says complimentary things about white supremacists, neo-Nazis and dictators, and they eat it up because the crude and brutal tactics of the authoritarian do not require any finesse, tact, diplomacy or intelligence.  They're tired of waiting around for the fruits of diplomatic discussions. It is beyond their comprehension, and they have no patience for it.

I am not suggesting that the Democratic Party is synonymous with Jesus. It is more faithful to the commandments of Jesus, at this point in time. Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, housing the homeless, and educating the masses are favored by Democrats. The Party of Trump, which used to be the Republican Party, favors an opposite in the extreme.

There is a pretense of the G.O.P. being a "pro-life" party - but it was a Republican majority Supreme Court that legalized abortion in our country, and the Republicans continue to fund Planned Parenthood to this very day. They have no intention of criminalizing it and are only claiming to be pro-life in order to capture the votes from a sector of the Christian community that is obsessed with the topic of abortion and would vote for a cheese sandwich if it had "pro-life" written on it - spelled out in bacon bits.

In fact, the Republican Party violates the entire spirit of the commandments of Jesus who would NOT condone building a wall to keep out refugees and hungry immigrants. He would NOT rip families apart at our borders, kidnap their children and incarcerate them. He would NOT take food out of the mouths of poor families by cutting food stamps, and he would NOT think that giving rich people big tax breaks at the expense of the poor is a good idea. These are obvious truths, but the selfishness of the human heart is so captivating that some people will eat it up if you whitewash it with a patina of fake religiosity.

Donald Trump himself is not Christian. He is not now, nor has he ever been, a church going man. He spends his Sundays on the golf course, at considerable expense to the American public that pays for his entire entourage to be accommodated at luxury resorts. Prior to becoming elected, he criticized Barack Obama for golfing. Trump claimed he would not ever golf when he became president. He would be too busy for that. Like everything else, it was a lie, but his people do not care. As in every cult, they listen raptly to his voice but never call him to account for himself.

"I'm gonna be workin' for you. I'm not gonna have time to

go play golf, believe me." ~ Donald Trump

Trump's apologists sometimes call him a "baby Christian," but Trump does not behave as if he has experienced any kind of conversion.  Instead of expressing remorse for his completely immoral life, he lies about paying off porn stars and models to keep them quiet about his extramarital affairs, and slanders the reputations of more than a dozen women who have come forward with detailed descriptions of his sexual assaults against them. He is the same man who, on an Access Hollywood videotape, bragged about assaulting women by grabbing them by their genitals.

He has lied to and/or mislead the American public more than 3,000 times since becoming President and, despite every Christian being fully aware that the father of all lies is Satan himself, some of them continue to give Trump a pass on his wretched behavior because, "after all, who among us has not sinned?" and other such ridiculous nonsense. He is a completely unrepentant pagan who, when each offense is discovered, doubles down and lies about it, but he feeds his base a mockery of pseudo-Christian pretense that lets everyone off the hook. They all get to fantasize about a great Christian revival in our government while taking food out of the mouths of hungry people at the same time.

Meanwhile, Trump is trying to squash the Mueller investigation while his campaign chairman is being tried in court for conspiracy with the Russians, and all evidence leaked so far indicates that Trump himself conspired with the Russians to hack our political system in order to assure a win for himself. We have videotape of Trump inviting the Russians to do it, but what's a little treason among friends?

Satan tempts Jesus

"I reject Satan and all his works and all his empty promises."

~ Baptismal Vow ~

Choosing Jesus and rejecting Satan is a daily task, and it isn't easy because nothing presents itself as purely Satanic or purely angelic in our world. Everything is mixed. Like Sisyphus and his boulder, we have to get behind that which appears to tend more toward the good and push it up the hill toward heaven.

This particular choice was easy for me to make. I did not choose Barabbas. Will you?

Silver Rose

SATAN INFILTRATES THE CATHOLIC CHURCH

Christ hands the keys to Peter

by Pietro Perugino

"And I say to thee: 'That thou art Peter; and upon this rock

I will build my church, and the gates of Hell shall not

prevail against it."

Matthew 16:18

It is obvious from the above quote, and others, that Jesus certainly knew that Hell and Satan are real. If you think you know better than Jesus and the Apostles who transmitted Christ's words and traditions, you are not Christian. You worship yourself instead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, and you need to stop pretending that you are Catholic or Orthodox or any version of a zillion Christian denominations. "Loving" Jesus is not enough because He himself said that those who love Him follow his commandments.

You cannot get away from the Commandments if you expect to go to Heaven when you die. Jesus said that many people would come to him, crying, "Lord! Lord!" and he would send them away, saying that He does not know them. Take the hint.

I have met many people who loudly assert that, despite unrepentant flouting of Catholic moral teachings, they fully expect to be welcomed into Heaven when they die. While it is entirely up to our gracious good Lord to admit someone or not, it is a mistake to presume upon the grace of the Lord, especially if you've thumbed your nose at Him your whole life and, not only have you refused to follow His commandments, but you have loudly blabbed on Facebook that no one should have to do so.

"[E]very one that exalteth himself shall be humbled,

and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted."

Luke 14:11

There are far too many people bitching about eternal tenets of the Catholic faith while masquerading as "faithful Catholics." Even the converts have gotten into the act, questioning Catholic moral teachings, especially, because they can't imagine giving up sexual licentiousness.

We all need to keep in mind that, while the gates of Hell shall not prevail against the Church that Christ founded, this does not stop Satan from attacking it continually, from without and from within. We have to be vigilant and watchful in this battle of the ages.

"And he said to his disciples: It is impossible that 

scandals should not come: but woe to him through

whom they come."

Luke 17:1

Modern man dismisses even the notion of Satan as being antiquated and laughable, while at the same time expecting "The Church" to work some kind of cosmic poo-poo magic act that will prevent evil from infesting it. Typically, respect for the authority of God and the tenets of The Faith, are either dismissed entirely or discounted until they are inconsequential. This contradiction is like a cancer among Catholics.

Satan at the Gates of Hell

I see "Catholics" on Facebook spewing resentment against The Church and arguing against ancient tenets of the faith in the mistaken belief that their opinions and weird twists of logic are somehow superior to Catholic moral teachings that were firmly established in the early church.

By infecting the hearts of Catholics with dissatisfaction and inflaming the egos of otherwise good people, Satan cultivates a wave of discontent within the faith. He likewise inspires men of evil habit and inclination to push into the seminaries and into positions of power so that their eventual unmasking as pedophiles will negatively impact the reputation of The Church and weaken the confidence of its members.

Satan is behind the lack of humility that is a huge problem in our culture. After all, it was Satan's conceit that got him kicked out of heaven to begin with. The Bible likewise speaks of the dangers of hubris in the story of Adam and Eve who disobeyed the commandments of The Lord because the serpent encouraged them to believe that The Lord had not told them The Truth. The original "fake news."

"And the serpent said to the woman:

No, you shall not die the death."

Genesis 3:4

Satan lied to Adam and Eve and told them that God's word was wrong. Satan said they would not die, but this is exactly how death was introduced into mankind. We were SUPPOSED to live in paradise with the Lord forever. All we had to do was obey the word of the Lord and do not eat the forbidden fruit. The same thing is happening today. Instead of obeying God, we are behaving like the serpent and telling everyone else that God is wrong.

Whether you choose the literal or the figurative reality of that ancient Biblical message, the meaning is the same.

Catholic moral teachings around sex attracts the most animosity from these pseudo-Catholics. They cite all sorts of reasons but fail to recognize that all the major religious traditions, especially those with a mystical bent, emphasize sexual restraint as a significant entree into the mystical life. In fact, in several of the East Indian Hindu-based religious traditions, it is recommended that husband and wife live together as brother and sister after the birth of one or two children! You think the Catholic proscription against birth control is an onerous burden? Fine. Live as brother and sister with your mate for the rest of your life. Millions of people around the world are doing it.

We all need to maintain focus on our goal. The primary purpose of the Catholic faith is to align ourselves with the Lord so that, when the time comes, we can spend eternity with him in Heaven. This isn't a grim duty. There is tremendous joy in following the Lord. He tells us Himself that He resides among us. In order to experience that contact with the Divine here on earth, we need to pay attention to the methods laid out for us and ignore Satan's whisperings.

If a Catholic is sincerely struggling with any aspect of the faith,, I recommend that they get their questions answered from reliable sources within the faith instead of blabbing their discontent all over the internet and thereby doing Satan's work for him.

Silver Rose

DO NOT COMPLAIN ABOUT YOUR BLESSINGS TO THOSE LESS BLESSED THAN YOU!

Last night a church lady called me and, per usual, she unleashed a torrent of complaints about her life. She was upset about all the money she has to spend on everything she needs to address her illnesses. She has grievances about the inconvenient and expensive travel she has to undertake to care for relatives. She cataloged what each annoying expense has cost her and ranted on and on about how the insurance company will not pay for specially compounded medicines, so she has to pay for them out of pocket. She listed the cost of each. She whined about the stupidity of her husband who had never bothered to learn first aid procedures. She expressed frustration with the son who interrupted our call to get further instructions about the market run upon which she has sent him.

When I remind her that I did not have the money or physical ability to travel to see my son when he was dying several years ago, the point is lost on her.

She resumed her litany of grumblings, speaking in an unbroken stream of discontent.  She was whining about her blessings, as she does every time she calls me, and it felt like abuse on my end, and clueless ingratitude on hers.

When I could stand it no more, I forcefully stopped her again. I reminded her that she was talking to someone who doesn't have the wherewithal to make any of the expenditures about which she was complaining. She barked in a nasty way that there are people worse off than me, then, incredibly, continued to regurgitate her bile into my ear.

Initially, I was stunned by her nasty comment. I wanted to tell her that at least I had the good sense not to complain to those people in Appalachia or Nigeria who are less fortunate than me, but I was thrown off for a moment by the insensitivity of her attitude, and by the time I recovered my composure, she had already resumed vomiting out the contents of her mind.

I set down the phone and walked around the room while she blabbed unendingly. I didn't want to hang up on her, and she was not going to let me speak. I started to weave a kumihimo braid for a crochet project while she continued to gripe.

"Why not hang up on her?" you may well ask. I thought about that myself. Firstly, I have met several people through her - people I like - and I wouldn't want to cause uneasiness that would result in my losing all those friendships because of the awkwardness of a break between her and me. Secondly, although she has been clumsy in her attempts at charity toward me, foisting things on me without checking to see if I even need them, I am grateful for the inclination. A great number of Americans care nothing for their fellow man, even Christians who ought to know better. She deserves credit for being better than most. Lastly, I recognize that the woman has something wrong with her. I am not the only person subjected to this bizarre behavior pattern of hers. It isn't about me.

Even so, it is very likely that we won't have much to do with one another after our last exchange. She does not tolerate disagreement with her world view or criticism of herself.  She holds you in that vise-like grip of spew and criticizes you if you dare to struggle. I had said what none of our other friends will tell her - that she complains incessantly about her blessings. During a previous phone conversation, I had also challenged some nutty idea she was parroting out of the hard right playbook - something critical of the poor. It was a bit of prejudice, tinged with a lie, and topped off by an anecdotal story that proved nothing. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate that kind of thing. The poor have enough problems without people inventing despicable stories about them.

In closing, I will tell you what that dear lady will not allow anyone to tell her:

If the person to whom you are speaking doesn't have the money to pay for the equipment to lessen the effects of her disabilities, do not bitch about the exact amounts you have had to spend to pay for yours. You have the money to alleviate your suffering, and she does not. She isn't going to care how much you resent having to spend it. The fact that you have it at all is your good fortune.

If the person to whom you are speaking has not been lucky in love and has no husband, don't complain that your husband of 30 years isn't attentive enough to your needs and doesn't salute you when you need him to do it.

If the person to whom you are speaking has lost their child to an untimely death, don't complain that yours doesn't service your needs well enough. At least yours is alive.

If the person to whom you are speaking comes from a horrible family or no family or has lost all their family, don't drone on and on about how tedious it is to have to go visit your aged parents or in-laws who have been a constant presence in your life.

If the person to whom you are speaking is in a lower socio-economic bracket than you are, don't complain about what you spent for things that she cannot afford to buy to begin with.

Finally, if you must vent and grumble about your lot in life, complain to someone in the same or better situation than you.

God bless us all

Silver Rose

BIRTHDAY BLESSINGS

Photograph by Joanie Coursien

Twenty years ago, my lifelong physical ailments began to exert extra pressure upon me, and employment was hard to come by. I was having trouble finding something that would pay for even the shabbiest apartment in the small town where I was living, so I accepted an invitation to be introduced to a slightly larger town in New Mexico, where the cost of living was less.

Thinking I could reconstitute my household after I established myself in my new digs, I sold what I could, gave away the rest, and drove myself to New Mexico, taking only what I could fit in my little car. It was a calculated risk, and I lost the bet.

El Vado Motel - Albquerque, New Mexico

Albuquerque Journal Newspaper

Not long after I arrived, my body completely fell apart and I was physically unable to work. It was a shame, really, because I'd gotten a solid job with great benefits. I had to give it up.

After retiring on Social Security disability, I was notified that my father had died. His body had already been cremated! Then I learned that, inexplicably, I had been written out of his will after he had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. (Gee. I wonder how THAT happened?)

Then, my only child died at age 40. My dog died. My cat died. I learned that I am slowly going blind. I know it sounds like a modern Dickens tale, but there is nothing I can do about that. It is what it is.

My son and me - in younger days

Fortunately, God has gifted me with faith, and, despite constant, chronic pain, I am in communion with Him most of the time. I am writing this blog, writing a book, crocheting various things, and planning some paintings.

While I am enjoying the company of the Divine, pedestrian logistical issues compete for attention. I had never been able to replace the furnishings I'd sold before coming here. Beautiful friends have supplied me with a couch and a chair, but my art supplies and personal papers are STILL stacked around this apartment where I have lived the last 13 years and, although I have a bed, I am unable to sleep in it.

I quite love books and have accumulated many, either from friends or from careful purchases over the years, and they are my dusty companions, waiting stolidly in unfinished pine boxes. Reference books help me pinpoint my writing in time. Art books, craft instructional manuals, cook books that echo long gone days of cooking for others, and many gilded, wonderful words pour out from the religious books that sustain me over and over again.

Pictures of Jesus, Mary and the saints are currently stacked against the wall of the living room - waiting for the last configuration to be completed. Despite the meanness of my furnishings, I typically manage to create a lush and compelling prayer corner. It is obvious where my heart inclines.

Between fitful episodes of sleeping in my recliner, like a folded human taco, I move the boxes around in various configuration. First, they were in the garage, but then I couldn't GET at them, so I moved them indoors. I've stacked them in various constellations around the apartment, but my supplies are not within easy reach, so that every time I embark upon a creative work, chaos ensues. My physical issues have gotten worse and worse over time, and I just can't rummage through the boxes any more.

I have tried to move from this location for several years now, but there is nothing affordable near church, shopping and friends - and the subsidized apartments are all in the war zones on the fringes of town. Even when something suitable becomes available, I need to get the interior organized before moving, or I'll go mad.

My recliner, where I sleep, folded like a human taco

My 64th birthday is around the corner and, as with most birthdays, I feel compelled to contemplate the course of my life. I had hoped to have done something more useful with my time here on earth. My story is certainly INTERESTING, but I'm not thrilled at being at such loose ends in the final chapter.

When I was a young woman, I used to pretend that everything was dandy when it wasn't, but I no longer have the taste for subterfuge I once did. I don't think less of myself for being disabled, and if anyone else does, well, I don't care about that. Jesus loves the sick and the poor, and that's good enough for me, so if you are reading this and snorting derisively about something in this post, I suggest you move on to more glamorous people. The magazines are full of them.

Sometimes on my birthdays I will circulate my wish list - mostly on Facebook - but I think that, this year, I will post a link here in the hopes that some of my readers may step up and order some of the items on my Amazon list. Amazon has my address and will mail to me directly.

VIEW MY WISH LIST HERE

If you are not able to help, then I ask you for your kind prayers, and bless you.

Silver Rose

Sannyasini Kaliprana

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

IS YOUR OPINION BASED ON FACT OR IMAGINATION?

I have never been very interested in politics. My interests lie elsewhere. But, during election cycles, I would learn the minimum necessary to ensure that my particular world view was represented, I would vote, and then I would forget it until the next election cycle. I had enough confidence in our constitution and our government that I figured the experts knew what they were doing. Nothing was perfect, but what could be?

This was pretty much my approach in 2016. In fact, I was going to vote for Donald Trump because he was, supposedly, a pro-life candidate. I am pro-life, but not convinced that making it illegal is the way to eliminate abortions. In addition, now that it has been legal for more than 40 years, I seriously doubt that putting the toothpaste back into the tube is possible. However, if I can vote for a candidate that is pro-life, rather than just anti-abortion, I do that.

When the Access Hollywood video came out, and I heard Trump's disgusting brags about grabbing women by "the pussy" and all the rest of it, I knew that my lazy approach to politics was over. I had to do some research. The more I learned about Trump, the more convinced I became that he was very bad for our country. I voted for Hillary Clinton as the lesser of two evils.

Since Trump came to power, I have continued to stay abreast of the news, as well as taking the time to research all the facts for each issue that has arisen. This includes watching Fox "News." (I put "News" in quotes because it does not qualify as a news channel. It is entirely opinion and propaganda.) The research skills that I developed as a writer and genealogist has helped me navigate an area in which I had little experience beforehand.

This morning I watched a video by a female judge whose opinions lay on the far right of the spectrum. She was speaking on the Fox Channel, and I take it she is a regular contributor. She labels anyone who finds fault with Trump as being "crazy."

One of the most well-known fallacies of classical logic is when someone uses an "ad hominem" argument in a debate. This is called a "fallacy" because it is not logical, i.e., one cannot arrive at a reliable conclusion by using that particular line of reasoning.

Instead of addressing the issues and defending their hero with facts, the Fox propaganda machine attacks the person who presents the facts.

In the video I watched this morning (I insert a link to it below), this woman is calling the presenters of fact "crazy", but when you watch the video clips she offers as supposed evidence of said craziness, what you see are reasonable people, seasoned professionals of the Washington political machine and other experts, expressing concern over Trump's behavior. Nothing looks or sounds crazy in those clips at all. There is no hyperbole. There is no false equivalency. There are no ad hominem arguments, and, even though it seems to ME that Trump is behaving in a really crazy fashion, they're not calling him crazy. They are calling into question what he says and does but they aren't falsely impugning his character and dismissing him as "crazy." There are legitimate questions about what he is doing - questions for which there are no answers OR there are several, competing answers.

SEE THE VIDEO HERE

NOTE: In the Fox "News" video, only snippets of interviews are shown in the video clips that are highlighted. I have seen the full interviews elsewhere, and I can tell you that divorcing the presentation of facts from the conclusions at the END of the interview makes a big difference in one's comprehension of the material being discussed.

Why do otherwise intelligent people watch this blather? Why do they parrot the Fox conclusions all over social media and in their conversations? Why do they give any credibility to Fox's obvious bias and hatred toward anyone who finds fault with the policies, words, and/or behavior of Trump?

On the fact of it, Fox is operating as a partisan arm of the hard right political movement. I suspect that people who watch it are not looking for reportage of the "news," since there isn't any. Apparently, they want to hear someone repeating back to them the opinions they already hold. Dissenting facts are irrelevant to them. They have no interest in hearing what any experts have to say about what Trump is doing, unless the expert agrees with their already-formed opinions. I have been told that nothing I offer will have any effect whatsoever on the die-hard opinions of Trump supporters. When Trump claimed that he could shoot someone on 5th Avenue in broad daylight and no one would care, he was right.

I have had plenty of opportunities on social media to have exchanges with Fox News devotees, and most of them seem to get some kind of emotional satisfaction from hearing their prejudices repeated back to them. The nastier the opinion, the more they seem to like it. I am STILL shocked by the memory of hearing people shriek "lock her up!" It is frightening on so many levels.

Mostly, I have encountered people for whom nothing matters but making abortion illegal and overturning Roe v. Wade. I happen to think this is a pipe dream and that there are better ways to lessen the number of abortions in our country than to make them illegal. The problem with abortion is that women want them. They will have them, legal or not. It is the WANTING that needs to be addressed - not the legality. My disagreement is with the method that anti-abortion activists have decided is "the" method for stopping abortions, especially since the G.O.P. has so many other policies that are positively hostile to life on the planet.

It is a lot easier to make a law criminalizing it than it would be to evangelize the culture so that no one felt that they had to have an abortion or that they wanted to have one. Abortuaries would be empty if no one wanted an abortion, and, because of that fact, I am not obsessed with making it illegal, but there are plenty of people who ARE.

These "one issue" voters are Trump supporters. Apparently, they believe that the end justifies the means, which is why they do not care how many of our allies turn their backs on us. They do not care that our president is promoting authoritarian figures and dictators. They do not care that American wages have plummeted while prices for health care have soared. They do not care that there are more than 40 million poverty stricken people but food assistance has been slashed under Trump. They do not care about the safety of our drinking water. They do not care about protection of the environment. They do not care about endangered species. They do not care that we have lost 40 billion dollars in solar energy business because of Trump. They do not care if Trump lies continually, and they do not care what any of the experts have to say. All they care about is making abortion illegal, and it is going to backfire on them.

When you sacrifice the rest of the planet for the sake of unborn children, you are pitting one "class" of human beings against another. Thinking that unborn babies are more vulnerable than other populations, is a mistake. Poor people stuck in the vise-like grip of poverty and hateful governmental policies are just as helpless as the baby in the womb. They too are being killed, but at a much slower rate, more excruciatingly torturous and drawn out, but killed nonetheless. Also, when you withdraw protections for the environment, as Trump has done, you risk trying to inhabit a planet that will not support ANY type of life, born or unborn. One has to have a cohesive view with a long gaze over the horizon.

At the very least, I wish that people on the right were more honest. Instead of slandering "the left" they need to answer for themselves. If Donald Trump does something inexplicable, no one should be forced to abandon their first amendment right to inquire about it, and, if the hard right mouthpieces do not like the questions, they might try getting their dear leader to give some answers that make sense and do not change with his mental tides.

Silver Rose

IS POVERTY A PUNISHMENT FROM GOD?

Even though Jesus famously said that a rich person has a hard time getting into heaven. some modern folk have this weird idea that rich people are the chosen people of God. This is especially true in America, where we have a lot of Christians who believe and loudly proclaim that God rewards us in this life if we are obedient to him. They say things like "God wants to prosper me if I obey him."

Conversely, they believe that anyone who is poor has not been "prospered" by the Lord because they have NOT obeyed him. This Biblical bastardization amounts to an excuse to despise poor people and blame them for their troubles. After all, if they weren't "bad," God would have prospered them, right?

Wrong.

"God did not create poverty. We created poverty

because we do not share with one another."

~ Saint Teresa of Calcutta ~

The Bible and our Christian tradition very clearly teach, over and over again, that the Lord gave us free will when he created us and it is human beings who cause each other grief - not the Lord.  If we do not obey the Lord in this life, he will not accept us into heaven when we die. In the meantime, we exercise our free will. We can torment one another or love and help one another. It is all up to us.

If people are poor, it is because others are too selfish with the largesse of resources with which the human race has been gifted. Millions of people have nowhere to live because a few people think they deserve to have gold plated toilets.

Donald Trump's gold-plated sink on his airplane

(There is a toilet to match.)

Lately, I have watched good, sincere and motivated Christians, twisting themselves into knots, in order to put a good spin on some really awful life circumstances - trying to figure out what "God" is trying to teach them by the unrelenting stream of sorrows in which they nearly drown. Because of the bastardization of the Christian message, they are traumatized with self-loathing and blame themselves for their inability to pull themselves out of a crushing socio-economic corner. They do not realize they are trapped in a massive pyramid scheme, along with millions of other struggling people, who have been brainwashed by the incessant propaganda of the wealthy and those in collusion with them.

There is no dearth of resources on this wonderful planet of ours. There is more than enough for every human being to eat and live and thrive and have a little fun while we do it. The lie of scarcity, created by the rich as a tool to dislodge all the wealth and send it hurtling into their always-open maw, is a vulgar insult to the good God who made us all. It is NOT representative of the message of Jesus. In fact, it is the opposite.

"Sell your possessions and give to charity; make

yourselves purses which do not wear out, an

unfailing treasure in heaven, where no thief

comes near, nor mother destroys."

~ Luke 12:33 ~

Entire books have been written about how the guys at the top of the pyramid create and cultivate the systems that serve to impoverish 99 percent of humans while 1% take their morning constitutional on a gold plated seat. That is not my specialty. I am a lone voice in the wilderness of the world, with no resources to speak of, either financially or physically, and few people will even read this blog, but advocating for the poor in this small way is all I can do on my short term on earth.

I never expected to be in this position. I am, myself, one of the millions of disabled, poor seniors in America. Ending up this way was a surprise. In addition to my "plan" to make money from my art ( admittedly, an iffy proposition), I was expecting to inherit at least enough to get me through my "golden years" without going hungry. My whole life, my father told me countless times, "when I die, kid, you're gonna be rich!" Somehow, after he got dementia and tried to start his car with a credit card, instead of his keys, I was written out of the will. You can draw your own conclusions about this fairly obvious set of circumstances.

"Open your mouth for the dumb, for the

rights of all the unfortunate. Open your mouth,

judge righteously, and defend the rights of

the afflicted and needy."

~ Proverbs 31:8 ~

It is because I have been the target of greedy, unprincipled people and then smashed into the corner at the bottom of the pyramid, that I am able to empathize with poor people, as a class, throughout the world. I have experienced, first hand, the greed of those more comfortable than me. I have been the subject of countless lies and misrepresentations, because thieves usually have to lie about the people that they crush under their feet in order to justify stealing from them.

Many thieves camouflage themselves as highly religious people. It is part of the long con.

At the very least, I hope to encourage the poor to take heart in the words of the Lord instead of those "Christians" that try to blame them for their poverty. If I can encourage even a handful of people to take heart and be assured of the love the Lord has for them, I will be happy.

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth,

where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where

thieves break through and steal."

~ Matthew 6:19 ~

Donald Trump's gold toilet

Silver Rose

DONALD TRUMP IS NOT THE PROBLEM

Jesus blessing a poor man.

Donald Trump, though the current poster child for the hard right in America, did not invent the callous, heartless, and decidedly unChristian worldview with which we are currently fighting.

The policies of this president are met with joy by people who have been here all along but who, until now, have had limited power to realize their selfish and distorted world view.

I do not pretend to know, for certain, the origins of America's reversion to such primitive, tribal and harsh aspirations, but, when I think back to the infancy of this country, I see the seeds of it right there. Women were not allowed to vote. African Americans remained in slavery to rich landowners. Many of the founding fathers did not want to give voting privileges to anyone but landowners.

If you analyze the group of people who had all the rights in the beginning of our nation, it is the same group of people who are now trying to keep everyone but themselves from having any.

Even though I am functionally poor and cannot afford to buy the assistive devices and furnishings that I need to accommodate my disabilities, I STILL live much better than the poor souls who are trying to immigrate here from other countries, and this disparity in standards of living is a crucial part of the current debate on immigration. A large segment of the American population is selfish and doesn't want to help anyone. The character assassinations they employ to justify their selfishness give false witness, and are a scandal in themselves. A lot of it appears to be racist, but underneath the apparent racism, I think this selfishness is the primary fuel for the current hostility toward immigrants.

"Today the illegal migrant comes before 
us like that "stranger" to whom Jesus asks 
to be recognized. To welcome him and to 
show him solidarity is a duty of hospitality 
and fidelity to Christian Identity itself."

Pope Saint John Paul

Just look at the way we treat our OWN people! We have more than 40 million poor people in our country, but the hard right doesn't care about them. They dismiss us by saying that we all need to go to work, which is another lie because most poor people ARE working. The rest are disabled, elderly, or children. Less than 3% of people who receive entitlement income are able-bodied people that aren't working - and most of them are searching for work. Despite these facts, the hard right persists in pushing the lie that poor people are just lazy bums that need to go to work. I am quite sure there are some lazy bums among the poor, but there will always be a few people like that in the world.

Although there is a lot of talk about the hard right being "Christian" and following "Christian values," the only people they seem to care about are babies in the womb. They excuse Trump's brutal reign with all sorts of nonsense, supposedly because he will make abortion illegal, vis-a-vis conservative Supreme Court jurists.

While it appears that the hard right have sold their souls in exchange for one or two seats on the Supreme Court, their doing so is a pointless endeavor. Abortion will not likely become illegal, now that the flood gates have opened. It would be more effective to evangelize the heart while making survival a bit easier for moms, but, instead of taking care of people after they have been born, and establishing family-friendly economic systems that would assist families, the hard right advocates for cuts to food and shelter assistance, cuts to healthcare, cuts to the minimum wage, and a tax structure that caters to the ultra rich. They create an environment that is hostile to women, children, families and poor people, then criticize the people they impoverish when they are driven to abortion.

Since poor Americans are treated so shabbily by other Americans who have benefited in our culture to a greater degree, it is no surprise that they don't want to help immigrants from other countries, regardless of our completely immigrant past (except for the Native Americans.)

The idea of scarcity, that there are not enough resources to go around for everyone to be happy, is the biggest lie of all. There are a few men at the top of the socio-economic ladder who have nearly all the wealth of our nation. For years, our economic policies have shuttled all the wealth to the top of the ladder, while the people who actually do the work to create the wealth - the workers - are suffering with stagnating wages for more than 40 years! We have poverty in our country, not because the poor are lazy, but because the rich are filthy greedy. Those few men at the top of the ladder have enriched themselves unjustly at the expense of the common man, and they currently spend some of their ill-gotten gains to spread lies about the rest of us so that they can continue to rape our economy.

There is no scarcity. There is enough wealth in America so that all people may get a living wage and feed, house and clothe themselves, with a little extra for fun. There is enough wealth to help immigrants and refugees come into our country and become part of our economy. There is no scarcity. There is greed.

Many "religious" people think you cannot call yourself a Christian unless you are a Republican. The reason that this drives the rest of us crazy is because the hard right advocates for harsh policies that hurt the vulnerable, something that jesus would NEVER approve of.

Donald Trump didn't start this, though he is the lightning rod for all the animus that followers of Christ feel toward the policies and prejudices of the current administration. Trump is an icon of far right thought. His attacks on the press and the first amendment, his vulgarity, his commercialization of the office of the Presidency, his corrupt business practices, his objectification of and assaults on women, his constant lying, his long-term ties with Russian oligarchs and American mafia, his destruction of the offices of government by promoting people unqualified and/or devoted to their destruction, his extreme mental laziness that is demonstrated by his refusal to be properly briefed, his continually affirmed admiration for dictators and his repudiation of our allies - ALL of this makes us cringe. All of it is unChristian.

What really scares people who actually follow Christ is not Donald Trump. What really concerns us  are millions of people who think just as Trump does. Although he did not win the popular vote, Trump won enough votes to enable him to come to office through the quirks of the Electoral College.  Though Donald Trump lied about the crowds at his inauguration, his crowd is big enough to be of grave concern.

Donald Trump is not the problem. He represents the problem, and he does a good job of it.

Evangelization and some truth telling would seem to be in order.

Silver Rose 

PLEASE DON'T JUDGE JESUS BY THE "CHRISTIANS" WHO SUPPORT TRUMP

Even though Donald Trump's outrageous lies are easily unmasked by watching a video of him speaking his own contradictions or of eye witnesses, experts and professional testimony and photographs, some people choose to believe Trump and his lies.

They believe the lies of his lackeys and sycophants, such as Jeff Sessions, when he claims that jailing children at our borders is Biblical because God has installed our leaders, relying upon a text-twisted Biblical reference divorced from its moorings and rendered opposite in its meaning by removing the surrounding text that directs and defines it.

The idea that all the policies of all heads of government are holy because God installs all the leaders is another version of Nixon's comment that "if the president does it, it isn't illegal." This idea, if followed to its logical conclusion, would mean that all actions of every dictator and despot in the world are a positive good from God. This is patently ridiculous. It is neither legal nor Biblical.

Unfortunately, when Trump apologists cite the Bible and Christianity as authorities for their actions, they make claims about Christianity that are completely false. For instance it is the antithesis of the Christian message to behave in a cruel way toward immigrants. The Old and New Testaments are very clear on this. Jews and Christians alike are told to be kind to strangers, for once we were also strangers. Dire warnings are given for those who fail to do this.

Then he will say to those on his left, "Depart from me, you

accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his

angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was

thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger and you gave me

no welcome, naked and you gave me no clothing, ill and in 

prison, and you did not care for me.

~ Matthew 25 ~

The Bible consistently affirms that Satan is "the father of all lies." Many Christians are saying that it doesn't matter that Trump lies continually because "all politicians lie." Excusing Trump's lies because someone else has lied would excuse Hitler from murdering millions of Jews because some other leader killed someone at some time. "They all do it."

Shall we excuse all the murderers from prison because someone else, somewhere, in some way, killed someone?

If we justify Trump's continual lies because, supposedly, "Hillary did it," should we then adopt all of Hillary Clinton's actions as our model to follow? Should we follow the worst behavior of other people, or should we uphold Biblical values?

If so-called "family values" Christians think it is fine that Trump has brought with him a legion of women who are suing him for various assaults because he is, supposedly, a "baby Christian," then how much more forgiving would they be of Clinton and the two women who sued him? Right? No?

Sometimes I worry that the "Christian" support of Donald Trump has obliterated the possibility of bringing the Gospel message to non-Christians. Today, we do not have a prayer of gaining converts, unless they are people who are devoted to principles that are the OPPOSITE of Biblical principles. Neo Nazis, white supremacists, sociopaths who blackmail voters by tormenting children, and pathological liars would feel at home in the "Christianity" that is being advertised by the Trump administration. Jesus weeps!

Having studied and been a part of many different religions in my lifetime, I can tell you that people come to religion for a variety of reasons, not all of them honorable. Every religion has its hypocrites who neither follow the religious precepts nor advocate for them. Each of them has a certain number of people who use the religion to get things they want on earth, or simply to make themselves feel good.

Religious institutions are full of people - and people are very flawed. A good portion are sincere and make a good faith effort to live their faith. The rest are either coasting or perverting the message to their own ends.

Jesus knew this would happen. He said that, in the end, people would cry to Him, "Lord! Lord" and He would reject some of them, saying, "I do not know you."

This is why I do not judge a faith by any of the people that fail to live up to it. I would not want the Christianity that approves of the sins of Donald Trump and his people. THAT "Christianity" is abhorrent to me and to every Christian who knows the message of Christ. Thanks be to God, I do not belong to that Christianity.

I can only pray that people inclined toward true Christian values do not turn their backs on Christianity because of this vile circus that is being played out in our halls of so-called "justice."

Silver Rose

THE LADDER TO HEAVEN

LADDER BETWEEN HEAVEN AND EARTH

Sometimes, when I hear a pro-Trump mob shouting approval for his xenophobic, racist and nationalistic comments, it really frightens me. It sounds very much like the recordings I have heard of Hitler inflaming the German people, urging them to hate the Jews and blaming Jews for everything that has gone wrong in their lives.

White Germans went on to kill Jews, Armenians, artists, homosexuals, and anyone who violated the cultural norms of middle class whites or disagreed with the Nazi methods. What is next for Americans if the far right wing of the GOP stays in power?

While Hitler was a true believer of his own toxic political philosophy, I think that Trump is simply using the presidency to fill his empty coffers. I believe that Trump is leading his followers into a cruel future, not because he wants to help us reach some kind of ideal, but because he needs the money. He is using his power to fill the government with people who are dedicated to making the rich even richer, removing all obstacles to the wealthy being able to amass even more money than they already have. Along the way, his businesses and the businesses of his relatives, are being flooded with foreign cash.

I suspect that Trump refused to publish his tax returns because he was broke - at least his version of being broke. He gave government positions and offices in the White House to his relatives who manage his business interests. Since becoming president, money from foreign governments especially, has come pouring even harder into the Trump businesses, including his daughter Ivanka's business, which, just this week, received another 7 special trademarks with China - within days of Trump's announcement that he intended to save China's ZTE Corporation, a sudden reversal of his "policy" that no new foreign contracts would be allowed during his presidency.

Ignoring my suspicions about this venal motive of his, which can only be inferred at this point, I am concerned that a large percentage of Americans are being manipulated with tried and true techniques used by authoritarian figures throughout history. They are being turned and formed on the lathe of hate and ignorance. They have given themselves over to it willingly because Trump, a typical authoritarian figure,  either promises them relief from responsibility for the bleak condition of their lives or gives them reassurance that their country will not be overrun with brown people. The authoritarian figure capitalizes upon the mob's fears. He sacrifices the immigrant, the poor person, the black person, in a social lynching.

"Then he will say to those on his left, 'Depart from me,

you accursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil

and his angels. For I was hungry and you gave me no

food, I was thirsty and you gave me no drink, a stranger

and you gave me no welcome, naked and you gave me

no clothing, ill and in prison, and you did not care for me."

Matthew 25

Many of Trump's supporters are white evangelicals, according to recent news articles and statistics. These supporters of the far right ignore the continual and insistent message of the Bible to love one's neighbor as much as oneself.  The Bible is full of references to helping the poor and the stranger. Trump supporters imagine that it is acceptable to support the destruction of all our vulnerable populations and to turn away the refugee under a supposedly "pro life" and "pro family" banner. It boggles the mind.

"Behold, this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and

her daughters had arrogance, abundant food, and careless

ease, but she did not help the poor and needy. Thus they 

were haughty and committed abominations before me.

Therefore, I removed them when I saw it."

Zek. 16:49

I wonder what kind of family they have in mind, when I listen to trump brag about grabbing women "by the p...y" and then, later, denying he had actually done it when 19 women complain about being assaulted by him. He called them liars and impugned their character, as if being groped by Donald Trump was something anyone would want known about them. There is no advantage in it. It is nothing but humiliation.

"Stormy Daniels"

The affair with the porn star, how he tried to cover it up, lied about it, lied about the payment, got caught lying, then had to fess up, does not sound like family values to me. His attorney, Rudy Giuliani, paints a picture of a man who regularly needs his affairs to be cleaned up in this manner and who feeds money into a slush fund for this purpose. Trump's wife, Melania, was pregnant and then had just given birth to their child when Trump was having sex with the porn star, risking the health of wife and baby. What kind of family values is that?

"What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has

faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him?

If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and no food

for the day, and one of you says to them, 'Go in peace,

keep warm, and eat well,' but you do not give them the

necessities of the body, what good is it? So also faith

of itself, if it does not have works, is dead."

James 2:14-17

I am not being obtuse. I am well aware that the only criteria for "pro family" in the minds of evangelicals is often nothing more than making abortion illegal while at the same time starving the hungry. Abortion is not going to become illegal in America until America experiences severe trauma as a result of not having enough young people working to support the society.

Trump has made some movements in the direction of making abortions more difficult to get, but they are not permanent. As soon as he leaves office, all of that will be overturned. People will have to stop killing their babies of their own accord. Men like Donald Trump would have to stop having affairs that need to be hidden, for one thing.

It is a mystery to me why evangelicals have sold themselves so cheaply, with so little to gain, and so much to lose. Associating Donald Trump with the topic of abortion automatically denigrates the position of the pro-life movement with the majority of the voting public.

Donald Trump - the choice of white evangelicals

It isn't just the evangelicals. Just yesterday, a priest blabbed some far right propaganda onto Facebook that supposedly most of our refugees are Muslim and that he believes they should not be "given welfare," (i.e., helped to survive) because they come from Muslim countries and they're old enough to be in the Army. This convoluted, logic-strained rationalization based on a false narrative is what passes for compassion in his world, apparently. He is sucking up all the admiration of his flock, enjoying the status of being a priest, and gut-punching Jesus at the same time. Hypocrites like this make me want to scream and tear my hair out.

Jesus told us that going to heaven when we die is not a sure thing. He said that many people would come to him, in the end, and beseech him, saying, "Lord! Lord!" and He would tell them to get away from him and that he does not know them. Getting baptised, donating to the church and appearing now and then are not going to get us through the pearly gates.

This topic reminds me of an icon that I look at quite frequently. It is the ladder to heaven. All along the ladder, people are falling off and falling into the pit of hell, where Satan's demons await them.

God help me, but the address of Jared Kushner's beleaguered property on 5th street is 666. I'm just saying.

The people of the land have practiced oppression and committed

robbery, and they have wronged the poor and needy and have

oppressed the sojourner without justice...Thus, I have poured out

My indignation on them; I have consumed them with the fire of 

My wrath; their way I have brought upon their heads,: declares the

Lord GOD.

Ezek. 22:29,31

Silver Rose Parnell