Christian Reconstructionists are worse than I thought possible

Last Thursday I wrote in dismay: "The MAGA Cult white supremacist Christian Nationalism coup attempt continues". And now I am afraid that the capture of the Speaker of the House by Mike Johnson is even worse than I had realized.

Frank Schaeffer reveals Mike Johnson's commitments and beliefs.  Schaeffer is a man who was a prominent leader in the Christian Evangelical movement and split away from them decades ago and is dedicated to warning against them ever since.  I came across this Substack video of his yesterday (It Has to be Said - Substack) and it is deeply alarming.  Unfortunately, it is video only and not a transcript.  About 20 minutes.  He outlines who Mike Johnson, new House Speaker, is.  It is terrible. 

Mike Johnson in not just an Evangelical Christian. He is not just a MAGA Cultist.  He is not just a white supremacist.  He has been indoctrinated into the Christian version of the Islamic Taliban - Christian Reconstructionism. Here are some of his beliefs, which are based on the harshest parts of the Old Testament and apparently ignore Jesus and the New Testament:

• Execute gay men and women
• Execute prostitutes
• Execute adulterers
• Outlaw abortion
• Outlaw the pill
• Outlaw all sex outside of marriage
• Outlaw divorce
• Re-establish slavery
• Whites are superior to all the inferior races of color

These folks have been deeply inculcated in a biblical extremist view that goes back to the horrors of hundreds of years ago. The belief system is Christian Reconstructionism (Theonomy) - a mandate that the country needs to be ruled by Old Testament biblical "law".   A key founder of the cult was Rousas Rushdoony.  

And they are not joking.  It is a deeply believed and fully funded attempt to make white Christian extremist men rule the country and the world according to the most radical Old Testament bigotries.

Schaefer's father was Francis Schaeffer, who was apparently a founder of the Evangelical movement to overtake the U.S. government and rule by the harshest Old Testament interpretations.  His warnings are from inside the movement and show what is underneath the reassuring soft peddling of these radical beliefs by those in office.  

And one of them is now the Speaker of the House of Representatives.  And, it seems to me, that at least one of the Supreme Court Justices, Amy Coney Barrett is one of them as well.

Now we know.

The Coup attempt continues

 The MAGA Cult white supremacist Christian Nationalism coup attempt continues with the Republican election of MAGA-Mike-Johnson as the House Speaker.  He is an avid election denier.  Does he believe the lie? or is he just spreading the propaganda lie to refuse to certify the next election winner?  And thus, to continue the long planned and well-funded attempt to establish a nationwide Bible Belt Jim Crow extremist America.  

“Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) called the new House speaker “MAGA-Mike-Johnson ” on Wednesday and onlookers suggested the moniker was, unfortunately, a good fit. 
“MAGA is ascendant,” Gaetz told Steve Bannon on the ex-Donald Trump adviser’s podcast.”

Democracy is not just under attack, it is being destroyed by authoritarian cultists.  

But they will not succeed. Especially when the authoritarian cultists are such repulsive personalities like Trump, Gaetz, Bannon, Bobert, Green, Jordan, etc. who are abrasive showboats monetizing TV time to preach hatred, bigotry, and fear.  

I have faith in the strength of American democracy and American Rule of Law. 

What crime wave?

 Is Trump and the Republican extremists right that crime is rising and out of control in America? Well, of course not. They are lying.  It's just campaign disinformation and propaganda.  Here is the actual data from Paul Krugman, Nobel prize winning economist:

"Now, sometimes popular impressions are more or less right. Back in the 1970s and 1980s, when Hollywood was producing vigilante thrillers like “Death Wish” and dystopian sagas like “Escape From New York,” violent crime really was surging:

F.B.I., via Jeff Asher

However, violent crime began falling rapidly in the early 1990s, for reasons that remain unclear. Whatever the source of the good news, there were two remarkable things about this decline. First, it was truly epic; as someone who has lived in New York since 2015 but visited it many times over previous decades, I can attest that the city feels infinitely safer than it did in the bad old days. Second, most Americans didn’t notice."

A good rule of thumb is that if Trump said it he just made it up and expects his cult to believe anything he says.

Threatens the life of Leticia James

 Donald Trump just publicly threatened the life of Letitia James, Attorney General prosecuting him in New York. This is not subtle. I want him in prison. 

Former President Donald Trump on Monday shared a link listing the home address of New York Attorney General Letitia James while accusing her of committing a “miscarriage of justice.”

His entire life is dedicated to the idea that he is above the law. And he will kill those who apply the law to him. 

Prison please

Religious fanatics

 I have never focused on the Israeli Palestinian history because I never thought it would be resolved, but would just be a persistent toxin. There are thousands of details I don’t know. But listening and reading about these latest horrors I think there is one overwhelming fact. Religious fanaticism. 

Hamas is an extremist religious fanaticism dedicated to driving all Jews out of all of Palestine (Israel). They are like ISIS who want a fanatic Islamic Caliphate. 

And there are Jewish extremist religious fanatics dedicated to driving all Palestinians out of Israel. 

And the corrupt Netanyahu needed to stay out of prison by becoming Prime Minister so he joined up with the Jewish fanatics who openly claimed their desire to clear Israel of Palestinians. 

And Hamas saw Saudi Arabia on the cusp of making a deal with Israel. 

Boom. 

Seems like whenever there is the threat of the two state solution one of the extremist fanatics destroys it. 

I am so tired of religions. I wish all people would just walk away from all religions. Go out into God’s majestic creation and be touched by the wonder of the moon, the wonder of the stars, the beauty of the flowers and trees and birds.  And ask the Infinite Divine what do I need at this moment to be closer to You?  The true answer will never be Go Kill People of such and such religion. 

But, we have religions. So we get slaughter instead. 

Is it chaos or is it sabotage?

 The House of Representatives is not IN chaos. The Republicans, who are in a slim majority, are CREATING chaos.  Kevin McCarthy sold his dignity to the right wing extremists in order to become speaker and he was voted out by the extremists in less than a year for the sin of  committing a reasonable action. 

Then Steve Scalise, another right wing extremist, was to be the Republican choice but was discarded. Now the repulsive bully, Jim Jordan, seems to be more or less chosen by the Republicans. But, he will never get the needed votes. 

With no Speaker of the House of Representatives there is no House of Representatives. So there will be no aid to Ukraine.  No aid to Israel. No military. No regulation.  No safety net. No government funding for anything. There will be no United States Government. Who does that make happy?

The current explanation is that these extremists are incapable of cooperation and consensus. Authoritarians see anything short of CONQUEST as a failure of  MANHOOD. They Don’t Play Well Together. Maybe that is all there is to it. 

But I wonder. Are some actually doing what they seem to be doing. Are they actually acting to destroy the American government?  Are they actually acting to weakening America?  If so, why?

To me, a real possibility is that America’s enemies are targeting many Americans, including politicians, and are finding ways to control them. We know that Russian intelligence operatives are deeply involved in American politics.  Media too?  We know a little of the way they force people to do their bidding.  Kompromat (compromising proof that can destroy their lives and maybe even send them to life in prison - proof of money laundering? Proof of pedophilia? Proof of gay sex? Proof of any number of crimes?).

 Or they just bribe them to attack their country. Do they find someone who feels they have never been given proper respect? Or money? Or opportunity?  Or maybe they are just simple souls who can be controlled by flattery, or resentment, or celebrity. Easy prey for the Russian SVR.

Russia, or China, or Iran, or Saudi Arabia, or….?  There are many countries that may want to knock the “king of the hill” off and take the top spot. 

There is a small handful of right wing extremists who “seem” to want to burn down the government and weaken the country. 

Maybe that is exactly what they are deliberately doing, because of deep angers or hatreds, or are easily manipulated, or because they have no other choice.

Maybe one of them is The Former Guy. And of course, the “Freedom Caucus”/the Putin Wing/the Deconstruct the Adminstrative Staters.  

What this is showing is American Democracy’s vulnerability.  We have a handful of Republican extremists holding the government hostage. We have one dimwit Alabama Senator crippling the U.S military.  Our enemies may have found and are exploiting America’s structural flaws.  

I wonder.

How did Iran/Hamas get past the Israeli defenses? What did they know?

 I remember one of the first most shockingly stupid things Trump did in the Oval Office was give Russia Israeli military secrets.  Remember?  Did those secrets get passed along to Iran and thus Hamas? Did this nitwit help Hamas slaughter Israelis?

And, oh yes, what about that copy machine next to top secret files in Trump's Mar a Lago?  Any chance that a number of foreign spies just happened to find secrets there?

0% intelligence combined + 100% fragile pathelogically needy ego = many many deaths around the world.

And people voted for this nitwit.

Slaughter in Israel

 Religious fanatics, Hamas, attacked Israel, killing about 700 and over 2000 injured!  They shocked Israel, but how?  Israel has been protecting against this for many years. But somehow they pulled it off. Israel will respond, and likely “win” militarily. 

Iran is behind Hamas. Russia too?  

I don’t deeply think about Israel and the Palestinians because it has long seemed to me that a two state solution is the only solution but extremist on the Palestinian side want to drive Jews out of Israel and extremist Jews want to drive Palestinians out of Israel, and that seems to be endless. 

And then, the deeply corrupt right wing Netanyahu couldn’t form a government without joining with the extremist right wingers who openly announce their aim to drive the Palestinians out. And he and his right wing fanatics have torn the country apart by gutting the judiciary so they can establish fanatical authoritarian theocratic rule (sound familiar?). 

So, Netenyahu in order to keep from trials that would imprison him, joined forces with the craziest and most dangerous parts of Israel and threw gasoline on the ever smoldering coals of the conflict, and who would have guessed? The fire has exploded. 

Russia invades Ukraine, and now Hamas/Iran invades Israel.  Not a good sign for the world. 

An Insurrectionist to be Republican Speaker of the House?

Jim Jordan was part of the Trump conspiracy to overthrow the 2020 election, according to Liz Cheney, former Wyoming conservative (not Trump MAGA nut case) Republican who co-chaired the House investigation into the Trump led attempt to overthrow the 2020 election issues a very urgent warning about Ohio wannabe fascist Jim Jordan's attempt to become the Speaker of the House to replace the deposed Kevin McCarthy.  

“Jim Jordan knew more about what Donald Trump had planned for January 6th than any other member of the House of Representatives,” Cheney said. “Jim Jordan was involved, was part of the conspiracy in which Donald Trump was engaged as he attempted to overturn the election.”

While Cheney said she didn’t expect Jordan to win the upcoming contest, she said his potential ascension to the position would send a strong message about where the GOP’s allegiance lies.

“If they were to decide that, there would no longer be any possible way to argue that a group of elected Republicans could be counted on to defend the Constitution,” she said.

Jordan has secured the endorsement of Trump, who continues to exert influence on a big chunk of the Republican caucus.

“He will be a GREAT Speaker of the House,” Trump said of Jordan in a post on his Truth Social platform."

It is up to the Republican Party to announce who they are - conservatives who believe in democracy or Trump Cultists who believe in force rather than the Rule of Law or the Rule of the Constitution.  I don't expect a lot from the House of Representatives, unfortunately.

What do you do when "God" tells you what to do?

 What happens when "God" tells you that you must rule a country, but you don't have the votes to win the elections you need in order to do so?  

This is not hard to figure out, you gerrymander your state so that you "win" more elected seats than you would in a fair election.  And you close down voting spots in areas that vote against you.  And you do all you can to limit voting where they vote against you. And you flood the media zone with a firehose of disinformation, propaganda, and lies about the "godless filth" of those who vote against you.  And you... behave just exactly the way Evangelical Leaders (and plutocratic so-called capitalists) do.  You destroy democracy so that you don't need to win votes.  You cheat.  

And the one that "God" told you is your savior on this earth of today, Trump, is such a good example of cheating, isn't he?  He cheats in counting the votes, cheats in his fraudulent business practices with bank fraud, insurance fraud, tax fraud.  Cheats his vendors by not paying what he owes, cheats his lawyers by not paying what he owes, cheats on his wives by sexually assaulting and raping women while he is married, cheats on his score playing golf, cheats on his commitments made for running his golf courses, cheats on his "charities" and steals from them...  Oh, what a glorious and inspiring cheat he is.  A model for all devoted Evangelical White Christian Nationalists around the country.  

But, how do you know what "God" is telling you to do?  David French points out today that the Evangelical voters are only able to hear one thing - the "prophecies" of the evangelical "prophets", or perhaps the "Holy Spirit" speaks directly to you and tells you to vote for Trump, or whoever follows Trump once he is gone.  From is article:

",...prophecies, like the declarations from Christian “apostles” that Donald Trump is God’s appointed leader, destined to save the nation from destruction. Sometimes there’s no need for a prophet to deliver the message. Instead, Christians will claim that the Holy Spirit spoke to them directly. As one longtime friend told me, “David, I was with you on opposing Trump until the Holy Spirit told me that God had appointed him to lead.”

But, they will not destroy democracy in America and the world.  We can choose a better America than the bible thumping fire and brimstone world of make believe prophets spouting their bigoted hatred from their pulpits.  America has always had those fear based folks and all I can think to do as pray that the real God Goddess All That Is finds a way to soften their hearts and help them just let go, just let it go, you don't need to be afraid of those who are different.  Satan has not captured Democrats.  The world (and Satan) is not out to get you.