Let's talk about who is the real "enemy within."

[lees1975]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/10/many-conservative-evangelical-pastors.html

In 1998, Dr. Adrian Rogers, pastor of Bellevue Baptist Church, in the suburbs of Memphis, Tennessee, made the character and morality of one serving in public office in the United States, specifically President of the United States, the priority for Christians when exercising their right to vote as citizens of the United States. Rogers specifically addressed President Clinton's morality, pointing to allegations of an improper sexual relationship with Monica Lewinsky as evidence of his disqualification for office. Rogers claimed that it was the responsibility of Christians to influence elections with their faith by voting for candidates who exhibited a higher standard of morality, compatible with Christianity, because this was evidence of their capability of moral leadership.

Rogers didn't mince words or cut any corners in his condemnation of President Clinton. Of course the President was a Democrat, and even in 1998, conservative, white, Evangelical Christians, including most of the Southern Baptists who make up the nation's largest Evangelical denomination, were opposed to President Clinton, not only because there were concerns about his morality and possible marital infidelity, but because of his stance on women's reproductive rights.

Ironically, President Clinton had made a "profession of faith," the Baptist interpretation of Christian conversion, was baptized in a Southern Baptist Church in Hope, Arkansas, and had been an active member of a Southern Baptist church all his life. And personally, I think that might have also been the motivation behind some of Roger's tone and message. President Carter had also been Southern Baptist, and made his Christian faith the center of his identity. Discouraging those who shared a common denominational affiliation from supporting a fellow Baptist on that basis alone was also the point of Roger's sermon. It was aimed at damping down any Baptist support for Vice President Al Gore, also a Southern Baptist and fellow Tennessean.

Fast forward to 2016. Consider Trump's worldly lifestyle, including his personal promotion of his own sexual promiscuity that led to two highly publicized divorces and marriages to "the other woman," along with claims of having bedded "hundreds" of women, along with all sorts of business and tax fraud, incessant lying and a host of other indulgences in sinful living that would have set Roger's hair on fire if he had been alive.

When an American politician cites Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin, and builds relationships with world leaders who are the heirs to their legacy, like Kim Jong Un and Vladimir Putin, every American should step up and make sure their candidacy is short-lived and dies when exposed to the light. Those Christians who are supporting Trump, especially those who are enthusiastic about it, have abandoned their faith, if they ever had it in the first place.

[lees1975]

1. Here's one of the worst enemies of democracy.

https://www.salon.com/2024/10/20/fighting-demons-the-new-apostolic-reformation-is-waging-a-holy-against-democracy/

[Blue Owl]

2. Dump is exposing the shallow hypocrisy of evangelical Christianity

In the end it’s just a business helping enrich a few televangelists and the 1% wealthy elite — it has nothing to do with Christ’s teachings.