Tag: Christianity and Politics

Idolatrous Israel Continued to Worship Yahweh, Just as Evangelicals Continue to Worship Jesus

The God of Judaism and Christianity does not like company.

Yahweh (for Jews and Christians), the eternal Father of Jesus Christ, the Son

A painting on a large jar from Kuntillet ‘Ajrud, presenting two masked figures, a male and a
female. Unlike most publications, the right figure is shown here with no tail or a penis, since it was not
indicated on the original drawing on the jar. The Hebrew inscription above addresses “Yahweh of
Shomron and his Asherah” (After Meshel, Z. 1978. Kuntillet ‘Ajrud: A religious Center from the
Judaean Monarchy on the Border of Sinai. Israel Museum Catalogue No. 75. Jerusalem, Fig 12, with
correction of the right figure).

of God (for Christians), is the one and only creator God throughout both the New Testament and the later writings of the Old.

It’s called monotheism.

Although the Old Testament prophets condemned ancient Israel for both idolatry (the worship of false gods) and apostasy (the abandonment of their religion), their condemnations were aimed at a people who never stopped worshiping Yahweh.

How could that be?

If Israel never stopped worshiping Yahweh, why did the prophets foretell judgment and captivity as divine punishment for abandoning Yahweh?

Israel’s error was their syncretism.

Syncretism is the mixing of different religious elements from a variety of cultural sources. So, I doubt very much if any Israelite ever stopped praying to Yahweh, the God of their fathers. But they added other items of devotion to their liturgies and turned Yahweh into a god of cultural appetites.

Images of Asherah, the Canaanite mother goddess

Read the books of 1 and 2 Kings for its many references to these idolatrous Canaanite additions to Israel’s Yahweh worship. For example, in Canaanite religion, Asherah was the mother goddess of creation who was typically married to a male deity such as Ba’al.

The holy of holies in the Arad temple of southern Judah. The two masseboth towards the back of the small room to the left represent Yahweh and Asherah, his “consort.”

Well, guess what. During their periods of rebellion, the Israelite’s — deciding that they must conform to the society around them — played match-maker and married off their Yahweh to the Canaanites’ Asherah. They even made room for her masseboth (the word for a “standing stone” commonly erected to symbolize a deity) inside the Jerusalem temple (2 Kings 23:6; one of the reasons it was finally destroyed by the  Babylonians)!

No, the Israelites never abandoned their prayers to Yahweh, but they finally bore the brunt of Yahweh’s condemnation because they couldn’t help but “punch up” their worship by adding a few cultural icons to the mix.

So, what does all this have to do with American evangelicalism, you ask?

As I argued in my book, I Pledge Allegiance, our favorite idols are worshiped  through the pervasive influences of nationalism, patriotism, militarism, American exceptionalism, politics, and consumerism. These are the evangelical idols of today.

No, we have not given up worshiping Jesus. Jesus Christ remains the deity on evangelical lips, but he is no longer Jesus of Nazareth.

We worship an image of the Son of God who is wrapped in an American flag, singing the national anthem as He returns on the clouds, swinging a sword to cut down our political enemies (because the opposition must be demonic, never a sincere person with an honest difference of opinion), all in order to protect our materialistic, consumerist way of life.

God bless America!

Today I came across this video of an “Evangelicals for Trump” rally held in a “Christian church.” Take a look (it’s a little over 19 minutes long; this congregation should immediately be stripped of its tax exempt status).

I will give you a preview: it is 19 minutes of idolatry, led by false prophets and pagan priests.

President Trump has replaced the goddess Asherah. He surrounds himself with false teachers who tell him what he wants to hear, just like the false prophets in the days of king Ahab, the apostate.

Red baseball caps, “God Bless America,” and fire-breathing Republican  prophets of Democratic doom have replaced the court prophets that jumped, flailed, and prophesied nationalistic lies for king Ahab and his wife, Jezebel.

Yet, the same fate awaits all false religion, even when the worshipers still call out in the name of Jesus.

The Dangers of Anti-Science Evangelicalism During the Trump Presidency

Rodney Kennedy is a professor at Palmer Theological Seminary. He recently posted an interesting article at Righting America: A forum for scholarly conversation about Christianity, culture, and politics in the US, analyzing evangelicalism’s antagonism to modern science.

Perhaps the most dangerous — at least, from a public health standpoint — expression of the tragic alliance between anti-science evangelicalism and right-wing politics is the decision at Fox News to (1) downplay the dangers of covid19 transmission by (2) demeaning the medical professionals who disagree with Trump and (3) promoting the early end of current stay-at-home orders.

Kennedy’s article is entitled “A Scopes Trial Redux: Evolution, Coronavirus, and the Evangelical War on Science.”

You can read an excerpt below:

“…From the Scopes Trial to the coronavirus pandemic, the pandemonium among evangelicals has always been about opposition to evolution. The symbolic epicenter of the anti-coronavirus movement is the Creation Museum in Kentucky. Inside the tech-savvy Disney theme park edifice is

Anti-Evolution League, at the Scopes Trial, Dayton Tennessee From Literary Digest, July 25, 1925. Image by Mike Licht – Flickr, via Wikimedia Commons

enthroned the king of anti- evolution – Ken Ham. Neither scientist nor theologian he routinely rips apart science and theology. He assures his adoring fans that he doesn’t interpret the Bible; he merely reads it and its message is at once plain and clear. Ham is perhaps the quintessential example of the evangelicals who routinely believe that the Bible gives up its treasures to nothing more complicated than “common sense.” 

“The Creation Museum is the Temple of Doom, as it defiles, denies, and attacks science. Ham’s obsession with painting evolution as the “beast out of the bowels of Darwin” provides the foundational ideology for the anti-coronavirus movement. Behind the mistrust of science and expertise, behind the denial of the pandemic’s scope, behind the spectacle of pastors holding mass services in states where people are fighting for their lives : behind all this is the anti-evolution movement.

“Ken Ham’s message has found ardent support among the millions of evangelical Christians who are easily persuaded that science and scientific expertise is an attack on the Bible, the American way of life, and on Christianity itself. So, it is that the ghosts of fundamentalism’s last stand at the Scopes Monkey Trial have returned in evangelicals like ancient witches and wizards gathering for the triumphant return of Voldemort. At the opening of the Creation Museum Ham expressed this residual resentment against Darrow and spoke of repairing the damage: The Scopes Trial “was the first time the Bible was ridiculed by the media in America. We are going to undo all of that here at the Creation Museum.” 

“The declaration of the continuing war could not be clearer. Every week, some business person or politician with evangelical ties adds to the creationist-inspired movement against science movement. Hobby Lobby, in direct violation of orders to be closed, reopened its stores, before announcing they would close again. The mayor of Cummings, GA rescinded his lock-down order and re-opened his city. The governor of Mississippi, Tate Reeves, has chosen prayer over following the recommendation of health officials. The governor of Alabama, Kay Ivey, resisted issuing any order to shut down before relenting by telling the people of Alabama a shutdown was the only way to salvage football season. Jair Bolsonaro, president of Brazil, has appealed to Christian convictions in his call to reopen schools and businesses. 

“But with the coronavirus pandemic, evangelicals may have overplayed their hand, and finally exposed the soft underbelly of their anti-science, anti-intelligence, anti-history bias. Evolution isn’t as scary as COVID-19. Evangelicals may have once again picked the wrong enemy, allowing Americans, who usually pay no attention to evangelicals, to see just how dangerous they can be. This seems like a foolish attack akin to Pickett’s charge at Gettysburg on July 3, 1863. When General Lee told General Pickett to rally his division, Pickett allegedly told him, “Sir I have no division.” When this current battle over science plays itself out, one can only hope that the forces of anti-science evangelicals will have been shredded and sent back to the woods from whence they emerged. Perhaps we will look back and say that the Trump presidency was the “high watermark of the evangelical movement,” before its collapse. If that is the case, it will be a tragic end to a once proud movement.”

Read the entire piece here.

The Israeli Army Doesn’t Have Snipers. It Has Hunters — Gideon Levy

Here is an excerpt from today’s editorial by Gideon Levy at the Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. It is entitled, “The Israeli Army Doesn’t Have Snipers

Israeli journalist, Gideon Levy

on the Gaza Border. It Has Hunters.”

He is addressing the ongoing, daily slaughter of Palestinian men, women and children at the Gaza prison fence.

To date, 8,000 young men have been permanently disabled. The number of deaths is in the hundreds (approximately, 500 I believe) and the serious injuries in the tens of thousands.

And still, the United States and the rest of the world do nothing:

“They’re the best of our boys. One is a “musician from a good high school,” another a “boy scout” who majored in theater.” They’re the snipers who have shot thousands of unarmed protesters along the Gaza border fence.

“In the Gaza Strip there are 8,000 permanently disabled young men as a result of the snipers’ actions. Some are leg amputees, and the shooters are very proud of that. None of the snipers interviewed for Hilo Glazer’s frightening story in Haaretz (March 6) has any regrets. If they are feeling at all apologetic it’s because they didn’t spill more blood. One was mocked in his battalion with “here comes the killer.” They all act like murderers. If their actions don’t show it – more than 200 dead as a result of them – then their statements prove that these young men have lost their moral compass. They are lost. They will go on to study, to have careers and to raise families – and will never recover from their blindness. They disabled their victims physically, but their own disabilities are more severe. Their souls were completely twisted. They will never again be moral individuals. They are a danger to society. They lost their humanity, if they ever had it, on the shooting berms facing the Gaza Strip. They are the sons of our friends and the friends of our sons, the young people from the apartment across the hall. Look how they talk.

“…but it’s hard not to be shocked at the depths to which we have sunk. They recalled the number of knees they shot. ‘I brought in seven-eight knees in one

Israeli soldiers patrol the Gaza fence looking for people to shoot

day. Within a few hours, I almost broke his record.’ ‘He got around 28 knees.’ They shot at unarmed young men and women who were trying in vain to struggle for their freedom, an issue that couldn’t be more just. ‘The regular scenario is supposed to be that you hit, break a bone – in the best case, break the kneecap – within a minute an ambulance comes to evacuate him, and after a week he gets a disability pension.’…

“They chose their victims by their charisma, with a sniper’s precision. Their ‘leadership aura’ has destined young men to a life of disability in the cage that is Gaza. But that was not enough. They become bloodthirsty as only young incited people can be. They wanted more blood, not just blood, a child’s blood. Not just a child’s blood, but in front of his family.

“‘Let me just once take down a kid of 16, even 14, but not with a bullet in the leg – let me blow his head open in front of his whole family and his whole village. Let him spurt blood. And then maybe for a month I won’t have to take off another 20 knees.’

“They wanted blood from a boy’s head only to spare themselves the need to take down 20 more knees. They identified their victims’ age by their shirts: Dress shirts for the older ones, T-shirts for the youngest.

“None was court-martialed. Correction: One got seven days in military jail for shooting a sheep. Soldiers in the world’s most moral army don’t shoot sheep. With 200 dead and 8,000 wounded, they think ‘the restraints on us are shameful.’ That is their shame. They are our shame. They, and their commanders. They and the army that orders them to shoot at protesters as if they were ‘ducks who chose to cross the line.’

“People who shoot ducks aren’t snipers. They’re hunters.”

Read the entire piece here.

 

Professor Erakat Talks About Trump’s Middle East Plan for Israeli Apartheid

Noura Erakat is assistant professor of criminal law at Rutgers University, specializing in international and humanitarian law. You can check out her faculty page here.

Her most recent book, which I read not long ago and highly recommend, is entitled Justice for Some: Law and the Question of Palestine (Stanford, 2019). In this book, she examines the modern history of Palestine through the lens of international law. (I’ll give you a head’s up: Israel has regularly violated, and continues its violations, of international law flagrantly and persistently.)

Recently, Ms. Erakat was interviewed by Aaron Mate, one of my favorite journalists for his independence and investigative abilities, on the Grayzone program, Push Back.

Their conversation concerns the practical effects of President Trump’s recently announced Apartheid Plan for Israeli/Palestinian relations.

Please take the time to watch the complete interview here. It is approximately 15 minutes long.

Her summary: “This plan is much more dangerous than I originally thought.”

Kairos Palestine Responds to Trump’s Middle East “Peace” Plan

Kairos Palestine is an organization made up of Palestinian Christians living in the West Bank who advocate for peace and justice on behalf of all the Palestinian people.

Some years ago I had the opportunity of visiting their offices and speaking with several of their volunteers. Our time together was delightful as we discussed the ethics of Israel’s military occupation and its consequences.

Today Kairos Palestine released a press statement in response to Trump’s unveiling of his administration’s obscene pretense of a “peace plan.” (You can read a few of my thoughts about Trump’s plan  here.)

Below is an excerpt of Kairos Palestine’s press release. You can read the entire statement here:

“Peace, peace, they say when there is no peace”

(Jeremiah: 6:14)

The position announced by the U.S. administration regarding what they termed as the ‘deal of the century’ was in fact an insult to history, humanity, the Palestinian people, and the American dignity itself.

The American-Israeli proposal is premised on consolidating Israeli control over all of Palestine’s land, making sure that the Palestinian people are subjected to this control, in return for economic promises that are closer to a deal for buying the people and their spirit with money.

This proposal seeks to legitimize the Israeli occupation and revoke the history of the Palestinian people and their legitimate inalienable rights, particularly the right of return for the Palestinian refugees and the right to self-determination in an attempt to eliminate the Palestinian question completely and definitively…

…Through this declaration, the U.S. has proclaimed itself clearly as a party to the conflict rather than a peace broker, as it considered this deal, that has no reference to the international law or the UN resolutions, as the final offer to the Palestinians holding them fully responsible, should they reject it, for all the ensuing repercussions.

Israel and the U.S. are yet to listen to the voice of God commanding them, here in the Holy Land and in the world as a whole: do not steal, do not kill, in order to stop killing the Palestinian people and stealing away their lands.

Israel and the U.S. are yet to listen to God’s voice, to the voice of conscience, and realize the truth that cannot be subdued: the Palestinian people are alive, consistently demanding their rights over the past hundred years till this date. The Palestinian people will continue to demand their rights until they obtain them. The only path to peace is that of full equality between the two peoples. Israel peace is preconditioned by Palestinian peace, in fact, Israeli mere survival is based on the just peace for Palestinians. Otherwise, Israel, despite all its power, will live in fear and anticipation of an unknown future. As we already stated in the Kairos document ‘Moment of Truth’ , “our and their future are but one. Either a cycle of violence whereby we all perish, or peace whereby we all thrive.” 

Observations on the Trump/Netanyahu Apartheid Plan for the Middle East

Trump and Netanyahu unveil the “plan of the century” — remembering, of course, that the century is merely 10 years old.

The Impeached and the Indicted are on the campaign trail together with a shamelessly ridiculous plan for permanent apartheid in Palestine, all under the guise of an Israel-Palestine peace plan producing a viable two-state solution.

Well, attention Mr. Impeached President and Mr. Indicted Israeli Prime Minister — a two-state solution died long, long ago.

Israel’s continuous multiplication of illegal Jewish-only settlements throughout the occupied West Bank put a stake through that two-state dream like a knife cutting through butter.

And the US stood on the sidelines and watched.

Take a look at the map provided with the plan (which you can read for yourself here). By the way, the extremely right-wing Jerusalem Post is thrilled that Trump’s plan comes with a map. They absolutely gush, It is the first plan to come with a map!

Oh joy, I guess the editors at JP like their books to come with big two-tone pictures.

But the map does illustrate one thing clearly. There ain’t no Palestinian state with contiguous borders (as Jared Kushner, the plans’ main presenter, insists there is).

Perhaps someone in the White House needs to explain the meaning of “contiguous” to Mr. Kushner.

The dark blue areas are the holes in the tiny piece of Swiss-cheese that Israel has left for the Palestinians to nibble on. These very non-contiguous dots are what is being called “a Palestinian state.”

They are like tiny Indian reservations linked together by underground tunnels and elevated bridges, all of which will be heavily monitored by the Israel military. So much for freedom of travel and assembly in the new Palestine.

Trump also made it very clear that those ungrateful Palestinian mice ought to be darn thankful for the meager crumbs of cheese left to them by their oh-so generous benefactors, Israel and America.

Take a moment to scan this map tracking the loss of Palestinian land ownership throughout the years of Israel’s settlement expansion and illegal occupation.

A few other details to remember include:

  • The new state of Palestine is prohibited from having any treaties or diplomatic connections with other countries. This is Israel’s idea of Palestinian national sovereignty.
  • Palestine is prohibited from having its own, independent security forces. Whatever forces they have must always support Israeli security interests.
  • None of the Palestinian refugees inhabiting the camps of neighboring nations since their displacement in the wars of 1948 and 1967 may return to Palestine. The Israelis insist, No more of your refugees jumping on the bed!
  • There is a strong likelihood that many Israeli-Palestinians, possessing Israeli passports and citizenship, will be stripped of those possessions and forcibly transported to the new “state.” (Which, by the way, is a violation of International law. But Israel excels at such illegal dealings.)
  • Along with all the other stolen land, Israel has also decided to annex the entire Jordan Valley, displacing all the Palestinian farmers who have owned and cultivated that land for as long as anyone can remember.

And the list could go on.

President Carter called for Palestine, Peace Not Apartheid in his 2006 book by the same name. But I am afraid that forcing brutal apartheid onto the Palestinian people has been the name of the game in Israeli and American politics for decades.

For the one-two punch of ethnic cleansing and apartheid are Israel’s favorite original sin. They just can’t break their national addiction to war crimes, racism and oppression.

And there is no sign of national repentance anytime soon.

Palestinian outrage over the Trump plan is already evident throughout the region, and justly so.  I expect that we may see a Third Intifada on the horizon sometime soon. Frankly, I’d love to be there to join them.

Heck, if I weren’t a Christian and a pacifist, I would be stockpiling rocks and organizing revolutionary resistance right now.

The Difference Between Truth and Falsehood is Supposed to Matter to Christians. When Did that Stop?

In my neck of the woods in NW Montana, talking with a new church acquaintance invariably includes a question about my devotion to Fox News.

When I say that I do not depend on Fox for my news information, that I

Rupert Murdoch, founder of the Fox network

watch Fox mainly for research purposes; and that Fox is not a reliable source for information about the world, the eyes of my new acquaintance invariably go wide, very wide.

“But Fox gives us the Christian perspective,” I am told in a variety of different ways. “It’s the source for the truth.”

“Not really,” I say. “Fox News has always been an outlet for partisan, Republican propaganda. Just as MSNBC serves that purpose for Democratic party propaganda.”

If they haven’t walked away from me by this point (which has also happened), I’ll offer some evidence.

“First, did you know that Rupert Murdoch got his start in American ‘news’ by answering President Reagan’s call for someone to spread Republican ‘talking points’ (double-speak for propaganda) to the American public?”

(No one has ever answered “yes” to this question. You can read an investigative account of the Reagan-Murdoch arrangement here, written by a real journalist. It’s not hard to find similar stories if you look.)

“Second, did you know that leaked Fox memos have revealed that the Fox News desk receives regular updates from the Republican leadership instructing them in the latest party talking-points, which they are required to repeat?”

“In fact, did you know that this practice continues today, as demonstrated  by a New York Times story revealing that the official White House talking-points for Fox News impeachment coverage, instructing them in how to discuss the day’s testimony, was accidentally sent to the Democrats?”

The truth is, Fox news has NEVER been about news reporting. It has ALWAYS been a propaganda arm of the Republican party. And it is a serious indictment of American evangelicalism that Fox has been elevated to such an idolatrous, ask-no-questions-please position.

The ONLY reason conservative Christians love Fox as they do is because it provides a daily dose of jingoistic reinforcement for conservative Christianity’s very conservative, Republican politics (which is another sort of indictment against the evangelical church).

Such information idolatry is referred to as confirmation bias. We all prefer to read and listen to the things that conform to and reaffirm what we already believe.

In other words, don’t challenge me, don’t make me uncomfortable, and never make me think.

The simple mantra for the devoted, Christian audience of Fox news clap-trap is: Don’t confuse me with the facts.

Such intellectual and moral laziness is evidence of the age-old human condition. It’s called sin. Nothing new to see here, EXCEPT when American Christians decide to place more of their trust and confidence in something like Fox than they do in Jesus Christ and his teaching.

Which is where vast swaths of the morally moribund evangelical church finds itself today. Frankly, it is impossible to be a Christian with such personal default settings at work in one’s life.

Why?

Because challenging me, making me uncomfortable, and causing me to think are three things that Jesus will always do to every disciple every day.

Let me share another story to illustrate my point:

A few months ago I was having a version of this Fox news conversation with the leader of my church small group leader. It was predictable, but became especially disturbing when he raised a few  issues that I had written about in my book, I Pledge Allegiance: A Believer’s Guide to Kingdom Citizenship in 21st Century America (Eerdmans, 2018).

To give you the short version. Of course, I took issue with what he was saying, and I suggested that I’d buy him a copy of my book and we could make some time to talk about the issues. I assured him that I attempted to root all my conclusions in very careful Biblical interpretation,  so we’d also be studying scripture together.

Without a moment’s reflection, he immediately said, “No. I don’t have the time. Besides, anyone can make the Bible say whatever they want.”

Oh really?

I ignored the intended insult — a gross slap in the face to anyone who has spent the majority of their life speaking and writing about the historical aspects of the Christian faith — and that was the end of that.

Perhaps you are already thinking of the many obvious questions left hanging in the air. For instance:

Among all the abusive scripture-twisters in the world, which now apparently includes me, how do you decide which teachers and which “doctrines” to believe?

What are your criteria for selection and how do you apply them?

What role do historical evidence and logical argument play in your decision-making process?

How do you know that the things you believe right now are not the result of someone else’s sly ability to “make the Bible say whatever they want it to say”?

At the end of the day, Christians, of ALL people, must be hound-dogs for THE TRUTH.  We should all want to know the truth and nothing but the truth, in all things.

Believing in the necessity of Truth requires that we reject falsehood, whenever and wherever we find it.

Lies, of any type, regarding any arena of interest, should never find a place of comfort in a Christian’s life.

The real problem was not this man’s single-minded devotion to one particular news network, but his refusal to investigate (much less admit) the possibility that he was being deceived (and welcoming it!).

His attitude really was, “Don’t confuse or challenge me with unwanted evidence.”

Even worse, he refused to investigate God’s word with an interested brother in order to discover if he might learn something new (and have fellowship with a new friend).

I am sorry, but all of this adds up to a dangerous, wide-spread disinterest in standing up for the Truth — absolutely THE WORST position any follower of Jesus Christ can ever take.

And it is all on national display in every Fox interview with president

The mass suicide at Jonestown when everyone drank the poisoned kool-aid.

Trump, his defense attorneys (including the one who says he is a Christian), and elected, Republican officials ad nauseam.

While the evangelical church is drinking it all up like the kool-aid served at Jonestown.

The Republican Strategy: Lie, Distract, Repeat (Pound the Table, if Necessary)

Yesterday, I posted an explanation of Step One in the Republican strategy for defending Donald Trump — LIE.

Lie through your teeth, boldly. Spread falsehoods and misinformation whenever possible. Twist the words of your opponent. Or, better yet, put words never spoken into his mouth.

After all, who will know the difference? The majority of viewers don’t pay close enough attention to spot the lies when they occur. Many are so highly partisan that they will believe anything spouted by a member of their “team” and never bother to investigate it for themselves.

To illustrate this point, yesterday’s post focused  on one of Trump’s defense attorneys, self-professed evangelical, Jay Sekulow.

Unfortunately, Sekulow shows himself to be far too comfortable with lying

Jay Sekulow

for anyone claiming to follow Jesus of Nazareth, as illustrated by only one of  the many possible video clips available online.

But lying is only step one.

The Second Step is distraction.

Distraction is easily accomplished by changing the subject or going on a tangent (often an emotional tangent) about seemingly related, but materially irrelevant, information.

Since this is the Republican’s only “defense” option, you will see this step on display any time a Trump defender speaks about the case against the president.

So, let’s return to Sekulow and watch his mastery, not only of the art of deception, but also of distraction.

Pay attention to Sekulow’s arguments. Let’s review. He insists that:

  • The aid to Ukraine was eventually released
  • Trump’s aid to Ukraine was superior to President Obama’s
  • Ukraine defensive capabilities were not affected by the delay
  • Obama temporarily withheld aid to Egypt
  • Trump also withheld aid from other countries
  • He concludes by asking for the whistle-blower

The obvious question is: What bearing does ANY of this have on rebutting the impeachment charge accusing Trump of offering a quid pro quo for his own personal benefit?

The answer is — NONE. But Sekulow is trusting we won’t notice.

However, a careful listener will observe:

  • No one has denied that the aid was eventually released. The accusation is that it was only released after Trump’s scheme had been revealed publicly. So, what’s the  point?
  • Obama’s aid packages have nothing to with anything in this conversation. This is mere deflection. He is hoping we are like the dog suddenly distracted by the squirrel.
  • Ukraine’s defensive ability is irrelevant to the point at issue. (Personally, I don’t buy the Democrats’ emphasis on how the aid delay posed a threat to US “national security.” This is political establishment balderdash.)
  • So what if Obama once withheld aid from Egypt? Foreign aid is regularly conditional, with government sanctioned conditions built in. Trump’s aid delay was not approved by anyone outside the Oval Office. Again, what’s the  point?
  • So, Trump also withheld aid from other countries. And…?? Notice that Sekulow has nothing to say about whether those delays were matters of official US policy or more instances of Trump’s personal quid pro quos. Perhaps more investigations should begin…
  • Concluding with an off-handed remark about the whistle-blower is an instance of throwing red meat to the masses. After the extensive testimony presented by multiple witnesses to the House committees, and the Democrats many requests for witnesses to appear before the Senate, the whistle-blower has become almost irrelevant.

Notice what Sekulow has accomplished with this speech.

He speaks forcefully with confidence, like a good attorney should. He gives the appearance of having command of contrary evidence, demonstrating the president’s innocence. The image is compelling.

BUT when you listen closely at what Sekulow says and think about it, you see that it has all been a grand parlor trick. Nothing he talks about has direct bearing on the facts in evidence. Sekulow’s “facts” fail to undermine the Democrats’ presentation of the evidence because his facts (which may well be entirely true!) are not relevant to the actual charges brought against the president.

The goal of such distraction is to confuse the audience, just as magicians do with their dramatic antics.

Sekulow, like every other Trump defender, is tossing dust into our eyes and hoping we won’t notice as he picks our pockets.

A meaningful defense would be able to take the same body of evidence gathered by the House committees, now being presented to the Senate, and provide a superior, more cogent, comprehensive explanation of the behavior demonstrated by that evidence to have actually taken place.

And THAT, my friends, is the one thing I have yet to hear a single Republican be able to do.

Instead, all we hear are more lies and distraction.

 

“The Lack of Integrity Among Republican Members is Stunning”

Marjorie Cohn is emeritus professor of law at Thomas Jefferson School of

(150320) — WASHINGTON D.C., March 20, 2015 (Xinhua) –Marjorie Cohn, professor of Thomas Jefferson School of Law .

Law and former president of the National Lawyers Guild (an organization that once saved my legal bacon).

Today she was interviewed by The Real News and asked about her view of the ongoing Senate impeachment trial. Her legal insights are informative, helpful, and very troubling for those of us who are concerned about the permanent damage Trump’s presidency may create for America’s future.

At one point she marvels, “The lack of integrity among Republican members [of Congress] is stunning.”

I’m no lawyer, but she took the words right out of my mouth. The interview is 14 minutes long.

Lying and Perjury are Contrary to Sound Doctrine, 1 Timothy 1:10

In addition to its historical significance, the primary reason I decided to write a few posts about Trump’s impeachment trial is because of ongoing heavy investment of evangelical Christian energies into the president’s defense.

The overwhelming majority of white evangelicals continue to support Trump, regardless of his behavior. The majority of conservative Christians are equally (if not more) conservative in their politics. Which means that their major source of political information is Fox News.

I have no idea what percentage of American viewers are watching the Senate trial, or how many watched the witness testimony collected in the House committee hearings. But I suspect that few Americans watch the testimony and arguments live and in full.

Rather, public opinion is formed by the short clips and editorializing provided by favorite news stations. Again, for conservative Christians this source of information is gained overwhelming from Fox.

One of President Trumps defense lawyers is Jay Sekulow, an evangelical

Jay Sekulow

Christian and media darling of Fox News. He is Fox’s natural go-to guy for commentary on the Senate trial proceedings.

Sekulow is also the host, with his son, of a radio/television talk show broadcast on various Christian media outlets. I  listen to Sekulow’s program regularly.

There is nothing particularly “Christian” about it. Instead, Sekulow’s show serves as one more supposed news outlet, like Fox, that exists to repeat Republican  party talking-points.

Which is why I am saddened, but not surprised, to see Sekulow and others on Trump’s defense team stand up on the Senate floor and lie to the American people.

I cannot believe that they do not know exactly what they are doing. Deliberate lying is the only way to describe Sekulow’s behavior.

While all of Trump’s legislative supporters are doing it, Sekulow claims to be a disciple of Jesus Christ. And THAT makes Sekulow’s lies especially abhorrent.

Lying is one thing, but lying deliberately in defense of a favored politician is inexcusable for anyone who claims to follow Jesus Christ.

I will mention only two examples to illustrate Mr. Sekulow’s problem:

First, Sekulow’s opening statement to the Senate repeated the Republican complaint that the president was denied due process during the House investigations, saying that Trump and his lawyers were shut out of the committee hearings. Watch Sekulow repeat this charge here (beginning at the 1:00 minute mark).

This is an oft repeated Republican lie.

This lie has been repeatedly rebutted by the Democratic impeachment managers. In fact, you can watch a news report below describing the Judicial Committee’s invitation to President Trump, asking him to attend their meetings in November, 2019.

I remember watching a segment of the House investigation where they explained that the president had been invited to tell his side of the story with his own lawyers present (calling Jay Sekulow!) so they could cross-examine witnesses!

Yet, Sekulow and others repeat this lie shamelessly. The fact is that Trump declined the invitation and instructed everyone in the Executive branch to ignore all Congressional subpoenas.

Second, Sekulow was interviewed yesterday about his upcoming strategy. He said that he intended to rebut the Democratic charge that the president had solicited Ukraine for a “quid pro quo;” that is, you scratch my back (by announcing an investigation into the Bidens) and I’ll scratch yours (by releasing the hold on the weapons that you want).

Sekulow strangely insisted that this charge is phony because the first article of impeachment never says anything about a quid pro quo. What Sekulow fails to mention, however, is that the article explains, in plain English, how the president’s request of Ukraine amounted to an actual quid pro quo.

Watch this clip with Jake Tapper exposing Sekulow’s lie by putting the actual article of impeachment on the screen explaining how Trump’s quid pro quo worked, without using the words themselves (beginning at 1:40).

These two examples are only the tip of the iceberg of egregious lies constructed by the Republicans and repeated on partisan “news” programs by lawyers, like Jay Sekulow, who are willing to deceive the public with a straight face.

I am sorry, but this is not the behavior of a Christian lawyer.