“Evangelicals vs. Christians” by Jim Van Der Pol [9/15/20 TPP] makes a lot of important points in his article about Evangelicals and their believes and Biblical interpretations. But it still doesn’t explain just what they see in Trump as a Messianic figure worthy of their devotion.
He talks about “prooftexting” the Bible, a term I’m not familiar with. But it seems to be “taking things out of context in order to make it mean what you want it to mean.” If that is so, it seems they don’t even use scripture to explain what they claim to believe. How is being anti-abortion and pro-gun ownership and authoritarianist Christ-like, for example?
It is essential for people to know and understand the Bible, especially in order to know the One True God and His Son, Jesus Christ. It is the Light of the World/God’s Word that saves us from the World as it has become since Genesis’ Adam and Eve. The point is that God intends eternal life for all who believe in Him. Revelation reveals how the Earth ends and what unbelievers face. If Genesis is true, so is the rest of it. It’s important to God that people know these things or we wouldn’t be told this by God. It’s all meant for our good.
Christ came to set us free from sin and to make available eternal life. One is free to believe this or not. That involves being about a lot more than just our current politics, though it will clarify one’s understanding of our current politics as well as everything else pertaining to life.
It was the Pharisees who killed Christ and they were leaders in the religious sphere as well as political. See what Christ had to say about them in Jone’s writings and judge accordingly.
CHERYL LOVELY, Presque Isle, Maine
Americans are faced with one harrowing reality as the most important election in world history looms before us. That reality is the absolute and unrelenting hatred for democracy showcased by the Republican party and the interests that they serve. Concerned, caring and frightened citizens in all 50 states are fighting hard to insure that their respective elections-both local and national are fraud free and not in danger of having their citizens scrubbed and eliminated from voting rosters. In a healthy, vibrant and working democracy all citizens, political parties, and government entities would be united in their advocacy and commitment to fair and transparent elections. In the United States the complete opposite is true. The Republican party and their entrenched interests have openly declared war on US elections and a citizens right to vote. It’s not possible to keep up with the on going and endless reports of voter scrubbing-voter repression-and rigged elections. Those at greatest risk to lose their voting rights is inevitably minority populations and working class citizens who are most likely to vote for democratic candidates. This is patently obvious to anyone who takes even a cursory look at the unrelenting attacks and efforts to destroy any possibility of a fair and reasoned election.
Donald Trump and the dark forces that support a 2020 coup realize that the only way he can “win” a second term is by stealing the election outright. And the forces committed to this coup are working around the clock right before our eyes. The great investigative reported Greg Palast has warned the world in his eerily prophetic “How Trump stole the 2020 Election” of what may transpire. It is up to all of us to fight back and do everything in our power to thwart, block, and deter those forces that would destroy once and for all any vestige of American democracy. The fate of the nation, the world, and the human race is at stake here. We need to be united in our efforts to prevent what would be an unparalled disaster should this huge, collective effort at a rigged 2020 election enjoy success.
JIM SAWYER, Edmonds, Wash.
The media have been full of Trump’s claims of the evils of balloting by mail. His agitation is aimed at setting the state for challenge of the results of the November election should he lose. It appears likely that he is going to get away with it.
Balloting by mail is ironclad reliable if the following steps are taken by those in charge on the county level. They have worked for me for at least 10 years.
First, all registration data must be stored on an internal network without any access by the internet, eliminating the chance of hacking. Mail ballots are provided at the request of any county resident with a valid current registration.
The marked ballots are returned in an envelope provided for the purpose, signed by the voter. The signature must match that contained in the voter registration records. The envelopes can be mailed or placed in ballot drop-off boxes maintained by election officials. Only ballots in the hands of election officials on election day are counted. Ballots are provided to registered voters well in advance of election day providing ample opportunity to have them available for counting by election day.
Both the mailed ballots and those cast on election day are counted by programmed tabulators, which are tested for accuracy in advance of election day with representatives from both parties as observers. Thus the mailed ballots are counted as if they were voted that day. There is no undue delay in determining the results of the day’s voting.
This is a process beyond challenge. It undermines Trump’s campaign of confusion.
It amazes me that in spite of an unblemished record in the many states that have for years taken advantage of the mailed ballot alternative, the media allow Trump to repeatedly attempt to cast doubt on the validity of the process. We deserve better from those who are charged with protecting the public’s interests.
RUDY DALPRA, Safford, Ariz.
Something which I find to be very disappointing about many political “Conservatives” in 2020 is something that 12-time award-winning and prize-winning journalist Jane Mayer emphasizes in her award-winning book — “Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right.” She points out that many of today’s conservatives believe that their “ends” (including winning national elections) justify their use of any and all immoral and unethical “means” (including the use of “stealthy tactics,” such as lying, making things up, being sneaky, deceptive, and misleading, providing misinformation and phony and fake research, extensive use of think-tanks, which produce false propaganda, which is disguised as being scientific and objective research, and trying to hide the fact from the public that many of them want to abolish all or most federal government social programs, which help people, such as Social Security and Medicare. This is especially true of many of the wealthiest and most influential campaign donors to conservative-Republican candidates.
To my knowledge, nothing in her book has ever been successfully refuted by anyone. I have mentioned her book in many of my previous letters and articles, and no conservative has ever challenged it. They all ignore it and avoid it as if it is like “Kryptonite” to them.
STEWART B. EPSTEIN, Rochester, N.Y.
For three and a half years, Trump and his allies have manipulated our democratic institutions for their own personal benefit and to satisfy the rapacious greed of the Wall Street faction that continues to selfishly support them despite the monumentally horrific revelations of their relentless racism, misogyny, homophobia, etc. Our oft-celebrated system of “checks and balances” has been seriously eroded and has failed to buttress our democratic norms in order to prevent our descent into proto-fascism.
This terrifying prospect demands an in-depth analysis of the limitations of our institutions. A thorough overhaul is long overdue. As Thom Hartmann succinctly noted, “America needs a major reboot.”
ROBERT McCALLISTER, Lantana, Fla.
You know, as an Army veteran, I don’t consider myself a “sucker,” and since I never saw combat and died, I guess I’m not a “loser” either.
On the other hand, I can tell you exactly what Trump is. He is a fake populist, lying, vindictive, crude, self-centered, demeaning, insecure, divisive, arrogant, disgusting, self-righteous, bullying, incompetent, vile, Kim Jung Un and Putin loving, disrespectful, race baiting, delusional, big-mouthed, inept, driven by jealousy of Obama, egotistical, ignorant, selfish and draft-dodging fake patriot of a president who has led our country into a state of chaos and dysfunction and wants to keep it that way. The only “losers” in this country will be the “suckers” that vote for Trump in November.
MIKE EKLUND, Mercer, Wis.
Thanks for Hal Crowther’s “Mad Bull Call Out” article [“A McCarthy Moment for Trump?,” 9/15/20 TPP], expressing my sentiments in words I wish I could have produced so perfectly.
May those of us who still cling to a few positive principles survive the reign of the revolting lunatic in the White House and his minions and end it with the coming election!
Maybe then I can recover my own sanity (and get a decent night’s sleep for a change).
JUDITH M. REDDING, Bellevue, Wash.
As if I weren’t upset enough already, Thom Hartmann has given me another jolt [“If Biden wins, get ready for Trump to punish America,” 9/15/20 TPP].
I didn’t anticipate the extreme backlash against Obama and I didn’t think of Trump’s possible revenge for losing.
Of course Trump will be vengeful and mean doing all he can out of sheer spite to leave things even worse than they are now.
Because of these beauties: Trump, Barr, McConnell and the spineless Republicans in the Senate, who knows what further havoc we’ll have to endure.
GRACE GAMBINO, Monroe Township, NJ
Wildfires blaze across vast portions of the continental United States, and still there are dullards denying the reality of global warming. Against such stubborn ignorance, the gods themselves contend in vain!
A savant with the World Meteorological Organization notes that even the region within the Arctic Circle is warming more than twice as fast as the global average. (Earth Island Journal, Autumn 2020.) In June, it was a brow-raising 100 degrees Fahrenheit in Siberia — with wildfires there, too, the smoke in the skies of Alaska.
We can ill afford to ignore or make light of the ghastly consequences wrought through our indifference to climate change. More is required to stop future conflagrations than “forest management” other other such abracadabra.
WILLIAM DAUENHAUER, Willowick, Ohio
From The Progressive Populist, October 15, 2020
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