The Kavanaugh nomination: A country as divided as ever

Yesterday’s U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee hearings with Christine Blasey Ford, the psychologist who accused Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh of sexually assaulting her in the 1980s and Kavanaugh’s response — the latter, probably even more so — should be instructive. President Donald Trump’s response to Kavanaugh’s outburst, which primarily accused the Democrats of trying to railroad him, was, “[That’s] exactly why I nominated him.”

That is to say, Trump got elected in the first place largely by badmouthing everyone who dared to stand up to or, at the very least, disagree with him. It’s very likely that Kavanaugh’s response was thus a calculated political ploy to remind the base of its collective resentment of some “other” that’s trying to take away its power.

Over the past few months prominent Republicans have often found themselves accosted by critics, generally at restaurants, where they’ve been as a result told to leave. Trump’s supporters have tried to paint those incidents as the work of unhinged liberals trying to disrupt civil discourse — they’re deadly wrong, however, because Trump has never, ever been civil in the first place. In other words, it’s a matter of fighting fire with fire.

Moreover, this is nothing new; it’s been happening for decades (I first noticed this in 1980). If you subscribe to Christian media, which I rarely do these days, notice how often they refer to “liberals,” “gays,” Muslims or, the latest pejorative, “social justice warriors.” That kind of language is only inflammatory and does nothing to bring the country together over common goals. And when folks refuse to be confronted over their divisive speech, you have what you saw yesterday.

We’re ultimately looking at a collective failure to take responsibility for one’s attitudes and actions as well as a failure to see others as human beings rather than categories, and that’s not good for either the country in general or the Church in particular. I’m reminded of the old song, “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me” — that is, everyone doing his part to build a just and peaceful society.

But — what about “them”? Never mind that — “let it begin with me.”

A 'good man'?

A fair number of conservatives have taken to social media to defend Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh amidst charges that he sexually abused women in his teens and 20s, claiming that he’s the victim of what they consider persecution because he’s a conservative and, thus, a “good man.” Sorry, but, especially given his denials of such, I’m not convinced.

Now, I would be if he said something like, “Yes, I did do some of these things, but I was young and stupid then and I now know them to be wrong.” But when it comes to the political right, humility has always been in short supply.

Lately, former President Bill Clinton has been in the news as these same conservatives have been dredging up the old — and false — allegations of rape against him. But even though he’s apologized for his actions with Monica Lewinsky, which did happen but were blown out of proportion, he’s still being hammered.

It seems that such “redemption” is available only to conservative Republicans even without any shred of remorse.

And let’s be honest: The real reason Trump wants Kavanaugh on that court is because he’s said, on the record, that he believes that sitting presidents shouldn’t be prosecuted or even indicted for crimes he or she may have committed.

In other words, the president should be above the law. Let that sink in for a moment.

These are the words of a hardened political operative, not a “good man” who seeks “liberty and justice for all,” after the Pledge of Allegiance. Good people do what’s right regardless of consequences or who benefits.

This is yet another reason why many Americans, most notably those 30 and younger, are turning away from the Christian faith; they see the hypocrisy that we refuse to, such is our addiction to political power. More to the point, by focusing on political battles we’re sure to lose the spiritual war.

Bitterness: The religious right's bugaboo

I’ve long been a critic of the “religious right” and believed that through its attitude especially toward those who disagree with it has damaged its own cause.
 

This weekend, however, the former worship pastor of my church spoke at its men’s retreat, which I attended, with the general theme being “identity.” At one point he referred to nine specific characteristics of bitter people, and after he recited them it hit me why the revival the religious right says it wants can and will never come to pass.
 

I don’t remember all of what the pastor said, so I decided to look them up online. According to a George Simon, the signs of bitterness, most of which the pastor mentioned, are listed below; for my purposes, they typify the religious right in general and many supporters of Donald Trump in particular:

● Verbal and Emotional Cruelty
● Hatred
● Implacability
● Self-Pity
● Antagonism
● Vindictiveness
● Pathological Pride
● Animosity and Resentment
● Infantile Narcissism
 

Clearly, these go against the teachings of Christ and the outworking of the Holy Spirit; I’ve mentioned on other blog entries the specifics, so I won’t do so here. If you’re wondering why so many white evangelical Christians support Trump, this is the reason: They share the same bitterness.
 

Now, before anyone tries to accuse me of same, as in some cases has already happened, I myself must plead guilty in my own right to most of these, especially in the 1980s. And precisely because I’ve dealt with my own issues, I see them clearly in others today.
 

On top of that, I stand ready to reconcile with people who may have hurt me or whom I may have hurt. Nothing means more to me personally than mending fences with those from whom I’ve been separated, which I’ve been privileged to have experienced — after all, that’s the very heart of the Gospel.
 

Sadly, however, the religious right has never truly internalized that belief in reconciliation, which is why it’s often angry, vindictive, complaining about persecution and picking fights. Its focus on the “culture war” (which is, in essence, nothing but a turf war) demonstrates a lack of trust in God to effect change, and its demand that everyone else change to suit itself causes people, even fellow Christians who agree with them on moral issues, to pass.
 

Recently I saw a Facebook post that mentioned that President Trump was trying to reestablish “righteousness,” and I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry; his attitude of “Screw you” not only doesn’t do it but even sabotages such efforts. Because — and I know this from experience — no one wants to deal with bitter people.

Donald Trump: Hitting close to home

Many of you who read my blog know that I have never held any love for President Donald Trump.

A few weeks ago, while talking with my mother, who similarly loathes him, I realized why: He reminded us too much of my father, a narcissistic bully whom she divorced in 1985; after 25 years of his tyranny, she finally moved out in August 1983 and I followed a few weeks later. The list of similarities between them is too long to mention here, so I’ll mention just a few instances.

Mom found Dad overly possessive, accusing her of sleeping with other men, among other things. He recognized himself as the only authority in his life, as well as ours. Even in private conversations his sentences were often peppered with "I" and "me."

Here’s the thing: He also disparaged my religious faith, threatening on three occasions to kick me out of the house for expressing it.

But because I realized that I had become in my own right as toxic as Dad was, in 1984 I asked God, in effect, “Please change me no matter what you have to do.” He did, although the process was painful, as I suspected it would be. That "cleaning up my life" drove us even farther apart, leading to my breaking with him, permanently as it turned out, in 1988. (He died five years later.)

I bring that up because Christians are making excuses for Trump's behavior, calling him “a baby Christian,” which, absent any changed behavior, I won’t believe for a second due to his constant prevarication, abuse of women and overt racism, among other things. I'm seeing absolutely no humility on his part, that he ever does anything wrong that needs to change, and blaming his troubles on the media, the "deep state" and even people in his own administration.

That leads to what I call spiritual sludge. A lot of Christians, under the delusion that Trump has a “Cyrus anointing,” believe without reason that he will kick off some big revival that they believe will simply sweep people into the church. (In fact, revival can start only with confession of one's own sin and a desire to have it removed by any means God deems necessary, something his apologists don't consider.)

Anyway, you simply can't lead a family with an iron fist the way my dad tried to do, nor can you run a country the same way. What these Christians apparently want is to push people around; all they're doing, however, is alienating people from not only them but, even worse, God. And He isn't glorified in the process.

When Jesus said in Matthew 10:37 that “Anyone who loves [his or her] father or mother more than me is not worthy of me," I had to take that literally. At some point Christian Trump supporters will have to make a similar choice:

Either Jesus or Trump.