HATEFUL FAITH, A ROTTEN PRESIDENCY, AND A DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRACY

The signs that democracy in the United States is dysfunctional are no longer doubtful.

Last week, a federal judge in California issued a temporary restraining order against President Donald Trump and U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth after Trump federalized 2000 members of the California National Guard and ordered them to protect federal immigration agents. The federal judge ruled that Trump's action was illegal. The Trump administrations has appealed the order.

Last week, U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth ordered U.S. Marines to Los Angeles, California from Camp Pendleton, and the Marines engaged in a tactical military offensive against civilians engaged in peaceful protest against oppressive actions by the Trump administration against immigrant workers in Los Angeles.

Last week, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla of California was physically assaulted by armed security agents when he tried to pose a question to Secretary Kristi Noem of the Department of Homeland Security at a press briefing held in a federal office building

Last week, the Speaker of the Minnesota House of Representatives and her husband were shot and killed at their home. It appears that their assailant also shot and seriously wounded another Minnesota state legislator and her spouse in their home. The assailant appears to have been determined to attack other Democratic politicians in Minnesota.

Since the shootings, U.S. Senator Mike Lee of Utah has joked about the murderous attacks in Minnesota.

President Trump has demeaned Minnesota Governor Tim Walz.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents are seizing and detaining people they claim to be undocumented immigrants across the United States without judicial arrest warrants.

Last weekend, Trump gloated as U.S. soldiers marched and military equipment was rolled into Washington, D.C. to observe the 250th birthday of the U.S. Army. Coincidentally, the parade happened on Trump’s 79th birthday.

So, U.S. Marines were physically active against civilians in California last weekend. U.S. Army soldiers and equipment rolled into Washington last weekend.

Never mind due process of law.

Never mind federalism and respect for state sovereignty enshrined in the U.S. Constitution. Never mind the Tenth Amendment.

The Trump administration is seizing and deporting people who protest Trump's unlawful practices. The Trump administration is threatening international academic programs at U.S. universities that allow peaceful protests against Israeli apartheid, genocide, land theft, and other oppression against Palestinians. It is blocking law firms that represent clients who protest Trump policies from entering federal buildings. It is firing federal employees who work in agencies that enforce federal laws and policies concerning diversity, equity, and inclusion. Never mind the First Amendment.

Never mind the Fourth and Fifth Amendments. A Wisconsin state court judge who did not detain an immigrant in her courtroom was arrested by federal agents and is now facing federal charges.

Trump, his wife, and his children are profiting financially from crypto currency trading. Trump granted presidential pardons to people after he received financial donations. Never mind the constitutional prohibition against U.S. Presidents receiving gifts or using their office for personal gain.

Trump's diplomatic efforts are also producing harm. Palestinians in Gaza are dying every day from starvation and Israeli military actions against their population. Israeli military forces and vigilante settlers are attacking Palestinians in the Occupied West Bank Territories.

Donald Trump supports Israel's aggression against Palestinians.

Trump wants to depopulate Gaza and turn it into a Mediterranean version of the French Riviera.

Never mind that Palestinians are being starved, poisoned, shot, and bombed to death in Gaza.

Never mind that Palestinians will again lose their ancestral homeland.

Never mind that genocide is an international war crime.

Trump has imposed a travel ban against people from twelve nations that have non-white or Muslim majority populations. The administration has admitted dozens of white Afrikaners from South Africa, and falsely claims that white Afrikaners are targeted for murder by indigenous South Africans.

Never mind the divine imperative against bearing false witness.

The U.S. House of Representatives has passed and the U.S. Senate is now deliberating whether to pass a Trump administration bill for the national budget that will cut funding for providing medical care to people who are impoverished. The bill will cut funding for nutrition to families who are impoverished. The bill will will give a tax break to billionaires. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that the effect of the bill will increase the national debt by trillions.

Never mind that Jesus insisted on caring for people who were frail, sick, and impaired. Never mind that Jesus fed hungry people. Never mind that Jesus socialized with marginalized people and treated them like family.

Remember that white so-called "evangelical Christians" were Trump's most loyal voting constituency when he was elected in 2016 and 2024.

This group, part of what I call "the Hateful Faithful," praise Trump's bigotry towards immigrants who are not white. They have not criticized Trump's obsene greed, lust for violence, and his pathological narcissistic behavior.

They have not condemned Trump's bigotry towards people who are LGBTQIA.

In direct violation of the teachings and life of Jesus, the Hateful Faithful are cheering a vicious politician and regime.

People see the rotten presidency and dysfunctional democracy. They know that Hateful Faithful religionists are blessing it. They know how badly the divine imperatives of love and justice are being violated by agents of U.S. imperialism.

They see how the religion of Jesus has been corrupted, perverted, and turned into a weapon against vulnerable impoverished, sick, frail, marginalized, and mistreated people.

The U.S. empire is sinking deeper into the grip of fascism - cheered, counseled, and coached by Hateful Faithful religionists - day by day.

What is your pastor, priest, or other religious leader saying about it?

What is your congregation doing about it?

What are you doing about it?

Jesus called on his followers to be salt of the earth and light in the world.

What are you salting?

How are you shining light?

Hmmm.

Never mind.