I am a long-tenured Southern Baptist pastor (serving as pastor of three churches since 1981- Allyn Baptist, Allyn WA 1981-1987; Skyline Baptist Church (previously known as Southern Hills in Salem, OR 1987-1991; Community Baptist in Winston, OR since 1991). I am deeply concerned about the same issues. Today’s NYT has an interesting article from David Brooks where he argues that Pres Trump suffers from magnanimity - which he describes like narcissism on steroids. I live in a deep red county and have to be extremely cautious about what I say publicly. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment - and I can say there are other SBC pastors who share these understandings and are silenced by our SBC leadership because we are outliers. Keep on writing!
Wish there was a way to connect those other pastors - maybe in numbers there might be some influence. The SBC is undergoing a significant power shift - similar to the one in the 1980’s. I’m not sure how much MORE conservative we can become as a denomination and survive.
I hate to "like" this ... but I have to express my agreement and dread, and omigosh. How is *anyone* maintaining any hope these days? I know my citizenship is in heaven, but living here right now is soooo hard.
Is no one in Congress ready to stand up for all Americans and bring this leadership to an end or to control Trump, Vance and Musk! It still amazes me previous presidents are not helping people to stand up against this evil regime.
Thanks. I’m attending my Congressional Rep’s town hall tomorrow (the fabulous freshman Congresswoman Emily Randall from WA-06!) and I plan to ask her about this, and what we should do should this happen. I assume the answer is “be prepared to take to the streets in protest.”
I read this about Emily just this morning. She is a brave woman.
Washington U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, showed up to make a statement—but still walked out when they reached their breaking point.
Randall told The Advocate she had no illusions about what Trump would say. But she initially felt it was important to be in the room.
“He’s in our house. He’s in the people’s house when he comes to do a joint session,” the queer lawmaker said. “And I believe it’s important that we stand and listen and witness and don’t cede our territory just because we disagree or we know he’s lying.”
That changed when Trump used a child cancer survivor in the gallery as a political prop—while simultaneously pushing devastating Medicaid cuts.
“The hypocrisy of pointing to a child to score political points at the same time that he is working along with Republicans in the House to gut Medicaid as we know it was a bridge too far for me,” Randall said. “And that’s when I stood up and left.”
I’ll also add that our district is home to both the Pacific base for the nuclear submarine fleet (8 of the 14 trident subs and all their associated nuclear weapons) as well as the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, and the Joint Base Lewis McChord is in the adjacent district.
I lived on Hood Canal near Teikew (sp?) Point not that many miles from the sub base back in the 80s. I would not be surprised if an area like that would come under some kind of martial law earlier than the rest of us since it's heavily militarized. Be safe.
Yes and I'll also add be safe. I live near a very large, important Air Force Base and a lot of retired Military also in area. Makes being called names by my neighbor in another state --on inauguration day 2020 seem mild. The irony then was that -we her neighbors were getting ready to have lunch and watch the inauguration . Here I was glad I was not able to but NOT planned as protest. I also help myself by looking for ways to say thankyou to people who make my day easier by doing their job. Most of the time we just grin at each other!
Hi Ellen, I've been wondering about how to stage protests in such a way that they force litigation likely to be won. I think the Rosa Parks bus event was staged for a test case. There's no guarantee of anything in this world, but we need a think tank on this now.
And meanwhile, Congressional Democrats are wearing pink. That will stop him. Then nine of them vote to censure a fellow Democrat who tried to stand up to the menace. Way to show him they mean business.
I'm fearful that it's going to be everything I imagined and I have friends who are still saying it's not going to be that bad. A positive way of resistance is to help those who are already feeling the pain and gather likeminded others to resist productively
We can't give up on Congress. I am finding people like our Republican Representative Huizenga open to daily "updates" from me. Senators like Chris Murphy are speaking out as powerfully about corruption.
Huizenga used to be my representative. Can I ask how you are communicating with him, and how you know he's open? My representative just responds to me with b.s.
You sound like former Royals manager Buddy Bell who said never say it can’t get worse [it did] To stretch the baseball analogy we need the courts to just call balls and strikes
Our intelligence services are being degraded. It is only a matter of time before the United States is either directly attacked in an act of terror like September 11, 2001 , or an act of sabotage like the 1916 Black Tom explosion in New York Harbor. Or, it could be a cyberattack or minor street protests accelerated into an "insurrection" with the use of lethal force by law enforcement. It could be a false flag operation. Whatever the incident, we will have our version of the Reichstag fire. So-called leftists and anarchists (spelled liberals) will be rounded up for "reeducation". We live in an age of surveillance and security capitalism and the people in power do not appear that they want to stay within the norms.
I think by now a lot of us have already imagined real worst case scenarios! Let's get the word out, call senators and be prepared.
Do you remember the buzz in Christian-land over the McCaughey septuplets in the 90s? I think they were from Iowa actually. But a bunch of gospel artists recorded an album of lullabies for them - and it's just lovely. Prior to replacing my 2011 F150 (which had a CD player) I'd listen to it often. The songs remind me of our oldest son's first birthday party, on a warm summer evening in June of 2001. They conjure feelings of safety and hope. If/when this passes I'll never take those for granted the same way! We all appreciate your vigilance. If only the Wolfes of the world knew you and your cohorts are watching for their kids' futures too. Make sure to surround yourself with goodness and beauty this spring! 🙏🙏🦋🌷
We know the answer of course. The only force that breaks down hate is love in action. "A harsh and dreadful thing" as many have known. But how to live this ...
Leaving work last night, the sunset was unusually compelling with deep contrasting pastels. This had to be the Holy spirit speaking. I heard, "It's going to be special to appreciate beauty over the next four years." So, those SBC pastors, TheoBros, WCN's and much of the current administration be damned. They can't keep us from seeing beauty everyday!
You know that the anxiety level is high as well as the expectation of daily chaos in the news when you merely ask your Gen Z kid about the 💀 emoji and a wave of panic flashes on his face because he thought I was going to tell him the skull emoji just got deleted from all our phones. 💀
It probably wouldn't take many Guantanamos to get the message across. Fear of imprisonment would be enough to silence challenges to Trump's administration. What happens to the resistance? As it did during WWII, it goes underground. Today, that would likely involve going offline. Unfortunately, networks would become more difficult to form and maintain.
I really try not to be all doom and gloom, and always try to balance more ominous posts with inspiring ones. But these day's it's hard to find that balance.
The problem is no one is going to come to Americas aid… we will have to save ourselves. They are following that playbook and then will move right into “A Handmaid’s Tale”…
I am a long-tenured Southern Baptist pastor (serving as pastor of three churches since 1981- Allyn Baptist, Allyn WA 1981-1987; Skyline Baptist Church (previously known as Southern Hills in Salem, OR 1987-1991; Community Baptist in Winston, OR since 1991). I am deeply concerned about the same issues. Today’s NYT has an interesting article from David Brooks where he argues that Pres Trump suffers from magnanimity - which he describes like narcissism on steroids. I live in a deep red county and have to be extremely cautious about what I say publicly. I agree wholeheartedly with your assessment - and I can say there are other SBC pastors who share these understandings and are silenced by our SBC leadership because we are outliers. Keep on writing!
I’ve met several SBC pastors for whom this is the case.
Wish there was a way to connect those other pastors - maybe in numbers there might be some influence. The SBC is undergoing a significant power shift - similar to the one in the 1980’s. I’m not sure how much MORE conservative we can become as a denomination and survive.
I'm working on a plan. Not SBC-specific, but building a network and wider community. That's the good news I hope to share before long...
I hate to "like" this ... but I have to express my agreement and dread, and omigosh. How is *anyone* maintaining any hope these days? I know my citizenship is in heaven, but living here right now is soooo hard.
It is really is. I'm struggling every day.
Is no one in Congress ready to stand up for all Americans and bring this leadership to an end or to control Trump, Vance and Musk! It still amazes me previous presidents are not helping people to stand up against this evil regime.
I, too, have wondered why previous presidents are so silent.
I don't understand either.
Thanks. I’m attending my Congressional Rep’s town hall tomorrow (the fabulous freshman Congresswoman Emily Randall from WA-06!) and I plan to ask her about this, and what we should do should this happen. I assume the answer is “be prepared to take to the streets in protest.”
Of course the problem is that protests will be used to justify martial law. That's the trap.
That's why protests must be strategic. We need well-informed lawyers' advising practiced volunteers.
Yes!! I've been sharing a couple links on training in nonviolence protests. Civil Rights activists went through rigorous training before protesting.
I think I missed those. Can you please direct me there? Thank you for all you do.
Exactly! And they will insert agitators into peaceful protests to get fights going, film it all, to show why they “had” to send in troops…
I read this about Emily just this morning. She is a brave woman.
Washington U.S. Rep. Emily Randall, showed up to make a statement—but still walked out when they reached their breaking point.
Randall told The Advocate she had no illusions about what Trump would say. But she initially felt it was important to be in the room.
“He’s in our house. He’s in the people’s house when he comes to do a joint session,” the queer lawmaker said. “And I believe it’s important that we stand and listen and witness and don’t cede our territory just because we disagree or we know he’s lying.”
That changed when Trump used a child cancer survivor in the gallery as a political prop—while simultaneously pushing devastating Medicaid cuts.
“The hypocrisy of pointing to a child to score political points at the same time that he is working along with Republicans in the House to gut Medicaid as we know it was a bridge too far for me,” Randall said. “And that’s when I stood up and left.”
I’ll also add that our district is home to both the Pacific base for the nuclear submarine fleet (8 of the 14 trident subs and all their associated nuclear weapons) as well as the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, and the Joint Base Lewis McChord is in the adjacent district.
I lived on Hood Canal near Teikew (sp?) Point not that many miles from the sub base back in the 80s. I would not be surprised if an area like that would come under some kind of martial law earlier than the rest of us since it's heavily militarized. Be safe.
Yes and I'll also add be safe. I live near a very large, important Air Force Base and a lot of retired Military also in area. Makes being called names by my neighbor in another state --on inauguration day 2020 seem mild. The irony then was that -we her neighbors were getting ready to have lunch and watch the inauguration . Here I was glad I was not able to but NOT planned as protest. I also help myself by looking for ways to say thankyou to people who make my day easier by doing their job. Most of the time we just grin at each other!
Hi Ellen, I've been wondering about how to stage protests in such a way that they force litigation likely to be won. I think the Rosa Parks bus event was staged for a test case. There's no guarantee of anything in this world, but we need a think tank on this now.
And meanwhile, Congressional Democrats are wearing pink. That will stop him. Then nine of them vote to censure a fellow Democrat who tried to stand up to the menace. Way to show him they mean business.
I wish we could choose "yes or 100%" rather than liking comments. I appreciate truth-telling but I'm not liking these realities.
Sad emoji here…
I'm fearful that it's going to be everything I imagined and I have friends who are still saying it's not going to be that bad. A positive way of resistance is to help those who are already feeling the pain and gather likeminded others to resist productively
Leota… I have such a hard time with people I meet or know that refuse to see what’s happening! It makes me crazy!
I'm with you there!
We can't give up on Congress. I am finding people like our Republican Representative Huizenga open to daily "updates" from me. Senators like Chris Murphy are speaking out as powerfully about corruption.
https://x.com/ChrisMurphyCT/status/1898037594585227307
The balance of power will work/must work against Trump's mania...
Huizenga used to be my representative. Can I ask how you are communicating with him, and how you know he's open? My representative just responds to me with b.s.
You sound like former Royals manager Buddy Bell who said never say it can’t get worse [it did] To stretch the baseball analogy we need the courts to just call balls and strikes
Yes, that would be enormously helpful.
We need the courts to watch the game first 💀
Our intelligence services are being degraded. It is only a matter of time before the United States is either directly attacked in an act of terror like September 11, 2001 , or an act of sabotage like the 1916 Black Tom explosion in New York Harbor. Or, it could be a cyberattack or minor street protests accelerated into an "insurrection" with the use of lethal force by law enforcement. It could be a false flag operation. Whatever the incident, we will have our version of the Reichstag fire. So-called leftists and anarchists (spelled liberals) will be rounded up for "reeducation". We live in an age of surveillance and security capitalism and the people in power do not appear that they want to stay within the norms.
Me: I'm feeling exhausted and overwhelmed and depressed.
Kristin: YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE INSURRECTION ACT
Just kidding. You are awesome, keep up the good work. We can't afford to look away.
I know! I’m doing this to myself, too. 🫠
You’re awesome, though. You are doing the work.
I think by now a lot of us have already imagined real worst case scenarios! Let's get the word out, call senators and be prepared.
Do you remember the buzz in Christian-land over the McCaughey septuplets in the 90s? I think they were from Iowa actually. But a bunch of gospel artists recorded an album of lullabies for them - and it's just lovely. Prior to replacing my 2011 F150 (which had a CD player) I'd listen to it often. The songs remind me of our oldest son's first birthday party, on a warm summer evening in June of 2001. They conjure feelings of safety and hope. If/when this passes I'll never take those for granted the same way! We all appreciate your vigilance. If only the Wolfes of the world knew you and your cohorts are watching for their kids' futures too. Make sure to surround yourself with goodness and beauty this spring! 🙏🙏🦋🌷
What a beautiful memory. Thank you.
We know the answer of course. The only force that breaks down hate is love in action. "A harsh and dreadful thing" as many have known. But how to live this ...
Leaving work last night, the sunset was unusually compelling with deep contrasting pastels. This had to be the Holy spirit speaking. I heard, "It's going to be special to appreciate beauty over the next four years." So, those SBC pastors, TheoBros, WCN's and much of the current administration be damned. They can't keep us from seeing beauty everyday!
You know that the anxiety level is high as well as the expectation of daily chaos in the news when you merely ask your Gen Z kid about the 💀 emoji and a wave of panic flashes on his face because he thought I was going to tell him the skull emoji just got deleted from all our phones. 💀
It probably wouldn't take many Guantanamos to get the message across. Fear of imprisonment would be enough to silence challenges to Trump's administration. What happens to the resistance? As it did during WWII, it goes underground. Today, that would likely involve going offline. Unfortunately, networks would become more difficult to form and maintain.
Yes, I think that's why I'm writing so much now. While I still can.
Thank you, Kristen. I think it is definitely going to get worse.
I really try not to be all doom and gloom, and always try to balance more ominous posts with inspiring ones. But these day's it's hard to find that balance.
I'm rereading Wm Shire's "The Nightmare Years, 1930-1940" ... so far, The Beast is right on schedule following Hitler's path to hell.
It's hard to know history right now.
It sure is ...
The problem is no one is going to come to Americas aid… we will have to save ourselves. They are following that playbook and then will move right into “A Handmaid’s Tale”…
When your crocuses finally poke through, please post a photo for us. 💕
I will!