by: Marceline Donaldson
The experience of having seen and heard Mitt Romney lay out in all its rawness, his reasons for voting to convict Donald Trump was amazing, confirming and an experience I shall never forgot and one for which I give thanks.
In doing so, Romney gave all of us a pattern for how our particular religious practice, our faith, our politics could go together.
We live in a country founded on the separation of religion and politics. In spite of that, we have the religious right demanding that their religious beliefs be the foundation which creates the policies on which this country continues to exist. How do we reconcile all of this? How can you live without your religion when it claims to be all consuming and the basis on which you live, breathe and from which comes all of your life decisions and function in a country which attempts to keep religion and politics separate!
Mitt Romney and Nancy Pelosi have given us one way to walk being able to live our religion with dignity, respect and honesty and function in these United States. In addition, Mitt Romney has opened the door for the acceptance in these United States of all religious beliefs. Who would have thought that would be done by a Mormon. A fairly “new” religion and one still being pushed aside; its believers and belief system ridiculed; and its adherents not often accepted by the rest of the country.
My study of theology over the years gave me an image of Donald Trump and his religious belief system which is clear, unequivocal and straight out of scripture. You have, no doubt, read what other writers in this publication have written as they outlined this belief system and tracked Trump’s walk through it with some clarity and quotes from Scripture.
There is a story in the Christian bible which is incredibly parallel to the walk Donald Trump is taking through his life. It apparently started when he was a young man and has become stronger over the years as he has walked this path with all of its trappings to get to his current post. That is the story of Satan tempting Jesus on the mountain top and offering Jesus all the beauty and power of this world if he will bow down and worship Satan. Jesus refuses and we move on from there.
Looking at Trump’s life you get a clear picture of what would have happened if Jesus had accepted Satan’s offer. Trump is only one of many men who have come along and said – “Let me replace Jesus, I will bow down and worship you Satan and I will do your bidding throughout eternity. Give me the power Jesus rejected.” We have seen and read about the life these men led and their “achievements” along with the power they sought after, grabbed for and finally had to relinquish at the end.
Yesterday, when I was at a very low point, sitting aimlessly in front of the television, there was Mitt Romney saying- my God and my faith are the center of my life and from that comes the decisions by which I live. Those are not his exact words, but that is the meaning of his preface as to why he was voting to convict Donald Trump.
After that short speech by Romney came another one on television by Donald Trump, who said “I do not believe in anything this Jesus – the Christ – person has said, nor do I nor will I live my life making decision that go along with His Gospel – how ridiculous. I will make decisions that go along with my belief and my dedication to the worship of Satan which I have cultivated throughout my life. Given that, I will retaliate in the worst way possible against all of those who did not, do not, will not do my bidding. I will attempt to destroy their quality of life and where possible the very lives of those who do not do my bidding. I will get others to “take them out”. They are horrible people. They are people who have blocked my ability to do Satan’s will and live the life Satan has required of me so I will have absolute power on this earth.
Those are not Trump’s exact words, but they are the meaning of what he said. He clearly abrogated the very core of what it means to be a Christian, to follow, to live into and to attempt to walk the path Jesus – the Christ – laid out for all Christians. He very clearly, loudly and in some detail said to everyone at that National Prayer Breakfast that he was not a follower of Jesus – the Christ; he did not believe in Holy Scripture; he would not live his life following the dictates of what – up to that point – he had called his religion. This weak and out-of-date belief system entraps those tending towards the same power grab that is sending many politicians into the arms of Trump and so into the arms of Satan. Christianity is not going to ‘entrap’ Satan – a few thousand years of experience shows that. It is also not going to entrap Trump he is now far beyond its grasp.
Trump has been able to move many others off the path of Christianity and helped them find the path Satan carved out for him and for those who would follow him. At the same time, in another setting, I watched Trump, still on television, bringing before the cameras, commending and raising up for all of watching, many of those he has been able to corrupt. Or rather, he gave us another lesson on how to recognize and bring into your ‘group’ those already corrupt to combine together to do Trump’s bidding. One such person received a sustained standing ovation when his name was called. The whole scene made you want to vomit.
Those are the people I was struggling trying to understand before this extravaganza happened. It was as though God said – turn on your television I am going to show you the answer to your prayers and relieve your consternation over what is happening in your world. And on came Trump and Company celebrating their “victory”.
God didn’t actually sit next to me and say that. This is my interpretation of what I heard and learned from the unveilings of the past few days.
Donald Trump has, in the past, walked up to the line of destroying Christ for many, but in his talk at the Prayer Breakfast he crossed it and was very clear that he is not Christian, never has been and finds Jesus and his teachings the extreme opposite of who he is and what he is about. That makes me wonder about the White Evangelical Christians who almost rabidly support Trump and all he is about. Donald Trump has been very clear about his belief system, how he lives his life, what he is going to do moving into the future and what he expects from his supporters.
It does not take much to realize what he is planning for those who don’t get in line, join the “team” and follow him.
It was amazing to me that all of this was revealed so quickly and in the context of a National Prayer Breakfast. I heard in my head a little ditty which many repeat – “fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me; fool me three times – wow, am I that morally corrupt?:”
So many people have told me over the years – when someone tells you who they are; what they believe; where they are going; and how they are going to treat you if you don’t behave in a certain way- believe them and make your decisions in life including that knowing instead of a hope and a wish that they were otherwise, were going to magically learn lessons which would allow them to be otherwise and better than they seem.
Thank you Senator Romney! I too try live my life by my faith in God and my belief in God’s promises. Lots of people I know live the same way. I just happen to be Episcopalian. My friends, who live the same way, are a gathering of people from Catholic, Baptist, Hindu, Muslim, and many more denominations/religious belief systems. I saw when you were Governor of Massachusetts that out of your belief system came the health care system that we now enjoy in Massachusetts and beyond. Out of the lives of many of my friends have come some amazing achievements – not grand and glorious which the world celebrates, but quiet and necessary and with large contributions to the lives of those around them.
Thank you Nancy Pelosi! As an African American/New Orleans Creole woman my life has been a continuum of one oppression received from this society after another. Not one day passes that I do not have to deal with racism or sexism or a combination of the two. And when those hits come I also have to deal with the denial of that experience by the rest of the world, even at times from my own family. And I know and have seen I am not alone in those experiences – many are forced by others to go through those horrors for reasons they don’t even seem to know or want to know, but which they put out there and demand that many go through so they can keep their identity as ‘better than’ whether that identity has served them for good or for ill.
In the process, I have learned to keep on keeping on and maybe help someone else to do the same. Trying to help someone climb over a particularly large stone they were having a difficult time getting over or getting around. Watching you on a national scale has been one a truly wonderful gift. May you continue and move from great to true greatness as you do your job on a daily basis.
My experience has been – there is nothing in this world stronger than prayer. The miracles I have seen coming from people joining their prayers together have been earth changing. May you continue to find strength in your faith to do what you needs to be done, standing in your own light, without need for the approval of those around you.
Satan is still looking for those to do his bidding who will fall down and worship him. Donald Trump needs to look at the example of those who did just that and how the end of their lives came exposing their evil and sin to the world as they went out in a blaze of horror, filth, agony and huge regrets never able to see the beauty which comes from the love of God and from those around seeing who they really are and caring for them in spite of their failings.
Trump is clear, that is not his way. He showed that for all to see when he walked away from a mentor who spent much of himself and his resources and fortune helping to educate and move Trump to the place he now holds – even moving him and his business from Queens to New York without which help none of what Trump has done would have been possible. When Roy Cohn became ill and in need at the end of his life, the person to whom he had given much and who very greedily accepted everything given to him assuming he could always go back for more and did while giving nothing back in return walked away from him, turned his back on this ‘friend’ and attended his funeral only briefly standing in the back for just a minute before beating a quick retreat out of there.
Throughout life you have to make life affirming, life changing or life destroying choices at many points. I hope the choices which those reading this make will be for good, for love, for kindness, for caring, to help relieve the suffering of others, realizing the humanity -the fragility – the tendency to fall and fail we all share and experience at different times of life is what joins us together.
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A Promoter of Conspiracy Theories – President?
Tuesday, December 6th, 2016America – really? You elected a man who was the spokesperson and promoter of conspiracy theories as your president? Really? Come on – that can’t be real. Are you really that racist, America?
The last president spent eight years in office – an African American. He was elected – and re-elected. He was respected around the world. He wasn’t perfect, but he did a pretty good job. He had no scandals during his time in office. He had no affairs. He spent his time with his family. He raised two daughters and now into their teen years – some say, the most difficult time for parents. And still, after seeing all of that you elected who? A man who was the spokesperson in Chief for the Birther Movement? Who was on television and in countless videos speaking far and wide about Barack Obama not being an American. Who called your duly elected president a liar. A man who claimed that your American president was living a lie to his fellow Americans by claiming to be an American when he was actually born in Africa.
America, you laughed at this Donald Trump, the Conspiracy theorist in Chief – and then you elected him your next president? You made him the butt of many jokes and the late night comics had a field day.
America, is your need to identify as White that strong. You are, after all, the ones who set up “White” as a race. So I guess we should not be that surprised when you feel the need to protect this “White American” race. You didn’t realize when you set up this White race identity that it would not only be about slavery and identifying the other as “Colored”, “Black” and now “African American”, but would become your ingrained identity and keep you forever needing to be seen as “better than”. You went so far as setting up White Privilege to go along with that White American identity. Jealous of the English Colonialism with which they tried to rule the world?
Problem with that is colors always seemed to me to be more interesting, have more depth, be about something. “White” seemed so lacking in ….. something. And now I see what “White” lacks – Character? Ethics? Truth? And has a little “Evil” ingrained. We thought, at some point, that you would just become “American”.
Who is this man? Who is this conspiracy theorist who so portrayed your president for eight years – and longer – as an African who was fooling the American public by claiming to be an American when in fact he was not. And you – citizens of the United States – elected this man, this conspiracy theorist, your president. Donald Trump – president elect of the United States. Chief Conspiracy Theorist.
Your founding fathers must be proud because they slipped into the Constitution this Electoral College, which they hoped would insure that White Males (hopefully) Northern Europeans would always be president of these United States of America. You kept that Electoral College in your Constitution for hundreds of years as a bulwark against any serious kind of desegregation. Wow! What foresight you all had. But what a price you have paid. Isn’t that what stopped Al Gore? But then maybe you were right to do that because wasn’t that – no, couldn’t have been, must have been someone else – a look alike. His character wouldn’t let him. But then he claimed to have invented the internet, which dropped his character a rung or two, so maybe that was him running into that Tower.
And so the founders have reached into the 21st century with that desire to maintain slavery and have caused you Americans to elect a man who is:
HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN!
Abraham Lincoln didn’t bring you down! – he raised you up.
Martin Luther King, Jr. didn’t bring you down! – he raised you even higher.
but Donald Trump is bringing you wayyyyyyyy down.
And look at how your BIG MEN are falling all over themselves running in to kiss the ring. Their character – their ethics – their very souls are on display for all to see.
Wasn’t that Mitt Romney we saw running into Trump Tower and having dinner with the Almighty One?
And we though Mitt Romney was one of the good guys. When he saw what was happening with the election in his beloved country, he stood up and was counted as someone who said he was not going along with this travesty. He didn’t say “evil” but he might as well have because what he did say came down to the same thing. But what was he really doing? Did he read the tea leaves and saw that Hillary Clinton was going to win so he was not downing Donald Trump and taking an ethical stand, but positioning himself to be in line for some kind of substantial position in Hillary’s government?
Oh, Oh, Nooooooooo! Not him too! Oh my goodness – there goes Al Gore – into the Tower! Well, we always had our suspicions about him. He tried, but he just couldn’t pull off being such a good guy. And now, we see him totally uncovered.
Oh, help me to my seat and cover my eyes and ear, I don’t know how much more of this I can stand.
Oh – and when your new president goes traveling around the world with his ‘wife” – which one? The one who allowed all those pictures to be taken of herself in the various kinds of poses that a prostitute takes to advertise her wares. Now, be careful here, I am not calling her a prostitute, but I said clearly, the kind of pictures a prostitute takes – naked on a bear rug with high heels up in the air and handcuffed to the bed and etc. Some are calling her a soft porn model. We will just look at the pictures circling the world and shake our heads. Trump better get the Muslims and soon because when those pictures of his wife start circulating in religious Muslim circles – oh my!
And how does your president-elect handle his anti-semitism. Well, his daughter has put him in a trap because she went off and married an Orthodox Jew. Well, not only did she do that, but she became one herself. Now you know in Judaism, the children take on the identity of the mother, so if she hadn’t converted, her children would not be in danger of being Jews. But she went off and did the thing so now her husband and her children are Jews. So how did your President-elect handle that? Is that his anger at this marriage, all of you Americans, that turned him so viciously against Muslims? So badly so that he wants to eliminate all of them! Is this going to be another purge by the Norther Europeans. The last time they tried to get rid of the Jews. This time there is a Jew sitting in the halls of power so they are going to try to get rid of all the Muslims. Well, just as well. Eventually, somehow, they will rid the world of all those they various and sundry people they consider “minorities”.
Oh, America, my heart aches for you. Don’t you know you have to pay for your sins? Haven’t you seen enough of God’s retribution to know that your day is coming? Maybe this is it! Maybe this is the beginning of your having to pay for the slavery you brought on Africans. Or maybe this is the beginning of your retribution for what you have done to those who lived in the land before the Northern Europeans arrived. What are they called today? Indians? No, that is politically incorrect – Native Americans. What a name. Call them Native Americans and then invade and destroy the little bits and pieces of land they have left and make sure it will soon be covered with the results of the many oil spills that will happen,as those Northern Europeans make loads of money in the companies that are going to dig up their privately owned land drilling for what? Covering up what? Taking back what? Is this a new form of genocide – against those you have given the honorific title of Native American and made them think that this title was their idea?
Oh, America, I pray for you every day. There are so many good people in your country. What is going to happen to them. They seem to be allowing these few others to take over and destroy every dream they have ever had. Or maybe that is the problem – have they been so treated they don’t have anymore dreams?
My goodness, some of those good people are Northern Europeans. Then who are these who have so wrecked the land and continue to wreck the land? Who are those who let them? I understand Donald Trump owns stock in the company about to destroy the land of the native Americans to cause oil to pollute the water so they will have nothing to drink. And what about the rest of us – we won’t either.
You have allowed whoever these people are to destroy your country. To invade and change the dreams of your people. You started out in such a beautiful way. We really hoped you would succeed. But you have now been derailed and who knows if your country will ever be the same again.
Germany certainly didn’t expect to descend into a Nazi state. And today, it seems as though it is only the Germans who really recognize the danger you are in America. Have they learned from their mistakes?
So what now? As your country began to become diverse – that beautiful diverse place where all were supposed to be welcome – what is the quote “bring me your tired,….” That poem written by Emma Lazarus and cut into the stone with that gift from France to be a beacon to Exiles from all over the world
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Oh, No! Is the writer of this poem – Emma – a woman? Is that why they turned against immigrants? Will that open the door to taking her poem off the Statue of Liberty? And a better, more American under Donald Trump type poem in its place?
Well, that is certainly no longer America. Will it ever be again? With Donald Trump and his friends – not likely. The United States of America used to travel the world telling others how they should change to be more like America. Walk hand in hand into the sunset with the Casino Operator and his Soft Porn Model wife – naahh, that doesn’t sound quite right.
And here you are America – flirting with becoming another Russia; another fascistic state with its super wealthy governing people and underlings in line for bread – you can ignore this if you dare, but stay on this road and that day is coming and sooner than you think.
I used to think America was the greatest nation on earth. Today, I realize you are the most foolish.
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Posted in Al Gore, Bed & Breakfast, Bettina Homes, Bettina Network Educational Institute, Bettina Network Hedge Schools, Bettina Network's Lifestyle Community, Donald Trump, Emma Lazarus, Guest comments, Hillary Clinton, Martin Luther King, Melania Trump, Mitt Romney, Pope Francis, racism, sexism | Comments Off on A Promoter of Conspiracy Theories – President?