‘Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction’ – Jeremiah 17:23
The Bible contains a lot of warnings. In the Garden of Eden, God explained to Adam and Eve that if they ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they would bring death into the world. In Sodom, God sent messengers to turn its people from injustice, inhospitality, and violent sex crimes. Throughout the history of Israel, God sent prophets to Israel to warn them of their need to turn from idolatry and injustice. On the day of the Triumphal Entry, and during the course of the week that followed, Jesus himself wept and warned the people of Jerusalem of what would happen if they rejected his nonviolent way in favor of their dream of a nationalist warrior Messiah.
Yet in every case, the warnings went unheeded. Adam and Eve ate the fruit and bore the consequences. The people of Sodom, apart from Lot and his family, attempted to gang rape God’s messengers, sealing the fate of their city. Israel by and large persisted in ignoring the prophetic warnings spoken to them, and experienced exile. The people of Jerusalem chose the way of the sword over Jesus, and, in 70 AD, felt the full wrath of Rome as the empire breached her walls and filled her streets with blood.
In each case, no one could say they weren’t warned.
Fast forward to America 2024.
The warning signs have been blaring for nine years, and yet here we are, facing the possibility that we might, again, elect a white supremacist authoritarian President. Today, I simply mention the latest warning sign, which comes from Trump’s own White House Chief of Staff Brigadier General John Kelly, who, in a recently published interview in The Atlantic (which you can easily read about elsewhere online), warns America that Trump is an authoritarian who ‘fits the definition of a fascist,’ has expressed a longing to command the kind of generals that Hitler had during WWII, longs to be a dictator, and has no respect for democracy or the Constitution. In this, Kelly echoes similar warnings issued by others who worked in Trump’s administration, including the Commander of the Joint Chief of Staff, Mark Milley, who describes Trump as ‘fascist to the core,’ and Secretary of Defense Mark Esper, who warns that it was Trump’s desire to ‘just shoot’ protestors during the Black Lives Matter protests of 2020.
This comes as we listen to Trump deliver campaign speech after speech in which he expresses the need to eliminate ‘the enemy within,’ plans to create deportation (concentration) camps, speaks of the insurrectionists he unleashed on the Capitol on January 6, 2020, as heroes, and proposes sending the military onto the streets of America to crush those who protest his policies.
For most of my life, such news and views would end a politician’s career. In 2024, nearly half of America shrugs. Or worse, they love it.
And so here we are. Less than two weeks away from an election in which it is entirely possible that American voters will return Trump to office, free and unfettered from the likes of Kelly, Milley, and Esper who were somehow able to check his worst ambitions during his first go round as Commander in Chief. We already know that the Republicans in Congress won’t check him, and it is entirely plausible that, should Trump win, they will command both houses of Congress. Plus, and this is a real hoot – he will assume the powers of the Presidency complete with a new Supreme Court grant of immunity that could render him completely unaccountable for his ‘official’ actions.
I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
A lot. Which is why if American voters ignore the sirens, which at this point are sounding so loudly our ears should be bleeding, no on will be able to say that they weren’t warned.
I could go on, but honestly I’m just plain exhausted at this point. In the words of John Kelly, which he used to punctuate a prior warning to America several months ago that has largely gone unheeded, ‘there’s nothing more to be said. God help us.’
Under Christ’s Mercy,
Brent