Fiery the Angels fell...

Fiery the angels fell; deep thunder rolled around their shores; burning with the fires of Orc. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner (A deliberate misquote of William Blake's "America: A Prophecy.)

There's this old Loony Tunes cartoon where Bugs Bunny (taking his usual wrong turns) ends up in Transylvania and stays at this big scary castle, where the Vampire, Count Blood-count, spends the night trying to attack him. Bugs defends himself primarily by finding and using a book of "Magic words and phrases." Once that happens, most of the rest of the cartoon is Bugs and the Count spouting magic words at each other while trying to beat or crush one another in various ways...a contest Bugs handily wins before he accidentally changes his ears into bat wings and decides to fly home.

I saw this picture on Twitter last Friday, and I've seen it several times since.

It seems to me, like Evangelical and Fundamentalist Christians are still desperately trying to convince themselves that Donald Trump is religious...in fact, not just religious, but one of their own. This is becoming farcical. It's like these people are trying to bullshit God, themselves, and of course even Trump himself into believing that this fantasy is true. These people desperately want to see Trump the way they see themselves...holy, reverent, religious, serious individuals...but of course most of these people are none of these things and their leader isn't either so the whole damned lot of them just ends up looking ridiculous. They don't know the words to the Nicene Creed...so what do we get? Magic Words and Phrases. You know, I can't even imagine junking up a car like that, least of all for Donald Trump.

Meanwhile, their favorite news outlet is taking all sorts of liberties with photos of Philadelphia Eagles football players actually praying during the pregame activities and trying to claim that they were kneeling to protest police brutality (as if such would be a bad thing if they were?) The truth is that not one single Eagles player knelt in protest last season. I'm not sure why that is, or whether it was a mutual agreement or just sort of happened that way...but at the end of the day it comes down to the fact that most of the players didn't want to go to the White House, so here Fox News and Trump have spent the day lying about it every chance they get. Of course, this just shows that Fox News, Trump, and all too many of today's "Conservatives" more generally don't give a damn about any of the things they say they care about. If they did, they wouldn't be doing their level best to defame a team that's apparently pretty well full up with Christian men. You'd think all these Conservative Christians would be all about that team, right? Nope. You'd be wrong.

Granted, as I've seen myself and as any Person of Color can tell you...these fucking people don't give a damn about the Christianity of any "Others" outside of their group. These people and their ancestors before them have put considerable effort into dismissing the Christianity, indeed the human validity, of all those other people. Whiteness, and hard-right political conservatism, of course, are central to this kind of Christianity...not just central to it, but in fact these seem to be overwhelming all other aspects. They take the Cross of Christ and change it from a symbol of hope and justice and salvation for all of humanity...to a tribal Tiki at the edge of the camp...and the message is plain...if you're not part of this tribe, stay out. 

To the Trumpservatives and the Trumpvangelicals, America isn't America if Black people, Brown people, Jews, LGBT people, Liberals, Muslims, veterans who don't fit their stereotypes, etc. etc. etc. etc. get any. Heaven isn't heaven unless they're the only ones who get to go. You know, honestly, I really want to spend at least part of the Afterlife raining on these people's parade every chance I get. But then that would mean I would have to deal with them, so fuck that.

Meanwhile, while these idiots dance around the fire, their Witch Doctor comes out of his cave and spouts bullshit like this:

Like my friend Aaron said (and I agree with him, I said it on Sunday myself) these Trump people, much like Sovereign Citizens, seem to think that if they happen upon the right combination of magic words and phrases and do all the right things that they'll be free from laws and Something Something Gazpacho and can do whatever they want.

Sorry, but I have enough of an understanding of reality that I know it just doesn't work that way.

Then of course there's that other Elephant in the room. Seriously, does any of this seem Christian to you? Really?

If it does...then I say with certainty, that conservative American Protestant Christianity needs to die. Let its mantle pass to the Catholics and the mainstream liberal denominations and the Mormons. Let the Jews and the Muslims and the Hindus and the Sikhs and every other faith we have in this country expand to fill the void. I don't care. I keep waiting for these people to explode into ecstatic worship of Donald Trump at this point. I think just like he's trying (and failing) to declare himself above the law, so too are his followers one or two major crises away from arbitrarily declaring that Donald Trump is God and does not have to obey human laws.

These people...these so-called "Christians" don't want a poor Savior born in a stable who worked as a carpenter and itinerant Rabbi and who preached Spiritual Truth only to be crucified and buried in a donated tomb...though He did not stay there. They don't want to believe. They'd be fine in a few years here with a gilded mausoleum with their deceased Dear Orange Leader pickled and stuffed like Vladimir Lenin just because it'd be something they can see. They don't care about spiritual truth and faith being the evidence of things unseen, when they can have their biases confirmed and their petty hatreds and resentments validated like cheap Opioid prescriptions. This is what happens when Sin becomes something that other people do.

It works out the same way every single time.

If this is what American Christianity has come to then it needs to die.

Soon.

Before it's not religion but hate that becomes the Opiate of the People and this crazy bullshit kills us all.

You think these people have been terrible while they believed in their White Jesus? Even that kind of Christianity still has some hard limits...

...Just wait until they get somebody they don't have to believe in, who tells them what they wanna hear every time.

But that's why this country was not founded on Gods or Kings, but as a secular nation of citizens who voted for their leaders and various other priorities that they desired to see put into action.

You know what Gods...or at least those who would speak for them...and kings alike fear?

An educated, informed, motivated citizenry that shows up to vote.

You have that power. Use it.

I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I've watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those ... moments will be lost in time, like tears...in rain. Time to die. ~Roy Batty, Blade Runner.

Part Two.

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