No (American Revelation XXI, Nine.)

And he spoke this parable unto certain which trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and despised others:

Two men went up into the temple to pray; the one a Pharisee, and the other a publican.

The Pharisee stood and prayed thus with himself, God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican.

I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I possess.

And the publican, standing afar off, would not lift up so much as his eyes unto heaven, but smote upon his breast, saying, God be merciful to me a sinner.

I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other: for every one that exalts himself shall be abased; and he that humbles himself shall be exalted.

~Luke 18:9-14

...

Eli Sunday: Daniel, I'm asking if you'd like to have business with the Church of the Third Revelation in developing this lease on young Bandy's thousand acre tract. I'm offering you to drill on one of the great undeveloped fields of Little Boston!  

Daniel Plainview: I'd be happy to work with you.

Eli Sunday: You would? Yes, yes, of course. That’s wonderful.

Daniel Plainview: But there is one condition for this work.

Eli Sunday: All right.

Daniel Plainview: I'd like you to tell me that you are a false prophet. I'd like you to tell me that you are, and have been, a false prophet, and that God is a superstition.

~From the film There Will Be Blood.

I saw this a couple days ago.

And No, hardest of hard passes.

Sorry, but I have not the slightest interest in any government that tells me when or how often to pray or to whom.

Note; I say that as somebody very likely with more of a church background and grounding in actual Christian theology (rather than pop-Evangelical horseshit) than the person who typed this bullshit. I was "In Church" from like 1978 to 2007 and became a member of the End Times Prophecy Movement in 1995 while I was serving in the Air Force. More to the point I was, like, actually involved in various churches for a good chunk of my younger adult life, to the point of active (as in tithing) church membership and considering ministry.

But, in terms of people's souls, I didn't want that much responsibility because...well, to put it bluntly I'm not one of These Fucking People and I took the whole idea seriously.

That's not what's going on when some chud types "Pray Without Ceasing" into a government Twitter account. I don't give a damn.

And I don't care much for trite slogans, Biblical-sounding or otherwise. No, fuck you.

The separation of Church and State does not only protect the State.

It protects the Church, too, including from sectarian violence 'cause the State can't pick a side.

If I had to guess, though?? Our current government's non-involvement will itself be more malicious than anything.

And I'm here to tell you, praying didn't help nobody in that Catholic school in Minnesota that got shot up the other day by some weirdo that was espousing both far-right and some far-left BS while also lionizing previous mass shooters including Anders Breivik and Brenton Tarrant. Call 'em the Horseshoe Theory shooter, I guess?

There seems to be a sort of demonic nihilism behind a lot of these mass shootings.

And the "Christians" or at least the "Conservative" ones, ain't doing shit about that.

Too busy letting Trump go full Saddam Hussein these days, I guess??

All religion seems to be good for these days is giving privileged White people an excuse to not do anything about actual goddamned societal problems, like mass shootings.

I'm sick of this crap and in real terms I'm a lot more of a gun guy than a lot of these Gun Culture, Meal Team Six morons are, and it's not a game or a macho thing for me. I was taught the right way by my Dad and my grandfathers (both WWII veterans) long before I ever thought of enlisting (which was not a thing my family wanted me to do, by the way.)

And given what I've seen from most of my government in the past year or so, it's hard not to think that my grandfathers and my uncles had a fucking point about not wanting me to serve.

Personally, I'm really wondering what the fuck I spent my life dedicated to and why the hell I bothered at this point.

At the end of the day, you either believe in freedom or you don't.

And this ain't it, people.

Learn the word "NO" America.

And have the fucking balls to use it.

Or be prepared to ask yourself, what the fuck are we even doing here??

Слава Україна!

Hess: So what shall we toast to, boys? I can blather on about “To health” or “To success,” but I’d like to do somethin’ a little less rote. Where you from, Brown Eyes?

Migs Mayfield: How ’bout a toast to Operation Cinder?

Hess: Now there’s a man who knows his history.

Mayfield: No, I don’t just know it. I lived it. I was in Burnin Konn.

Hess: Burnin Konn?

Mayfield: Mmm.

Hess: That was a hard day. I had to make many unpleasant decisions.

Mayfield: Yes, you did. Entire city gone in moments, along with everybody in it. We lost our whole division that day. Man, that was like 5-10,000 people.

Hess: Yep. All heroes of the Empire.

Mayfield: Yeah. And all dead.

Hess: Well, it’s a small sacrifice for the greater good, son.

Mayfield: Depends on who you ask, don’t you think?

Hess: [irritated] What you gettin’ at, trooper?

Mayfield: All those people, the ones who died, was it good for them? Hmm? Their families? The guys I served with? Civilians, those poor mud scuffers, died defending their homes, fighting for freedom. Was it good for them?

Hess: But we’ve outlasted them, son. They’re eating themselves alive. The New Republic is in complete disarray, and we grow stronger. You see, with the rhydonium you’ve delivered, we can create havoc that’s gonna make Burnin Konn pale by comparison. And then they’re gonna turn to us once again. You see, boys, everybody thinks they want freedom, but what they really want is order. And when they realize that, they’re gonna welcome us back with open arms. Ah. To the Empire.

[Mayfield chuckles, then fires a blaster at Hess' chest, killing him instantly. He and Mando then shoot their way out of the mess hall] ~From The Mandalorian, Season 2, Ep. 7 "The Believer"

Eight

We have too many men of science, too few men of God. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon On The Mount. The world has achieved brilliance without conscience. Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. ~General Omar Bradley