The Value-Structure Operating Behind the Morality of Today's White Evangelical

••• today's entry continues here below •••

Proverbs instructs the believer » "Do not let mercy and kindness leave you. Instead let these qualities define you. Bind them securely around your neck and write them on the tablet of your heart."

Ask him "Where is the 'mercy and kindness' in ripping young children away from their vulnerable parents?" (Ye shall know them by their fruit.)

Lemme know what he says .. because he can't say that he wasnt warned.

» Have Rejected Their Moral Compass

Paul wrote to Timothy about members of his church that had "rejected their moral compass."

How can anyone claim to possess any kind of functioning moral compass .. who supports such cruel and morally repugnant policies?

Somebody is going to have to explain to me exactly how that works .. because, from my perspective, it doesnt. It doesnt function as anything you might describe as 'moral.'

If I happened to be next in line to be weighed in the moral scales of cosmic justice .. and my pockets contained positive connections to such policies ..( pause for effect ) .. I think that I might have an unsettled feeling.

But that's just me.

» Identifying Fingerprints Found on Death-n-Destruction

Ask him if he sees any moral problems with the United States fingerprints that are found all over the death-n-destruction being rained down on poor, Yemeni citizens.

I doubt that he sees anything wrong .. but go ahead and ask him anyway.

It is one new low after another coming from this administration .. and they are proud of their accomplishments. Michelle knows what I am talking about.

Lemme know what he says .. because he won't be able to say that he wasnt warned.

» No Longer Able to Hide the Shedding of Innocent Blood

I can't help but wonder what Mike might think about the verse from Isaiah that says » "You will no longer be able to hide the innocent blood shed upon the earth."

Have you noticed how some people seem to have a need .. an ever-burning need .. to inflict pain and suffering on those least able to defend themselves?

What it is that prohibits compassion for the weak and the poor and the helpless? .. while simultaneously engaging the desire to inflict pain and suffering on the weak and the poor?

What is it in a person that causes that?

I wonder what Loujain thinks of this.

She is a 29-year-old advocate for gender equality .. currently kept in a Saudi prison, where she has been tortured and waterboarded.

» Evangelical Pat Robertson Values the Money More

Speaking of the Saudis and U.S. fingerprints found all over the death-n-destruction being visted upon poor Yemeni citizens and the torture of Saudi women ..  ask Mike Pence what he thinks about what Pat Robertson said here.

He probably agrees wholeheartedly with Pat the evangelical. This would not surprise me. Not in the least.

» Evangelical Fails a Morally-Unambiguous Test

Pat is publicly stating this values here. "By your words you shall be justified, Pat, and by your words you shall be condemned."

It obviously surprised many people that Pat Robertson values the money more .. than the shedding of innocent blood.

People might expect a weapons manufacturer to say such things, or an arms dealer. But Pat Robertson presents himself as a man of God.

Or perhaps it was the way he declared his values so publicly .. and under such a morally-unambiguous set of circumstances.

Pat claims to be "sorry," but I dont think he really is.

» Jesus Aint Say That, Pat

I can almost hear Omarosa saying, "Jesus aint say that."

Is it true that Omarosa is an ordained minister .. who knows the scriptures inside-out?

So she should know what Jesus said .. and what he didnt say.

» Pat's Warped Sense of Values is Not Really So Surprising

Pat's opinion regarding the gruesome death of an innocent man who had criticized the injustices of a powerful, wealthy man ..

.. this reminds me of how the religious people of Jesus' day did not recognize the divine morality that he embodied.

Pat Robertson is 88. He was born in 1930. He grew up during the Great Depression (of the 1930's) .. which warped the cultural values of society.

Where they came to value money as the most important thing. So I guess it is not really so surprising .. that Pat values the money more.

Because these years, during the 1930's .. they are naturally going to be Pat's most formative years.

These are the years that will come to form much of his personality and his fundamental value-structure. The deeply-ingrained stuff.

» The Value-Warping Effects of Trauma on Youth

These were traumatizing times to live through. It felt like the end of the world had arrived. And the bad times lasted a whole decade.

Pat spent his entire formative period in the Great Depression. So it is naturally understandable the warped emphasis that he places on the value of money.

» Born in 1946 Hank Paulson Sees Scenes from the Great Depression in 2008

Hank Paulson was born in 1946. He was Treasury Secretary during, and for a few years before, the economic crisis at 2008.

In the trailer (6 Dec 2018) for the upcoming Vice feature titled » Panic: The Untold Story of the 2008 Financial Crisis (10 Dec 2018), Hank says with his own mouth » "I'd look into the abyss and I would see food lines, millions of people unemployed."

Some seventy years after the Great Depression .. Hank still sees these images from the 1930's. He makes my point for me.

We need our economic leaders to be able to spot trouble BEFORE it arises. Any dipshit can spot a problem after it rears its ugly head. That takes no economic insight or financial astuteness.

What good is all the education and experience that these financial people have .. if they can't foresee problems of this magnitude? (That's a rhetorical question.)

They rewarded fraud and served to increase an already-extreme economic inequality. Do you really expect any different from them?

Do you expect them to look out for the little guy, or for the ultra-wealthy?

» Peddling an Adulterated Version of God's Message for Profit

Next time you see Pat Robertson, somebody ask him what he thinks about the verse where Paul says »

"We are not like many, [acting like merchants] peddling God's word, shortchanging and adulterating God's message for profit."

It sounds like there were "many" in Paul's day .. who were really » all about the money.

I wonder if Pat recognizes such things today?

Does Pat see anybody who is shortchanging and adulterating God's message today .. in order to profit from it? (By telling people what they want to hear, instead of the truth.)

Has he ever seen anyone do such a thing?

» A Bizarre Message from Someone Who Calls Himself a Christian

Or maybe dementia is starting to set in. He is talking bizarre, crazy shit for a christian, and you must admit that he doesnt look very healthy. Certainly not what I would call vigorous or robust.

Most people die before their 90th birthday .. so Pat must be pleased with his longevity. With his length-of-days.

» A Surprising Look at Pat Robertson's Underlying Value-Structure

Dont you wonder what kind of underlying value-structure he is using .. in order to arrive at such a conclusion? I do.

This thing here where 90-year old Pat Robertson is publicly declaring his opinion regarding our nation's foreign policy posture ..

.. this plays into what I was talking to Taylor Swift about .. how the youth vote should be weighted more .. because they are the ones who are going to be living well into the future with the consequences of such decisions.

How many more years do you reckon that Pat Robertson has left to live here on planet earth .. as a citizen of the United States?

Not many. His hourglass is almost empty. I am sure that he would readily concede this point to you.

» Does Anybody Care About the Size of the Debt Being Left to Our Kids?

My point here is that the factors used to inform Pat's (decision-making) Value-Structure are naturally going to be considerably different from those of a much younger person .. who expects to be living many more years into the future.

With the consequences of the decisions made today and tomorrow .. by people who will not be here for most of their tomorrow.

Is this not intuitively obvious to even the most casual of observers?

The value-structures that inform their decision-making apparatus are naturally going to be significantly different. Sometimes drastically.

My own value-structure was very different from that of both my parents. In some areas, they could not be any further apart.

» Inequality at Record Highs and Getting Worse Every Day

While Pat obviously favors money over morals .. you will notice that he does not seem to have a problem with the size of the debt being left to our children.

Inequality is at record highs and getting worse every day.

Notice any connection?

» Giving Evangelical Cover for the Administration's Immoral Policies

Personally, I think that Pat's value-structure sucks .. at least what we happen to be seeing of it today.

It's sad. It's a very sad thing. So disappointing to see. Fareed knows what I am talking about.

Paul says that love rejoices when right and truth prevail.

While Pat Robertson seems to be saying, "Money is more important than right-n-wrong. I'm sorry, but that's just the way I see it. I see it the same way that President Trump does. I agree with Donald Trump. He is the best president that we evangelicals have ever had. This is why he has such a record-breaking approval rating among us. President Trump's values jibe with our values to a great degree. Heck, people even say that we evangelicals are the ones who put Donald Trump in office. If anyone dare criticize anything that President Trump does, we kick them out of the church .. just like Diotrephes did. I think that Diotrephes is one of the most under-rated characters in the Bible. I feel that he has much to teach us today."

» Let Them Get Away With Cold-Blooded Murder

This seems intuitively obvious to me .. yet here we have Pat Robertson holding forth on matters of our foreign-policy posture and responses that will come to define our nation's reputation for morality .. or lack thereof.

Pat obviously values money over morality. Aly knows what I am talking about.

Your values suck, Pat.

» Stopped Being Able to Think for Themselves

Somebody ask Pat what he thinks about what Steve Schmidt says here (at t=4:30)

.. regarding the bombs sent to Trump's enemies.

"Anybody who doesnt see the clear connection between the atmosphere and what occurred here has suspended disbelief, or is complicit and dishonest, or is simply so brainwashed that they've stopped being able to think for themselves."

Steve has a thing with words. A part of me doesnt want to admit that he is right.

» How Do You Square that in Your Mind?

Speaking of the clear connection between the President's racist rhetoric and deaths caused by inspiring wackos to put his rhetoric into action .. check out what Coffee Joe says here at t=1:00 the morning after the midterms.

"I just gotta say that I think we all have to be really honest this morning. A lot of Americans decided to go out and vote - we saw it there - to support a man who spent the last month of the campaign - not making subtle appeals to racism .. but making overtly bigoted racist statements, attacking brown people, attacking black people, attacking people who are the other. And you could look at the lies. What was he lying about? The answer: everything. And I do sit here this morning, and I do wonder .. how do you exactly square that in your mind? That you went out to vote specifically to support a guy who gained the praise of David Duke? Who gained the praise of white nationalists, who acted like he did during the last month of the campaign?"

That's pretty impressive. This is not the same Coffee Joe who I knew back in December.

When I heard it, I actually thought of James Baldwin's Pin Drop speech .. because it was so quiet in there. You could hear a pin drop.

I would be lyin' if I said that I didnt have the same question myself. How do they square that in their minds?

Doesnt their conscious get pricked by such obviously racist language? Or do they actually enjoy such things? If such racist things are not looked upon favorably, then why continue with the blatantly racist rhetotic?

Are Nazis bad? .. or very fine people? What say ye?

Somebody please ask a white evangelical this question for me. Do they really agree with the president on everything? Have they no spine or sense of self-respect?

Are they really incapable of ethical functioning?

» A Bad Sign

If somebody has to tell you that racism is a bad thing .. and that it is something that you dont want to be associated with .. then you are in a worse place than you realize.

Everybody must choose their own values to live by .. and determine the people with whom they will resonate.

If you happen to find yourself resonating with racists and Nazi's and white supremacists .. this is a bad sign.

» Overtly Bigoted Racist Statements

Speaking of overtly bigoted racist statements .. check out Elise Jordan's response (at t=4:00) to something that was said by Mississippi senator Hyde-Smith. .. where the senator 'joked' about voter suppression being a good thing. See Elise's response.

"It's not a funny joke to laugh about voter suppression in a state where African Americans who wanted to vote, and who were organizing for the right to vote, were literally fire-bombed out of their homes. They were terrorized. If you want to represent a state where 37% of the population is African American, you shouldnt be so ignorant about the history. And while it might be a joke to you, it's not a joke to 37% of the people."

This is remarkable commentary. Elise is from Mississippi. (I used to work for this guy from MIssissippi.) This gives her the authority to speak to this thing.

» Speaking to Things that Need Being Spoken To

Cannot you hear and see her sense of authority? .. in speaking to this thing? This overtly racist thing. 

I certainly did .. which is why I am taking the time to capture and comment on it.

I can feel myself being very much impressed with that thing she did there. I wanted to run up there and give her a big hug and a high-five and cheer her on.

Because this is how you do it. You call that nasty shit out in no uncertain terms. You put a high-beam on it .. for all to see. (They will think twice about it the next time.)

» Trump's Relentless Attacks on Every Source of Truth

Speaking of Coffee Joe, he said something else I found interesting. At t=6:50 in this video (5 Dec 2018) he says:

"Talking about the State department (Pompeo), talking about Mattis and policy .. versus Gina Haspel and the CIA .. interested in the truth .. ye shall know the truth and the truth will set you free .. reminds me of what the great general Michael Hayden says .. which is, you can look and see who Donald Trump has gone to war against. It's the Intel communities. It's the Justice dept. It's the Courts. It's the Media. It's the Academy. It's the Sciences. [In other words, it's the] » Fact Finders .. people whose entire existence is based on digging for the truth, and letting Americans know what that truth is. And we saw that yesterday with Gina Haspel at the CIA. I know that General Hayden had to be so proud of her."

That is an interesting observation. I mean, it is obvious, in a way .. yet I had never seen it that way.

Kudos to Hayden for the advanced pattern-matching.

Every day it gets more and more difficult to remain aligned with Trump. More and more treacherous.

» You Can't Get the Divine Freedom if You Dont Continue in the Divine Teaching

Coffee Joe cites the commonly cited verse from John's gospel » "Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."

But that verse actually begins with the word » 'And.' Everybody always forgets to include the preceding verse, which says » "If you continue in My word, then you are truly disciples of Mine." .. And (then) you will know the truth ..

That 'continuing' is the hard part. If you do not continue (because it is not easy), then you will not be his disciple, and consequently, you will not know the truth.

» Citing the Result of a Conditional Statement Without Including the Qualifying Condition

In programming technology, the IF/THEN statement is known as a » CONDITIONAL statement.

In other words, the THEN part of the statement DEPENDS UPON whether or not the conditions of the IF part of the statement have been met. I could continue here, but you feel me.

If you cite v32 without including v31, then you are citing the result of a conditional statement without including the qualifying condition. Is this not intuitively obvious to even the most casual of observers?

Many people want the result of divine freedom, but few are willing to meet the condition of continuing in divine teaching.

James echoes a similar sentiment here.

» Designing a Life that Does Not Crash-n-Burn When the Crises Hit

The best discourse, I think, on this particular topic is found in the parable of » the wise builder vs the foolish builder. He is really talking about building a life for yourself .. by the decisions you make.

Anybody can hang when life is hunky dory and the champagne is flowing freely. But wait 'til shit hits the fan.

The crises of life come to us all. I dont care who you are. Sooner or later, they come. (Usually sooner.)

Then we will see what they are really made of.

» When Knowing is Doing

This is the kind of truth that you can only "know" by doing. Let's call it 'experiential knowledge.' Go ahead and give it a try for yourself and you'll see exactly what I mean.

Go ahead and read the verses for yourself. I'm not making this up.

» Some People Detest the Idea of Ever Admitting that They Mightve Made a Mistake

I have pondered myself some of these very things that Steve is referring to here.

Sometimes I think, "Some people hate the idea of ever admitting that they mightve made a mistake .. by initially supporting Trump."

Some people cannot bring themselves to admit that they were wrong. The evidence before them can be piled all the up to the heavens .. but they refuse to acknowledge the obvious.

It makes for a fascinating study into social behavior.

» White Evangelicals are in Political Heaven with Trump as President

But this is not the case with Pat Robertson. No, sir.

Rather Pat Robertson is saying, "This is the best it has ever been for us. We are in political heaven. We white-evangelicals are in political-love with the president. Isnt everybody?"

And the fact that Pat Robertson is supposed to be this man-of-God .. well, I am obviously not feeling it.

Are you?

I wouldnt even be writing about this right now if Pat hadnt said such a strikingly ignorant thing so publicly.

Even if you think it, you wouldnt say such a stupid thing publicly. Not on christian broadcasting.

» Hear for Yourself Michele Bachmann Say that Trump is the Most Biblical and Godly President Ever

Michele Bachmann says that Trump is the "most Biblical and Godly" President ever (20 April 2019). I know that you dont believe me .. but go ahead and listen to her say this for yourself.

I can't wait to see the look on her face come Judgment Day.

You can almost hear Donald saying, "I hereby grab thy pussy in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost."

And there is Michele standing beside him saying, "Ooh, do me next! Do me next! Grab my pussy next, Donald. Grab it like your've never grabbed a pussy before."

Trump refers to Second Corinthians as "Two Corinthians." He knows nothing about what the scriptures say.

I dont know what bible Michele Bachmann is reading .. but it's people like her who give Christianity a bad name.

She can't say she wasnt warned. I can almost hear the weeping and the gnashing of teeth now.

» When Morality Meets Mammon

It is like an idea that is so full of bullshit that the shit is starting to ooze out of the seams.

So obviously is this bullshit oozing out of this idea that you feel compelled to warn the source of this strikingly absurd bullshit.

"Sir, do you not recognize the enormity of the bullshit that is contained in your idea? I feel compelled to suggest you step away. Quickly. That sucker looks like it's fixin' to blow. I am so glad that I am not you."

Pat Robertson is really about the money. When push comes to shove, and when life meets death, and when morality meets Mammon .. Pat is really about the money.

This is why your values suck, Pat. It's people like you who give Christianity a bad name.

Pat is not alone. This is why Leigh says that business needs a 'Moral Revolution' (27 June 2018).

» Lives that Resonate with Signature Patterns

If you study the scriptures for any length of time, you start to notice that certain patterns emerge and are presented in countless different ways, and from many different perspectives.

Yet it quickly becomes clear that it is the very same underlying patterns that are being referenced.

And here we could easily go into mind-numbing detail .. but my point is that here in the United States we are seeing two dramatically different sets of value-based patterns emerge.

Patterns that contain both moral and historical precedent.

And the differences between these two sets of patterns have become so great and so obvious that they are impossible not to notice.

To a large degree your preference of one set of patterns over another is derived from your underlying set of values.

What is important to you, and what is not important?

What things are really important?

» One New Low After Another

If I found myself surrounded by many of the wrong kinds of patterns .. then I would hope that somebody would warn me.

Part of living is to continually evaluate your life in such a way as to incorporate as many of the good patterns, and as few of the bad patterns as possible.

And no, it's not easy. Go ahead and give it a try and you'll see what I mean. And it won't take you very long, either.

» More Harm than Good?

Speaking of men-of-God who arent really what they appear to be .. I won't even mention the ongoing crisis in the Catholic church.

Perhaps this will be the thing that finally eradicates this scourge.

That has ruined so many lives.

Of the most vulnerable type.

Wolves in sheep's clothing.

Would you say that, when all is said and done ...

.. that the Catholic church has done more harm than good?

Because the 'Harm' side of the scale is piled high with lots of nasty shit.

And much of it is unbelievably nasty.

And it has been going on for so long .. for so many years .. for decades and decades.

And it seems like it has been happening everywhere. No? Like all over the globe. Covering so much territory.

I do not know if it is possible to do enough good to eclipse the harm done.

But I do know that putting an end to the harm is an excellent place to start.

This is the end of this page. ■

Previous page » Hypocrisy in America - Page Two (2 Oct 2018).

Analyze this page's HTML profile » here.

Movable Type archives

Radified home

<ignore this intentional bottom text spacer, too>