On January 11, 2018, The President of the United States referred to Haiti and African nations as ‘shithole’ countries.

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(language and sarcasm warning)

That Ur was a real shithole*…right…?

And that pit-of-a-hole Joseph’s brothers put him in?

That too. Really shitty place to be.

Does my language and statements shock you?

Good.

That must mean that you are grieved and shocked over the way our President talks, right? So appalled that you cannot keep silent. Right?

Now bear with me…there is not a one-to-one-nationbiblical correlation in what I have to say as I contemplate Trump’s recent statement on suffering human beings and the “shitholes*” they come from. But I’m trying here.

Please pardon my French. You, know, that shithole* of a nation that gave us the damned Statue of Liberty. Those damned French people…swearing, passive, socialist snowflake sissies.. right?

The French for jeepers sake…butt of all socialist jokes. Bane of the contributors.

The New Colossus

BY EMMA LAZARUS

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 flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles.

From her beacon-handGlows 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!”

But, I’m just a small-time former evangelical with a potty mouth. It’s not like I’m God’s champion of American evangelicals. Who cares what spews out of my mouth, right? Do you?? And does it matter to you more, or less, than what spews out of the mouth our President???

But it’s not like we didn’t get a glimpse into this man before last November, right? A man who says he likes to grab them by the pussy, mocks the disabled, and says that when Mexico “sends their people” they aren’t sending the best….but they are sending rapists and all sorts of “bad hombres.” Many witnessed the Trump campaign – and like the seargent in Alice’s restaurant after the shrink joins Arlo in jumping up and down on the desk shouting “kill…kill…kill…” – went excitedly to the voting booth saying “YOU’RE OUR BOY!!!”

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Yeah, I took a missions trip to Mexico City for two months in 1984…I saw some wonderful things and I saw some pretty sad things…what a shithole*, right? Let’s keep those people where they belong.

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Exit polls showed that at least 80% of evangelicals voted this man into office, inarguably the highest office in the world. Interestingly, as I did this search, I had the option of seeing percentage of evangelicals who tithe…not to make a theological statement on the practice of tithing, but I think it says something that according to this study only 7.4 percent of evangelicals tithe. This is not about tithing, but apparently – if my math is right – about 76% more evangelicals are more on board with voting for a man and a party platform of across-the-board ousting of immigrants and an immoral tax bill giving breaks to the wealthiest in our society and slashing programs that aid the poor in order to pay for it than they are with generous giving to their local church community. And we are to believe…as many evangelicals like to posit…that public welfare programs and access to affordable healthcare are unnecessary – even “immoral” and “robbery” of their purses – …just let the Church take care of it all, they say…

So, let’s talk about the Bible. Good place to start.

Now I don’t believe in the marriage of religion and politics. Jesus is non-partisan. But I think there is a reason people say never talk about politics and religion with good friends. Because, well…much as we want to divorce the two…we cannot. And we are bound to step on someone’s toes.

The Christian religion – rather, faith – has to do with kingdoms. Politics has to do with kingdoms.

Jesus said His kingdom is not of this world….so we have no reason to believe we can legislate the full kingdom of God into being. Believe it or not, the south is not more “godly.” Believe it or not, the north is not more “reprobate.” Or vice versa.

That said, Jesus prayed, “Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I really don’t think it has to be too complicated.

You believe in Jesus? Well then you should support the things of the kingdom being manifested through the earthly, temporal powers that be…right? You should have the same attitude towards those who suffer – especially due to ungodly and corrupt powers – that God does.

Simple. Right??

Even if you are not religious…if you don’t give a damn about the kingdom of God…you are an American, right? You are a good and kind person…right? You, like most non-sociopaths in this world whether they be athiests or of a non-Christian belief system, live by The Golden Rule. You are the kind of person who celebrates Thanksgiving…being grateful for all that you have…and you are the kind of person who stands by the Statue of Liberty. Right?

Now let’s talk again about what the President of the United States of America said yesterday.

And let’s talk about contribution to the “American way of life.” Because…like…that’s what God values most in human beings. Contribution. Right???

But let’s go back to Abraham. Because he came from some little place called Ur. If we are going to talk about the birthplace or homeland of God’s people before they set about in their wanderings…well…where the hell were they from? Some little shithole* called Ur???

Never heard of it. But…can they make US cheap clothes and easy-to-consume disposable items there???

I wonder if UR had a national anthem? I guess the grass is green there, or the desert is beautiful…there must be water….there must be ancestors buried and memories of children being born in that shithole* land…because it is someone’s (thanks to God not mine!) homeland on this God-forsaken planet. Right??

And let’s talk about pits and holes and slavery. Joseph’s brothers dropping him into a pit and selling him off to the Egyptians. Egypt was a prosperous land…and when there is prosperity…we must guard it. Right? With military and chariots…lots and lots of the most powerful, cutting-edge chariots. And get people from shithole* countries like Ur or wherever to do the shitty jobs. For cheap. Or free…

But Joseph had dreams. He had big dreams.

That is how those God-forsaken people came from a famined shithole* and ended up in Egypt, right?

And then, God-forbid, they had anchor babies and multiplied. Right? And the Egyptians became afraid of them, right? So they made things harsher for them out of fear. Right? Because…like…they had these strange customs. They looked different. And there were LOTS of them. Lots and lots and lots of them (hell they gave birth so quickly before the midwives arrived that the Egyptians couldn’t kill off their male babies – Exodus 1:19)…and they probably didn’t even speak English – I mean Egyptian –right?? Maybe just enough to understand the instructions on how to make bricks. Right??

All these God-forsaken, non-contributors were good for is to be slaves. Right?

So hell yeah…let’s send all these God-forsaken people made in God’s image back to the shitholes* they came from …Haiti….El Savador…Sub-Saharan Africa…

So they can continue to serve the interests of the American Empire from their God-forsaken shithole* of a country. We can continue to benefit from their foreign cheap labor and stripping of natural resources.

But damn it…we won’t have to see them on our streets or in our grocery stores. Right?

Just send us the Norwegians and all will be good.

Norwegians decline President Donald Trump’s offer to move to US

But…some say… “we don’t have the resources…we need to take care of our own first.”

But…Jesus says..

“Do to others as you would have them do to you. If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, whatcredit is that to you? Even sinners do the same.”

(Luke 6:31-33)

But keep silent…
because…like…the image of blue-eyed, white Jesus sitting and speaking silently in our films, staring without blinking from the Mount of Olives, saying “turn the other cheek.”

The Bible clearly says from this one verse that white Jesus thinks it is wrong to speak up and say anything about hateful speech and intentions…right?

Naming a hater as hateful is just so….hateful. Silence! Judge not!!

Because…like…all these other verses are trumped by quiet, silent, blue-eyed, non-blinking white Jesus. Right??

As Rob Bell puts it in his bookJesus Wants to Save Christians: A Manifesto for the Church in Exile, by Rob Bell …we American Christians seem to have forgotten our own story.

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