The Gospel of Trump includes

• Hating illegal immigrants
• Hating Democrats
• Sharing falsehoods or unverified stories

All of these goes against Christian teachings.

It was in the summer of 2016 at a summer camp, when MAGA hats were rare, that I found one. For me it was the time when racism, misogyny, and conspiracy theories went mainstream. Later that summer I was shocked to see a neighbor with a Trump sign in her yard. It was a rare occasion that I saw my neighbor as someone with no morals and could with a good conscious support a candidate with no morals. I never supported Trump. I remarked to my parents that he could never become president. But sure enough he was indeed elected, partially because people disliked Hillary so much.

And now having lived through 4 years of misinformation, lies and dirty tricks, it’s time for America to move on. We need a leader. I’m not sure it is Joe Biden, but it certainly isn’t Trump. We need some kind of sanity in the White House.

I felt it was time to add my voice to the opinions on the recently implemented (but temporary) immigration ban on certain Middle Eastern and African countries. First I’d like to tell you some background on my interactions with refugees.

While I was in college, a lady I know from church was an English as a second language teacher at a Metro Nashville public school. Many of her students were newcomers to Nashville or America or both. I was asked to provide transportation of these kids home. So I would go out to the West End school and take about 4 of them home. Looking back I believe some of these kids were Kurdish. They knew enough English to be able to point directions to their home. I remember finding out right away that just over I-440 from Granny White Pike is a large discrepancy in income status. Within Lipscomb’s Green Hills neighborhood on Granny White Pike, there are plenty of expensive homes with high income home owners. Then past I-440 is a low income neighborhood where these Kurdish families lived. I never knew two income discrepancies were so close together.

In 2015 I visited Budapest just after the Syrian refugee crisis. Many of the refugees had moved on from the train station which I visited on my way to Bratislava. However at the church of Christ I attended in Budapest I heard stories of the congregation helping refugee families at the train station. The members of the congregation stood by and gave them basic supplies when they arrived at the train station.

While I’ve personally seen and helped new comers to our country (refugees?), I’m really kinda on the fence about this one if the immigration ban is a good thing. Some thoughts on each country being banned.

• Libya – I really had hoped the revolution and overthrow of Gaddafi would have made for a safer and more westernized Libya. However there still seems to be some ISIS activity in this area. I do realize that there are some educated displaced people rather than just extremely poor people with no way to leave the country.
• Somalia – This is a failed state. Anyone from this state have probably already left. I mean really. How often do you hear about people from Somolia living next door to you?
• Sudan – I’m pretty sure this is an ultra conversative Muslim state. Again, how often do you hear about people from Sudan coming to America? As a side note at my home congregation we have a few people from South Sudan, but that’s a whole other country.
• Iran – When I was in 7th grade a classmate of mine was of Iranian decent. I believe her parents had fled some years back. Her father gave my class a tour of the industrial plant he worked at. I’m pretty sure there are a large amount of educated Iranians who are fleeing their country’s extremist views. I have read that many Iranian might say “Death to America,” but it’s really only lipservice until they can move the regime to a more contemporary secular view. I’m pretty sure the ban on Iran is effecting alot of people.
• Iraq – As with Iran, Iraq too has some intellectuals who desperately want to leave this dangerous area. You’ve got the Kurds in the north (who BTW really deserve their own country) and the rest of Iraqis to the south.
• Syria too probably has alot of intellectuals that want to leave. However this country is very risky as ISIS is very active there and could just as easily blend into the refugees camps. Extreme vetting is needed for Syria.
• Yemen – Well let’s just say it now. No one vacations in Yemen. I’m pretty sure that anyone with any sense and cash to move has already left Yemen. It’s an extremist nation. Remember the 2010 plot of mailing bombs to Jewish synagogues? Well that was carried out by someone in Yemen. Yemen is a no go. I’d be reasonably fine with excluding Yemen, Somalia, and Sudan indefinitely except for current green card holders and those who help the U.S. military.

I guess what I’m saying is that if we are to accept refugees they need to be able to work themselves up and contribute to our society.  We do not want another bunch of welfare recipients.  They must be willing to contribute to our society and in many ways assimulate while still keeping their heritage of their home country.

Is the temporary ban justifiable?  Maybe.  The president has alot more access than I do in regards to intelligence to these countries.  So I’ve got to have faith that the administration is making good decisions in order to keep all of us safe.

As a Christian if refugees are let in, I should treat them with kindness with the golden rule.

Meanwhile I see alot of hypocrisy on social media since Obama put temporary bans on many of these countries.  So what makes what Obama justifiable and Trump’s ban unimaginable?

By now everyone knows about Ryan Lochte and his embellishment of the truth in regards to his encounter at the Rio gas station. Originally his story was that he was pulled over by some people posing as police officers. Later he said that a gun was held to his head and money stolen from him. However security cameras show him and three other American swimmers vandalizing a gas station. Then security Personnel confronted him and demanded money to pay for the gas station vandalism.

While the lies were being unveiled, a co-worker of mine remarked “the truth will set you free, Ryan Lochte.” He lost support, sponsorship deals and, at least in my own mind and many other American’s minds, will be forever known as a liar.

Ryan himself is 32 years old and should know better. In his interview on The Today Show he stated much of what happened last night he could not remember due to being intoxicated. And I have to wonder myself at what point when you stop remembering from being intoxicated does alcohol become a problem? To me Ryan probably need some counseling in alcohol abuse, as do many other Americans.

I’m really not sure if the Olympic Committee will allow Ryan to participate in the Tokyo Olympics in 4 years. But I think that it would be fitting if they banned him at least temporarily. We all make mistakes but somehow Ryan’s seem to be magnified in that he was on the world stage and representing the best of the Americans.

I have been on 2 men’s church retreats during the past few weeks. During both of them the presidential election was spoken about ever so briefly. Without an blatent endorsement of a candidate, I found the statement of there being “only one” candidate which could be voted for.
The implication was that a good Christian knows which candidate he or she should vote for. And I’m still trying to figure out who that one candidate is. I’m inclined to believe it is McCain, as a matter of default, i.e. the lesser of three evils. Around here dedicated Christian are expected to vote for the conservative candidate on the list. The one who stands again abortion, homosexuality, and other social issues Christians are concerned about.
McCain sparked my interest in the 2000 Republican primary campaign because he was more moderate than the rest. But he has since said questionable statements. My fear is that we’d see a George W. Bush II in a McCain presidency.
My fear is that I’ll be made to feel guilty if I support the “wrong” candidate which doesn’t agree with Christian values. As much as churches should be tax exempt and shouldn’t endorse candidates, I’ve heard many a policital sermon, and seen plenty of Christian Coalition materials in church foyers around election time.

Apparently Rick Warren, author of “A Prupose Driven Life,” doesn’t know when A.D. started:

“But the truth is Easter is the greatest significant event in history. In fact it split history into A.D. and B.C. Even people who don’t believe that Jesus Christ died and was resurrected for our sins use Easter as a reference point every single day of their life. When you write a date…April 3rd…April 4th, 2007, you’re using this. So what’s the focal point? It’s Easter because God came to Earth and split history into A.D. and B.C. It’s the most significant event.”
Rick Warren on “What Would Jesus Really Do?” CNN, April 8th, 2007.

No, Mr. Warren. Anno Domini (A.D.) by definition started when Jesus was born, not on Easter. This is pretty basic stuff for your average Christian scholar. Amazing that Warren doesn’t know otherwise.

Having been born in 1975 I am too young to remember the Watergate mess. Consequentally I am really too young to remember Gerald Ford’s presidency. The first president I really remember is Ronald Reagan.
A friend and I were remarking how Jimmy Carter is more popular post presidency than as president. And Gerald Ford might be more popular dead than he ever was alive.
They say that Gerald Ford’s pardon of Nixon cost him the presidency. I would tend to agree. America wanted some type of closure to Watergate. Ford’s pardon was his form of closure, but it just didn’t play well with the American public at the time.
But can anyone remember anything that Ford did as a president? The phrase that come to mind is “Ford pardoned Nixon,” and not much else. Perhaps Ford’s role as presidency was to hold the nation together during crisis until the election of 1976. Consequently it is not surprising that an outsider to Washington won the election.
But can anyone remember what Ford did post presidency? Sure he had some golf tournaments and showed up for presidential photo ops. He wasn’t building houses, brokering peace or anything else. It is Betty Ford we remember, post presidency, for establishing the Betty Ford Center for substance abuse.
Still we honor Ford’s death. Watching the Funeral last night gave me a sense of how we honor ALL presidents. The funeral brought back memories of the not-too-distant Reagan funeral. Both seemed to have the same military honor, reminding us that all presidents are honored, no matter what they accomplished in their lives.

Is Kramer a racist? Michael Richards, who played Kramer on Seinfeld, went on a tirad recently at a comedy club when some African American started heckling him. It wouldn’t have been so bad if Richards hadn’t used the “n” word over and over again.
Later on Richards went on Letterman to apologize, stating that he was “busted up” by the experience. “I’m not a racist. That’s what’s so insane about this,” Richards said. And yet he used racist words which must have been on the tip of his tongue when it happened.
And yet I do believe Richard’s apology is sincere. He wants to correct the situation and move on. But somehow watching Kramer on Seinfeld may never be the same for me and other viewers.
The sad thing is that the “good” Reverend Al Sharpton won’t accept Richards’ apology. Someone really needs to show the good reverend the part in the Bible which says if you don’t forgive, then neither will your heavenly Father forgive you. Let’s move on, Sharpton.
We as a society are usually very willing to forgive if the apology is sincere enough. And many times our thoughts are that it is easier to beg for forgiveness than ask for permission. With few exceptions any sin is forgiveable to society as a whole. Usually it is easier to forgive if we ourselves have been tempted to do the same thing. Such is the case with Hugh Grant and Divine Brown, of which Grant apologized on Leno’s show a few days after being caught. It was a “hand in the cookie jar” experience.
And yet Richards’ apology may not be acceptable for the American public at large. Somehow the “n” word has become more profane than any other word in the American vernacular. And yet to me, the curse words are all equally profane.

“Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.”

And so were the words of President Bush to Michael Brown on September 5th, 2005 while touring storm damaged areas in Mississippi. Brownie did such a great job that he was forced to clean out his desk a few days later.
My suspicion was confirmed when I read some internal emails from Brownie posted on CNN.com.
Some gems:

Marty Bhamonde: “I know that you know the situation is past critical. Thousands [are] gathering in the streets without food or water. Many will die within hours.”
Brownie replies: “Thanks for the update. Anything specific I need to do or tweak?”
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Brownie: “I’m trapped now. Please rescue me.”
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Brownie: “If you’ll look at my lovely FEMA attire, you’ll really vomit. I am a fashion god.”
============
Brownie: “Are you proud of me? Can I quit now? Can I go home?”

And then there’s this strange one:

Brownie (to his press secretary): “Tie or not for tonight? Button down blue shirt?”

Wow. I never knew the head of FEMA actually needed fashion help with a news conference.
It made front page of Fark.com and Metafilter.
I guess the reason why he wasn’t much help in Katrina is because there were no Arabian Horses to judge. Nope. They must have all drowned in the floods.
With nicknames like Brownie and Scooter, its no wonder anyone can’t but be compelled to take them seriously. But I digress.
Reminds me of other stupid quotes about Hurricane Katrina.
The moral of the story is never ever write anything in an email that you wouldn’t want posted on CNN.com, especially if you’re a high profile government employee.
And by the way, I’m looking forward to sitting on Trent Lott’s porch.

No one should have been surprised. There were predictions long before this happened. Of course hindsight is 20/20. “If we had only known, we would have built a stronger levee.” Then of course you could always argue that it was the French’s fault for building the city there in the first place. Let’s see. I wonder if we should build a city sandwiched between a river and a lake…AND on land below sea level?
New Orleans will never be the same again. I’m not even sure things will get back to normal before Mardi Gras. If I were a resident of NOLA, I’d pack up and leave and never come back.
Then there’s this for you to ponder.
A coworker asked me how I was dealing with the events in New Orleans. I haven’t been emotionally attached to it. I can watch CNN or MSNBC all day and somehow not get emotionally attached to anything I see. Call it being jaded. I guess things have gotten too complicated in my life for me to “feel” anymore. I wish I could change that. Maybe it will…with time.