Samson's Jawbone

The current claim of many evangelical leaders is that evangelicals who support Donald Trump are "white Christian nationalist." The term "white Christian nationalist" is a fairly new term in the public-square and it has not, to my knowledge, been clearly defined.    It's hard to answer critics of "white Christian nationalism," it is associated with certain people and political causes. Terms like this that lack definition are euphemisms. They are used to create an emotional response. The term itself is a pejorative, designed to intimidate.   Why the term "white" as opposed to "black, Asian, Hispanic, or native American nationalism." Is a "black, Asian or Native American" Christian who is a conservative somehow disparaged by the term. Those who use this term associate it with whites, or non- white's "sold out" to white establishment, Uncle Tom's. It assigns motives and beliefs to "white" people wit...

Many of my friends and family sent me frustrated and even panicked messages Friday after Speaker Paul Ryan pulled the American Health Care Act without a vote. Many people thought it was over Trump had lost; Trump had been defeated. I had gone to bed Thursday night feeling the same way, but as I slept on it, I awakened Friday with a certainty that the American Health Care Act would die. I am not the profit or the son of a profit, just a student of American history and usually a pretty good judge of where the political winds are blowing.  When I heard in the afternoon that the bill had been pulled from the floor I had one of those moments: Trump was not the loser at all in this; he is the winner. Once again Trump has defeated the establishment and they are at a loss to explain what happened. Not to worry: Trump is the winner in Friday's  American Health Care Act failure. Both the Conservative and establishment factions of the Republican Party did everything they could to st...

A friend of mine, who is a Christian musician who was prominent in the 1970's, wrote this on his Facebook page after President Trump issued his executive order on immigration; Compassion is a Christian value and I believe an American one as well.  Closing the borders of our country based on religion defies imagination.  I'm not naive.  I understand that terrorists are looking to enter our country, and I am for all the background checks and law enforcement we need to do to make sure they aren't allowed in.  But my faith, and I'd like to think basic human decency, demands that I not turn a blind eye to the suffering masses who are fleeing war ravaged regions of the world.  How exactly to meet their needs will be debated, but surely Christian folks can agree that Christ taught us to serve the least of these. Compassion shouldn't be a partisan issue.  The book of Matthew speaks to me today… "For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and...

Following my last Elisha's Ax Head post  "The Growing Pandemic of Foot-and-Mouth Disease"  I stated this post would emphasize how we actually avoid the malady. Unfortunately, it has taken me more time than I expected to prepare the second post, and with all that has happened in the month since I last posted I have decide to delay my post for one month. I apologize for the delay but after this post I will return to Elisha's Ax Head Can anyone explain why for 6+ years under President George W Bush (43) we went without any terrorist attack on US soil, or on our interests overseas, while after 71/2 years of Obama we have had either a terrorist attack, a mass shooting, or riots weekly? Sometimes Obama says availability of guns is the problem. Other time s, he says its because of a racist judicial system . Were guns not as readily available from 2003-­2009? Do we spend too much money on military spending , o r have we failed to use our military to create diversit...

It would appear to many, especially the political pundits, that Donald Trump may very well be the Republican Candidate for President of the United States of America. And the Internet gives all of us plenty of opportunity to like or endorse or reject or hate the man. In doing any of the above, I suggest that Conservative Christians have the hardest job in many years of deciding which of the above options we should pursue. Is God calling Conservative Christians to refuse to vote for Trump? Can Conservative Christians endorse Donald Trump and look God in the eyes at Judgement? And can Conservative Christians support or vote for a man with the moral and spiritual failures that Trump clearly carries with him? And can Conservative Christians reject Trump's candidacy when knowing that action will result in less votes for Trump, when every vote for Trump cancels out a vote for Hilary Clinton. In other words, withholding a vote for Trump will almost assure four more years ...