Stand, Men of the West!

And so, they have raided the home of Donald Trump. After failed impeachment hearings and lies that have been proven untrue, the Machine simply cannot stop, can it? Nancy Pelosi sits on a net worth that could pay the debt of some small third-world country, while her constituents watch their homes deteriorate into chaos and poverty. The new bill that cost the souls of at least two Democratic senators will include salaries for 87,000 new IRS agents, who will target you and me. And yet, prayers go unanswered, and evil lives to prosper another day. The public itself seems to be either too frightened or too complicit to stand against the people who mutilate and abuse children–and yes, even relish in their murder.  And yet, they seem to triumph again.

It is easy to lose hope. Despite my years of religious training, and even after having read and written papers about many of the books of the Bible, I cannot tell you what God is at this moment.  No, I do not believe that God has raised up Donald Trump for such a time as this. I do not believe that God has made Donald Trump our David to take down their Goliath. But I do believe that God hates lying. I believe that God hates greed. I believe that God hates the perversion and murder of children. And I also believe that people of ill will are willing to go to extreme measures or turn a blind eye to preserve their superiority and their retirement benefits. Or, to avoid paying the price for satiating their desires. As it says in the Book of Job:  “For he has oppressed the poor and left them destitute; he has seized houses he did not build.”

We are not the first to be confronted by such naked avarice and contempt. Alexander Solzhenitsyn, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Richard Wurmbrand were but a few who were willing to raise their voices against evil in the face of overwhelming odds. The Founding Fathers who are almost deified by the Right understood that if the Revolution did not go their way, they would face a grueling and lengthy death at the gallows.

As I write this on Monday evening, protestors are gathering outside Mar-a-Lago. There are those who would take up arms at this moment, but arms will not avail us. Taking up arms will lead to more kangaroo courts and media lies. But the time has come to confront. You no longer have the luxury of remaining silent. There is no need to remain quiet out of respect for another’s opinion. Your voice is just as valid as the left-wing blowhards in your media, your school board, or even at your dinner table. The person at your church who enjoys a wealthy lifestyle and sniffs haughtily at you, the great unwashed, yet feels justified for bringing a few cans of chili to the food drive. The sycophant legislator who has turned your earnings over to the government to continue to enjoy the benefits of being a “team player.” The wealthy left-winger with a second home in the mountains who would rather die than see you ride an ATV past his property. The lily-white child of the rich who would burn down your home or your business in the name of equity. The people who maim and murder children for their personal enjoyment or because they are expendable in the name of a greater cause. These people must be confronted. They have sold their souls. They have no conscience. They have no character– and at their core, they have no courage. They can and must be defeated.

Related: HELL TO PAY: Republicans Slam Biden Admin Over Raid of Trump Home, Vow Investigation

Will it be easy? Not by a longshot. Today’s events show that our elected and appointed officials have willingly and gleefully abandoned their charges and oaths. At their most benign, they are autocrats. In truth, they are ersatz tyrants. And there is nothing they will not do to continue to enjoy their power and, yes, their white privilege. And they must be resisted. No doubt, they have convinced themselves that their cause is just. But history is rife with people who did terrible things under a glorious banner. And those banners, no matter how glorious, cannot go unchallenged.

I am a Tolkien purist. I prefer the books to the various film incarnations. While I think that Peter Jackson’s movies did a fine job of visualizing Middle Earth, I have my qualms with the writing. So be it. But at this moment, I find myself hearkening back to Aragorn’s speech at the Black Gates in the film version of The Return of the King:

“Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Men of Gondor, of Rohan! My brothers! I see in your eyes, the same fear that would take the heart of me. The day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship. But it is not this day. An hour of wolves, and shattered shields when the Age of Men comes crashing down! But it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West!”