What's Wrong With This Picture?

Getting at the Root of It All

Someone recently asked what troubles me most about the direction of our country, and honestly, the answer is . . . everything. I’m distressed by all of it, the brazen obfuscation of the Epstein class, the gutting of the Justice Department, Stephen Miller’s war on non-Anglo America, the assault on the personhood of transgender citizens, the insane choice to make measles great again, and the illegal war in the Middle East that threatens the world economy, just to name a few off the top of my head. Oh, and the ballroom.

It all bothers me as much as it bothers Heather Cox Richardson. I simply do not possess her stamina and fortitude. She keeps saying, “do the thing you can do,” and so I keep writing, I keep preaching, I keep walking in the open air and breathing as deeply as I can. I lead meditation groups, exchange the latest memes with my sons, and support reputable news outlets who hold the line on the First Amendment. You get my drift.

My own health remains a core value, and though nothing in life is certain, if I don’t take care of myself, there will be nothing left to offer anyway. Maintaining this commitment into my seventies means a sifting and sorting between symptoms and root causes, and shifting the focus toward prevention vs. fixing what’s gone wrong.

To keep the metaphor, I would say that Donald Trump is a symptom. An impotent Congress is an effect. A rubber-stamp Supreme Court didn’t come from nowhere. White supremacy didn’t happen yesterday. The assertion of privilege against nations and cultures that existed on “our” lands for thousands of years was no random happenstance. There is a root of radical toxic masculine superiority that has exerted itself through every major empire in human history. It is always built on the foundation of patriarchal privilege. It seeks to dominate, devour, and decimate anyone and anything perceived as meek or compassionate (read: “weak”).

The Roman Empire, after it was done crucifying Jesus, was the first to renovate him into a conquering king. “Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth,” never did fit the model of “All Hail King Jesus” and “Onward Christian Soldiers” The councils that expunged women from their prominence in the gospels also created the hierarchies that have sought to keep them submissive, subservient, and obedient. This foundational plank of Christendom became a license for serious oppression in the Church, in the nation and in the home, and it has found new life in Trump’s America.

If you ask me, the root of Project 2025’s Christo-centric, Neo-fascist, theocratic vision for a post-Constitutional American empire is nothing other than FEAR. It is a fear of change, a fear of others, a fear of losing power, position, and dominance. Why else would there be such hysteria around diversity, equity, and inclusion, all of which are front and center in the life and teachings of Jesus.

Pete Hegseth can rant his way through every Pentagon prayer service. He can try and purge the military of women, people of color, and LGBTQ+ personnel who have offered exemplary service to this nation. He can pretend to change the name of the Department of Defense into something more “robust” or “masculine.” But he cannot use Christianized language to mask the fear that drives him and the forces that enable him.

According to the U.S. Census Bureau and major research venues like the Brookings Institution and Pew Research Center, the United States is projected to become a “minority-white” nation around 2045. You can either welcome the beauty and strength of human diversity of or you can scare yourself shitless about your own loss of perceived power. The Trumpian Party has chosen to do the latter.

Donald Trump is not a well man. He has no coherent ideology beyond that of his own fragile ego. While Hegseth and Netanyahu have taunted him into a Russian Roulette in the Middle East, he has transformed himself into a sleepy, befuddled, wannabe decorator. The dismantling of the tacky gold accoutrements will begin on the day of the next inaugural. The vanity projects to put his face on everything will go the way of his reality TV show or the ruins of his New Jersey casinos.

So we must think rationally of a post-Trump America. It will take generations to heal the damage of the last decade, but we’ve done it before. This time around we must embody the innovative spirit of the founders and framers, and people of faith like me will need to redefine the church in a way that surrenders its infatuation with Caesar in pursuit of the ways of Jesus. We’ll need to dig out the rotting roots that exists in both Church and State and reaffirm our commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law as we were so eloquently and intelligently reminded by none other than the King of England.

Go figure.