Saturday, October 26, 2024

Musings on Why Political Parties Resemble Secular Religions and Defy Reason

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., October 26, 2024


David Brooks has described why the toss-up between Trump and Hariris defies logic and reason.  It’s because polarized politics now resemble competitive religions, and Brooks refers to partisan operatives as the priesthood.  Politics is not about conflicting issues, as it should be, but about loyalty to conflicting partisan ideals that defy common sense, and are remarkably similar to exclusivist religious doctrines that define faith.

“Each party focuses almost entirely on the faults of the other, with no serious strategy for significantly broadening its electoral reach.” Both parties are content to live with deadlock. Having prioritized the wishes of their most intensely devoted voters over the priorities of winnable voters who could go either way. Both parties “treat narrow victories like landslides and wave away narrow defeats, seeing both as confirmation of their existing strategies. 

Trump has spent the past nine years not even trying to expand his base but just playing to the same MAGA grievances over and over again. Kamala Harris refuses to break with Biden on any significant issue and is running as a paint-by-numbers orthodox Democrat. Neither party tolerates much ideological diversity. Neither party has a plausible strategy to build a durable majority coalition.” 

Why?  Brooks explains “that political parties no longer serve the function they did in days gone by, when parties were political organizations designed to win elections and gain power. Today, in an increasingly secular age, political parties are better seen as religious organizations that exist to provide believers with meaning, membership and moral sanctification.  If that’s your purpose, you have to stick to the existing gospel and focus your attention on affirming the current creed of true believers and get so buried within the walls of your own catechism you can’t even imagine what it would be like to think outside it. 

The Democrats have huge advantages in America today. Unlike their opponents, they are not a threat to democracy. Voters trust them on issues like health care and are swinging their way on issues like abortion. They have a great base from which to potentially expand their coalition and build their majority. All they have to do is address their weaknesses where they are out of step with most Americans, as on spending that increases the national debt.

The problem is that where you find their weaknesses, you find the priesthood.  The Democrats are dominated by highly educated progressives who work in academia, the media, and activist groups, and they have a highly developed and self-confident worldview. The problem is that this worldview is rejected by most Americans, and the more the Democratic Party embraces the priesthood’s progressive orthodoxy, the more it loses working-class voters like Hispanics and Blacks.”

The religious priesthood is committed to fighting racism with moral imperatives of faith. Democrats seek new laws for racial preferences in diversity, equity and inclusion. Most Americans seek to fight racism in a different way.  In a recent Pew Research Center survey only a third said they supported race as a factor in college admissions.

Most people support equal opportunity for racial minorities through existing civil rights laws and better race relations rather than with new racial entitlements.  But beware!  “The priesthood has established a doctrine for racial preferences, and woe to those who contradict it.”


Notes:


It’s rare when I find myself thoroughly agreeing with a noted commentator like David Brooks.  That’s why you see so many quotes.  “Harris clearly understands the problem, and has tried to show she is in tune with majority opinions, but in a recent survey of liberals only 45 percent said they were proud to be Americans. Harris is now explicitly running on the theme, country before party; but she cannot turn around the Democratic Party’s entire identity.  All of her gestures have been stylistic.  She hasn’t challenged any substantive Democratic orthodoxy, since candidates no longer define what the party stands for. The priesthood — the people who dominate the national conversation — have that power. Each party has its own metaphysics as a political-cultural-religious-class entity that organizes the social, moral and psychological lives of its believers, and it grows more rigid and impermeable as time goes by. It seems that Harris is running not to be president of the United States but to be president of a theme park called Democratic Magic Mountain, while Trump is running to be president of Republican Fantasy Island. Each party has become too narcissistic to get outside its own head and try to build a coalition with people outside the camp of its true believers.”

The political problem for Harris is that there are a lot more Americans without college degrees than with them, and class is growing more salient in American life, with Hispanic and Black working-class voters shifting steadily over to the GOP. as the working-class party.  The problem for Trump is that he is even better at repelling potential converts than the Democrats. He’d be winning landslides if he had tried to wedge MAGA Republicans into a coalition with Bush-McCain Republicans, but he’s incapable of that.  The problem for the rest of us is that we’re locked into this perpetual state of partisan polarization in which the two parties are deadlocked and nothing ever changes.” Why the Heck Isn’t She Running Away With This? David Brooks, NYTimes, Oct. 17, 2024, at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/17/opinion/harris-trump-close-race.html


Saturday, October 19, 2024

Spiritual and Political Warfare in the Cosmic Battle Between Good and Evil

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., October 19, 2014


Lance Wallnau is the latest false prophet campaigning for God and Donald Trump in the cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil, and he’s getting press attention with large crowds just weeks before the election.  It’s important that voters recognize Wallnau as the charlatan that he is to distinguish him from legitimate Christian and political leaders.

  

The  Wall Street Journal has described Wallnau as “one of the most important figures in the new Apostolic Reformation, an influential movement in evangelical Christianity that blends direct experience of the Holy Spirit with a call to engage in politics as a form of ‘spiritual warfare.’  His main goal is to elevate Christians to greater influence to transform society.”


Wallnau exploits a misplaced emphasis of evangelical and charismatic Christians on emotional displays and healings as evidence of a true faith.  Other Christians are skeptical of such healings and emotional displays.  John Wesley was an Anglican priest who warned his followers to be skeptical of those who emphasize emotional displays as evidence of their faith.


Jesus taught that in the cosmic battle between the forces of good and evil, God’s will is to reconcile and redeem humanity while Satan’s will is to divide and conquer.  Charlatans like Wallnau and demagogues like Trump use religion to gain power, and provide evidence that Satan does a convincing imitation of God in both the church and politics.


The best forum in which to challenge the legitimacy of Wallnau, Trump, and other charlatans who masquerade as Christians is in the church.  That’s where the teachings of Jesus are (or should be) the ultimate authority on God’s will, and God’s reconciling love is (or should be) the best evidence of God’s healing and reconciling spirit.


Religion and politics are interwoven with moral standards of legitimacy that originate in religion, but have secular application beyond the church in the home and politics.  Those moral standards of legitimacy should be determined by law and reason; but in American democracy and even in the church, popularity has replaced reason for moral standards of what is right.


Loving others as we love ourselves is essential to promoting the common good in America’s pluralistic democracy, but it’s difficult to find consensus on contentious issues.  We need to look beyond our personal wants and consider our needs as a nation to find that consensus; and in our polarized partisan culture we need an altruistic faith to guide us.   


In America’s pluralistic and polarized democracy, spiritual warfare can exploit political differences and prevent the consensus needed for governance.  After the Civil War the church provided the moral standards needed to sustain American democracy.  Today crowds cheering populist charlatans like Wallnau and Trump remind us that we can no longer rely on the church to be the moral steward of American democracy.  Voters must save America from itself. 


Notes:


“On Sept. 28, JD Vance spoke at a Christian political event hosted by the most influential religious leader you’ve probably never heard of. His name is Lance Wallnau, and he is one of the chief proponents of a radical religious doctrine called the Seven Mountain Mandate. He’s an election denier. He’s said Kamala Harris engaged in “witchcraft” in her debate with Donald Trump and that an “occult spirit” is working “on her and through her.” And he’s a leader of one of the most dangerous political factions in America: the religious movement that helped fuel the insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021. 

At the same time, Wallnau promoted the Seven Mountain Mandate that provided a theological justification for supporting Trump’s quest for power. The core concept of the Mandate is simple: It states that Christians will be able to save the nation only if they or their allies gain control of each of the seven “mountains” of cultural influence: the family, religion, education, the media, the arts, business and the government. In 2013, Wallnau wrote a short book with Bill Johnson, pastor of the powerful Bethel Church, a large Pentecostal congregation in California. In a chapter on the Mandate, Wallnau wrote, “These mountains are crowned with high places that modern-day kings occupy as ideological strongholds.” He said that he “sensed” that God was telling him that “he who can take these mountains can take the harvest of nations.”

See JD Vance and the Prohets of Trumpism, by David French at https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/06/opinion/jd-vance-lance-wallnau-seven-mountains.html.


“Lance Wallnau, is a self-styled prophet in a fast-growing evangelical movement.  He came down off the stage to lay his hands on people who had requested prayers. Then he explained why re-electing Donald Trump is essential to save America. “Don’t think for a moment that it isn’t possible for this country to veer off course and go over a cliff in November,” Wallnau told about 2,000 people gathered under a tent in late July. “It’s quite possible, and the only thing that can arrest that is an activated, catalyzed body of Christian patriots.” Wallnau, 68 years old, is one of the most important figures in the New Apostolic Reformation, an influential movement in evangelical Christianity that blends direct experience of the Holy Spirit with a call to engage in politics as a form of “spiritual warfare.” He opposes abortion and same-sex marriage, but his main goal is to elevate Christians to greater influence to transform society.

Matthew Taylor, a scholar who tracks the New Apostolic Reformation, says that no evangelical leader did more than Wallnau to provide a theological rationale for religious conservatives to accept Trump. “Wallnau was already popular,” said Taylor, of the Maryland-based Institute for Islamic, Christian, and Jewish Studies. “But he became a mega evangelical celebrity through his endorsement of Trump and using his ideas to backstop Trump.” Now, Taylor sees Wallnau as presenting a threat beyond his advocacy for a political candidate. “I would call Lance Wallnau a Christian supremacist,” Taylor says. “He wants Christians to be in charge of society and to tear down the wall of separation between church and state.”

See On the Evangelicals Calling for “Spiritual Warfare” to Elect Trump, from  Wall Street Journal at https://apple.news/A6Tr6GeWSRACG9ySoKrW34g.


On How Altruistic Values Can Prevent a Dysfunctional Democracy, commentary #481 (2/3/24) at https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/02/musings-on-how-altruistic-values-can.html.



Friday, October 11, 2024

Musings on the Evolution of Morality in the Church and Democracy

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., October 12, 2024


The church is in a slow decline, but few pastors are speculating on its future.  As a retired pastor of the United Methodist Church (UMC) I’m an exception to the rule.  I’ve criticized the failure of the church to  advocate moral standards taught by Jesus in politics, and its failure to reform exclusivist Christian doctrine that limits salvation to Christians.


I grew up in Columbia, S.C. and  attended Wesley Memorial UMC in the Shandon neighborhood.  My old church is a sad sign of changing times.  It was renamed Heyward Street UMC as it declined, and is now a mere ghost of its vibrant past.  In the past such UMC declines were mostly in rural areas, but now are evident in affluent suburban areas across America.


The issues dividing the UMC have cultural roots that have split Americans, along with demographic, moral and theological issues; and the problems are not being discussed in the church.  It’s not the neighborhood; near the failing Heyward Street UMC there is a thriving Unitarian Universalist Congregation that doesn’t emphasize Christianity.


At the end of the 19th century the Methodist Church was America’s largest Protestant congregation.  The UMC was formed in 1968, but United is a misnomer.  Most UMC congregations remain racially segregated, with most Black UMC members voting Democratic and most white UMC members voting Republican in a nation with racially polarized politics.


Most white Christians voted for Donald Trump in 2016, and continue to support Trump even after he tried to overturn the 2020 election and praised those participating in the January 2021 insurrection.  It reminds us that the church has failed to promote the moral imperative of the greatest commandment to love God and our neighbors of other races as we love ourselves.


The church is the moral steward of American democracy, and the election next month will indicate where our church and democracy are evolving.  They both need altruistic morality to survive.  Over 200 years ago Thomas Jefferson observed that “The teachings of Jesus are the most sublime moral standards ever designed by man;” but the church ignored his sage advice. 


The UMC has split over sexual preferences, and allowed its congregations to choose whether to remain in the UMC or join other churches that are more compatible with its members’ moral preferences.  In the process the UMC never considered doctrinal changes to promote the altruistic teachings of Jesus that could have moderated UMC disaffections.

   

For America’s pluralistic democracy to survive, its people must be reconciled as stewards of democracy to provide for the  common good.  Jefferson understood that; but the church has continued to ignore the universal moral imperatives taught by Jesus.  The choice is ours.  Can the church save itself and democracy from human depravity in religion and politics?            


Notes:


A breakup of UMC churches over L.G.B.T.Q. issues has caused more than a quarter of UMC churches to defect, and the defections continue.  

“At issue for Methodists is the question of ordaining and marrying L.G.B.T.Q. people, a topic that has splintered many other Protestant denominations and which Methodists have been debating for years. In 2019, Methodist leaders opened a window for any congregations to leave over “reasons of conscience,” in most cases allowing them to take their property and assets with them in a clean break if they received approval to depart by Dec. 31, 2023. Many conservative congregations have done just that. “It’s the biggest denominational schism ever,” said Ryan Burge, a political scientist at Eastern Illinois University. There were eight million Methodists in the United States in 2020, according to the U.S. Religion Census. Between large-scale departures and the broader trend of decline, Dr. Burge said, that number could drop by half in a decade.

The exodus marks a calamitous decline for the broader tradition of mainline Protestantism, which once dominated the American religious, social and cultural landscape. …Remaining congregations and leaders are taking stock of their losses, and looking ahead to a future in which the denomination’s footprint in the United States may continue to shrink (even as it grows overseas, especially in Africa). In Texas, a historic stronghold for United Methodists, more than 40 percent of churches have left.  “It’s significant, and it’s been at a high cost,” said Thomas Bickerton, a lifelong Methodist who is president of the denomination’s Council of Bishops. More than 7,500 congregations have left since 2019, a number that he said was slightly higher than leaders expected when they extended the offer. Next year, Methodists plan to vote on what will likely be their lowest quarterly budget in 40 years. Officially, the United Methodist Church still forbids same-sex marriage and does not allow “self-avowed, practicing” gay people to serve as ministers. But in recent years, some leaders began defying official restrictions on the practices, and the church now has a number of openly gay clergy and two gay bishops. Many anticipate that church law could change — and spur more departures.” See https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/us/the-united-methodist-church-schism.html.


On the relevance of Thomas Jefferson’s Jesus in the 21st century, see https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/05/musings-on-relevance-of-jeffersons.html.


Alex Detocqueville was a French aristocrat and intellectual who visited America in 1831, and he observed a mutual relationship between democracy and Christianity on morality that was critical to both.  Detocqueville observed that America’s many Christian sects shared a “Christian morality” that produced common standards of political legitimacy that defined what is right, and imbued American politics with its moral authority.  On the views of both Thomas Jefferson and Alexis de Tocqueville on the moral values of religion in American politics, see Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy (July 1, 2017) at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/07/religion-moral-authority-and.html. See also Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Universal and Altruistic Jesus, August 19, 2023, at http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.




Saturday, October 5, 2024

Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Secularization of American Culture

By Rudy Barnes, Jr., October 5, 2024


The secularization of American culture reflects the supremacy of secular political values over religious moral values.  The failure of the church to promote altruistic moral values that provide for the common good is the result of a public obsession with partisan politics, coupled with the failure of the church to promote the common good in politics..


The greatest commandment to love God and all of our neighbors as we love ourselves is a universal moral imperative to promote the common good.  It’s taken from the Hebrew Bible, was taught by Jesus, and accepted by Muslim scholars as a common word of faith; but none of the Abrahamic religions have promoted the common good as a moral imperative of their faith.

  

God was considered sovereign in both politics and religion before the 17th century, when the Enlightenment shifted political sovereignty from God to humankind, and democracy allowed man to become the master of his political destiny.  It also allowed secular political values coupled with a shrinking church to make the common good of faith a meaningless political ideal.   


That’s how humankind evolved from ancient to modern times, and how we will continue to evolve.  Secularization is the dominant force transforming morality in both religion and politics.  God and religion still remain factors in the moral evolution of our culture, along with reason and new discoveries in knowledge; but the future is anyone’s guess.


Fareed Zakaria has accurately described secularization as the major force driving cultural evolution, and cultural values are continuing to change.  Wars or economic upheavals could provide an impetus to religion to provide for the common good; but history tells us that we should not depend on religion to shape America’s moral values in politics.


God is accepted as America’s supreme spiritual power, with Jesus as the Word of God; but democracy has allowed human depravity to shape its future.  God inspires through prophets like Jesus who taught universal truths that promote the common good, but God’s truths have been outweighed by political and religious forces motivated by greed and the lust for power.


Popularity is the measure of success and driving force in both politics and religion, and history has confirmed that human depravity often trumps God’s reconciling love in both realms.  There have been interludes of enlightened altruism that have motivated world events, but human depravity seems destined to continue to corrupt religion and politics.


Dum spiro spero is Latin for While I breathe I hope.  That’s been the state motto for South Carolina since 1777.  History tells us that human depravity and the lust for power are more popular than faith, reason and altruism, but we can always hope that one day our faith and reason will enable us to overcome our human depravity and promote the common good.           



Notes:


This short video with Fareed Zakaria on The Secularization of America is worth watching. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rBlUdoqg2R0.  For an earlier related article by Zakaria, see  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2024/04/05/trump-religion-secularism-authoritarian-populism/.


The debate between JD Vance and Tim Walz underscored the contrast between a bright and articulate Vance and the more pedestrian Walz; but David French has explained that such a comparison is shallow, given Vance’s corrupt commitment to support Trump.  “JD Vance can be an excellent, persuasive communicator. Like many good lawyers, he’s a chameleon. Depending on the audience, he can breathe fire — the way he does on MAGA podcasts or at Trump rallies — or he can present as a calm, reasonable man, completely at home in a lunchtime think tank discussion. The most frustrating part of the debate was how comprehensively deceptive it was. Voters who tuned into the debate without any knowledge of the candidates would think they were watching a contest between two civil, respectful people who agreed on many core values but merely disagreed on policy.  The Vance of the infamous “childless cat ladies” comment was gone. Nowhere did we see the version of Vance who told his supporters to “keep the cat memes flowing” when he and his running mate were fanning the flames of slander and bigotry against the Haitian immigrants of Springfield, Ohio. Absent for a moment was the bitter ideologue who once said, “I think our people hate the right people.” If this was your first look at Vance, you might even be tempted to think, “How nice that Donald Trump would have such a thoughtful person by his side in the Oval Office.  In choosing Vance and discarding Pence, Trump traded actual decency for a man who can simulate decency, and that’s exactly what Vance did at the debate. But he couldn’t keep it together for the entire evening. At the very end, the mask slipped. When pressed to say whether Trump lost in 2020, Vance said, “Obviously, Donald Trump and I think that there were problems in 2020,” and Vance had the gall to say, “It’s really rich for Democratic leaders to say that Donald Trump is a unique threat to democracy when he peacefully gave over power on Jan. 20, as we have done for 250 years in this country.” vice-presidential debates can still be instructive. And on Tuesday night, voters learned exactly why MAGA loves Vance so much. He’s a talented communicator. He has a compelling life story. He can make the ideological and policy case for Republican populism better than any other politician in America. And he’s no Mike Pence: He would wreck the Republic for Donald Trump.”  https://www.nytimes.com/2024/10/02/opinion/vance-trump-maga-walz-vice-presidential-debate.html.

See also 36 key lines to explain the Vance-Walz vice presidential debate, at https://www.cnn.com/2024/10/02/politics/vp-debate-key-lines-what-matters/index.html.           


Other commentary on religion, values, politics and the future of the church:

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2014/12/religion-and-reason.html

(3/8/15): Wealth, Politics, Religion and Economic Justice

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/03/wealth-politics-religion-and-economic.html

(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/08/balancing-individual-rights-with.html

(10/18/15): God, Money and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/10/god-money-and-politics.html

(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/01/the-politics-of-loving-our-neighbors-as.html

(6/4/16): Christianity and Capitalism: Strange Bedfellows in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/06/christianity-and-capitalism-strange.html

    (9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/09/a-moral-revival-to-restore-legitimacy.html

(9/24/16): The Evolution of Religion and Politics from Oppression to Freedom

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/09/the-evolution-of-religion-and-politics.html

(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/11/religion-liberty-and-justice-at-home.html

(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/12/e-pluribus-unum-religion-and-politics.html

    (1/21/17) Religion and Reason Redux: Religion Is Ridiculous and Corrupts Our Politics

        https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/religion-and-reason-redux-religion-is.html.

        (1/28/17): Saving America from the Church

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/01/saving-america-from-church.html

         (3/4/17) Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/02/the-need-for-revolution-in-religion-and.html

(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/03/moral-ambiguity-in-religion-and-politics.html

(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/04/the-relevance-of-jesus-and-irrelevance.html

(4/29/17): A Wesleyan Alternative for an Irrelevant Church

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/04/a-wesleyan-alternative-to-irrelevant.html

(6/24/17): The Evolution of Religion, Politics and Law: Back to the Future?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/06/the-evolution-of-religion-politics-and.html.

(7/1/17): Religion, Moral Authority and Conflicting Concepts of Legitimacy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/07/religion-moral-authority-and.html.

(4/22/17): The Relevance of Jesus and the Irrelevance of the Church in Today’s World

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/04/the-relevance-of-jesus-and-irrelevance.html

(9/9/17): The Evolution of the American Civil Religion and Habits of the Heart

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/09/the-evolution-of-american-civil.html.

(12/16/17): Can Democracy Survive the Trump Era?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/can-democracy-survive-trump-era.html.

(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/08/the-universalist-teachings-of-jesus-as.html.

(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.

(12/23/17): If Democracy Survives the Trump Era, Can the Church Survive Democracy? http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/12/if-democracy-survives-trump-era-can.html.

(8/12/17): The Universalist Teachings of Jesus as a Remedy for Religious Exclusivism  

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/08/the-universalist-teachings-of-jesus-as.html.

(10/7/17): A 21st Century Reformation to Restore Reason to American Civil Religion http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2017/10/a-21st-century-reformation-to-restore.html.

(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/01/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_20.html.

(3/17/18): Jefferson’s Jesus and Moral Standards in Religion and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/jeffersons-jesus-and-moral-standards-in.html

(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(3/17/18): Jefferson’s Jesus and Moral Standards in Religion and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/jeffersons-jesus-and-moral-standards-in.html

(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/altruism-missing-ingredient-in-american.html.

(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-need.html.

(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(8/31/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Politics of Christian Zionism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/09/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(10/6/18): Musings on Moral Universalism in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-moral-universalism-in.html.

(11/3/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist: Has God Blessed Us or Damned Us?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-has-god.html.

(11/10/18): Musings on the End Times: God’s Rapture or Satan’s Rupture?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/11/musings-on-end-times-gods-rapture-or.html.

(12/1/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Mystical Logos

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(12/15/18): Musings on the Great Commission and Religious and Political Tribalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-on-great-commission-and.html.

(12/22/18): Musings on Faith and Works: The Unity of All Believers and The Last Judgment

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/12/musings-on-faith-and-works-unity-of-all.html.

(2/9/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Hypocrisy of American Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/02/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_9.html.

(3/2/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Post-Christian America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-post.html.

(5/11/19): Musings on the Relevance of Jefferson’s Jesus in the 21st Century

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/05/musings-on-relevance-of-jeffersons.html.

(5/25/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Divinity and Moral Teachings of Jesus

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/06/musings-on-military-legitimacy-and.html

(7/13/19): Musings on Sovereignty and Conflicting Loyalties to God and Country 

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/07/musings-on-sovereignty-and-conflicting.html.

(8/3/19): Musings on the Dismal Future of  the Church and Democracy in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-on-dismal-future-of-church-and.html.

(8/10/19): Musings on Christian Nationalism: A Plague on the Church and Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-on-christian-nationalism-plague.html.

(8/31/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Politics of Christian Zionism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(9/7/19): Musings on the Self-Destruction of Christianity and American Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/09/musings-on-self-destruction-of.html.

(9/14/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Chaos as a Prelude to a New Creation

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/09/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-chaos.html

(10/5/19): Musings on the Moral Relevance of Jesus to Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/10/musings-on-moral-relevance-of-jesus-to.html.

(11/23/19): Musings on Jesus and Christ as Conflicting Concepts in Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-on-jesus-and-christ-as.html.

(12/7/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Triumphalism and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html

(12/14/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Prophets, Scripture and God’s Truth

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_14.html.

(10/5/19): Musings on the Moral Relevance of Jesus to Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/10/musings-on-moral-relevance-of-jesus-to.html.

(10/26/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Discipleship in a Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/10/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(11/16/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Irrelevance of Morality in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_16.html.

(11/23/19): Musings on Jesus and Christ as Conflicting Concepts in Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/11/musings-on-jesus-and-christ-as.html.

(12/14/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Prophets, Scripture and God’s Truth

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_14.html.

(12/28/19): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the End as a New Beginning

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2019/12/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-end-as.html.

(1/11/20): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christians as a Moral Minority

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/01/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(2/1/20): Musings on the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Altar of Partisan Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/02/musings-on-sacrifice-of-jesus-on-altar.html.

(6/13/20): Was Jesus the Prophet of the Gospels or the Christ of the Church?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/06/was-jesus-prophet-of-gospels-or-christ.html.

(7/18/20): Musings on Atheism and Religion and Living Life to the Full

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/07/musings-on-atheism-and-religion-and.html

(2/1/20): Musings on the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Altar of Partisan Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/02/musings-on-sacrifice-of-jesus-on-altar.html.

(3/7/20): Musings on America’s Need for a Politics of Reconciliation, not Revolution

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/03/musings-on-americas-need-for-politics.html.

(4/4/20):  Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of America’s Values

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(11/7/20): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Good and Evil in Religion and Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-good.html.

(5/16/20): The Evolution of America’s Libertarian Democracy from Plutocracy to Kleptocracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/05/musings-on-evolution-of-americas.html?.

(5/22/21): Musings on Morality and Politics and the Need for a Civil Religion in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/05/musings-on-morality-and-politics-and.html.

(4/1//23): Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics as a Means of Reconciliation

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/04/musings-on-common-word-of-faith-and.html.

(5/20/23): Musings on God’s Simple, Universal and Timeless Truth

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/05/musings-on-gods-simple-universal-and.html.

(8/5/23): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on How We Love God

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-how-we.html.

(8/25/23): Musings on Changing Christian Doctrine to Promote the Common  Good 

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/08/musings-on-changing-christian-doctrine.html.

(2/24/24): Musings on Religion and Pragmatic Altruism in Democracy

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/02/musings-on-religion-and-pragmatic.html.

(8/10/24): Musings on the Universal Teachings of Jesus as a Common Word of Faith

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/08/musings-on-universal-teachings-of-jesus.html.

(11/21/20): Democracy Has Survived Donald Trump, but Can the Church Survive Democracy?

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/11/democracy-has-survived-donald-trump-but.html.

(12/19/20): Musings on Finding a Path to Reconcile America’s Polarized partisan Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2020/12/musings-on-finding-path-to-reconcile.html.

(1/16/21): Truth and Reconciliation in Politics and Religion in a Maze of Conflicting Realities

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/01/truth-and-reconciliation-in-politics.html.

(2/20/21): The Moral Corruption of Christianity and Democracy in the Trump Era

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/02/the-moral-corruption-of-christianity.html.

(3/6/21): Musings on Socialism, Capitalism, Democracy and Debt in Politics and Religion

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/03/musings-on-socialism-capitalism.html.

(3/20/21): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Radical Moral Teachings of Jesus

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(3/27/21): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Civil Religion in a Divided America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-civil.html.

(4/17/21): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Future of the Church

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-future.html?

(5/22/21): Musings on Morality and Politics and the Need for a Civil Religion in America

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/05/musings-on-morality-and-politics-and.html.

(7/17/21): Christianity and Politics: Separated by Irreconcilable Differences

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/07/christianity-and-politics-separated-by.html.

(8/14/21): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of God’s Truth in Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2021/08/musings-on-conflicting-concepts-of-gods.html.

(1/22/22): Musings on Popularity as a Corrupting Influence in Democracy and Christianity

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/01/musings-on-popularity-as-corrupting.html.

(1/29/22): Musings on the Inadequacy of Religious Moral Standards in American Democracy   

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/01/musings-on-inadequacy-of-religious.html.

(4/23/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Why Americans Are Losing Their Religion

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-why.html.

(4/30/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Obsolescence of Christianity in Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/04/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(6/25/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Church and the Greatest Commandment

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/06/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-church.html.

(8/6/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moderating Hatred in Partisan Politics

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(8/13/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religion and the Wisdom of God

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(11/5/22): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Jesus, the Church and Christian Nationalism

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/11/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-jesus.html.

(11/12/22): Musings on the Need for a Civil Religion in America’s Dysfunctional Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/11/musings-on-need-for-civil-religion-in.html.

(12/10/22): Musings on the Evolution of  Christianity into the American Civil Religion

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2022/12/musings-on-evolution-of-christianity.html.

(3/11/23): Musings of a Maverick  Methodist on the Future of Christianity and Democracy

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-future.html.

(3/18/23): An 18th Century Preview of America’s Political and Religious Schisms

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/03/an-18th-century-preview-of-americas.html.

(6/24/23): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Cost of Discipleship to the Church

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/06/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-cost.html.

(7/22/23): Musings on the Need for Altruism in Christianity and the American Civil Religion  

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/07/musings-on-need-for-altruism-in.html.

(8/19/23): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Universal and Altruistic Jesus

http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/08/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on.html.

(10/7/23): Musings on the Demise of America’s Dysfunctional Democracy and the Church

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/10/musings-on-demise-of-americas.html.

(12/23/23)  Musings on the Advent of Jesus as the Light of the World and the Universal Logos

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2023/12/musings-on-advent-of-jesus-as-light-of.html.

(3/2/24):  Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for an Unconventional Faith

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on-need.html.

(3/27/24): Musings on Going Back to the Future on the Evolution of Christianity

https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/04/musings-on-going-back-to-future-in.html.

(6/15/24): Musings Why Churches Ignore the Moral Teachings of Jesus https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/06/500-musings-on-why-most-churches-ignore.html 

(8/3/24): Musings on Popularity as the Measure of Success in the Church and Democracy  https://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2024/08/musings-on-popularity-as-measure-of.html.