NOTES ON FALSE HOPE II: TRUMP, HARRIS, AND AMERICA’S DANGEROUS QUEST FOR A HUMAN SAVIOR – (WITH PRELUDE & VIDEO)

SCRIPTURE. “For which one of you, when he wants to build a watchtower [for his guards], does not first sit down and calculate the cost, to see if he has enough to finish it?” – LUKE 14:28, AMP

KEY TERMS:

• “TOWER.” ‘Purgos’ [πύργον]: “‘A tower or castle or fortified structure reaching to a considerable height;’ constructed to repel a hostile attack or to enable a watchman to see in every direction; a citadel, a fortress; therefore when towers are erected they rise above the main edifice.”

• “CALCULATE.” ‘Pséphizó’ [ψηφίζει]: “‘To count or compute, to reckon;’ in ancient cultures, ‘to give one’s vote by casting a pebble into the urn; to decide by voting;’ to estimate the expenses of erecting a house, and add together the several sums which each part of the materials and the work will cost.”

• “COST.” ‘Dapane’ [δαπάνην]: “From a root word, ‘To devour or consume;’ a great expense; the price, value or equivalent of a thing purchased; the amount in value paid, charge or engaged to be paid for any thing bought or taken in barter (in exchange); mount in value expended or to be expended; charge.”

QUOTATION. “That is why He warned people to ‘Count the cost’ before becoming Christians. ‘Make no mistake,’ He says: ‘If you let me, I will make you perfect. The moment you put yourself in My hands, that is what you are in for. Nothing less, or other, than that. You have free will, and if you choose, you can push Me away. But if you do not push Me away, understand that I am going to see this job through. Whatever suffering it may cost you in your earthly life, whatever inconceivable purification it may cost you after death, whatever it costs Me, I will never rest, nor let you rest, until you are literally perfect – until my Father can say without reservation that He is well pleased with you, as He said He was well pleased with me. This I can do and will do. But I will not do anything less.’” ― C.S. LEWIS, Mere Christianity, 1952; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Though the disciples of Christ are not all crucified, yet they all bear their cross, and must bear it in the way of duty.’ JESUS bids them count upon it, and then consider of it. Our Saviour explains this by TWO SIMILITUDES. ‘The Former showing that we must consider the Expenses of our Religion; the Latter, that we must consider the Perils of it.’

‘Sit down and count the cost.’ Consider it will cost the mortifying of sin, even the most beloved lusts. The proudest and most daring sinner cannot stand against God, for who knows the power of His Anger? It is our interest to seek peace with Him, and we need not send to ask conditions of peace, they are offered to us, and are highly to our advantage. ‘In some way a disciple of Christ will be put to the trial.’ May we seek to be disciples indeed, and be careful not to grow slack in our profession, or afraid of the cross; that we may be the good salt of the earth, to season those around us with the savour of Christ.” – MATTHEW HENRY, Exposition of the Old and New Testaments, 6 vols., 1708-1710; edited

DK’S TAKE. I am typing out these important thoughts just before delivering what promises to be my most challenging Commentary to date. THE SUBJECT: ‘Who to vote for this November 5, 2024,’ in the most crucial Presidential Election in our history as a Nation.

Here’s the pain of it for me.

Many of my most trusted and principled and friends in the Peloton Confessing Fellowship are enthusiastically moving toward KAMALA HARRIS, while my wife and I are convicted to vote for neither ticket. Thus, I am, by Christian conscience, now pitted against the best of us in many instances for the very first time.

THE COST. Since some of these good friends are also Patrons of this ministry, I risk pretty much everything: (1) ‘If I am wrong’ and misleading them, I am in peril; (2) ‘Or if I am right’ yet lose their patronage, I am in peril. The First Cost is borne of a Fear of God, as well it should. The Second Cost is the very real risk and fear of Losing My Voice in the Christian Debate.

My Decision.Following several days (and nights) of struggle with this, including many hours of research, reflection and fervent prayer, I have decided to go ahead with my Warnings of Voting Democrat. Three times I inquired directly of the Lord about what to do, and five times I distinctly heard: “Yes, go ahead.”

I trust therefore that you will at least hear me out and remain with our Fellowship, even if we disagree on this vital matter. If not, I shall look to God for my next steps from here.

 

NOTES ON FALSE HOPE II: TRUMP, HARRIS, AND AMERICA’S DANGEROUS QUEST FOR A HUMAN SAVIOR – (WITH PRELUDE & VIDEO)

I.  THEOLOGY

SCRIPTURE. “Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help.When his breath leaves him, he returns to his earth; in that very day his [previous] thoughts, plans, and purposes perish. Happy (blessed, fortunate, enviable) is he who has the God of [special revelation to] Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord his God, Who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, Who keeps truth and is faithful forever.” – PSALM 146:3-6, AMPC

KEY TERMS:

• “TRUST.” ‘Batach’ [תִּבְטְח֥וּ]: “A primitive root, ‘To hie [hasten] for refuge;’ to be confident or sure, secure (in); expresses the feeling of safety and security that is felt when one can rely on someone or something else; being without fear; makes one feel bold as a lion [truly or falsely]; a reliance or resting of the mind on the integrity, veracity, justice, friendship or other sound principle of another person.”

• “HOPE.” ‘Seber’ [שִׂ֝בְר֗וֹ]: “From a primitive root, ‘Sabar’ [שָׂבַר], translated, ‘Expectation; to scrutinize (intense watching);’ to look forward with patience; to tarry (as one views), to wait; to inspect closely; to examine into the wall; to [passionately] believe for; desire of some good, accompanied with strong assurance expectation of obtaining it, or a belief that it is obtainable.”

QUOTATION. “Everyone sees what you ‘appear’ to be, few experience what you really ‘are.’” ― NICCOLÒ MICHIAVELLI, The Prince, 1513; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Put not your trust in princes’ — However great their wealth or power may be; ‘nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help’ — Earthly princes, if they have the will, often want the power, even to protect their friends. And should they want neither will nor power to advance them, yet still all depends upon the breath in their nostrils, which perhaps, at the very critical moment, ‘goeth forth; they return to the earth; their thoughts,’ and all the thoughts of those who hoped to rise by their means, fall into the same grave, and are buried with them for ever.” 

‘Happy is he that hath the God of Jacob for his help’ — That has an interest in his attributes and promises, and has them engaged for him; ‘whose hope is in the Lord his God’ — Who relies on Him for help and support in all circumstances and situations, having made Him his Friend, so that he can call Him his God and Father. ‘Which made heaven and earth,’ &c. — And, therefore, has all power in Himself, and the command of the powers of all the creatures, which, being derived from Him, depend upon Him; ‘which keepeth truth for ever’ — Because He liveth for ever to fulfil His promises, and because He is eternally and unchangeably faithful.” – JOSEPH BENSON, Notes on the Holy Bible,   5 vols., 1811-1818; edited

II.  TEACHING

As an old political warhorse from the olden times, I am always amazed at how quickly I have nearly always ‘Run to a political candidate for Rescue.’ In 1960 it was Jack Kennedy, then in 1968, Robert Kennedy. Later on, in 1980, after becoming a Christian it was Ronald Reagan, then in 2020, George W. Bush.

‘All of that ended for me in the ominous year of 2016,’ when I had no candidate to run to for my help. DONALD TRUMP was an absolute non-starter for me, and the Democrat HILLARY CLINTON was nearly (but not entirely) equally odious to me. Thus, in that epic year:

‘Real Choice became fully Bankrupt.’ Selah.

ELECTION OF 2024. After four years of Trump’s evisceration of honorable government and devastating, violent divisiveness (think J6 here), JOE BIDEN took the helm and most truly conservative Christians took some solace inside a breather from the virulence of President Trump, the Covid-19 Plague notwithstanding any of it.

So, when KAMALA HARRIS AND TIM WALZ rose to the Democrat fore, many Never-Trump Christians not only rallied to their cause, and did so with an ebullience I have not seen since the Reagan years of the 1980s. Such frothy exclamations as, “I am so excited!” Or “Kamala will slaughter Trump!” And “Shapiro was awesome!” Then this just this morning: “Walz is killing it, wow!” Then I thought:

Beloved: We are not voting for Shapiro or for Walz or for Biden. We are voting for KAMALA HARRIS, her alone.

DOCTRINE OF THE LESSER EVIL. “The Doctrine of the Lesser Evil deals with those situations where a Moral Agent is forced to choose between one of a number of competing claims to action, all of which involve ‘Breach of a Moral Principle or Rule.’Faced with this Dilemma, the Doctrine of the Lesser Evil states that one should do that which, in the circumstances, is the lesser of two or more evils.” – STEPHEN CLARK, “The Doctrine of the Lesser Evil,” Foundations, Spring 2008; edited

• “BREACH.” “‘The act of breaking; or state of being broken;’ a rupture; a break; a gap; the space between the severed parts of a solid body parted by violence. ‘The violation of a Law;’ the violation or non-fulfillment of a contract; the non-performance of a moral duty; non-performance of duty being a breach of obligation, as well as a positive transgression or violation.” – NOAH WEBSTER, American Dictionary of the English Language, 1828; edited

• “MORAL.” “Relating to the practice, manners or conduct of men as social beings in relation to each other, and with reference to right and wrong. ‘The word “moral” is applicable to actions that are good or evil, virtuous or vicious, and has reference to the Law of God as the Standard by which their character is to be determined.’ Moral sense, an innate or natural sense of right and wrong; an instinctive perception of what is right or wrong in moral conduct, which approves some actions and disapproves others.” – WEBSTER, 1828; edited

CAVEAT EMPTOR: “BUYER, BEWARE!” I think it wise indeed to begin to deep dive a fuller comprehension of the lady who may well become the first woman to ever sit behind the Resolute Desk next January. Especially because there are a substantial number of sincere, Never-Trump Christian conservatives who seem to be enamored of her. I don’t intend this as a Hit Piece, but as a reasoned, balanced first appraisal of the Vice President who is for now the Darling of the American Voter.

Theology of Voting. There are only THREE CLEAR REQUIREMENTS in the Scriptures about our Civic Duty. (1) We must pay our taxes (Mark 12:17; Matthew 17:24-27). (2) We must pray for our leaders (1 Timothy 2:1-2). (3) We must honor all political leaders ‘to whom honor is due’ (1 Peter 2:13 & 17; Romans 13:7).” There is no direct command to vote in the Scriptures, Old and New Testament, beloved. The argument that a non-vote faced with two evil alternatives is a False Argument!  – From Pastor, Author, and Bible expositor DANIEL HENDERSON, “Is it Biblical to Vote?” Strategic Renewal, 2016; edited

KAMALA DEVI HARRIS. The dispassionate profile summarized below is taken from California housing policy reporter, BEN CHRISTOPHER in a piece titled, “Kamala Harris: What Her California Years Reveal” (Cal Matters, July 22, 2024; edited).

• CHILD OF BERKELEY. “In a state full of transplants, Harris is a lifelong Californian. She was born in 1964 in Oakland — the hospital a little over a mile from the City Hall where, more than half a century later, she would announce her short-lived 2020 bid for the presidency.  Born to immigrant parents who met while getting their PhDs and protesting for civil rights at UC Berkeley, she spent her childhood in Berkeley. Harris’ father, Donald Harris, is from Jamaica and her mother, Shyamala Gopalan, is from India. The couple split when Harris was 7, and Harris and her sister Maya were raised mostly by her mother, who died in 2009.”

• INFLUENCE OF WILLY BROWN. “In March 1994, San Francisco Chronicle’s legendary columnist Herb Caen described the scene at [Willy] Brown’s surprise 60th birthday party with his new steady, Kamala Harris … Brown had a reputation for dating much younger women. In his column, Caen described Harris, then a deputy district attorney of Alameda County, as ‘something new in Willie’s love life. She’s a woman, not a girl.’ The relationship ended after two years, but her connection to Brown, three decades her senior, ‘did have an outsized effect on her career.’” Note on Willy Brown: From 1975 to 1978, Harris’ mentor and lover Brown supported the Peoples Temple, led by Jim Jones, while it was being investigated for alleged criminal wrongdoing. Brown attended the Temple perhaps a dozen times and served as master of ceremonies at a testimonial dinner for Jones where he said in his introduction, “Let me present to you a combination of Martin King, Angela Davis, Albert Einstein and Chairman Mao.” Allegations of political patronage followed Brown from the state legislature through his mayoralty. – EDITORS, Wikipedia, “Willy Brown, Politician,” Aug. 23, 2024; edited

• LACK OF CLARITY. “You saw it in the presidential race. You’ve seen it in her as vice president. As the New York Times once put it: ‘The content of her message remains a work in progress.’ We saw it before in California. While running the California Department of Justice, Harris was often loath to wade into the political battles taking place just a few blocks away in the state Legislature. There was the bill that would have required her office to investigate police shootings. She did not take a formal position (though she did tell a reporter it would be bad policy). The bill died. There was the proposal to force police departments to gather data on the ethnicity and race of the civilians they stop. Harris also declined to take a position. It passed anyway … ‘The idea that she would have consistent positions on issues informed by ideology isn’t who she is, said [Professor of Political Science, St. Mary’s College, [Corey] Cook. ‘Harris may appear to pick her battles,’ he said, because for her ‘the only lasting solutions are going to be the ones that are able to sustain a majority coalition of support.’”

• MAKING A MARK. “Harris has never shied away from the ‘tough on crime’ label when it comes to a certain class of criminals: Domestic violence perpetrators, child abusers and sex traffickers … Some Democrats say Harris’ prior life as a prosecutor with a focus on sex crimes would be a key advantage in a potential general election contest against Trump, who has been found liable in a civil case for sexual assault and recently became the first former president to be convicted of a felony. In that case, the 34 counts were related to the falsifying of business records in connection to an alleged sexual encounter with a pornographic film actress. But using the full force of the law to penalize pimps, traffickers and other abusers has earned Harris some criticism from civil libertarians and from advocates for sex workers.”

• SMART ON CRIME. “One of the reasons Harris became known as a rising-star District Attorney was her focus on prevention, which she explained in her book, Smart on Crime, written in 2009, the year before she ran for attorney general. ‘Public health practitioners know that the most beneficial use of resources is to prevent an outbreak, not to treat it,’ Harris wrote. ‘Instead of just reacting to a crime every time it is committed, we have to step back and figure out how to disrupt the routes of infection’ … Harris’ focus on prevention produced some of her key accomplishments as district attorney. But in the context of the 2020 presidential primary, some of those same accomplishments struck many critics on the left as overly punitive. The year after launching Back on Track, Harris introduced an anti-truancy initiative. Based on a statistical correlation that chronic class skippers are more likely to be both perpetrators and victims of homicide, Harris’ office began threatening the parents of persistently absent students with prosecution.”

• CAPITAL PUNISHMENT. “Her opposition to the death penalty has been one of the most controversial stands in her career, but it’s also an example for those who criticize her lack of consistency. On April 10, 2004, three months after her inauguration as San Francisco’s new district attorney, 29-year-old police officer Isaac Espinoza was gunned down by a 21-year-old with an AK-47. Three days later, Harris made good on a campaign promise and vowed not to seek the death penalty for the shooter. David Hill was later convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. The decision engendered a predictably fierce backlash from the police union and rebukes from politicians. ‘This is not only the definition of tragedy,’ Sen. Dianne Feinstein said at Espinoza’s funeral, ‘it’s the special circumstance called for by the death penalty law.’ The assembled officers cheered while Harris remained seated.”

• PROSECUTORIAL OVERREACH. “Both as district attorney and as state attorney general, Harris led offices that criminal justice advocates say was overly aggressive in pursuing convictions and lacked transparency in a way that belies Harris’ brand as a ‘progressive prosecutor.’ In March 2010, just as Harris was campaigning to become California’s attorney general, San Francisco authorities shut down a police department crime lab in the city’s Hunters Point naval yard. A technician named Deborah Madden was accused of skimming drugs, raising broader questions about the lab’s ability to appropriately handle evidence in criminal cases. (Madden later pleaded guilty).  Harris immediately dismissed 20 drug cases, but the number eventually grew to over 1,500 after documents showed that prosecutors within Harris’ office had known about Madden’s potential unreliability months before the lab was closed, but had neglected to tell defense attorneys.  A superior court judge later excoriated Harris’ office, writing that the violations infringed on the defendants’ constitutional rights.

• PLAYING HARDBALL. “Harris’ biggest accomplishment while California’s attorney general was to secure a financial settlement with some of the country’s largest banks accused of illegally foreclosing on homeowners. In September 2011, Harris pulled out of ongoing negotiations between attorneys general from nearly every US state and the five banks, calling the proposed deal of $2-to-$4 billion ‘crumbs on the table.’ Harris was not the first attorney general to walk away, but the departure of the country’s largest state seemed to have its intended effect. A few months later, with California back in the mix, a new deal was struck. This time, California got $20.2 billion in debt reductions and direct financial assistance. Still, some consumer groups and outside experts were critical of the deal, arguing that the banks would have been forced to write off much of that bad debt eventually. ‘All sizzle, no steak,’ is how Georgetown law professor Adam Levitin put it.”

THREE ADDITIONAL FACTS. My severe hesitation from Voting Blue is centered on Three Concerns that that we ought to keep in mind should Harris be elected to the Presidency. One is an ‘Administrative’ matter, the other a ‘Moral’ one, and a third, largely ‘Political.’

1. ADMINSTRATION. “When Vice President Kamala Harris finally made the decision to visit the Mexico border last week, people inside her own office were blindsided by the news. For days, aides and outside allies had been calling and texting with each other about the political fallout that a potential trip would entail. But when it became known that she was going to El Paso, it left many scrambling, including officials who were responsible for making travel arrangements and others outside the VP’s office charged with crafting the messaging across the administration … What’s more concerning for people inside and out of Harris’ orbit is staunching the bleeding among frustrated staff and meaningfully improving the low morale in the office, which could cause damage to her relationship with Biden and his team. Harris, these people said, excels when those around her project calm and order, creating a sense of confidence and certainty. ‘When people feed her anxieties, all of that goes away,’ said another Harris friend, ‘exacerbating the bad tendencies.’” – C. CADELAGO, D. LIPPMAN & E. DANIELS, “Not a Healthy Environment,” Politico, June 30, 2021; edited
2. ABORTION. “She built a reputation in California as a prosecutor who backed abortion rights, and, as attorney general, Harris threw her weight behind multiple abortion issues with national consequences. Two standouts include investigating claims that Planned Parenthood sold fetal remains and supporting regulation of anti-abortion pregnancy centers. ‘As long as I have known her, this has always been a core issue,’ said San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu. Chiu is a former Democratic assembly member who has known Harris for more than 20 years and worked with her on multiple statewide campaigns opposing ballot measures that would have required doctors to tell parents before performing an abortion on a minor. That record gives her credibility to her platform on reproductive rights, but it also makes her a target among anti-abortion groups who stamp Harris as an Extremist.” – KRISTEN HWANG, “Kamala Harris Put Abortion at the Center of the Election,’ Cal Matters, August 22, 2024; edited
3. ISRAEL. “Four days into the most consequential week of Kamala Harris’ political life, she confronted the most fraught foreign policy issue facing the country by looking directly into the eyes of an Israeli prime minister who decided not to even give her a passing name check in his address to Congress Wednesday afternoon. Up until now, Harris has been defined by working for President Joe Biden, arguably the most explicitly pro-Israel American president, even though his relationship with Benjamin Netanyahu has frayed … Harris didn’t preside over Netanyahu’s speech to Congress on Wednesday, instead choosing to stick with a pre-scheduled trip to a sorority event in Indiana, as antisemitic protests erupted near the US Capitol where fences were put up like in the days following the January 6, 2021, riot.” – EDWARD-ISAAC DOVERE, “Harris Steps Out on Israel,” CNN, July 25, 2024; edited

III.  LAST THOUGHTS

THE REINVENTION OF KAMALA HARRIS. My friends, what I see taking place is a ‘Premature Exhilaration’ as the Democrat handlers repackage Ms. Harris to suit the emotional needs of the moment. And I see both Democrats and many Republicans getting on board this clearly ‘Emotional Hayride to, where is it now?’ That frankly scares me almost, almost as much as the prospect of a Dictatorial Presidency of Donald Trump.

America is so desperate to displace Trump, a ‘Known Villain,’, may elect an ‘Unknown Villian’ into office in the false hope she is “The Answer.” Oy!

I close with a superb and prudent essay by GERRY BAKER, editor-at-large of The Wall Street Journal. He writes here for The Times in an article titled, “Reinvention of Kamala Harris is All Hype, No Heft: Will She Dupe America?” (August 16, 2024; edited).

Beloved, she already has. And many of them include “Us.” Selah.

“As Democrats gather in Chicago this weekend for their presidential nominating convention, they have united around the programme they plan to offer the country in November’s election: Joy! The world may be sliding closer to All-Out Conflict; the American Economy may be slowing into a possible Recession even as high prices continue to cut into the living standards of working families; millions of Migrants may be crossing the Southern Border unchallenged every year, undermining the cohesion and stability of the country; a Democratic Administration may have presided for the past four years over all of this and been responsible for most of it.’

But Kamala Harris and Tim Walz don’t want Americans to trouble themselves with any of that. They want voters simply to feel the glee they’re spreading across the political landscape, the giddy elation they hope will ensure their election against the Republicans Donald Trump and JD Vance.

‘After an unprecedented summer in American Politics’ — the conviction on criminal charges of a former president and presidential candidate; a televised debate that revealed the alarming senility of the incumbent president seeking four more years in office; an assassination attempt that came within millimetres of success; the withdrawal from the contest of the sitting president after a primary election in which he won 80 per cent of the vote; and the elevation to the nomination of a candidate who has never won a single vote in a single primary contest — the Democrats are trying to add one more improbable reality.

‘They are aiming to pull off an electoral victory on a platform so light and vapid it might have been floated aloft on clouds of hype.’ After a presidential campaign so lacking in substance it might have been created by the men who used to write advertising jingles in the 1950s; to elect a candidate so electorally unproven she might have just fallen, to use a favourite epigram of hers, out of a coconut tree!”

CODA. So, my friends, y’all feeling comfortable with all the excitement of the Harris-Walz Campaign? Watching fiery orations and family hugs abundant and the heady rhetoric that “It’s going to be wonderful now” – Now that we are given precisely this:

‘A False Choice between a Fierce Hitler and a Soft Stalin.’

Too extreme for you? Perhaps, but not for me. And I daresay, not too extreme for THE MESSIAH: “He who is not with Me [once and for all on My side] is against Me; and he who does not [unequivocally] gather with Me scatters.” – MATTHEW 12:30, AMP

Beloved, God did not create a Variegated Moral Universe: ‘What is Evil is Evil, and what is Good is Good.’

That said, the Two Historic Choices before us likely carry with them DIFFERENT CONSEQUENCES, best I can assess.

• A VOTE FOR TRUMP. ‘IF’ he’s the Antichrist, this will probably cost you everything, including your eternal life. Scripture is clear: “You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons; you cannot partake of the Lord’s table and of the table of demons.” – 1 CORINTHIANS 10:21, NKJV

• A VOTE FOR HARRIS. This will not likely consign you to the Flame, since though evil, she is not the Handmaiden to Satan as is The Donald. The Bible insists, similarly: “Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness?” – 2 CORINTHIANS 6:14, NKJV

So here’s the thing about all this: Most of the time I love being a Teacher of the Law. This is not one of them. ‘As the Spirit directs you, therefore, and absolutely no other way!’

BOTTOM LINE: Just what is it we are trying to save, beloved: ‘Souls, or Property?’ Selah.

YOUTUBE: https://youtu.be/WP3etAR8U_Q