The Epistle of Mathetes to Diognetus

We should note this is an early Christian writing, but it is not scripture.  It's author and recipient are unknown and unidentified.  It's interesting, however.

I've posted it in part, before, but not the entire letter.

The Epistle of Mathetes (a student) to Diognetus

CHAPTER I -- OCCASION OF THE EPISTLE.

Since I see thee, most excellent Diognetus, exceedingly desirous to learn the mode of worshipping God prevalent among the Christians, and inquiring very carefully and earnestly concerning them, what God they trust in, and what form of religion they observe, so as all to look down upon the world itself, and despise death, while they neither esteem those to be gods that are reckoned such by the Greeks, nor hold to the superstition of the Jews; and what is the affection which they cherish among themselves; and why, in fine, this new kind or practice [of piety] has only now entered into the world, and not long ago; I cordially welcome this thy desire, and I implore God, who enables us both to speak and to hear, to grant to me so to speak, that, above all, I may hear you have been edified, and to you so to hear, that I who speak may have no cause of regret for having done so.

CHAPTER II -- THE VANITY OF IDOLS.

Come, then, after you have freed yourself from all prejudices possessing your mind, and laid aside what you have been accustomed to, as something apt to deceive you, and being made, as if from the beginning, a new man, inasmuch as, according to your own confession, you are to be the hearer of a new [system of] doctrine; come and contemplate, not with your eyes only, but with your understanding, the substance and the form of those whom ye declare and deem to be gods. Is not one of them a stone similar to that on which we tread? Is not a second brass, in no way superior to those vessels which are constructed for our ordinary use? Is not a third wood, and that already rotten? Is not a fourth silver, which needs a man to watch it, lest it be stolen? Is not a fifth iron, consumed by rust? Is not a sixth earthenware, in no degree more valuable than that which is formed for the humblest purposes? Are not all these of corruptible matter? Are they not fabricated by means of iron and fire? Did not the sculptor fashion one of them, the brazier a second, the silversmith a third, and the potter a fourth? Was not every one of them, before they were formed by the arts of these [workmen] into the shape of these [gods], each in its own way subject to change? Would not those things which are now vessels, formed of the same materials, become like to such, if they met with the same artificers? Might not these, which are now worshipped by you, again be made by men vessels similar to others? Are they not all deaf? Are they not blind? Are they not without life? Are they not destitute of feeling? Are they not incapable of motion? Are they not all liable to rot? Are they not all corruptible? These things ye call gods; these ye serve; these ye worship; and ye become altogether like to them. For this reason ye hate the Christians, because they do not deem these to be gods. But do not ye yourselves, who now think and suppose [such to be gods], much more cast contempt upon them than they [the Christians do]? Do ye not much more mock and insult them, when ye worship those that are made of stone and earthenware, without appointing any persons to guard them; but those made of silver and gold ye shut up by night, and appoint watchers to look after them by day, lest they be stolen? And by those gifts which ye mean to present to them, do ye not, if they are possessed of sense, rather punish [than honour] them? But if, on the other hand, they are destitute of sense, ye convict them of this fact, while ye worship them with blood and the smoke of sacrifices. Let any one of you suffer such indignities! Let any one of you endure to have such things done to himself! But not a single human being will, unless compelled to it, endure such treatment, since he is endowed with sense and reason. A stone, however, readily bears it, seeing it is insensible. Certainly you do not show [by your conduct] that he [your God] is possessed of sense. And as to the fact that Christians are not accustomed to serve such gods, I might easily find many other things to say; but if even what has been said does not seem to any one sufficient, I deem it idle to say anything further.

CHAPTER III -- SUPERSTITIONS OF THE JEWS.

And next, I imagine that you are most desirous of hearing something on this point, that the Christians do not observe the same forms of divine worship as do the Jews. The Jews, then, if they abstain from the kind of service above described, and deem it proper to worship one God as being Lord of all, [are right]; but if they offer Him worship in the way which we have described, they greatly err. For while the Gentiles, by offering such things to those that are destitute of sense and hearing, furnish an example of madness; they, on the other hand by thinking to offer these things to God as if He needed them, might justly reckon it rather an act of folly than of divine worship. For He that made heaven and earth, and all that is therein, and gives to us all the things of which we stand in need, certainly requires none of those things which He Himself bestows on such as think of furnishing them to Him. But those who imagine that, by means of blood, and the smoke of sacrifices and burnt-offerings, they offer sacrifices [acceptable] to Him, and that by such honours they show Him respect,--these, by supposing that they can give anything to Him who stands in need of nothing, appear to me in no respect to differ from those who studiously confer the same honour on things destitute of sense, and which therefore are unable to enjoy such honours.

CHAPTER IV -- THE OTHER OBSERVANCES OF THE JEWS.

But as to their scrupulosity concerning meats, and their superstition as respects the Sabbaths, and their boasting about circumcision, and their fancies about fasting and the new moons, which are utterly ridiculous and unworthy of notice,--I do not think that you require to learn anything from me. For, to accept some of those things which have been formed by God for the use of men as properly formed, and to reject others as useless and redundant,--how can this be lawful? And to speak falsely of God, as if He forbade us to do what is good on the Sabbath-days,--how is not this impious? And to glory in the circumcision of the flesh as a proof of election, and as if, on account of it, they were specially beloved by God,--how is it not a subject of ridicule? And as to their observing months and days, as if waiting upon the stars and the moon, and their distributing, according to their own tendencies, the appointments of God, and the vicissitudes of the seasons, some for festivities, and others for mourning,--who would deem this a part of divine worship, and not much rather a manifestation of folly? I suppose, then, you are sufficiently convinced that the ChriStians properly abstain from the vanity and error common [to both Jews and Gentiles], and from the busy-body spirit and vain boasting of the Jews; but you must not hope to learn the mystery of their peculiar mode of worshipping God from any mortal.

CHAPTER V -- THE MANNERS OF THE CHRISTIANS.

For the Christians are distinguished from other men neither by country, nor language, nor the customs which they observe. For they neither inhabit cities of their own, nor employ a peculiar form of speech, nor lead a life which is marked out by any singularity. The course of conduct which they follow has not been devised by any speculation or deliberation of inquisitive men; nor do they, like some, proclaim themselves the advocates of any merely human doctrines. But, inhabiting Greek as well as barbarian cities, according as the lot of each of them has determined, and following the customs of the natives in respect to clothing, food, and the rest of their ordinary conduct, they display to us their wonderful and confessedly striking method of life. They dwell in their own countries, but simply as sojourners. As citizens, they share in all things with others, and yet endure all things as if foreigners. Every foreign land is to them as their native country, and every land of their birth as a land of strangers. They marry, as do all [others]; they beget children; but they do not destroy their offspring. They have a common table, but not a common bed. They are in the flesh, but they do not live after the flesh. They pass their days on earth, but they are citizens of heaven. They obey the prescribed laws, and at the same time surpass the laws by their lives. They love all men, and are persecuted by all. They are unknown and condemned; they are put to death, and restored to life. They are poor, yet make many rich; they are in lack of all things, and yet abound in all; they are dishonored, and yet in their very dishonor are glorified. They are evil spoken of, and yet are justified; they are reviled, and bless; they are insulted, and repay the insult with honor; they do good, yet are punished as evil-doers. When punished, they rejoice as if quickened into life; they are assailed by the Jews as foreigners, and are persecuted by the Greeks; yet those who hate them are unable to assign any reason for their hatred.

CHAPTER VI -- THE RELATION OF CHRISTIANS TO THE WORLD.

To sum up all in one word--what the soul is in the body, that are Christians in the world. The soul is dispersed through all the members of the body, and Christians are scattered through all the cities of the world. The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it, though itself suffering no injury, because it is prevented from enjoying pleasures; the world also hates the Christians, though in nowise injured, because they abjure pleasures. The soul loves the flesh that hates it, and [loves also] the members; Christians likewise love those that hate them. The soul is imprisoned in the body, yet preserves that very body; and Christians are confined in the world as in a prison, and yet they are the preservers of the world. The immortal soul dwells in a mortal tabernacle; and Christians dwell as sojourners in corruptible [bodies], looking for an incorruptible dwelling in the heavens. The soul, when but ill-provided with food and drink, becomes better; in like manner, the Christians, though subjected day by day to punishment, increase the more in number. God has assigned them this illustrious position, which it were unlawful for them to forsake.

CHAPTER VII -- THE MANIFESTATION OF CHRIST.

For, as I said, this was no mere earthly invention which was delivered to them, nor is it a mere human system of opinion, which they judge it right to preserve so carefully, nor has a dispensation of mere human mysteries been committed to them, but truly God Himself, who is almighty, the Creator of all things, and invisible, has sent from heaven, and placed among men, [Him who is] the truth, and the holy and incomprehensible Word, and has firmly established Him in their hearts. He did not, as one might have imagined, send to men any servant, or angel, or ruler, or any one of those who bear sway over earthly things, or one of those to whom the government of things in the heavens has been entrusted, but the very Creator and Fashioner of all things--by whom He made the heavens--by whom he enclosed the sea within its proper bounds--whose ordinances all the stars faithfully observe--from whom the sun has received the measure of his daily course to be observed--whom the moon obeys, being commanded to shine in the night, and whom the stars also obey, following the moon in her course; by whom all things have been arranged, and placed within their proper limits, and to whom all are subject--the heavens and the things that are therein, the earth and the things that are therein, the sea and the things that are therein--fire, air, and the abyss--the things which are in the heights, the things which are in the depths, and the things which lie between. This [messenger] He sent to them. Was it then, as one might conceive, for the purpose of exercising tyranny, or of inspiring fear and terror? By no means, but under the influence of clemency and meekness. As a king sends his son, who is also a king, so sent He Him; as God He sent Him; as to men He sent Him; as a Saviour He sent Him, and as seeking to persuade, not to compel us; for violence has no place in the character of God. As calling us He sent Him, not as vengefully pursuing us; as loving us He sent Him, not as judging us. For He will yet send Him to judge us, and who shall endure His appearing? ... Do you not see them exposed to wild beasts, that they may be persuaded to deny the Lord, and yet not overcome? Do you not see that the more of them are punished, the greater becomes the number of the rest? This does not seem to be the work of man: this is the power of God; these are the evidences of His manifestation.

CHAPTER VIII -- THE MISERABLE STATE OF MEN BEFORE THE COMING OF THE WORD.

For, who of men at all understood before His coming what God is? Do you accept of the vain and silly doctrines of those who are deemed trustworthy philosophers? of whom some said that fire was God, calling that God to which they themselves were by and by to come; and some water; and others some other of the elements formed by God. But if any one of these theories be worthy of approbation, every one of the rest of created things might also be declared to be God. But such declarations are simply the startling and erroneous utterances of deceivers; and no man has either seen Him, or made Him known, but He has revealed Himself. And He has manifested Himself through faith, to which alone it is given to behold God. For God, the Lord and Fashioner of all things, who made all things, and assigned them their several positions, proved Himself not merely a friend of mankind, but also long-suffering [in His dealings with them.] Yea, He was always of such a character, and still is, and will ever be, kind and good, and free from wrath, and true, and the only one who is [absolutely] good; and He formed in His mind a great and unspeakable conception, which He communicated to His Son alone. As long, then, as He held and preserved His own wise counsel in concealment, He appeared to neglect us, and to have no care over us. But after He revealed and laid open, through His beloved Son, the things which had been prepared from the beginning, He conferred every blessing all at once upon us, so that we should both share in His benefits, and see and be active [in His service]. Who of us would ever have expected these things? He was aware, then, of all things in His own mind, along with His Son, according to the relation subsisting between them.

CHAPTER IX -- WHY THE SON WAS SENT SO LATE.

As long then as the former time endured, He permitted us to be borne along by unruly impulses, being drawn away by the desire of pleasure and various lusts. This was not that He at all delighted in our sins, but that He simply endured them; nor that He approved the time of working iniquity which then was, but that He sought to form a mind conscious of righteousness, so that being convinced in that time of our unworthiness of attaining life through our own works, it should now, through the kindness of God, be vouchsafed to us; and having made it manifest that in ourselves we were unable to enter into the kingdom of God, we might through the power of God be made able. But when our wickedness had reached its height, and it had been clearly shown that its reward, punishment and death, was impending over us; and when the time had come which God had before appointed for manifesting His own kindness and power, how the one love of God, through exceeding regard for men, did not regard us with hatred, nor thrust us away, nor remember our iniquity against us, but showed great long-suffering, and bore with us, He Himself took on Him the burden of our iniquities, He gave His own Son as a ransom for us, the holy One for transgressors, the blameless One for the wicked, the righteous One for the unrighteous, the incorruptible One for the corruptible, the immortal One for them that are mortal. For what other thing was capable of covering our sins than His righteousness? By what other one was it possible that we, the wicked and ungodly, could be justified, than by the only Son of God? O sweet exchange! O unsearchable operation! O benefits surpassing all expectation! that the wickedness of many should be hid in a single righteous One, and that the righteousness of One should justify many transgressors! Having therefore convinced us in the former time that our nature was unable to attain to life, and having now revealed the Savior who is able to save even those things which it was [formerly] impossible to save, by both these facts He desired to lead us to trust in His kindness, to esteem Him our Nourisher, Father, Teacher, Counsellor, Healer, our Wisdom, Light, Honor, Glory, Power, and Life, so that we should not be anxious[ concerning clothing and food.

CHAPTER X -- THE BLESSINGS THAT WILL FLOW FROM FAITH.

If you also desire [to possess] this faith, you likewise shall receive first of all the knowledge of the Father. For God has loved mankind, on whose account He made the world, to whom He rendered subject all the things that are in it, to whom He gave reason and understanding, to whom alone He imparted the privilege of looking upwards to Himself, whom He formed after His own image, to whom He sent His only-begotten Son, to whom He has promised a kingdom in heaven, and will give it to those who have loved Him. And when you have attained this knowledge, with what joy do you think you will be filled? Or, how will you love Him who has first so loved you? And if you love Him, you will be an imitator of His kindness. And do not wonder that a man may become an imitator of God. He can, if he is willing. For it is not by ruling over his neighbors, or by seeking to hold the supremacy over those that are weaker, or by being rich, and showing violence towards those that are inferior, that happiness is found; nor can any one by these things become an imitator of God. But these things do not at all constitute His majesty. On the contrary he who takes upon himself the burden of his neighbor; he who, in whatsoever respect he may be superior, is ready to benefit another who is deficient; he who, whatsoever things he has received from God, by distributing these to the needy, becomes a god to those who receive [his benefits]: he is an imitator of God. Then thou shalt see, while still on earth, that God in the heavens rules over [the universe]; then thou shall begin to speak the mysteries of God; then shalt thou both love and admire those that suffer punishment because they will not deny God; then shall thou condemn the deceit and error of the world when thou shall know what it is to live truly in heaven, when thou shalt despise that which is here esteemed to be death, when thou shalt fear what is truly death, which is reserved for those who shall be condemned to the eternal fire, which shall afflict those even to the end that are committed to it. Then shalt thou admire those who for righteousness' sake endure the fire that is but for a moment, and shalt count them happy when thou shalt know [the nature of] that fire.

CHAPTER XI -- THESE THINGS ARE WORTHY TO BE KNOWN AND BELIEVED.

I do not speak of things strange to me, nor do I aim at anything inconsistent with right reason; but having been a disciple of the Apostles, I am become a teacher of the Gentiles. I minister the things delivered to me to those that are disciples worthy of the truth. For who that is rightly taught and begotten by the loving Word, would not seek to learn accurately the things which have been clearly shown by the Word to His disciples, to whom the Word being manifested has revealed them, speaking plainly [to them], not understood indeed by the unbelieving, but conversing with the disciples, who, being esteemed faithful by Him, acquired a knowledge of the mysteries of the Father? For which s reason He sent the Word, that He might be manifested to the world; and He, being despised by the people [of the Jews], was, when preached by the Apostles, believed on by the Gentiles. This is He who was from the beginning, who appeared as if new, and was found old, and yet who is ever born afresh in the hearts of the saints. This is He who, being from everlasting, is to-day called the Son; through whom the Church is enriched, and grace, widely spread, increases in the saints. furnishing understanding, revealing mysteries, announcing times, rejoicing over the faithful. giving to those that seek, by whom the limits of faith are not broken through, nor the boundaries set by the fathers passed over. Then the fear of the law is chanted, and the grace of the prophets is known, and the faith of the gospels is established, and the tradition of the Apostles is preserved, and the grace of the Church exults; which grace if you grieve not, you shall know those things which the Word teaches, by whom He wills, and when He pleases. For whatever things we are moved to utter by the will of the Word commanding us, we communicate to you with pains, and from a love of the things that have been revealed to us.

CHAPTER XII -- THE IMPORTANCE OF KNOWLEDGE TO TRUE SPIRITUAL LIFE.

When you have read and carefully listened to these things, you shall know what God bestows on such as rightly love Him, being made [as ye are] a paradise of delight, presenting in yourselves a tree bearing all kinds of produce and flourishing well, being adorned with various fruits. For in this place the tree of knowledge and the tree of life have been planted; but it is not the tree of knowledge that destroys--it is disobedience that proves destructive. Nor truly are those words without significance which are written, how God from the beginning planted the tree of life in the midst of paradise, revealing through knowledge the way to life, and when those who were first formed did not use this [knowledge] properly, they were, through the fraud of the Serpent, stripped naked. For neither can life exist without knowledge, nor is knowledge secure without life. Wherefore both were planted close together. The Apostle, perceiving the force [of this conjunction], and blaming that knowledge which, without true doctrine, is admitted to influence life, declares, "Knowledge puffeth up, but love edifieth." For he who thinks he knows anything without true knowledge, and such as is witnessed to by life, knows nothing, but is deceived by the Serpent, as not loving life. But he who combines knowledge with fear, and seeks after life, plants in hope, looking for fruit. Let your heart be your wisdom; and let your life be true knowledge inwardly received. Bearing this tree and displaying its fruit, thou shalt always gather in those things which are desired by God, which the Serpent cannot reach, and to which deception does not approach; nor is Eve then corrupted, but is trusted as a virgin; and salvation is manifested, and the Apostles are filled with understanding, and the Passover of the Lord advances, and the choirs are gathered together, and are arranged in proper order, and the Word rejoices in teaching the saints,--by whom the Father is glorified: to whom be glory for ever. Amen.

J. D. Vance at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast.

Vance, on the same day he assisted in berating President Zelenskiy.

James Donald Bowman of Middleton Ohio is sort of a hard guy to figure out.  Bowman, and that's his real name, or rather the one he held at birth, grew up in a suburb of Cincinnati, not exactly part of Appalachia.  His parents divorced when he was very young, and when he was six, his mother married for the third time, and his name was changed to James David Hamel.  That's the name he served in the Marine Corps under, and went to university under.  He didn't become "J. D. Vance" until he was ready to graduate from Yale Law school.  Vance was the last name of his maternal grandmother.

Vance has also changed religions over the course of his lifetime.  As a proper Hillbilly would, he was once a member of an Evangelical faith, that of his fathers.  By the time he was out in the world, however, he was an atheist.  He became Catholic through the influence of a Yale law school friend, and became a very traditionalist Catholic at that.

I don't fault him the change in religions (I do the adult change of names, which I regard as phony).  I am, of course, a Catholic, and I therefore welcome those into the faith.  Moreover, I often find that converts are more devout than than "cradle Catholics", who often don't know their own faith all that well, although that's certainly not universal.  And I admire traditionalist Catholics as well.

But here's where I begin to have a problem with Vance.  Just as I don't admire Catholics who become another religion for convenience, something we've always experienced (it often used to be for economic reasons, but now is usually due to divorce and remarriage), I don't admire jettonsing of elements of the faith when it becomes difficult, and Vance has done just that.  Catholics believe that life begins at conception, and that conception should always be via natural means.  Vance has changed his position on abortion to tolerate it where states provide it should be, and he's okay with IVF ,which Catholics definitely are not.

Having said that, on basic moral principals, Vance was closer to the faith than many Catholic politicians have been since 1960.

But now he's an active Vice President, and things are beginning to shift again.  He attempted to strain Catholic social teaching the other day to suggest that Catholics have a diehard family first position in regard to loving our neighbor, and got immediately rebuked.  

Vance is actually the highest elected official in the United States right now, given that Donald Trump cannot Constitutionally occupy the position he pretends to without a Congressional dispensation he has not received.  He's a convert to Catholicism, but occupies an odd status in that he's an intellectual conservative traditionalist convert, but with a wife who is a Hindu and who hasn't followed him there (my Protestant wife hasn't followed me either) and who has heavily compromised himself on certain principal Catholic moral teachings in his recent campaign.

So he makes for an interesting, if predictable, speaker at the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast, something that I frankly didn't know even existed.

His speech, and some comments.

I came here last year as a very young senator not knowing how much my life would change, and I'm thankful to God — but also thankful to the friendship of the people in this room for helping us get there, because I think that we have turned a new page in Washington, D.C., and we are going to take advantage of the opportunity that God has given us. 

We? 

So I want to say a couple of words just about Trump administration policy because, while you're certainly not always going to agree with everything that we do in President Trump's administration, I feel very confident in saying that between protecting the rights of pro-life protesters, between ensuring that we have an opportunity to protect the rights of the unborn in the first place, and importantly, protecting the religious liberty of all people — but in particular, Catholics — I think that we can say that President Trump, though not a Catholic himself, has been an incredibly good president for Catholics in the United States of America.

Now we know of course the last administration liked to throw people in jail for silently praying outside of pro-life clinics. We know that they liked to harass pro-life fathers of seven, very often, Catholic fathers, for participating in the pro-life movement. And we know that the last administration wanted to protect taxpayer-funded abortion right up unto the moment of birth. 

The Biden Administration was extremely hostile to pro life positions, and tacked to the extreme left on social issues in general.  Whomever allowed Biden to take these turns, and I suspect it wasn't Biden's idea, should be severely dope slapped.  In large measure, it's such things that gave us King Donald. 

On every single one of those issues, in 30 short days, Donald J. Trump has gone in the exact opposite direction and I am thankful for that. And I'm sure that every single person in this room is thankful for that as well. But I actually want to talk about a couple of other things in particular. 

One of the most important parts of President Trump's policy, and where I think President Trump's policy is most in accord with Christian social teaching and with the Catholic faith, is that more than any president of my lifetime, President Trump has pursued a path of peace. And we very often, I think, ignore the way in which our foreign policy is either an instrument or an impediment to people all over the world being able to practice their faith. And we know — and as, of course, I learned in this breakfast last year — I believe there were some Nigerian priests who were being persecuted, and were trying to protect their flock despite incredible persecution. 

Trump has followed a path of being a bully, trying to extort the mineral wealth of another country, while making it compromise with an invader.

There will always be wars and rumors of war.  Ukraine is justly defending itself. Catholics are not pacifists. 

We know that some of the biggest groups that are persecuted all over the world today are Christians and the Trump administration promises you that whether it's here at home with our own citizens or all over the world, we will be the biggest defenders of religious liberty and the rights of conscience. And I think those policies will fall to the benefit of Catholics in particular all over the world.

But I would say, my friends, that it's not enough simply to protect the rights of conscience, to pursue funding opportunities and grant-making opportunities that protect the rights of people to engage in religious conscience. We also have to remember that oftentimes the biggest impediments to religious liberty have not come through malice from the United States government but have actually come through carelessness. And one of the things that — I have to be honest — that I am most ashamed about, is that in the United States of America, sometimes it is our foreign misadventures that lead to the eradication of historical Christian communities all over the world. 

And so when President Trump talks about the need to bring peace whether it's in Russia and Ukraine, whether it's in the Middle East, we of course have to recognize that, as a policy oriented towards saving lives, and carrying out one of Christ's most important commandments, but I think we also must recognize it as an effort to protect the religious liberty of Christians. Because over the past 40 years, it has often been historical Christian communities who bear the brunt of failed American foreign policy and that is, in my view, perhaps the most important way in which Donald Trump has been a defender of Christian rights all over the world. He has a foreign policy that is oriented towards peace. 

Trump's peace policy in the Middle East involves siding with one group of people in their entirety while thinking, as his tiny brain does, that the others can happily simply be moved to a second rate Middle Eastern version of a Florida housing development. 

We have done it already so much in the past 30 days, and I'm proud that we will work for peace all over the world in the remaining four years of President Trump's term, and I think that's an important thing.

Now of course, we're not always going to agree, and I'm sure that there are people in this room who agree or disagree with some of our views on foreign policy on any number of issues. The one thing that I will promise you is that you're always going to have an open door with me and with the president. I think that you've already seen that, and if you haven't, please come and bring your concerns — and some of you have already brought many concerns to me over the last 30 days — but also your “attaboys,” because I think that part of being a good presidential administration for people of faith all over the United States, part of it is listening to people of faith when they have concerns.

And I think that it's important — and I'll make this commitment to you in front of God, and in front of all those television cameras back there — that we will always listen to people of faith and people of conscience in the United States of America. You have an open door to the Trump administration even if, and especially maybe when, you disagree with us. So please use that opportunity: communicate with us when we get things right but also when we get things wrong. And that is my solemn obligation but also my request because, of course, as I've learned during the campaign — of course, I've got Secret Service protection and it's bumped up now that I'm the vice president of the United States — I live in a bubble, ladies and gentlemen, I live in a roaming bubble and wherever I go, I'm surrounded by armed agents. The only way to keep me honest, and the only way to know what is actually affecting the real lives of people all over our country, is for you to talk to us. So please, consider that open door very much an invitation, but also a request.

And I will say that I believe that I'm the first Catholic convert to ever be vice president of the United States, [applause] — I appreciate you guys clapping because, it turns out, there are some people on the internet who don't like Catholic converts. And in fact, there are some Catholics who appear not to like Catholic converts. I've learned that the hard way. But of course, the gross majority of of my brothers and sisters in Christ have been incredibly welcoming and Incredibly charitable and for that I'm grateful.

Vance's comments about converts and the Internet here are quite valid.  Vance has proven to be polarizing, including amongst Catholics, which has lead to Twitter wars of a very unfortunate nature.  As noted, converts are often amongst the most devout Catholics. 

I wanted to just reflect on that, on being a Catholic and particularly a Catholic convert in public life, in the hopes that maybe it would provide some wisdom or some guidance, or maybe just some interesting stories for those of you who are enjoying your breakfast. And you know, one of the things that I try to remind myself of as a convert, is that there's a lot I don't know. When I was a kid, we used to call new converts to the faith “baby Christians” and I recognize very much that I am a “baby Catholic” — that there are things about the faith that I don't know. So I try to be humble as best I can when I talk about the faith and publicly, because of course, I'm not always going to get it right. And I don't want my inadequacies in describing our faith to fall back on the faith itself. And so if you ever hear me pontificating about the Catholic faith, please recognize it comes from a place of deep belief, but it also comes from a place of not always knowing everything all the time.

And you know, now I say that of course, I don't try to comment on every single Catholic issue. I try not to get involved in the civil wars between Dominicans and Jesuits and conservative Catholics and progressive Catholics. But as Michael Corleone said in The Godfather, “Sometimes they pull me back in.” Sometimes I can't help — I can't help but spout off. I am a politician after all, ladies and gentlemen. 

But the thing that I have tried to remind people of, and the thing that I try to remind myself of, is that what attracted me to the Christian faith, and what attracted me to this Church in particular, is the recognition that grace is not something that happens instantaneously. It's something that God works in us over a long period of time — sometimes many years, and sometimes many decades. I think that when I I was a kid, my assumption was that grace is something where the Holy Spirit would come in and it would solve all of our problems.

I learned the hard way, as a Catholic — in part, by following the sacramental life as best as I could — that grace is very much a process that God works in us over time. He makes us closer to him and makes us better people in the process. And so when I first became a Catholic, I would probably go to confession every other week because I would fail to go to Mass every other week. Things would come up, you'd have business trips you'd have — the kids would get sick — and I just remember that this process of thinking: okay, if I don't go to church this week I'm going to have to go and talk to some stranger about everything that I did bad the last two weeks, and that process worked in me a much better discipline, a much better prayerful life. And you know I'm batting probably like 95% of Sundays now that I actually go to Mass. This is, I think, one of the geniuses of our faith — that it teaches us through repetition in some ways, and it forms us through a process, of course, that is I think at the heart of the mystery of faith, that somehow by practicing the sacraments — even imperfectly, as I certainly do — God transforms us. 

And while I am as imperfect a Christian as any person in this room, I really do feel that God is transforming me every single day, and that's one of the great blessings of our faith, and one of the great blessings of following the sacraments as I try to do. So thank you all for welcoming a convert into your ranks, because I certainly benefit from it — and my family does too.

The second thing that I take from my Catholic faith is a recognition that the deepest and most important things are not material. They're not GDP. They're not the numbers that we see in the stock market. The real measure of health in a society is the safety and stability and the health of our families, and of our people. We are in the business, in President Trump's administration, of producing prosperity, but that prosperity is a means to an end. And that end is the flourishing, hopefully, of the life of every single citizen in the United States of America. 

Trump, his supposed boss, does believe that the only thing that matters in the world is wealth, and therefore is an extreme materialist.  He's put part of the government in the hands of a materialist atheist.

That's why we care about these things. I often remind myself that there have been times in the past where you know the GDP numbers were maybe moving in the right direction, where the stock market was moving in the right direction, but the United States of America was losing life expectancy. I think that what the Catholic Church calls me to do is to say that if the stock market's doing okay, but people are literally dying and losing years off of their life, then we have to do better as a country. 

We do, which raises the question of why we'd wipe out USAID, which was a lifeline for many people around the world. 

Catholicism — Christianity at its root, I think — teaches our public officials to care about the deep things, the important things, the protection of the unborn, the flourishing of our children, and the health and the sanctity of our marriages. And yes, we care about prosperity but we care about prosperity so that we can promote the common good of every citizen in the United States of America. 

And when I think about the deep things, the things that really matter there was something really amazing that happened to me in November of 2024. All my friends were there, all my family was there. We were gathered together in a great moment of celebration and, of course, I'm talking about when my 7-year-old chose to be baptized into the Christian faith. And he's at school right now, so he won't see this, but as amazing as it was to win the election of course in November of 2024, and as amazing as it was to know that President Trump would become president again and would get to accomplish so many good things for the American people, the thing that I was most excited about in November of 2024 is that the week after we won the election my son chose to be baptized in the Christian faith. 

Now here's the basic idea, and and for those of you, of course — you all mostly are cradle Catholics, I assume —  typically we do water baptism of infants in the Catholic Church very very early on. But as many of you know, I am part of an interfaith marriage. My wife, though she comes to church with us almost every single Sunday, she is not Catholic herself. And so the bargain that we have struck is that we will raise our kids Catholic, but we will let them choose the moment that they want to ultimately become baptized. And if that's terrible sacrilege, blame the Dominicans, because they're the ones who came up with this scheme. 

But my 7-year-old elected to become baptized and it was the proudest moment maybe that I've ever had as a father, and he took it very seriously and he wanted to know what are the right things to say: 'Dad what do I need to do? What does this mean? Why is this important?' 

And it was an amazing thing for me to see :my 7-year-old working through these things himself and when I talk about the deep things, the important things, that's what I I'm talking about. Of course we care about our economic indicators and of course we care about the wages of our citizens. We care about those things because when our people are doing better they can have the kinds of moments that promote the kind of flourishing that all of us believe is the very core of a good human life and that of course, in my case, was watching my little 7-year-old son become baptized.

And so while, again, I will never be perfect, I will always try to remind myself that the goal of our public policy is to promote the common good and I will fight for that every single day that I am a public official. 

And that brings me to the final observation I'd like to make as a Christian, a Catholic convert in public life, is that you know, sometimes the bishops don't like what I say and I'm sure, by the way, sometimes they're right and sometimes they're wrong. My goal is not to litigate when I'm right and when they're wrong or vice versa. My goal is to maybe articulate the way that I think about being a Christian in public life.

When you also have religious leaders in public life who have a spiritual duty to speak on the issues of the day and the way that I try to think about it is, the Catholic church is a kind of technology. It's a technology that was developed 2,000 years ago and it's coming into contact with a technology that's about 10 years old, 20 years old — and that's, of course, social media.

What I I try to remind myself of, is that the clergy are important spiritual leaders. You'll sometimes hear people say, ‘Well we'll let, you know, the clergy talk about matters of the Church, but we can ignore them when it comes to matters of public policy.’ I think that's the wrong way to look at it. That's certainly not the right way to look at it for me. But what I try to remind myself of is that we are not called as Christians to obsess over every social media controversy that implicates the Catholic Church, whether it involves a clergy or a bishop or the Holy Father himself. 

I think that we could frankly take a page out of the books of our grandparents who respected our clergy, who looked to them for guidance, but didn't obsess and fight over every single word that came out of their mouth and entered social media. I don't think that's good and I'm not again counseling all of you but I don't think it's good for us as Christians to constantly fight with one another over every single controversy in the Church. Sometimes we should let this stuff play out a little bit and try to live our faith as best we can under the dictates of our faith and under the dictates of our spiritual leaders, but not hold them to the standards of social media influencers because they're not. 

That brings me of course to the last point that I want to make which is that, as you've probably seen publicly, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, has criticized some of our policies when it comes to immigration. Again, my goal here is not to litigate with him or any other clergy member about who is right and who is wrong. You obviously know my views and I will speak to them consistently because I think that I have to do it because it serves the best interest of the American people. 

I hate the casual use of the world "litigate", but frankly it's one of Vance's favorite. 

What I want to do instead is remind, and I talk to a lot of conservative Catholics and I talked to progressive Catholics too, and I think that sometimes a lot of conservative Catholics are too preoccupied with their political criticisms of a particular clergy member or the leader of the Catholic Church. And of course, I'm not telling you that you're wrong because sometimes I even agree with you. I think that what I would say is that it's not in the best interest of any of us, again, to treat the religious leaders of our faith as just another social media influencer, and I think frankly that goes in both ways if I can be so bold. 

I think it's incumbent upon our religious leaders to recognize that in the era of social media, people will hang on every single word that they utter even if that wasn't their intention and even if a given declaration wasn't meant for consumption in the social media age, but every day since I heard of Pope Francis' illness, I say a prayer for the Holy Father because while yes, I was certainly surprised when he criticized our immigration policy in the way that he has, I I believe that the Pope is fundamentally a person who cares about the flock of Christians under his leadership. And he's a man who cares about the spiritual direction of the faith.  

I say this because every day me and my children have said a prayer for the Holy Father and we pray for his health and we pray for his comfort as he deals with what appears to be a a pretty serious health crisis. 

And while, yes, some of our media and some of our social media influencers and even some of us fellow Catholics I think, try to bring the Holy Father into every culture-war battle in American politics, I will always remember the Holy Father — whether he makes his way through this illness, and I certainly hope that he does — I will always remember the Holy Father in March of 2020 at a time of incredible stress for really the entire world, remember that was the height of the COVID pandemic. None of us knew how bad it was. We heard reports from Italy of people dying en masse on ventilators and personally, I had just a few weeks earlier welcomed our second child into the world and so when the pandemic happened, I had a 3-week old baby at home and I went to Dick’s Sporting Goods and I bought 900 rounds of ammunition and then I went to Walmart and I bought two bags of rice and I sat at home with my bags of rice and my  900 rounds of ammunition and said, “All right, we're just going to wait this thing out,” and into that void when a lot of people didn't know how bad it was, and of course, thankfully the pandemic was not as bad as the very worst predictions. It was quite bad, but not as bad as the very worst predictions.

Ugh, the AR15 Effect and the Stalingrad Weltanschauung making an appearance. 

I think all of us can remember that moment of the Holy Father standing in an empty St Peter's Square holding the Eucharist above his head and giving a sermon that I returned to consistently because it was incredibly meaningful to me at the time and it remains meaningful today — and so if you'll forgive me, I hope that you'll be okay with me reading just an excerpt of the homily that Pope Francis gave:

‘When evening had come’ (Mark 4:35). The Gospel passage we have just heard begins like this. For weeks now it has been evening. Thick darkness has gathered over our squares, our streets and our cities; it has taken over our lives, filling everything with a deafening silence and a distressing void, that stops everything as it passes by; we feel it in the air, we notice in people’s gestures, their glances give them away. We find ourselves afraid and lost. Like the disciples in the Gospel we were caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realized that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other. On this boat … are all of us. Just like those disciples, who spoke anxiously with one voice, saying ‘We are perishing,’ so we too have realized that we cannot go on thinking of ourselves, but only together can we do this.

It is easy to recognize ourselves in this story. What is harder to understand is Jesus’ attitude. While his disciples are quite naturally alarmed and desperate, he is in the stern, in the part of the boat that sinks first. And what does he do? In spite of the tempest, he sleeps on soundly, trusting in the Father; this is the only time in the Gospels we see Jesus sleeping. When he wakes up, after calming the wind and the waters, he turns to the disciples in a reproaching voice: ‘Why are you afraid? Have you no faith?’

Let us try to understand. In what does the lack of the disciples’ faith consist, as contrasted with Jesus’ trust? They had not stopped believing in him; in fact, they called on him. But we see how they call on him: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” Do you not care: they think that Jesus is not interested in them, does not care about them. One of the things that hurts us and our families most when we hear it said is: ‘Do you not care about me?’ It is a phrase that wounds and unleashes storms in our hearts. It would have shaken Jesus too. Because he, more than anyone, cares about us. Indeed, once they have called on him, he saves his disciples from their discouragement.

The storm exposes our vulnerability and uncovers those false and superfluous certainties around which we have constructed our daily schedules, our projects, our habits and priorities. It shows us how we have allowed to become dull and feeble the very things that nourish, sustain and strengthen our lives and our communities. The tempest lays bare all our prepackaged ideas and forgetfulness of what nourishes our people’s souls; all those attempts that anesthetize us with ways of thinking and acting that supposedly ‘save’ us, but instead prove incapable of putting us in touch with our roots and keeping alive the memory of those who have gone before us. We deprive ourselves of the antibodies we need to confront adversity.

And that is how I will always remember the Holy Father: as a great pastor. As a man who can speak the truth of the faith in a very profound way at a moment of great crisis. And so I would ask all of us, if you would join me, in this prayer for Pope Francis:

In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Almighty and generous God, we thank you for your charity. Please grant your mercy upon Pope Francis so he may be restored from sickness and guide us in watchful care. We pray that you bless our Holy Father's doctors, nurses and medical staff with wisdom and capability so that you may work through them to renew the health of your shepherd through Christ Our Lord. Amen.

As I conclude my remarks here: I'm not ever going to be perfect. I'm never going to get everything right. But what I will try to do is to try to be the kind of leader who helps our shared civilization build those true antibodies against adversity. And if the Holy Father can hear us, I hope he knows that there are thousands of faithful Catholics in this room and millions of faithful Catholics in this country who are praying for him as he weathers his particular storm.

God bless you. 

Thank you.

Well, could be a lot worse.

I worry, however, that the Trump administration is going to result in a lot of harm to Christians in general, and Catholics specifically.  Trump was raised as as Calvinist and both he and Musk act like them.  Trump isn't close to Catholicism, he's close, for political purposes, to the New  Apostolic Reformation Evangelical Christians who believe that the United States has a militant Protestant purpose. Catholic itself is a barely evolved Latin word, Catholicus, meaning universal.  We have a universal world outlook, which the Trump administration seems to completely lack.  When Trump's policies all fall apart, and they're already starting to, those on the outside will cast a negative eye towards "Christians", not realizing that much of what we're seeing has very little to do with "one, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church", and that we mean those words.

The last Catholic President, Joe Biden, didn't do Catholicism any big favors.  The prior one, John F. Kennedy, didn't either.  Let us hope and pray that J. D. Vance as Vice President, and probable President soon, won't walk that well worn path.

What's wrong with the United States? The Protestant Work Ethic.

Professor Galloway "on follow your passion".

His advice?

Don't.

More particularly, his advice is dedicated yourself relentlessly to something you are good at, and it will become your passion, in no small part as you'll make money at it.

There's plenty of evidence that's right. . . and just as much that it's wrong.

Professor Galloway is a Calvinist.  He comes by it naturally as his father is from Scotland.  

Oh, sure, you'll note that Galloway states he's an atheist. Well, like a lot of people who are something on an existential level, he doesn't know what he actual is. And what that is, is a Calvinist.  Perhaps a cultural Calvinist, but a Calvinist.

And it was Calvin, not the Church of England, or the Lutherans, who gave us the Protestant Work Ethic.

Well, that's great, right?

Not so much.

John Calvin was as French radical Protestant reformer who was grim in his outlook and basically an asshole.  One of his central core beliefs was double predestination, which held that from the moment of conception almost everyone was going to Hell.  

Calvin taught that all men must work, even the wealthy, because to work was the will of God. Irrespective of their ultimate fate, which they could in no way impact, it was the unyielding duty of men (and I do men men) to toil here on Earth as part of God's plan to continue the creation of the Earth.  Men were not, in his view, to become wealthy, I'd note, but were to reinvest the fruits of their labor over and over again, ad infinitum, or to the end of time.

Calvin held that using profits to help others rise from a lessor level of subsistence violated God's will since persons could only demonstrate that they were among the Elect through their own labor.

The Puritans were Calvinists, and so were the Presbyterians, the latter of which has generally slacked up on Calvinist theology a great deal.  None the less, the impact of Calvinism on the US has been huge.  It founded the thesis that you should work and work, well past the point where accumulation of wealth made any sense.  When you look at people like Elon Must or Donald Trump who have vast sums of wealth but keep accumulating, you are seeing the Protestant work ethic at work.

You are also seeing it when you lay people off in droves. They're lessors, and their economic plight is existentially foreordained.  If they were among the Elect, this wouldn't be happening to them.

Work is what it's all about.

You see that well expressed in Galloway's comments.  Galloway is an opponent of Musk, but they have essentially the same view on work.  Galloway presents in the grim Calvinist style.  You must find productive and useful work and love it, as that's the ticket to everything.

It isn't.

Contrary to what Galloway things, for one things, there are plenty of people who have done well in their carers and know a lot about what they do and hate it.  The legal profession is a poster child for this, but I've found it to be the case for medicine as well.  

And women have become particularly the victim of this in recent years, diving hard into careers as, John Calvin has told them, this would affirm that they were part of the Elect, in the modified American social view, only to find that they are miserable.

And all this because Calvin was flat out wrong.  His theology was wrong, and his understanding of human beings appallingly wrong.

The Catholic view has been much more nuanced than the Protestant one.  Catholicism itself holds to a degree that we work, because we have to, work being one of the results of the Fall.  It also hold, however, that we toil as part of a community and are never to put that aside.  The accumulative nature of the Protestant Work Ethic is basically antithetical to Apostolic Christianity, although there are certainly Catholics, such as Bill Gates, who have become extremely wealthy.  Largescale wealth, however, comes in Catholic theology with a heavy burden to everyone else.  Unlike Calvinist, you can't really morally justify investing over and over while those less well off suffer in your presence.  Indeed, that would be one of the four sins God hates.

Okay, so why is this a problem?

It's a massive problem in that deep in American culture is an anti human dedication to acquisition and toil, that's why.  People are expected to work themselves to death and tolerate those among us who acquire vast wealth.  Ultimately, the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few, who often have simply benefitted from the circumstances of their birth takes from everyone else, makes millions miserable, and actually makes the economy less and less productive.

Society doesn't exist to generate wealth for those who can accumulate.  Society exists for society.  That means, at the end of the day, that some must be protected, for the good of us all, from their appetites, weather that appetite be for drugs, dissolute living, or avarice.  

The fact that we have forgotten this is literally destroying the country.

Donald Trump and wolves in sheep's clothing. Attacking actual Christian beliefs and practices. The White House Faith Office and Paula Michelle White-Cain. We warned you.

We warned on this site that Catholics who were supporting Donald Trump as the more Christian of supposedly two options were being short sighted, particularly as there were other options that any Catholic could square with.  Part of the reason that we warned of this is that we were convinced that the "Christianity" of Donald Trump was the fringe of Evangelicalism that doesn't square with Catholic, Orthodox, Episcopal and Lutheran faiths. . . i.e. almost all of Christianity, at all.

We also warned that because of that, the entire set of events would turn on us.

Well, we were right.  We just didn't anticipate how right we'd be, and how fast it would occur.  

It started off with Trump's deportation efforts, which brought out the Catholic Bishops who really should have been out before.  Be that as it may, as soon as that occurred the Trump Interregnum hauled out Catholic convert, and adherent to a sort of Rod Dreher type of Catholicism (yes, Dreher is Orthodox) to attack the Bishops.  Vance had already morally compromised himself during the election by taking views that the Catholic Church condemns, so he was on the well trod, and ironically liberal, Catholic politician path of taking an off ramp to Hell in order to keep their political career alive.

"But for Wales?"

Anyhow, plenty of right wing Catholics who had a hefty glass of Trump Prune Juice already downed pulled up for another one and backed Vance's statements, just as plenty of English parliamentarians schismed when King Henry VIII was having dating troubles.  

Somewhat ironically, it was the church that King Henry caused to come about that next received the ire of Trump, that being the Episcopal Church when their bishop in D.C. had the guts to address Trump from the pulpit.  I don't know that Trump even noticed at the time, but plenty of Trump backers did, and Trump jointed in.  Her "liberal", or perhaps "progressive", or perhaps "woke" offense was noting the same things that Christ had in his addresses to the masses.

We all know what happened to Christ.

Well, I guess we don't all know, but more on that in a moment.

The Lutherans, being that body of Catholics originally whom German, and later Scandinavian, princes dragged out of the Catholic Church to follow Martin Luther, who originally only hoped for some reforms himself but then got carried away with himself, found themselves rejoined with Catholics in a way when Trump went after both groups for aiding immigrants without regard to their nationality.  Big branches of hit Lutheran faith have become almost more Catholic than the Catholics in some places and now have real difficulty in explaining what they believe that's different, norther than they know that they don't follow the Bishop of Rome.

Anyhow, what's going on here should be obvious.

Over half the Christians in the world are Catholic, the oldest and original branch of Christianity.  About 12%, supposedly, are Orthodox, but I'd guess that its higher than that, maybe 15% or even 20%.  The balance are Protestants.

Protestantism is dying worldwide and particularly in the west, but the "Evangelical" branch has rising enormously in the US and also around the world.  It's easy to believe in.  It doesn't ask you to confess your sins, it doesn't really grasp the concept of mortal sins, it rejects nearly everything the Church Fathers said except that Christ was divine.

It's perfectly comfortable with sexual sins, at least as the plumbing is correct.  And it really doesn't care too much if you "go to church" on Sunday, or at all for that matter.

And in the US, the real fringe of it, believes that the US is a divinely charged nation with a mission to become, basically, a new, and Evangelical Israel.

So this gives you a figure like Paula Michelle White-Cain.

Married three times, she's a proponent of the "prosperity gospel" which is the antithesis of real Christianity.  Christ promised his followers that they'd be persecuted, despised and even killed for following him.

The health and wealth people promise that believing their brand of Christianity will make you rich.

Not one of the original twelve Bishops of the Church, the Apostles, got rich.  Indeed, they were universally treated horribly.  We don't completely know all of their fates, but from tradition and what we do know, this is what occurred:

James (the Greater), the son of Zebedee, was martyred by King Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-3).

St. Peter was martyred around twenty years later in Rome, along with St. Paul.

St. James (the Lesser) was who martyred by stoning in Jerusalem in the A.D. 60s.

St. Thomas was martyred in India.

St. Bartholomew was martyred by beheading or being flayed alive.

St. Philip may have been martyred in Hierapolis, we're not sure on that one.

St. Matthew was martyred, although the manner of his death is disputed.

St. Simon (the Zealot)was martyred, with St. Jude (Thaddeus).

White, in contrast, is very much alive and apparently quite well off financially.  She's been married three times, which Apostolic Christianity would condemn, but which the American Civil Religion is okay with.  Her third husband is a member of the band Journey.

White is a practitioner of the yell reaffirming things at the congregation school of preaching.  Her followers aren't going to be hearing the "Four Things God Hates" sermon and be shifting in their seats.  Nor are they going to hear that when Christ said it was harder for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven than a camel to pass through the eye of a needles, our Savior was not being metaphorical.  

Indeed, they're going to hear that God is going to make them rich.  If they listen to White-Cain, who is living a lifestyle that might make be presenting her with needles to pass through at the end of her life, and which at least facially has her living in adultery according to Apostolic faiths, they hearing that serial polygamist and apparently wealthy man Donald Trump is "Godly".

White has drawn the ire of Protestant Christian pastor rapper Shai Linne in a song called "Fal$e Teacher$", whose lyrics are as follows:

Let me begin, while there is still ink left in my pen

I am set to contend for Truth you can bet will offend

Deception within the church man, who's letting them in?

We talked about this years ago, let's address it again (Yeh)

And I ain't really trying to start beef

But some who claim to be part of His sheep got some sharp teeth (they're wolves)

You cast at me when you criticize them

But Jesus told us: Matthew 7:16, we can recognize them!

And God forbid that for the love of some fans

I keep quiet and watch them die with their blood on my hands!

So, there's nothing left for me to do except to speak to you

In the spirit of Jude 3 and 2nd Peter 2

And I know that some would label me a Pharisee

Because today the only heresy is saying that there's heresy:

"How dare they be specific and drop some clarity

On the popularity of the gospel of Prosperity"

Turn off TBN, that channel is overrated

The pastors speak bogus statements, financially motivated

It's kind of like a pyramid scheme

Visualize Heretics Christianizing the American dream

It's foul and deceitful, they're lying to people

Teaching that camels squeeze through the eye of a needle!

Ungodly and wicked, ask yourself how can they not be convicted

Treating Jesus like a lottery ticket

And you're thinking they're not the dangerous type

Because some of their statements are right

That only proves that Satan comes as an angel of light

This teaching can't be believed without a cost

The lie is you can achieve a crown without a cross

And I hear it all the time when they speak on the block

Even unbelievers are shocked how they're fleecing the flock

It should be obvious then, yet I'll explain why it's in

Peep the Bible, it's in 1 Timothy 6:9-10

It talks about how the desire for riches

Has left many souls on fire and stitches, mired in ditches

Tell me, who would teach you to pursue as a goal

The very thing that the Bible said will ruin your soul, huh?

Yet they're encouraging the love of money

To make it worse, they've exported this garbage into other countries!

My heart breaks even now as I'm rhyming

You wanna know what all false teachers have in common? (what?)

It's called selfism the fastest growing religion

They just dress it up and call it "Christian"

Don't be deceived by this funny biz

If you come to Jesus for money, then He's not your God, money is!

Jesus is not a means to an end

The Gospel is He came to redeem us from sin

And that is the message forever I yell

If you're living your best life now you're headed for hell!

Pretty much nails it.

So, those of you who are actually Christian, this is going to get much worse.

Trump went to the National Prayer Breakfast.

I'm going to note off the top that I'm a sort of cynical person about events like the National Prayer Breakfast.  Frankly, I tend to be a bit uneasy by prayers at big events as it is, as this is a Protestant country and I'm, by nature, a very reserved and shy man.  Indeed, one of my resolutions this Lent is going to be to try to shed that in regards to public displays of religion.

That may be an odd way to start this off, but for example, almost every Catholic crosses themselves before prayer. . . unless you are here in the United States and at a the annual gathering of the Community Moose and Improvement Society in which case you might not, as you'll stand out.

You probably should.

Anyhow, the association of Donald Trump with religion in general is laughable.  He doesn't appear to have observed any notable tenant of real Christianity, in so far as I can tell, at all.  And yet here he is at the National Prayer Breakfast.  It's like having W C Fields address the Temperance Union. 

Anyhow, here's what he said.

REMARKS BY PRESIDENT TRUMP

AT THE NATIONAL PRAYER BREAKFAST

February 6, 2025

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Communications

______________________________________________________________

THE PRESIDENT:  Thank you very much.  This is very beautiful, I must say.  This is a beautiful place.  And our country is starting to do very well again.  It’s happening fast — a little faster than people thought. 

Thank you especially to Senator Marshall for the beautiful introduction.  Appreciate it very much.  Thank you.  Great senator you are. 

I also want to thank a friend and a man of profound faith and tremendous patriotism who’s also become a great friend.  You become much friendlier when you have a majority of two or three or four.  Could even be five pretty soon.  (Laughter.)  But for a little while, it was one.  That’s Mike Johnson, speaker.  Thank you very much, Mike — very much.  (Applause.)

And thanks, as well to somebody who’s doing a fantastic job: Senator Thune.  Thank you very much, Senator.  (Applause.)  It’s not easy.  It’s not easy.  It’s really great. 

And Leader Scalise — Steve, wherever you may be.  I think you’re here someplace.  There he is.  A brave guy, too.  A brave guy.  I always say it. 

And Senator Chuck Schumer.  Chuck, thank you very much.  Thank you.

Senator Hassan, thank you very much.  Thank you.  Very nice to see you. 

Congressman Jeffries, thank you.

And many other very distinguished leaders in the room.  Great, great group of people.  If we could ever come together, it would be unbelievable.  It may not happen, but it should and maybe it will. 

From the earliest days of our republic, faith in God has always been the ultimate source of the strength that beats in the hearts of our nation. 

We have to bring religion back.  We have to bring it back much stronger.  It’s one of the biggest problems that we’ve had over the last fairly long period of time.  We have to bring it back.

Thomas Jefferson himself once attended Sunday services held in the old House Chamber on the very ground where I stand today, so there could be nothing more beautiful than for us to gather in this majistic place — it is majestic — and reaffirm that America is and will always be “one nation under God.” 

At every stage of the American story, our country has drawn hope and courage and inspiration from our trust in the Almighty.  Deep in the soul of every patriot is the knowledge that God has a special plan and a glorious mission for America.  And that plan is going to happen.  It’s going to happen.  I hope it happens sooner rather than later.  It’s going to happen. 

And it’s His hand that guides us every single step of the way.  And all of you and the things we have to do is to see the defining role that faith and prayer have played in the life of our nation.  And you just have to look at this building, and you can look at each other.  You can really look at each other.  It’s defined almost everyone in this room.  I think faith has been very strong with the people in this room. 

Just steps away from here, in the Hall of Columns, is the statue of John Winthrop, who famously proclaimed that America would stand as “a city upon a hill, a light to all nations with the eyes of all people upon us.”

Today, almost 400 years after that famous sermon, we see that with the Lord’s help, the city stands taller and shines brighter than ever before — or at least it soon will. 

In that same hall, we also find the statue of the great Roger Williams, who founded the state of Rhode Island, named its capital city Providence, and built the First Baptist Church in America. 

It’s Williams that we have to thank for making religious liberty part of the bedrock of American life.  And today we must protect the fundamental freedom with absolute devotion.  We must stand strong, just like generations of Americans have done on the battlefields all around the world. 

Feet away from the magnificent rotunda, another statue watches over visitors to the Capitol.  George Washington, the founder of our country, often called for Americans to join together in prayer — very often.  And more than two centuries later, this morning, we heed President Washington’s wisdom and follow in his mighty footsteps.  He was a strong man and of great religious strength. 

The stories of legends like Washington, Winthrop, and Williams remind us that without faith in God, there would be no American story.  Every citizen should be proud of this exceptional heritage.  We have an unbelievable heritage, and we have to use that and make life better for everyone. 

That’s why, as we approach the 25th-times-10 anniversary — think of that, 250; 250 years we’ll be celebrating next year — of our country’s founding, I have signed an executive order to resume the process of creating a new national park full of statues of the greatest Americans who ever lived. 

We’re going to be honoring our heroes, honoring the greatest people from our country.  We’re not going to be tearing down.  We’re going to be building up. 

It will be called the National Garden of American Heroes.  Some of you will be on that soon-to-be hallowed ground — some of you.  Let’s see.  I can pick a few of you right now by looking — (laughter) — because there’s a couple of you right now, I can see.  Let’s see.  (Laughter.)  It’s the president’s sole opinion.  (Laughter.)  And I’ve given myself a 25-year period — (laughter) — and then somebody else.  By that time, it will be very, very built up.  (Laughter.)

No, it will be something very special, and I hope that Congress will fully fund this wonderfully unifying project at the first possible opportunity — it’s not going to be a lot of money; going to be very important, however — so that more of our people can be inspired by the faith and courage of patriots like those who we honor in these halls.  One of the incredible Americans whose memory my order will celebrate is also recognized with a statue in the Capitol, representing the great state of North Carolina, and that’s a man known — who everybody loved: Reverend Billy Graham. He was something.  My father used to take me to watch the “Crusades.”  He would take me to Yankee Stadium.  I remember it so well.  I remember it more than I remember any Yankee game, and I’ve seen a lot of Yankee games.  (Laughter.)  Can you believe it?  And Billy didn’t have a bat, so, you know, he’s pretty good.  It was amazing.  You’d have 60- or 70,000 people, and they loved him.  They loved him.    I saw him with Franklin.  I don’t know if Franklin is here.  I just don’t know, but I’ve gotten to know Franklin.  He’s done a great job with helping on tragedies, on problems like in North Carolina, California.  He’s always the first one there.  The work he does is — his father is very proud of him, I can tell you that.  But Billy Graham was very special.     One floor below us, Reverend Graham’s statue stands with an open Bible, the page turned to a letter from the apostle Paul, which reads, “Let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season, we will reap if we do not give up.”  Never give up.  Never ever give up.  You can’t.     How about me?  If I would have given up, I would not be here right now.  Who the hell knows where I’d be?  (Laughter.)  It might not be a good place.  If it was up to the Democrats, it would not be a good place at all.  (Laughter.)      Never ever give up.  There could be no better message for the leaders gathered here — and you are real leaders — that we must never give up, and we must never grow tired.  We must never grow weary, and we always must practice good.     As you know, last week, only a few miles from here, our nation witnessed a terrible tragedy when 67 people were killed in a horrible accident near Reagan Airport.  As one nation, we take solace in the knowledge that their journey that night did not end in the icy waters of the Potomac, but in the warm embrace of a very loving God.  None of us knows exactly when our time on Earth will be over.  You never know.   A truth I confronted a few short months ago when there was an incident that wasn’t — it was not fun.  It was not a good thing.  But God was watching me.  The chances of me being here — my sons are shooters.  They’re really good shooters, Don and Eric.  And they said the chances of missing from that range with that gun are — but Don equated it to a one-foot putt.  That’s pretty bad.  Two feet I can see missing.  (Laughter.)  But one foot you can’t miss.  It was the equivalent of a one-foot putt, is what he told me.    He said — in fact, he gained some religion.  He gained — he went up 25 percent.  (Laughter.)  And if you know him, that’s a lot.  (Laughter.)  But he said, “There had to be somebody that saved you, and I think I know who it is.”  And he looked up.  And I said, “Whoa, Don, that’s come — you’ve come a long way.”  (Laughter.)  He’s a good guy.     But they my two sons just really couldn’t believe it.  Had I not turned that right turn just at that time — and the audience — 55,000 people standing this way.  There were just a few people in the back on the bleachers.  There was nobody over there, except for my all-time favorite chart in history, a chart on immigration.  Immigration saved my life.  See?  So, we’re going to be good for immigration, okay? 

But had I not made that turn — boom — and quickly.  It was almost as though a deer bolted.  You know, they say the only way you miss when you’re a good shot is if it bolts?  I bolted.  I turned to the right to look at the chart, and I said, “Wow, what was that?  What was that?” So, you never know, but God did that.  I mean, it had to be.  The chances of turning, because there’s no reason to turn to the right.  You know, the chart is rarely brought down.  I brought it down maybe 20 percent and — 20 percent of the time.  And it’s never on my right.  It’s always on my left.  And it’s always at the end of the speech, never the beginning of the speech. 

And if I was a little more than that 90-degree angle, it would be no good.  And if I was a little less, it would be no good.  It had to be perfect.  The thing went “shhh” right along the edge.  It didn’t affect my hair.  Can you believe that?    (Laughter.)  It might’ve touched it.  Might have touched it, but not where it counts, not — (laughter) — not the skin part. But it changed something in me, I feel.  I feel even stronger.  I believed in God, but I feel much more strongly about it.  Something happened.  And so — (applause) — thank you.  Thank you. But that event, like the tragedy last week, should remind us all that we have to make the most out of every single day that we have.  Who would think that you’re in space and two things collide?  The odds of that happening are so small, even without proper control. 

We should have had the proper control.  We should have had better equipment.  We don’t.  We have obsolete equipment.  They were understaffed, for whatever reason.  I guess the helicopter was high, and we’ll find out exactly what happened.  But the odds, even if you had nothing — if you had nobody, the odds of that happening are extremely small. 

     It’s like, did you ever see — you go to a driving range in golf and you’re hitting balls, hundreds of balls, thousands of hours.  I never see a ball hit another ball.  Balls going up all over the place.  You never see them hit. 

 It was amazing that that could happen.  There was a lot of mistakes made, and it should have never happened.  But regardless of that, it’s amazing that it happened. 

 And I think that’s going to be used for good.  I think what is going to happen is we’re all going to sit down and do a great computerized system for our control towers, brand-new — not pieced together, obsolete, like it is — land-based — trying to hook up a land-based system to a satellite system. 

And the first thing that some experts told me when this happened is you can’t hook up land to satellites, and you can’t hook up satellites to land.  It doesn’t work.  And we spent billions and billions of dollars trying to renovate an old, broken system, instead of just saying, “Cut it loose, and let’s spend less money and build a great system.”  Done by two or three companies — very s- — good companies, specialists.  That’s all it is. They used 39 companies.  That means that 39 different hookups have to happen.  And I don’t know how many people of you are good in terms of all of the kind of things necessary for that — and it’s very complex stuff — but when you have 39 different companies working on hooking up different cities and different people — you need one company with one set of equipment. 

And there are some countries that have unbelievable air controller systems, and they would have — bells would have gone off when that helicopter literally even hit the same height, because it traveled a long distance before it hit.  It was just like — just wouldn’t stop — you follow the line.  But bells and whistles would have gone off.  They have them where it actually could virtually turn the thing around.  It would have just never happened if we had the right equipment. 

And one of the things that’s going to be — I’m going to be speaking to John and to Mike and to Chuck and to everybody.  We have to get together and just — as a single bill, just pass where we get the — the best control system.

When I land in my plane, privately, I use a system from another country, because my captain tells me — I’m landing in New York, and I’m using — I won’t tell you what country, but I use a system from another country, because the captain says, “This thing is so bad.  It’s so obsolete.”  And we can’t have that. 

So, we’re going to have the best system and it’s a lot of money, but it’s not that much money.  And it’ll happen fast, and it’ll be done by total professionals.  And when it’s done, you’re not going to have accidents.  It’s just not — they’re not — they’re virtually not possible to have. 

Each of us is blessed with a precious chance to help lead America to renew our pledges of faith and everything else and bring us to new heights and create a future of promise for our people and for ourselves. 

You know, we have the most important people in the country, in a true sense, here, because you’re the ones that are going to make the decision.  You’re the ones that are leading us into so many different things, whether it’s the right air control system or the right size military or what to do and what not to do — most important people.

And many of you are very religious.  I know so many of you are very religious.  And I just think that our country has been so badly hurt.  We’re very hurt by what COVID did to religion.  It really hurt it badly.  People couldn’t go to church for a long period of time.  Even going outside, they were given a hard time.  And I’m not blaming anybody for that, but — but it was very hard to gather. 

So, they start using computers, if that.  And when they come back, it’s just, you know, a whole new experience they have to get used to.  But it is starting to come back. 

We had a fantastic thing happen yesterday.  The Army had the best recruitment numbers that they’ve had in more than 15 years.  They think it could be 25 years, actually — they’re going to probably put that out — but more than 15 years just now.  (Applause.)

And we were worried about it.  We were talking about it numerous times that, you know, we don’t have people joining our military services.  We don’t have people joining our police force.  We have to cherish our police. 

It’s so dangerous.  You open a car and somebody starts shooting.  They have blackened windows.  You don’t even have any idea who’s in the car.  Oftentimes, they have the dark windows — which they’re not, in theory, supposed to have, but they have them.  The door opens and a gun is pointed at your face, and you can’t do a thing about it.  It’s just nothing you’re going to do about it.  Your friends will take them out, and it’s happened so many times, but you just — it’s so — such a dangerous thing.  We have to cherish these people. 

So, today, we join our hearts and prayers in recommitting to putting our country first.  We have to put our country first, making America stronger and greater and more exceptional than ever before.

And we have to make religion a much more important factor now.  We have to make it an important factor.  And if we do that, it’s going to be — our job is just going to be much easier.  It unifies people.  It brings people together.  Democrats are going to be able to have lunch again and dinner with Republicans. 

And I remember, just as — growing up, I’d see — you know, I revered senators and congressmen as something very special, but they were out to dinner all the time.  We had an old congressman, maybe some of — Sey Halpern from Queens, and he was a friend of my father.  But he’d have dinner with — he was a Democrat, but he would have dinner with Republicans, and he’d be at it.  It wouldn’t even make a difference.

Today, it’s like shocking.  And it shouldn’t be.  You have to get together.  We really have to get together. 

We all know what’s right and what’s wrong, and there’s going to be compromise on both sides, but we have to just do the right thing, and we have to get together.  

You did it with Marco Rubio.  He got everybody who was — 99 votes.  And the only vote was our VP, who — who maybe we should have been there just to make it a hundred, but I think I would have been angered if it was a hundred.  That might be a step too far, right?  (Laughter.)  But, no, it was great to see a vote. 

Pam Bondi had support from Democrats, and some of the others had some pretty good support.  So, you know, it’s doable.

We had a recent bill having to do with a very beautiful young lady who was killed from Georgia, and that bill was very bipartisan.  It was a very beautiful thing to watch, actually.  And so, I think we just have to — if possible, we have to unify.

There’s big division.  I mean, some people want an open border and some people want a closed border.  We want it closed, and they want it open.  Now, that’s a big difference.  How do you solve that problem?  It’s a big difference. 

Some people want men in women’s sports and some people don’t.  And I was with somebody yesterday who was so upset that the bill was signed, where men cannot participate in women’s sports.  And I said — he’s a very smart guy --went to a great school, was a great student.  And he actually feels, you know, that that should happen: Men should be able to play — meaning transition into women sports.

And you talk to him, and it’s just — you know, I don’t understand it. I think it — I don’t understand how the problem ever got started in the first place.  It just seems so simple.

But he’s a good person and just believes it.  He just believes it.  Not going to be easy to convince him otherwise. 

So, where is a middle ground?  It’s just hard to have a middle ground if there’s two ways.  I mean, you can either do it or you can’t. 

But I think a lot of good things are going to happen.  You know, a lot of people might be surprised to hear me say that, of all people, but I think a lot of good things are going to happen.  Because our country has got some big headaches, but we have tremendous spirit right now. 

The spirit is as high as it’s been.  It was up 49 points this morning — 49 points.  That’s the biggest increase in the history of whatever the poll was. 

So, the spirit is there.  That’s a big factor.  That’s probably the hardest thing to get back, to be honest.  The rest is easy.  The rest is easy. 

So, I want to just thank you all.  I want to congratulate a lot of the new members.  I see so many of you that ran great races.  David, that was a great race.  But so many that ran great races.  And on both sides, you ran some incredible races.  So, it’s good to be with you. 

And God bless everybody.  We want to come together.  And the happiest — the person, the element, the everything that’s going to be happy.  People of religion are going to be happy again. 

And I really believe you can’t be happy without religion, without that belief.  I really believe it.  I just don’t see how you can be.  (Applause.)

So, let’s bring religion back.  Let’s bring God back into our lives. 

Thank you all very much.  Thank you very much.  Great honor.  Thank you.  (Applause.)

Some Catholic traditionalist have been warning for years now that we (Catholics) are on the verge of being persecuted in ways we have not been for a couple of centuries.  A couple of centuries seems like a long time to most people, but it really isn't.  Anyhow, they warned, we are going to find ourselves being in the same position as Catholics in Protestant England were, or perhaps like Catholics in early Rome.

It all seemed rather extreme.

Well, prosecution is coming.  And not from secular "woke" America like they/we feared, but rather from the hardcore Protestant Evangelical right that never believed we were Christians anyway, because they're ignorant of history in general and the history of Christianity in particular.  

This time, somewhat ironically, we're going to be joined by those branches of Christianity from which we're barely separated.  Anglicans and Lutherans have mostly gotten over their beef with us, even if they have not reunited with us, and now they're going to share the hatred that we've received pretty much from day one.

But the branch of Christianity that is going to suffer the most, long term, are the Evangelicals.  No whopping set of absurdities can be maintained forever, and fairly soon the Protestant going to church once or twice per year and otherwise watch football while shacked up Christians are going to turn on them, when things turn bad on them.  Actual devout Evangelicals of other branches are going to get hit as well.  We're going to see a drop off in Evangelical community at a huge rate.

One of the answers to the mystery of evil is that God never permits an evil that he can't bring a good out of.  I can't see the future, nor can you, but we can often discern patterns and make predictions, many of which, indeed most of which, will be wrong (although I was right here).  One thing that seems clear is that the Reformation has been passing away in front of us.  It's too hard for people to accept it anymore if they know anything.  It made more sense, in the US, when a backwoods preacher lived in the backwoods with backwoods people.  A lot of Evangelical Protestantism is still that way in the US, localized either in communities or demographics.  But the knowledge isn't.  The bulwark of the Christian defense against false modern beliefs has been the Catholic Church, which is joined with the Orthodox and conservative Anglicans and Lutherans in that.  But it's also the bulwark against the American Civil Religion.  The European Protestant Reformation is already dead.  This may be the last stage of the end of the Reformation playing out in front of us.

But it won't be fun to watch at all or enjoyable to suffer in.

Having said that, Catholicism has always done well as an oppressed faith.  We might finally be waking up from the slumber that John F. Kennedy induced us into.