linnposts.com

You might call this “a venting,” but it’s something I need to do to keep my sanity, and to stay Christian.

I don’t know much these days, maybe never have, actually, but I do know a few things, some of which are listed below.

You might say they are opinions, but they are at least informed ones, grounded as they are in overwhelming evidence to support them being true. That’s why I begin each one saying, “I know” rather than “I believe.”

– I know it is profoundly unchristian to support Donald Trump. I won’t go into the reasons because there are too many to discuss, but I’ll be glad to debate my claim with anyone. In fact, I welcome a challenge.

– I know that Christians who support Donald Trump are undermining the integrity and credibility of Christianity because of that support.

– I know that any Christian who says the United States is a Christian nation doesn’t know much about American history or Christianity.

– I know that Christians are not the only people of God and Christianity is not the only true religion.

– I know that everything written in the Hebrew and Christian Bible came from human beings rather than God.

– I know that for this reason Christians need a skeptical mind to sift through what the Bible says in search of what to believe and not believe, which is why I wrote my latest book, The Faithful Skeptic.  

– I know a little humility would help Christians be less prone to doing very bad things or religiously going off the deep end, which is why the subtitle of my latest book is, In search of a humble Christianity.

– I know that an uneducated minister is as dangerous as an uneducated doctor.

– I know that if God actually exists, what people believe about God cannot fully define who God is.

–  I know that if American democracy has any chance to survive Donald Trump’s attack on it, it will be American citizens rather than God who save it.

– I know that if absolute truth exists, we humans are too flawed to know it, that the best we can do is make approximations to it.

These, then, are things I know to be true so far as knowing anything is possible for human beings. Because of the last thing on the list, though, I also know that what I know could be wrong, but only if someone can offer better evidence that it is than the evidence that led me to these conclusions.

We might think that the expansion of knowledge in the modern era would make all of us know more than those of past generations, and that is, of course, true, but I think it has also made us less confident in what we know than we should be.

This is what has made us vulnerable to the outrageous lie that there is such a thing as “alternative facts” which in turn has led too many Americans to believe opinions and facts are of equal value.

In this intellectual muddled mess Trump et. al have created, those of us who value facts must use every chance we have to expose the negative impact the Trump presidency is having on every aspect of American life.

I care about what happens to Christianity and to the country. I am offended by Trumpers who make a mockery of patriotism by putting loyalty to Trump over loyalty to the nation, and I am even more offended by Christians who make a mockery of the teachings of Jesus by being Trumpers.

That is why I wrote this blog. I welcome your comments, additions to the list, and challenges to anything on mine.