Every spring, Jews around the world celebrate Pesach (Passover) with a Seder, a home-based ritual during which adults are required to retell the story of the exodus from Egypt.  One element of the Seder is remembrance of the ten plagues enumerated in the Book of Exodus, which culminated in the slaying of  Egyptian first born males including Pharaoh’s eldest son.

According to the website LIVESCIENCE.COM, there is objective evidence for each of the plagues beginning with the rise of red algae, often referred to as “red tide,”  which explains Exodus 7:21 which states, “The fish in the Nile died, and the Nile stank, so that the Egyptians could not drink water.”  Though more commonly occurring in oceans, there are numerous documented instances of red algae reproducing in freshwater.  This strain also produces mycotoxins, which are known to cause disease and death in humans.  LIVESCIENCE.COM suggests the presence of mycotoxins in grain could explain the tenth plague, death of first-born males, as the eldest sons in Egyptian families were most likely to work in the fields, harvesting crops, thus having the most exposure to the contaminated grain.

So, when Donald Trump says, “No one could anticipated the current pandemic,” not only did he have the benefit of Peter Navarro’s memos, HHS Secretary Alex Azar’s efforts to warn him or daily briefings from the director of national intelligence.  If he had been paying attention to the reading of the Hagaddah at Jared and Ivanka’s Seder, instead of constantly checking the number of pages before he could partake of the festive meal, he would have had 3,200 years’ warning.  (Oh, I forgot, Donald was not at his daughter’s Seder.  Ivanka and Jared went to New Jersey to be with family while the rest of us were sheltered-in-place, holding Zoom virtual Seders.)

Years from now, I wonder if families will gather at this season to tell the story of the deliverance from coronavirus and the 10 plagues needed to soften Trump’s heart to the point where he let the doctors and scientists take command of this modern day exodus from isolation.  In accordance with tradition, participants must spill a drop of Diet Coke as they recite each of the following:

1. Cancelling of MAGA rallies.
2. Closing Mar-a-Lago and other Trump properties.
3. Isolation with Melania and Barron.
4. Bernie Sanders not becoming the Democratic nominee.
5. Precipitous drop in approval rating.
6. Questioning by persistent female journalists at press briefings.
7. Having to fake empathy for the sick and dying.
8. Depression-era rates of unemployment.
9. Infection of White House staff.
10. Having to wear a mask.

Unlike pharaoh, it looks as though it will take more than 10 plagues before Trump understands what he is up against.  And to honor those who survived the pandemic and emulate their experience, the ritual meal will consist of whatever is left in the refrigerator that might make a good casserole.

For what it’s worth.  Stay safe.
Dr. ESP

LIBERATE VIRGINIA, and save your great 2nd amendment. It is under siege!

~Donald J. Trump/April 17, 2020

You shall have no other gods beside Me. You shall not make for yourself any graven image, nor any manner of likeness, of any thing that is heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them, nor serve them, for I, the Lord Your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation.

~Exodus 20:3-6

I need not remind readers that I do not believe in an anthropomorphic divine being.   If anything, my spiritual compass aligns with something akin to the Force, which according to Jedi master Obi-Wan Kenobi is “an energy field created by all living things.  it surrounds us, penetrates us and binds the galaxy together.” (Star Wars: Episode IV/A New Hope)

I recognize I am in the minority.  According to a 2019 Gallup survey, eighty seven percent (87%) of Americans answered “yes” to the question, “Do you believe in God?”  And, as I wrote in a February 8, 2020 entry “The Case for God,” I have no problem with that.  “If the concept of God floats your kite, I wish you steady winds and enough line to soar as high as you can.”

What offends me, and should offend those of all faiths, is when self-appointed spiritual leaders attribute divine intervention on a selective basis.  You must either believe or shut up.  Faux Christians such as Pat Robertson and Jerry Falwell suggested the terrorists on September 11, 2001 were holy retribution in response to what they considered heathens who turned their back on God.  Three days after the attack, Falwell said:

[T]he pagans and the abortionists and the feminists and the gays and the lesbians who are actively trying to make that an alternative lifestyle, the ACLU, People for the American Way — all of them who have tried to secularize America.  I point the finger in their face and say ‘you helped this happen.’

Nineteen years later, Falwell’s doppelganger Robertson is still at it.  On April 21, he suggested the coronavirus was God’s way of punishing mankind for abortion and gay rights. (ABC News)  If only I had one shot at the audience Robertson addresses nightly on “The 700 Club,” this is what I would say.

As I watch individuals Donald Trump calls “good people” brandishing military-style weapons to intimidate public officials who are trying to save lives, I have to ask.  Isn’t it time you demonstrate the same allegiance to the Second Commandment that you do to the Second Amendment?

And if you believe God punishes America for those who turn their backs on him, have you not also forsaken him?  Is it not a violation of God’s second commandment to blindly pledge allegiance to someone who violates all his other commandments.  Want evidence?  Here it is.

• #3: Thou shall not take the name of the Lord Your God in vain.  (Trump’s warning to wealthy businessmen at a rally in Greenville, N.C., “If you don’t support me, you’re going to be God-damn poor.”)
• #4: Remember the Sabbath, to keep it holy.  (May 3, 2020:  Instead of honoring the Sabbath, Trump chooses to Tweet self-congratulations about one of his resort properties, his approval rating among Republicans and unsubstantiated warnings about rigged elections.)
• #5: Honor your father and your mother.  (Since when is misusing or simply blowing a $200 million inheritance a sign of parental respect?)
• #6: You shall not murder.  (Okay, he hasn’t technically murdered anyone yet, but failure to respond to warnings of the coming pandemic or recommending dangerous remedies should qualify as negligent homicide.)
• #7: You shall not commit adultery.  (Take your pick. )
• #8: You shall not steal.  (Trump University.  Trump Foundation.)
• #9: You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.  (Trump accuses Robert Mueller of a crime. (PBS/June 26, 2019)  Trump blames Barack Obama for the insufficient response to the pandemic. (ABC News/March 5, 2020))
• #10: You shall not covet your neighbor’s house, nor his wife, his man-servant, his maid-servant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor anything that is your neighbor’s. (How about your predecessor’s approval ratings?)

Maybe, just maybe, coronavirus is God’s modern-day version of the Great Flood or the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah in response to your devotion to Donald Trump above all else.  And sadly, as was the case in both of these biblical events, the innocent also suffer.

Just as the Obama administration prepared a step by step guide how to respond to a future pandemic, the God whose word you claim is sacred as well as that of his only son provided you with a similar manual for life.  Perhaps Step #1 should be, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.”

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP

This is the first in a series of posts with the title “The Case for …”  In the coming days, they will focus on the remaining candidates for the Democratic presidential nomination.  However, there is one other figure, central to political dialogue in 2020, who deserves our attention.  And this week, he or she made the best case for staying in the race.

As a devout agnostic of Jewish heritage, I am probably the least qualified individual to make this case, but comedian Lewis Black, a kindred agnostic raised in a Jewish household, provides the cover I need based on a 2006 performance at the Warner Theater in Washington, D.C.  One segment focused on differences between the Old and New Testaments.

Every Sunday I turn on the television set.  And there is a priest or a pastor reading from my book.  And interpreting it.  And their interpretations, I must tell you, are usually wrong.  It’s not their fault, it’s not their book.  You never see a rabbi on TV interpreting the New Testament, do you?  If you want to truly understand the Old Testament, if there is something you don’t get, there are Jews who walk among you, and they, I promise you this, will take time out of their very Jewy, Jewy day and will interpret for you, anything you are having trouble understanding.  And will do that, of course, if the price is right.

Never in the history of civilization was the chasm between the faithful and the heretic more apparent than the 24 hours beginning at 2:00 p.m EST on Wednesday.  At that hour, Utah Senator Mitt Romney explained why he had no choice but to vote guilty on the first article of impeachment against Donald Trump.

But my promise before God to apply impartial justice required that I put my personal feelings and political biases aside. Were I to ignore the evidence that has been presented and disregard what I believe my oath and the Constitution demands of me for the sake of a partisan end, it would, I fear, expose my character to history’s rebuke and the censure of my own conscience.

The next morning Trump spoke at the National Prayer Breakfast following the keynote by Arthur C. Brooks, former president of the American Enterprise Institute, who used the gospel of the New Testament to promote reconciliation post-impeachment as follows.

To start us on a path of new thinking to our cultural crisis, I want to turn to the words of the ultimate original thinker, history’s greatest social entrepreneur, and as a Catholic, my personal Lord and Savior, Jesus. Here’s what he said, as recorded in the Gospel of Saint Matthew, chapter 5, verse 43-45: You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven.”

Trump was moved by Brooks’ rhetoric and apologized for his role in promoting division and offered his hand to Nancy Pelosi who was also seated on the dais.  I’m kidding, of course.  Trump began his remarks by stating,  “Arthur, I don’t think I agree with you.”  He went on to vilify those who dared challenge his authority and mocked their faith.  As Joe Scarborough, a born-again Baptist evangelical, pointed out Thursday morning, Trump did not disagree with Arthur Brook.  He contradicted the words of Jesus Christ.  And pseudo-religious leaders such as Franklin Graham and Jerry Falwell, Jr. refused to call him out, one more stain on the white evangelical movement.

The case for God exists partially due to Jean Paul Sartre and the existential movement.  In that vein of thought, the shape or form of something is not as important as the concept.  For example, there are an infinite number of ways to design and manufacture a chair.  But the concept of the chair is universal.

As has been true throughout ancient and modern history, it is the dissidents of all faiths who have relied on the concept of God, not the specific literary manifestation or name given to the deity.  One can argue, among agnostics and atheists, there is also a higher calling which we prefer to call conscience or ‘the still small voice.”  Or simply our obligation to fellow humans. Ironically, it was Mitt Romney who best articulated why the rewards of heaven and eternal life, for us, are unnecessary.  The respect of family and our place in history are enough reward.

The concept of God has also forced us to continuously reassess societal norms, proving there is no absolute divine will, but a call to evolve philosophically as well as physically. The Jewish traditional of questioning faith is introduced in Genesis 32:28, when a holy surrogate tells Jacob, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and humans and have overcome.”  Without the option of challenging the “word of God,” there would be no New Testament or Book of Mormon or even the Koran.

The God of the Old Testament ruled by fear.  The text, particularly Leviticus, is a laundry list of taboos for which you will be punished.  The same is true of the ten commandments.  With the exception of honoring one’s parents and the Sabbath, all the others begin, “Thou shall not…”  The God of the Old Testament is willing to kill thousands of children because of the stubbornness of one person, Pharaoh.  But as Lewis Black suggests, maybe this was necessary at the time.  In the beginning of recorded history, members of ancient society were “just one hair short of being orangutans.”

Fifteen hundred years later, civilization was open to a new morale code.  One based on “thou shall” as opposed to “thou shall not.”  Maybe this might have happened without the emergence of a divine savior.  But if  belief in an omnipotent being gave Jesus the strength to defy authority knowing the personal risk involved, so be it.

That is the beauty of the First Amendment’s prohibition against the establishment of religion.  It does not matter if you are moved by someone who walked the earth thousands of years ago or another leader who settled in Utah in the 1800s.  Or if the answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind.  The common trait among the righteous, spiritual or sectarian, is the willingness to look outside oneself for truth.  If the concept of God floats your kite, I wish you steady winds and enough line to soar as high as you can.

For what it’s worth.
Dr. ESP