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