The Religion of the Rabble

I think one of the tragic casualties in this current time of political and social distress that we exist in is the Christian faith.  

A lot of alleged leaders of alleged Christian faith have done so much to align themselves with political ideology in the pursuit of power.  

Jesus Christ, the dude who espoused "Blessed are the peacemakers, blessed are the weak", you know, THAT guy, would not regonize the religion named after him. 

I recall the story of a preacher who did a sermon based on the Biblical text known as the Beatitudes and after the service was greeted by a parishioner who asked the minister why he was preaching such woke nonsense. 

While Jesus Christ most pointedly did not assign any conditions on who deserved God's grace, the modern American conservative Christian would very much add some terms and conditions before you click like and subscribe.

A lot of this warping of the Christian faith towards decidedly unChristian goals has been particularly prominent during the last 10 years and the ascendancy of the MAGA and it's blobby orange hued savior who shall remained nameless for this post.*

*Since this person invaded my Saturday movie post, I have resolved for today's post, he shall NOT be named.  

In case it's not clear who I am talking about, I will give you a little hint:  He's a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, sociopathic, dishonorable, treasonous, gutless, moronic, heartless, soulless, slimy, loathsome, vile, incompetent, psychotic, crooked, disgusting, reprehensible, revolting, horrible, malicious, obnoxious, hateful, narcissistic, small-minded, despicable god damn, motherfucking piece of shit.  

I trust you can work it out from there.

I was reading an article written by Molly Wadzeck for Huff Post about MAGA Christianity and those who have escaped the unforgiving grasp of that movement.

Anna Rollins wrote that growing up Southern Baptist,  Christianity was presented as nearly inseparable from Republican identity, with patriotic symbols and language woven throughout church life. “Faith and freedom were often talked about in the same breath. We often sang patriotic songs in church services, in addition to hymns. Nationalism was tightly woven in with Christianity.”

I too grew up in a Southern Baptist church and I likewise recall the conflation of Christian faith with American identity.  In my narrow world, a good Christian was a good American. And a good American was a good Christian.

Although even that scope of "Christian" may be a bit broad. Southern Baptists understood what it meant to be a good Christian. As for Presbyterians and Methodists, who knows what the hell they're up to? 

Conservative Christians for all their outsized influence with gospel radio stations and Christian TV channels are still a small slice of the religious pie. True power lies outside the venues of religion and in the halls of political power.   

Which brings us to the toxic confluence of conservative Christians and the Republican Party.

Welcome to MAGA "Christianity", the religion of the rabble.

The article written by Molly Wadzeck references videos posted by a nurse named Jen Hamilton who generated a lot of buzz by posting online her reading from the Bible while repudiating MAGA talking points.

One of the comments she received was "Be careful now. I am happily MAGA and I love Jesus. We are exhausted from liberal nonsense.”

Reading Matthew 25 is liberal nonsense?  

I will assert that being "happily MAGA" and "I love Jesus" is a contradiction. 

This goes back to the preacher whose sermon on the Beatitudes was dismissed by a church goer as woke nonsense. 

Attached is a video by Brandon, an avowed atheist (account under Mindshift) who talks about what Jen has done and the backlash she is encountering from the MAGA "Christian" community.

Not sure I'm on board with everything Brandon says but I do respect his thoughtful perspective. 

But isn't it weird that it takes an atheist to come to the defense of a Christian woman who spoke to the idea that Jesus thought it was a good idea to help people?

A Christian woman being attacked by alleged Christians for the act of speaking about how Jesus thought it was a good idea to help people?

Jen said that “Some even reported me to the Board of Nursing to have my license taken away.  As a nurse, I don’t know how you don’t fight for the rights of the vulnerable communities you care for.”

So Jen simply reading from the Bible earned her threats to her job and yes, even to her life.

A MAGA supporter posted a video that she wouldn't feel safe in Jen's care if Jen was her nurse.  

Jen had to post a response that her responsibilites as a nurse requires her to help everyone equally.  

So a MAGA "Christian" assumes she is not safe in the care of a Christian nurse who is not MAGA?  A Christian nurse who is not MAGA is the enemy? 

Gee, I wonder where a MAGA supporter got that idea from?

SIDE NOTE on he who shall not be named in this post but rememeber he is a lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, yada yada yada,you know the drill: recent reports show cuts to programs to specific states were made because those states did not vote for the lying, petulant, bullying, unintelligent, yada yada yada in 2024. This blobby orange hued savior has a history of declaring those who are not MAGA as the enemy and not to be trusted.  

So the obedient flock of MAGA "Christians" follow in kind.  So by their "logic", nurse Jen Hamilton maybe a Christian but she is NOT a MAGA Christian so she is not to be trusted and is a danger. 

So what's the deal with this dissonance between the ideals of Christian faith and the actual practices of MAGA "Christians"? 

Caroline Bologna writes here about the concept of something called "Vertical Morality".

“Vertical morality teaches that authority, power and a moral code of right and wrong, or acceptable and unacceptable, come from ‘above’ ― an external superior who designates rules, systems and tenets that must be obeyed by those beneath."

Which is a nice intellectual dissertation of a concept that I will put more bluntly:  MAGA "Christians" are fucking hypocrites who wouldn't know Jesus Christ if he walked into their kitchens and turned a class of a water into a nice pinot noir. 

To be blunt, MAGA "Christians" have traded the ideals of Christ for worldly glory, for promises of easy wealth and power over those who are not them.  

Jesus admonished us to be servants to those in need, even those who are not us. But the MAGA path to wealth and power is to regard those who are not them as an enemy to be feared, to be defeated, to be eradicated. 

Maybe the cynical view is that MAGA Christianity is just what Christianity has been all along? And that people like nurse Jen Hamilton are outliers, the exception to the rule?

I have to admit to my own cynicism about Christianity but even I don't want that cynicism to be true. I want people like Jen Hamilton to be the true face of the Christian faith. 

Sadly the most prominent face of that faith belongs to those who see Jen Hamilton as an enemy.

And see Jesus Christ as an epitome of liberal nonsense.

Which is what you get from a religion of the rabble.

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While working on this post, I reviewed some previous blog entries I've made on the subject of religion and I thought I would share this graphic from my blog post on March 11, 2016.  

StarTrekking: Star Trek: Strange New Worlds - Season 4 - “Valles Marineris”

Welcome to this week's edition of Star Trekking, my blog space dedicated to my Star Trek fandom.

After several weeks of indulging in nostalgia with look backs at Star Trek and Star Trek: The Next Generation, this time out we get some ALL NEW Trek.

The return of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds.   

There is more than a little bit of burden on SNW as it begins it's 4th season. After two strong seasons, the 3rd season was not as solid and left a lot to be desired.

“Valles Marineris”, the season 4 premiere, gives some strong indication that the good ship Enterprise is back on track. 

• Captain Pike rides a horse! 
• Pelia drops another Doctor Who reference!!  
• There's cool space shit!! (An interstellar squall!!) 
• There's wibbly wobbly time travel!!! 
• Number One, Ortegas, and La’an fight a goddam dinosaur!!!
• La’an punches a raptor!!!!
• We get a new building block in the Star Trek mythos!!! 
• The Enterprise crew faces a terrible moral and ethical dliemna!!
• A whole planet blows up real good!!! 
• I must repeat: Pike rides a horse and La’an punches a raptor!

People, are you not frickin' entertained?!?!  

Kick Ass Action Girls of Star Trek 

The mission statement for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds was to get back to the "planet of the week" structure of the original series. SNW sort of strayed from that plan in season 3 but  “Valles Marineris” marks a return to form for season 4.

Even if one of the strange new worlds turns out to be Earth, 65 millions years in the past.   

And the other strange new world is Mars.  

And instead of an asteroid belt, there is a third M-class planet between Mars and Jupiter, Dol’Drm. 

And Dol’Drm and Mars are at war.    

The Martians steal anti-matter from the Enterprise to use against the Dol’Drm homeworld.  

Well, that some serious temporal prime directive fuckery right there.  The Enterprise needs to stop Mars from using future tech to destroy the Dol’Drm.

Until Pike realizes something very crucial and orders the Enterprise to stand down.

The asteroid belt came from somewhere.

And thus we get the moral and ethical quandry facing Pike and the crew.

Yeah, this episode is filled with cool sci-fi stuff and great action sequences. (I cannot stress this enough: La’an stops a raptor by punching it!)  

But it's the gordian time travel knot at the center of the narrative and the resulting hard choices thrust upon Pike and his crew is what makes for the best Star Trek drama.  

This kind of though provoking philosophical problem is where Star Trek shines.

Next week, Star Trek: Strange New Worlds returns with episode 2 of season 4,  "The Griffin Incident".

I have NO idea what we're in for.

We'll find out together in next week's Star Trekking.

It's NOT Movie Time: A Face In the Crowd (Revisited)

Today's movie post is about a film I've written about before.

I did a post about A Face In the Crowd over 6 years ago on February 23, 2020.   

I'm revisiting this movie today in response to a video recently posted on Tik Tok by Nathan (The Favoring Wind), aka Nathan Cook, writer and film fan.   

Nathan spoke to the film's suprising relevancy, the movie's commentary on the rise of celebrity and it's influence on society and politics. 

And the perils of that kind of power being in the hands of an unstable ego maniac.  

In the comments, people began drawing the obvious parallels between the rise of Lonesome Roads and the rise of Donald Trump.  

I joined the comments with this:

"I've waited for Trump's Lonesome Rhodes moment where he says something so blatantly stupid and/or corrupt that will break the spell he has on his followers. But no matter how stupid and/or corrupt he sounds, nothing seems to work."

Now I should elaborate on what I mean by a "Lonesome Rhodes moment" but SPOILER, I will need to talk about the ending.

Andy Grifith is Larry "Lonesome" Rhodes, an itinerate musician and storyteller who is brought up from obscurity to becoming a national TV star.   

Marcia Jeffries, played by Patricia Neal, is responsible for discovering Rhodes and putting him on his path as a nationwide celebrity. And she regrets it.

Rhodes is a raging, eratic narcissist who can barely handle the heady rush of TV stardom and he now wants to parlay his entertainment celebrity into political power.

Patricia Neal and Andy Griffith
from A Face In the Crowd

Nothing seems to be able to stop him until one night, after the end of his live TV show as the credits roll, Rhodes boasts of his ability to tell his public whatever he wants and the stupid people out in the world will believe it.

Marcia has left the microphones in the studio turned on and all of America heard what Lonesome Rhodes thinks of them. 

Within a half hour, Rhodes' fan base has evaporated and the political cronies who wanted to use him to bolster their campaigns have vanished.

While expressing guilt over her role in elevating Rhodes to power, Marcia is assured by writer Mel Miller (Walter Matthau) that while deceptive fakes like Rhodes may fool people for a while, but "we get wise to him―that's our strength".

This noble assurance expressed in the movie ("we get wise to him―that's our strength"), I wonder if this can be realized in the dystopian real life we find ourselves.  

I have waited for Donald Trump to have his Lonesome Rhodes moment, the one where the scales fall away and the spell of the cult is broken.

Sometimes it seems like we have that moment. 

When hearing that inflation is up and the costs for food, gas and every damn thing is UP, Trump said on camera with an open mike, "I love the inflation."    

In response to my comment, I got this reply from Miller McKee.

"I kept waiting for that, too, in his first term. I guess the Hollywood ending for this film is the idea that enough people are decent enough to leave the cult. At least with Lonesome, he is perceived as folksy and nice until his hot mic moment. With Donny, the fact that he’s a cruel jerk is what they love. Not surprising, after years of smooth politicians using words smoothly, offering thoughts and prayers and giving broken promises."

I do see Miller's point. 

A Face In the Crowd does assume a positive Hollywood ending to the spell of Lonesome Rhodes being broken.  As Mel tells Marcia, "we get wise to him―that's our strength".

One of the recurring assessments of the Trump cult is a strong unwillingness to admit they've been played for a sucker and will double down on following a man who has comtempt for them rather than admit they were wrong. 

Getting wise to him is a choice. A choice that the MAGA faithful choose not to make out of misplaced loyalty and an inflated sense of pride. 

In A Face In the Crowd, Rhodes is set to have a meeting with military and political leaders after his broadcast, to plan his future role in the government as a sort of morale officer or propoganda minister.  After Marcia outs him with the hot mike, Rhodes arrives at the meeting about 30 minutes later only to find no one is there.  

One half hour was all it took for these military and political leaders to decide Rhodes is damaged goods. 

Over here in our so-called real life, Trump will say something stupid or offensive or even illegal and the Repubican Party leaders are in front of cameras twisting themselves into proverbial pretzels to defend him.  Unlike the politicos in the movie who vanish when Rhodes is exposed for who he really is, in our darkest timeline, they stick around no matter what Trump says.     

Another difference is that until his hot mike moment, Rhodes is seen as a friendly person who for all his fame and power was still regarded by his public as one of the regular people.  His exposure as having nothing but contempt for his audience is a 180 degree repudiation of his persona.

Trump outing himself as a "cruel jerk" with a similar contempt for his followers is just not that big of a revelation. His being mean, nasty and contemptuous is part of the whole damn appeal. 

So while A Face In the Crowd holds a mirror to our current predicament, a charlatan promoted to prolitical leadership through media manipulation and a cult of celebrity, it is not an exact reflection.  Lonesome Rhodes gets his when he is exposed for the fraud and liar he is because in a Hollywood ending, the people have the strength to accept they have been lied to and effectively marginalize the charlatan.

Writing about the film for the New York Times, critic Bosley Crowther seems to have trouble understanding how Rhodes gets as far as he does:   "Everyone condescends to him... instead of taking positive positions that would better represent reality. ... All play their roles capably, but they're forced to behave as awed observers, not as flexible factors in the scheme of things..... We finally get bored with Lonesome Rhodes.... This type would either have become a harmless habit or the public would have been finished with him."

From the perspective of 1957, Crowther's incredulity about Rhodes' rise and the role others played in that ascent might make sense.

I imagine Bosley Crowther would be completely flummoxed to what is going on now.  Sitting here in 2026 with ten years gone, it seems our own Lonesome Rhodes is far from a harmless habit and the public is not finished with him.

Overall, Trump's approval ratings continue to drop precipitously and more people than not are finished with him. Point of evidence are the deafening boos the man receives whenever he deigns to expose himself outside his cultivated bubble of obsequious devotion.  

But there is still a solid core of the devoted faithful and a cadre of political hacks who see their 21st century Lonesome Rhodes as a useful idiot in their quest for power.  

In the movie, Rhodes is left abandoned and alone, with only an applause machine to cheer him on as he rants and preens in his empty penthouse.  Meanwhile, Trump gets to keep his his cultivated bubble of obsequious devotion.  

A Face In the Crowd presents us with a nightmare and a Hollywood created exit from that torment.

Which is why we have movies, to give us what we can't seem to have. 

A Lonesome Rhodes moment to free us from a charlatan's grasp on his fan base and on those that would use him to their own selfish ends.  

Doctor Who Is NEW: A Royal Mission

I thought I would have to wait for YEARS to use "Doctor Who Is NEW" for a blog post.

So imagine my surprise when I came across some new Doctor Who!

Sir Chris Hoy and comedian Greg McHugh take the TARDIS on a mission to get the King and Queen to the Commonwealth Games of 2026 in Glasgow.

I was a bit disappointed at the end we didn't get King Charles giving to the old "don't forget to click below and subscribe to the official Doctor Who You Tube channel". Or perhap, better yet, Chris Hoy. (Click the link above for his story.)  

We get an appearance by a bonafide Doctor, Sylvester McCoy.

We should've gotten McCoy to do the "click below and subscribe" spiel.  

Like Hoy and McHugh, McCoy is a native Scotsman.

Doctor Who may be in limbo right now with no new episodes in production but this shows the program still resonates with the United Kingdom public. 

Your Friday Video Link: Homer Simpson's The Odyssey

The Odyssey from director Christopher Nolan is currently in theaters amassing major box office and glowing reviews.

It's 3 hours long.

Or you can cover the epic tale in a few minutes. Your Friday Video Link is a summary of Homer Simpson as Odysseus.

Keeping this post short and sweet, guys! Got a lot on my plate.

Until next time, remember to be good to one another.

Comic Book Retro Spotlight: "There's No Hope In Crime Alley"

When I wasn't doing my 50 year comic flashback posts every month, I missed some months with some comics that were influential in my nascent comic book collecting days.

One of those months was December 1975 and one of those issues was Detective Comics#457.

It starts off with this gorgeous cover by Dick Giordano with colors by Tatjanna Wood.  

The lead story in this issue was "There's No Hope In Crime Alley" written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Dick Giordano. 

 

I actually did a post about this issue back on July 24, 2014, almost to day 12 years ago.  

I've been doing this blog that long.

What have I done with my life? 

Sorry. I need to sit with myself and be depressed.

...

...

...

OK, I'm back. So if you don't mind, I'm going to let my 12 year younger self do most of the heavy lifting for this post.

Old person me will return at the end.   

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Today I wanted to take a look at a story that I read way back in my youth, a story that continues to be a favorite of mine and of many other Bat-fans, "There's No Hope In Crime Alley".

Written by Denny O'Neil and illustrated by Dick 

Giordano, it relates the tale of Batman revisiting the site of his parents' murder on the anniversary of their deaths. But 

more, he's on the lookout for a particular individual. 

It seems in modern Batman stories, you can't go more than 

a month or two without seeing Thomas and Martha Wayne 

being shot dead and poor young Bruce left alone with his 

grief and his rage.  But when I first started reading comics 

on a regular basis, this was not always the case. Now 

I can't swear to the veracity of my memory on this but I do 

believe "There Is No Hope..." is the first time I had witnessed 

a modern telling of the seminal event that led to 

Bruce Wayne's destiny as the Batman.  

I may not have been quite as young as Bruce Wayne is 

depicted here when I read this story but I was still young 

enough to understand the raw terror of watching your parents murdered. 

What O'Neil adds here is the element of someone 

who took this devastated young boy in her arms and did 

what she could to help.

As we discover, it is this woman that Batman is keeping 

watch for, this woman who showed him kindness and 

compassion. And for the first time, I truly realized the pain 

at the core of Bruce Wayne that drives the Batman to 

do what he does. 

I've not sure what led editor Julius Schwartz 

to get Dick Giordano to draw this story. 

By this point, Giordano was no longer the mainstay inker of 

the Bat titles he had been earlier in the 1970's, working 

with Irv Novick, Bob Brown and Neal Adams. 

But there's a certain grounded quality to Giordano's 

work that underscores the reader's empathy with O'Neil's 

words and the actions of the Batman. So kudos to 

Dick Giordano for a magnificent job as well as to 

Julie Schwartz for getting him.  

But a tip of the hat to Denny O'Neil who crafts an 

extraordinary story in those brief 12 pages. 

When Batman finally meets up with Leslie Thompkins, we 

find two people shaped by the same tragedy. But whereas 

Bruce swore vengeance on all criminals and took up 

the guise of a bat to bring fear to evildoers, Leslie 

Thompkins pursues her work with the same 

kindness and compassion she gave to young Bruce.  

And through her, Batman realizes that maybe there is hope in 

Crime Alley after all. 

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'Tis I, OLD Dave-El back.  Detective Comics#457 

also featured an Elongated Man back up, 

the conclusion of a two parter by Bob 

Rozakis and Kurt Shaffenberger.

Given the lighter tone of most Elongated 

stories, I'm a bit surprised Schaffenberger 

wasn't called on more often to draw his adventures.

Ralph Dibny drank a formula called "Gingold" to 

give him is stretching powers. It had been 

established that Sue was allergic to this 

formula so one central mystery to this tale is 

how is she doing that?

Sue saves Ralph and reveals the tricks of her trade.

So Sue loses out on recognition for her own achievements but 

hey, she's part of a power couple so there's that. 

Hey, it was 1975. We thought polyester was a fashion choice 

so what did we know?  

But the main driving force was that poweful lead story,

Over the years, the role of Leslie Thompkins has been retconned

where she became a medical doctor who knows Batman is Bruce Wayne and has provided medical assistance to Batman and his retinue.

Thompkins is still a character driven by compassion but she has a sharper edge to her and less than patient with Bruce's chosen 

life of violence.    

by Mike W Barr, Alan Davis and Paul Neary , Detective Comics#574 (1987)

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Next week: Comic Book Retro 50 returns with a look at the comic books I bought in July 1976.