How did we get here?

My dear sweet friend Crystal, someone whom I care about very much is from Butler.  Pray, not just for Donald Trump (regardless of your opinion of him), but pray for Butler, pray for the commonwealth of Pennsylvania, and pray for healing.

It’s Saturday, 13 July 2024, and I can’t believe what I just saw.  A former president, and a presidential candidate being shot.  My grandpa was a Democrat (old school Democrat, loved Kennedy and told me about JFK being shot).  JFK died as the results of his wounds.

But I remember Grandpa telling me about it.

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And (spoiler)!  I’m related to Ronald Wilson Reagan.  Not quite sure how, but Grandpa met him at a family reunion.  Said he was a nice guy, but LOVED to talk about politics. 

But, that’s the thing, we could have entirely avoided this.  They got along, even though they had different political views.  That was an actual thing at one point (not that there hasn’t always been political violence).  Maybe it’s because of my age, but it seems like political violence has gotten a lot more common.

While a lot of people love to scream “January 6th”!  The truth is, while Trump says some absurd things, so does Biden.  People tend to forget that Biden likes to portray Trump as a “threat to democracy” and a “racist”.  And a lot of Biden’s supporters seem to be just fine calling Trump a Nazi (even though Trump’s son-in-law is Jewish), and Trump was responsible for negotiating the Abraham accords. 

That said, some of his supporters believe lies about “Nazis in Ukraine”, but you’ll note that this is not a claim Trump makes (I want to make this more of a reflective article, but I wish Trump would call out people who make claims like MTG makes about Nazis in Ukraine,  Chief Rabbi of Kyiv responds to Marjorie Greene's "Ukrainian Nazis" accusation)

I do appreciate some of the liberal outlets being more open to willing to dialogue with Republicans after this incident, but a lot of the headlines are still absolute garbage. 

And I guess that’s just it, regardless of ones politics, this should horrify all Americans. 

A major presidential candidate, and a former president had an attempt on his life.  A young man that decided to make a horrible decision is dead.  A man protecting his family is dead.  These are lives that can never be replaced. 

As for Trump, I don’t always believe that leaders are divinely anointed by God, but I do believe the man has gone through hell and back for his country.  Now, this isn’t to say I agree with all his policies (I thank him for appointing judges that overturned Roe V. Wade, but, I also think he isn’t pro-life enough), but I think it’s fair to say he’s persecuted.  And this is what Jesus says about persecution, as recorded in Bible,

“Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of God.” (Matthew 5:11)

As for how to solve the problems with political violence and division, God is the answer.  God should be the uniting force to our country. 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD, the people whom he has chosen as his heritage.” (Psalm 33:12)

 Adam Charles Hovey is the creator of the Catholicism, News, and Whatever community on Locals; Catholicism, News, and Whatever community

And is the host of the weekly Bible Study "Coffee and Christianity".  Coffee and Christianity

*All verses from the ESVCE, ESV Catholic Edition with Deuterocanonical Books, Copyright 2017 by Crossway.