Timothy Snyder's on How to Avoid or Resist Tyranny: His quotes with my thoughts-3

Timothy Snyder's third leading statement in his book On Tyranny has to do with the importance of democratic nations having two or more parties. A tyrant will usually work to destroy opposition parties allowing themselves full control. Sometimes, often; such a leader will have help. 

 Here is a statement, supposedly God's words through her, by the false prophet Julie Green. I have written about her before, several times on my blog. She is part of MAGA and often enjoys the same platform with other MAGA members such as Eric Trump Jr., Laura Trump, and Michael Flynn. Three days ago, these were her words. 

 "An exit out of your capital will take place. My children you will see many leave on their own and some will be removed in handcuffs and prisons will be filled with the ones who use to rule this nation. ... when treason is committed, they will be punished, and justice will always be served says the Lord."

 Too many have worked to discredit the Democrats and others--they are supposedly vile, evil criminals attempting to take over the world. Yes, their views on abortion are terribly wrong--but they are not working as minions, in conspiracy, with evil rulers to destroy everyone and take over the world. 

 Here is Snyder's quote: "Beware the one- party state. The parties that remade states and suppressed rivals were not omnipotent from the start. They exploited a historic moment to make political life impossible for their opponents. So support the multi-party system and defend the rules of democratic elections. Vote in local and state elections while you can. [and this one is funny for someone in their eighties but it's for others anyway.] Consider running for office."

 

Timothy Snyder's on How to Avoid or Resist Tyranny: His quotes with my thoughts-2

I am writing the quote for the second chapter of Timothy Snyder's little book, On Tyranny. I will have to correct a small part of it because I am a Christian. You will understand. Here is the quote:

 "It is institutions that help us to preserve decency. They need our help as well. Do not speak of 'Our Institutions' unless you make them yours by acting on their behalf. Institutions do not protect themselves. They fall one after another unless each is defended from the beginning. So chose an institution you care about--a court, a newspaper, a law, a labor union--and take its side."

 So many, for me, a newspaper; I often post from and encourage the reading of The Dispatch because they are moderate conservatives and they don't deal in click bait or conspiracy theories, or sensationalize unimportant news. I am so grateful for them. And they also do some great religious pieces. Of course, I also read the New York Times-the opinion pieces, of David Brooks, Russ Douthat and David French. All Christians by the way. 

 But there is another institution that Snyder did not mention, the Church. And this is the great thing - the Church will not fall, maybe here in America suffer a little, suffer greatly in other places- but as God's word says-"the gates of hell will not prevail against her." In the end, and there will be an end, there will be a forever Kingdom. And there is a forever King- just not, for now a forever earthly king.

 

Timothy Snyder's on How to Avoid or Resist Tyranny: His quotes with my thoughts

This is a small series I am writing on Facebook but thought I would put it here too.

I have been ordering fish from the Wild Alaskan Fish Company. Today with my order was a map of Alaska with places of interest on it. I was interested to see where the mountain Denali was. It is named that because it is the name used by the indigenous people of Alaska. I believe I will keep using that name. What I am going to write next has to do with that- I will let the reader figure out the connection.

 I have been reading a very small book by the historian Timothy Snyder. The book On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century, gives suggestions for how to avoid or resist tyranny. The author is well known for several books, including, Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin. That is not a small book. I am going to quote the beginning of each of his chapters in On Tyranny. Not all at once but every several days. Here is the first: 

"Do Not Obey in Advance: Most of the power of authoritarianism is freely given. In times like these, individuals think ahead about what a more repressive government will want, and then offer themselves without being asked. A citizen who adapts in this way is teaching power what it can do."

 

An Enemies List: The Saints of God

 

The Church is in trouble in America in a strange kind of way—the political against love and faith.

 Almost six months ago, I stated I would keep adding to my review of Megan Basham’s book Shepherds for Sell, beginning with my posting on chapter 3, “Hijacking the Pro-Life Movement.” I spent too many weeks not wanting to read at all, and then I listened to a review by an evangelical pastor, I can’t remember his name. While he said he agreed with some of the book mostly he was disappointed with it and would not finish reading it. His reason, there were simply too many statements by Basham based on only two or three word quotes from those she was critiquing to back up her assumptions about their faith. He had no desire to do that much research. Also noted by others her critiques are not particularly theological. I suddenly, as I listened, realized why I no longer wanted to read—any book! I was forcing myself to deal with nonsense.

I decided I would no longer review the book—but there is still something I have to say that is connected to that book and to other sources. And this will take me far beyond any book review.

This will be a bit political at first but I promise to return to a theological and biblical outlook. Since I wrote the review on chapter 3, we have elected a new president. Some are concerned by a candidate for the President’s cabinet who is friends with Russia’s Putin and the now disposed ruler of Syria.  Many are concerned about the lack of morality among some of the candidates. But important for what I am writing many are troubled by enemies lists, by an insistence on retribution.

One of Trump’s choices for a cabinet position, director of the FBI, Kash Patel, has an enemies list in his book, Government Gangsters. Some high officials, some mostly unknowns, at least one news person is on that list. And this is like a dark shadow in my thoughts about the Church—there are Christians who are also forming an enemies list. I see that when I see a link to a Christianity Today article on Facebook and someone in the comment section states that “that magazine has been dead for a long time.” I see that list when I hear Eric Metaxas referring to  Tim Alberta author of The Kingdom, The Power, and The Glory: American Evangelicals in an Age of Extremism, as a  Marxist, globalist, and his book as coming from the “pit of hell.” 

There is a whole list in Megan Basham’s book Shepherds For Sell. There Is Gavin Orland, Beth Moore, Tim Keller, Karen Swallow Prior, Russell Moore, too many. All of the people on the lists are faithful Christians; they believe in the orthodox teaching of the Church, the truth of the Scriptures, they are pro-life and honor the biblical teaching about marriage. Above all they are faithful to the Lord of the Church, Jesus Christ.

In a troubling time when the secular political culture of the United States has those who wish to do damage to others via courts and institutions and the extremist on both the left and right wish to do damage via violence and courts, to see those who call themselves followers of Jesus begin their own battle against brothers and sisters is grievous.[1] If someone is a heretic say what their false teaching is as it applies to Christ and his church. Are they denying the Trinity, the bodily resurrection of Jesus, the deity of Jesus, the redemptive work of Christ on the cross, but if they are not do not lie about their faithfulness.

I intend to keep posting on Facebook and X any of these people, (I include David French among them who has been badly persecuted) when I see good videos and articles by them. And I predict that those in the Church who keep insulting and defaming faithful Christians will sink (slink) into darker and more troubling areas. Eric Metaxas has already started down that path with his troubling view of justification by faith, insisting that Martin Luther was too obsessed by “justification by faith alone.”[2] When you do not love your brother and sister well you will too soon start fusing that contrariness to the Lord of the Church with false doctrine.

Let love be without hypocrisy, abhor what is evil; cling to what is good.

Be devoted to one another in brotherly love; give preference to one another in honor. Not lagging behind in diligence, fervent in spirit serving the Lord; rejoicing in hope, persevering in tribulation. Devoted to prayer, contributing to the needs of the saints, practicing hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep.

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

Never pay back evil for evil to anyone. Respect what is right in the sight of all men.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all men.

Never take your own revenge beloved, but leave room for the wrath of God, for it is written , “vengeance is Mine I will repay says the Lord.” (Romans 12: 9-19)

 

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[1] The Haman Effect: MAGA Looking Forward to Hanging Enemies Naming His Grace: The Haman Effect: MAGA Looking Forward to Hanging Enemies

 

[2] Eric Metaxas' Letter to the American Church and the Rest of the Story Naming His Grace: Eric Metaxas' Letter to the American Church and the Rest of the Story

 

Eric Trump, Lance Wallnau- Judging Churches according to their political aspirations

 

Eric Metaxas, on New Apostolic Reformation leader, Lance Wallnau’s recent video states “Trump is a new man, he’s a new man, he knows that he’s at war with satanic enemies in the deep state[1] …  “they are the enemies of America they are enemies of we the people.”-- "The message is we’re going to go scourged earth on the deep state.”

Speaking of the future after Trump has finished his first two-years, Wallnau asks, “what can we do to unify before the midterms the next time? The suggestion, referring to a hoped for web site asks, “What if we had people rate the pastor?”

Metaxas excitedly tells him there already is such a web site MYCHURCH FINDER.ORG where churches and pastors are rated. There are three grades of churches explained on this web site. A: “Biblically Sound, Culturally Aware & A Non-Socialistic Legislatively Active Church.”

B: “Biblically Sound AND either Culturally Aware (with a Biblical Worldview) OR A Non-Socialistic Legislatively Active Church, but not both.”

And,

C: “Biblically Sound Church.”

There is also the letters WNR for churches that do not supposedly possess any of those characteristics.

 The description of a Biblically sound church carries all the points most orthodox churches would own including the Nicene Creed and The Apostles Creed. (Well of course the Baptist and the Pentecostals while agreeing with those creeds in their theology do not generally accept the use of creeds.) That would be simply C, according to their rating.

 Going much farther A would include both Culturally awareness described this way:

“ A Biblically based church that is culturally aware with a Biblical Worldview will, in addition to the above, be committed to countering the culture with God’s objective moral truths, teaching regularly on other religions, the Biblical view of Family, Sexuality & Marriage. It will be Pro-life and encourage the congregation to stand boldly for righteousness in the face of the current cultural decay. It will advocate for Biblical values in the arts, entertainment and the marketplace. It will teach Apologetics and a defense of the faith and why Christianity is true vs other religions. It will teach the evils of Marxism, Liberation Theology, Critical Race Theory, DEI, Wokeism, One World Government and any new depravity and corruption that the world will attempt.”

Most orthodox churches would agree with most of the above except the gospel of God’s redemption through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ would be the priority and core message rather than teaching about, “the evils of Marxism, Liberation Theology, Critical Race Theory, DEI, Wokeism, One World Government and any new depravity and corruption ...” Plus, an orthodox church would emphasis the Beatitudes and other biblical principles such as caring for strangers, feeding the hungry, forgiving enemies.

The third part of the description of an A church is called “legislatively active but non-socialistic.” The explanation of that is:

The church will, “be involved with educating the church and be involved with all legislative matters concerning Morality, Family, Sexuality, Marriage, Life, the freedom to evangelize and the protection of Life, Liberty and Property. It will recognize that the Church is the conscience of the government and take that calling seriously. It will understand the legislative responsibilities given to the Church in Exodus 18 and teach God’s plan for government. It will fight for moral justice, not “social justice.” It will understand that the government’s role is to protect Unalienable Rights and not to manage the economy or provide charity or free goods and services to citizens. This is because the latter takes by force the fruits of labor from one person and gives it to another, it forcibly violates the Unalienable Right of an individual to do as he wills with the fruits of his own labor. See kansasvideo.j3ip.com for a full explanation of rights vs goods. And just as important, this kind of church will encourage its congregation to run for office and vote and be involved in campaigns.”

The above “legislatively active but non-socialistic” description is political and consists of points that believers can agree or disagree on. It is the involvement in legislature and political campaigns by the Church that is the problem. We can disagree over federal charity but we shouldn’t disagree with the importance of separation of Church and State—too many have lost their freedom when there was no separation. Many of the first peoples to come to America came because there was no separation of Church and state and they had lost their religious freedom.

I want to return to Metaxas and Wallnau, their very comments, here and in other videos reveal their unkindness and hurt both to faithful followers of Jesus and to the whole Church. In their political ambitions they have lost the biblical distinctiveness that is to mold our love for brothers and sisters and our care for a broken world that needs God’s healing. In this particular video they are speaking about the new Bonhoeffer movie and a review of it in Christianity Today entitled, ‘Bonhoeffer’ Bears Little Resemblance to Reality. Unhappy with the review they insist that Christianity Today is dead. They see others who don’t embrace their political views as satanic.

God has called the Church to preach the good news of God’s grace through Jesus Christ. God always places His Church under the cross not under the banner of any nation.

 

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[1] Eric Metaxas on Bonhoeffer, Political Courage, and Faith in Film

The New Border Czar Connected to a Racist Group

 

I have updated with some extra material. See the footnote at end (1, 27, 2025). 

I don’t usually write political posts, at least not intentionally, but as David French states two important acts in times like this is to care for the vulnerable and speak the truth. Two days ago I posted a small piece on caring for immigrants. In that posting I linked to an earlier post I wrote in 2016, The Federation of American Immigration Reform: abortion & population control merges with anti-immigration. In my posting I linked to an article written by the hate-watch group the Southern Poverty Law Center about the Federation of American Immigration Reform (Fair). I pointed out that immigration group began as an anti-population, pro-abortion and pro-eugenics group. It was racist at its core. It still is.

Here are some quotes from a SPLC paper on the racist’s statements and actions of FAIR’s past founder, John Tanton, and present president Dan Stein:

“Do we leave it to individuals to decide that they are the intelligent ones who should have more kids? And more troublesome, what about the less intelligent, who logically should have less? Who is going to break the bad news [to less intelligent individuals], and how will it be implemented?” – John Tanton, letter to eugenicist Robert K. Graham (now deceased), Sept. 18, 1996

“I’ve come to the point of view that for European-American society and culture to persist requires a European-American majority, and a clear one at that.” – John Tanton, letter to eugenicist and ecology professor Garrett Hardin (now deceased), Dec. 10, 1993”

“I blame ninety-eight percent of responsibility for this country’s immigration crisis on Ted Kennedy and his political allies, who decided some time back in 1958, earlier perhaps, that immigration was a great way to retaliate against Anglo-Saxon dominance and hubris, and the immigration laws from the 1920s were just this symbol of that, and it’s a form of revengism, or revenge, that these forces continue to push the immigration policy that they know full well are [sic] creating chaos and will continue to create chaos down the line.” – FAIR President Dan Stein”

Today I read the whole article about FAIR written by the SPCL. I may have read it all before but I don’t remember. Toward the end of SPLC’s article they write about some of the people who were connected to FAIR and were then in the 2016 Trump administration. A man, Tom Homan, who was the 2016 head of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) is now in Trump’s new 2025 administration as the border czar. His connection to FAIR was as a senior fellow in their legal department.

MNS news recently reported that in 2917 he angered immigrant advocates by "by putting together his ICE office with top appointments for operatives from groups like CIS and the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR).

Also The Hill reporting on the actions of Homan wrote of two different appointees from both FAIR and one of their sister organizations, CIS. Author Rafeal Bernal writes:

"Jon Feere, formerly a legal policy analyst at the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS), has been hired as a special adviser to Thomas D. Homan, acting director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), according to CNN.

And the former executive director of the Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR), Julie Kirchner, was hired as an adviser to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) acting Commissioner Kevin McAleenan."

Homan is still a member of FAIR through his official position, as Senior Fellow, in IRIL the legal division of FAIR, 1.

The problem with too many of these new candidates for various positions in the coming administration is their connection to racist groups. Tied to this is their own racists actions because of those connections. Their viewpoint is not layered with any kind of mercy, thoughtfulness, generosity or as Karen Swallow Prior would say imagination. How do you tend to the needy, even the illegal needy. They are not all the same, they are not all equally guilty. Some are children, some are frightened like children.

1. Since I posted this Tom Homan's picture and Bio have been removed from the IRIL page. I guess someone is reading this article.

Hide the Outcasts; Do Not Betray the Fugitive: Immigrants Today

Then like fleeing birds or scattered nestlings the daughters of Moab will be at the fords of the Arnon. Give us advise, make a decision; cast your shadow like night at high noon; hide the outcasts, do not betray the fugitive. Let the outcasts of Moab stay with you; be a hiding place to them from the destroyer. (Isaiah 16:2-4) 

Moab, like many nations at the time, was under siege by Assyria. There is a promise to the daughters of Moab, those fleeing, that they could come under the protection of Zion and that with reference to the house or (tent) of king David. Isaiah says of this place of safety: 

A throne will even be established in lovingkindness, and a judge sit on it in faithfulness in the tent of David; moreover, he will seek justice and be prompt in righteousness. (5) 

Moab, as the prophet explains, does not choose that protection because of their pride. And although the scripture does not say so one could hope that at least a few of the daughters found refuge in Judah, as one of their ancestors, Ruth, did. Ruth was a Moabitess, of the nation whose people God had forbidden to be a part of Jewish worship. And yet she is an ancestor of the Lord Jesus Christ. The refugees of Moab were a people that God longed to shelter. 

 The Lord still longs to shelter refugees. His tent “home” is the tent of the son of David, Jesus is the only and final Son of David. And we, the adopted sons and daughters of Christ are enclosed in that tent. We should be the sheltering people embracing the refugees. 

 The problems connected to refugees in the United States are of course complex. There are parents who are illegal yet have children who are not. It has been suggested that rather than splitting the families up they all be sent back to their former country. (Where their children will often be in danger.) There are illegal Venezuelans who are not allowed back in their country. There are people like the legal Haitians of Springfield, Illinois, falsely accused of stealing and eating pets, who have been threatened with deportation. There are Latino churches with many closely connected to refugees. There are Catholic and other religious groups being maligned because of their care for both legal and illegal refugees. 

 One of the groups concerned with both illegal and legal immigrants, The Federation For American Immigration Reform (FAIR), I wrote about in December of 2016, “The Federation of American Immigration: abortion & population control merges with anti-immigration.” They have some connections with the past Trump presidency and the newly appointed officials for the coming Trump presidency. The important information about this for Christians is that the organization is not just anti-immigration, but was also began by a man who had ties to Planned Parenthood and was also an anti-population advocate. Also FAIR is a racist group. 

So the complications are deep and connected to extreme moral questions. Some who call themselves Christians insist they are an army sent by enemies to destroy our nation. Some false prophets see them as those who would destroy Christianity. Yet, the daughters and sons of many nations are standing at the gulfs, pastures and gates of our land, yes, some may be criminals, some bringing drugs, but many, most, are seeking to be hidden by our shadow, not betrayed, not be destroyed by the destroyers. They are fleeing from a cross that should not be theirs to bear, but it may be ours; we who hold tightly to the cross of Jesus Christ.

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