The world watched last week as a mindless mob took over the U.S. Capitol. 

            It was not an attempted coup, as many pundits alleged. If it were a coup, they would have been much better organized. 

            Any genuine coup has an organization ready to take over. Incompetently, perhaps, but still ready to take over. 

            This gang had no plans beyond disrupting Congress. Desecrating the temple of government. Looting a few souvenirs. Putting their feet up on Nancy Pelosi’s desk. 

            I’m surprised they didn’t piss on it. 

            Maybe they did, and the news networks chose not to show it. If so, it was probably live-streamed (no pun intended) on social media. 

            The mob reminded me of some of my high school acquaintances going out on Halloween night solely so that they could throw eggs at windows and knock over fences. 

            I can cause damage, therefore I am. 

Messiah complex

            For a second or two, those TV cameras caught a woman brandishing a placard: “Jesus Saves.”

            There, I think, is the overlooked key to this demonstration. 

            At last count, 82 people had been arrested and 13 charged, as a result of the riot. When – and if – they come to trial, I expect that some will invoke religious freedom as their defence. 

            They were only doing what Jesus did, they’ll argue, when he cleared the crooks and shysters from a courtyard of his temple in Jerusalem. He didn’t attempt to take over the temple either. He shut it down for a while, then cleared out. He had made his point.

            Study after study shows that Donald Trump draws most of his support – around 80% -- from white evangelicals who call themselves Christian. 

            American evangelicals, I suggest, have a Messiah Complex. They keep expecting a person to come forward who will provide the leadership they need to change the world. 

`           Look at the megachurches with thousands and thousands of worshippers at Sunday services. The televangelists drawing millions of viewers – and dollars. The crusades that pack stadiums. All built around the charismatic qualities of single individuals.

            When that messiah-figure fades, or proves to have feet of clay, so do the ministries. 

Biblical precedents

            Evangelicals view the whole Bible, from beginning to end, as a single coherent package. Every word is divinely authorized. Which lets them pick and choose the bits that fit together. 

            And so they can trace an abundance of messiah-figures, all anticipating the coming of Jesus. 

·      Moses, leading his people away from the Egyptians

·      Joshua, leading his people against the Canaanites

·      David, leading his people against the Philistines

·      Elijah, leading a faithful few against the prophets of Baal

            Given those stories, it’s hardly surprising that many evangelicals have been programmed to see Donald Trump as yet another savior, leading his people against the Democrats. 

            Further, the Bible culminates with a mighty showdown – the final battle of good against evil – in the Revelation of John, a hermit on the island of Patmos whose text gives little indication that he knew anything about the life and/or teachings of Jesus himself. 

            Revelation, coupled with the story of Jesus trashing the Temple, provides all the justification those rioters would need to believe that they were doing the Lord’s work when they stormed the Capitol. 

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Copyright © 2020 by Jim Taylor. Non-profit use in congregations and study groups, and links from other blogs, welcomed; all other rights reserved.

                  To comment on this column, write jimt@quixotic.ca

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YOUR TURN

Last week, I mused about the difference between being alone, and being lonely. Wayne Irwin’s situation is very similar to mine – his wife Flora died within a week of my wife Joan’s death. “Much of my emotional nourishment has come by means of conversations, socially distant and virtual, with dear friends,” Wayne wrote. “Being an introvert, I have no difficulty with being alone. Talking and walking (at a distance) with others always lightens the sense of loneliness I feel from time to time.

            “I make sense of it for myself by thinking of Unity as a metaphor for Creator; Duality a metaphor for Creation; and Love as the irresistible pull of Duality to return to Unity. Relationship, in my view, both minimal and profound, is participation in that dynamic -- a wonder of existence.”

Bob Rollwagen would agree with Wayne: “There is no substitute for being together with another. Some [are] harder than others to replace. Others, much harder. But I have to admit, swooshing along on a ski trial on a brisk, sunny winter day alone with your thoughts is pretty special also. Memories are special and good memories push us to new levels of sharing. It starts on the trail, alone.”

Ray Shaver: Your article stirred up many thoughts about being alone vs being lonely.  When my dear lovely and loving wife Queenie died eight years ago I experienced all of the alone and lonely contrasts of life and living that you describe.  And then I met my partner Janice whose husband died many years ago.  Janice lives three floors apart from me in the same condo building.  We spend a lot of time together, a change in our lives that has again altered the alone and lonely experiences in our lives.”  

Isabel Gibson: “Yes, all those benefits speak to the sneaky way other people infiltrate our lives -- and we theirs, I suppose.

            “When I'm most tired of the obligation to make dinner for the two of us, I do try to remember that eating alone sucks. We are, indeed, social animals, which is I think why we're having so much trouble with this virus. We won't stay away from others even if it kills us.”

            Isabel also commented on the previous column, about entering a new and unpredictable year [JT: Maybe she was too busy cooking to read?]: “I love that image of diving into a New Year as from a dock. Me, I can't dive, so my only lake immersions (in bloody cold Lake of the Woods) saw me going in from the ladder at one end of the dock, descending rung by rung with a noodle under my arms. I can swim, but not so well when I'm gasping for breath from the icy water.

            “I can understand that desire to tip-toe into this year. I never launch into a new year with much enthusiasm. I have always felt it as a weight -- a whole year I have to get through. Silly, eh?”

Barb Taft commented, “Many of us would agree with your version of being alone. Memories are a gift.”

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Psalm paraphrase

Psalm 139 is one of the great psalms; it’s a shame we break it up into little chunks for use through the year(s). 

1          You know everything, God.  You know me inside and out. 

2          You know when I sit down, you know when I stand up;  you can read my mind.

3          Before I take a step, you know where my foot will fall. 

4          You know what I will say before I say it. 

5          I cannot get away from you. 
Wherever I turn, whatever I do, you are there. 
Sometimes your constant presence makes me feel fenced in; 
you are larger than life, and I am next to nothing. 

6          I cannot possibly match wits with you; 
I might as well try to fly like an eagle, or swim like a seal. 

13        No wonder you know me so well, God. 
Even before my mother knew I existed, you wrote the genetic code of my cells.

14        You created my life. 

15        Wombs and worlds are one to you; 
they have no secrets from you; 
you are the essence of all life. 

16        As once you shaped the cells that formed my fingernails and my hair, 
so you still guide me through the events of each day. 

17        Even if I am only a fleeting thought flickering through your mind, I am in good company. 

18        All of creation owes its existence to you, God. 
I can no more imagine your thoughts than I can recall every detail of my dreams. 
But you are not a dream, for when I wake, you are still with me. 

You can find paraphrases of most of the psalms in the Revised Common Lectionary in my book Everyday Psalmsavailable from Wood Lake Publishing, info@woodlake.com.

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TECHNICAL STUFF

If you want to comment on something, send a message directly to me, jimt@quixotic.ca.

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                  I write a second column each Sunday called Sharp Edges, which tends to be somewhat more cutting about social and justice issues. To sign up for Sharp Edges, write to me directly, jimt@quixotic.ca, or send a note to sharpedges-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca

                  And for those of you who like poetry, please check my webpage .https://quixotic.ca/My-Poetry I posted several new poetic works there a few weeks ago. If you’d like to receive notifications about new poems, write me at jimt@quixotic.ca, or subscribe yourself to the list by sending a blank email (no message) to poetry-subscribe@lists.quixotic.ca (If it doesn’t work, please let me know.)

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PROMOTION STUFF

To use the links in this section, you’ll have to insert the necessary symbols. Some spam filters have blocked my posts because they’re suspicious of some of the web links.

                  Wayne Irwin's “Churchweb Canada,” an inexpensive service for any congregation wanting to develop a web presence, with free consultation. http://wwwDOTchurchwebcanadaDOTca He’s also relatively inexpensive!

                  I recommend Isabel Gibson’s thoughtful and well-written blog, wwwDOTtraditionaliconoclastDOTcom. She also has lots of beautiful photos. Especially of birds.

                  Tom Watson writes a weekly blog called “The View from Grandpa Tom’s Balcony” -- ruminations on various subjects, and feedback from Tom’s readers. Write him at tomwatsoATgmailDOTcom (NB that’s “watso” not “watson”)

ALVA WOOD’S ARCHIVE

                  I have acquired (don’t ask how) the complete archive of the late Alva Wood’s collection of satiric and sometimes wildly funny columns about a mythical village’s misadventures. I’ve put them on my website: http://quixotic.ca/Alva-Wood-Archive. You’re welcome to browse. No charge. (Although maybe if I charged a fee, more people would find the archive worth visiting.)