Got your hand basket ready?

First, let me profess my undying devotion to Christianity, a faith (NOT a religion) that has seen me through many good and bad times in my life. I pray every morning I rise, before every meal I have, and every evening before I go to sleep.

No, I don’t consider myself a “good” Christian, but I consciously do the best I can on a daily basis. And I will admit that I feel the devil tugging at me constantly, always trying to trip me up, and sometimes succeeding.

But I must be doing something right, because Almighty GOD is still blessing me. Ahh-men!

There….you have my testimony! Now let me get on with why I’ve convened this gathering of faithful readers and likewise Christians to my commentary this week.

America, a country where we are blessed to have freedom of faith and religion, has gods that are dangerously, but assuredly, destroying our nation’s very core.

No, I’m not jumping holy roller on you. 

These are the scary facts:

DONALD TRUMP is a god to over 70 million people in our country, so much so that he literally can do no wrong right in front of their eyes, and they still feverishly hunger for the day that he returns to the presidency. This man is facing 91 criminal indictments and counting, led an insurrection against our nation’s Capitol, lies, cheats, steals…and these people could care less. Their worship is so strong, boundless, and mindless. People who refuse to see the truth, quite frankly,  scare me to death.

THE OWNERSHIP OF GUNS is not just a matter of personal protection for many people, which is good when reasonable, but a source of personal power and control. From the common street thug to the fake commando wannabe, associating one’s self with the ability to take another human’s life to the point of total obliteration is something uniquely American, and wrong.

Think about it. The ability to own a weapon of literal mass destruction normally used on the fields of war in what’s supposed to be a “civilized” society, is something many Americans demand. They say if the bad guys can have an AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle, then they should have the right to own one too. Why? Maybe it’s because we don’t see each other as fellow citizens, but rather eventual adversaries we have to protect ourselves from at a moment’s notice. Gee, don’t wild animals think that way?

Oh yeah, and these folks hunger to destroy! Those of us who want the most powerful guns known to mankind in our personal arsenals want the instant gratification of knowing we have the power to wipe one another out. We don’t even care if innocent school children are slaughtered in the process, as long as nothing gets in the way of our owning whatever weapon we want. And what do we say when there is a mass slaughter of innocent school children in our nation?

 “Gee, can’t we just teach fourth-grade teachers how to use an AR-15?”

It’s barbaric, but it’s also proof that guns are the gods we worship without question in this society.

WEALTH, and the acquisition of as much of it as possible, is another god that turns otherwise normal folks into extraordinarily wicked facsimiles of human beings. No, not every rich person is bad, but there’s a reason why Jesus told his disciples that a rich man will not step one foot past the pearly gates of Heaven unless he gets rid of all of his lavish holdings a nd sparkling possessions.

One can argue that wealth is a tangible symbol of something the true, but jealous GOD, feels He should not have to compete with. To have a million times more money and assets than you could ever spend on yourself in a lifetime is point blank gluttony, and we all know how GOD  feels about gluttony!

If a rich man (or woman) is “blessed” with too much, maybe making sure that their fellow man (or woman) who has very little, is helped to survive this life, and also taught how to survive, may get old Richie Rich through those pearly doors, eh?

Nah…Republicans would never go for it!

ENTERTAINMENT (movies, television, videos, sports, etc.) is a god Americans just can’t get enough of. Proof, you ask? We have churches closing all across this country because Americans aren’t attending, and haven’t been for many years. Meanwhile, sports arenas, movie theaters and corner bars with giant flat screens and plenty beer on tap are bulging at the seams.

The new “ministers” of our time are these folks on social media platforms called “influencers” who have millions of followers who hang on their every word. To what end I don’t have the faintest idea.

Who the heck are these people, and where did they come from? What makes them so special that millions of folk (make the young people) hang on their every word and direction?

Now we have streaming services to replace cable TV, DVDs and CDs, displaying the lowest brow pseudo porno-crap imaginable with loads of cussing, even from other countries, and get this, “for our pleasure and enjoyment.”

Many of us spend more time in front of our TV sets watching this bilge than on our knees in prayer. 

Correction - most of us!

Oh, what our empty lives would be like if we didn’t take so much time being away from our families to be in front of a 52-inch flat screen.

Aha, you counter, you and your family all watch TV together, you say!

So, the TV is the one thing everybody in your household is willing to make time for and pay attention to, eh? Can’t spend quality time with just each other anymore, I guess, huh?

I rest my case.

MY LIST of  America’s dangerous gods could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I’m sure many of you may disagree, or may have a list of your own, or think “list or no list, everything is just fine in this lovely country of ours right now, or at least my part of it!”

But this much I know…the more we consciously ignore the One who gave us all life, makes this planet rotate, the sun to shine, the flowers to grow, and created the air we breath and water we drink - absolute essentials for living that man, despite his best efforts, has NEVER been able to duplicate (only dirty and pollute), and gave us brains and hearts for us to know better - the more we’ll pay for it big time in the end!

And exactly when will that “end” be, you ask?

Given all I’ve cited above, we’re surely going sooner than later!

Got your hand basket ready, yet? OK, Hell, here we come!