Evil

 I am not nor have I ever been a Bible Thumper. 

I know it pretty well... probably better than most Hard Time Christians, since I've (1) read it cover to cover two and a half-times, (2) went to a Christian school (Lutheran) from Kindergarten through sixth grade, (3) went to a Catholic College (now Bellarmine University) where 9 hours of credit in Theology were required, and where I took 15 hours, (4) read all of the textbooks assigned to my then-wife when she was studying for a master's degree in theology from Notre Dame, and (5) have attended services at at least 70 different churches over the years, including all but three of the Catholic churches in Louisville.

And I'm reading it again now. Out loud, to my daughter. We read a page a day, and as of today we're on page 747. Getting close to the halfway point.

And in our reading today, a line from Psalm 96 * struck me.

It's pretty simple, isn't it? 

And yet...how many "Christians" have supported Donald Trump, not only knowing that he was evil, but even willing to defend his evil nature because it served their agenda? 

According to Psalm 96, you don't cut bargains with Evil because it's expedient. The ends do not justify the means. When you see Evil, you speak up against it. You oppose it.

Pretty simple.

Seems like pretty good advice for non-parochial territory, too, doesn't it? Obviously there are times when you have to compromise in order to achieve something, but that doesn't mean you have to kowtow to evil. When you do that, you're just giving yourself an excuse to do something that you know you shouldn't be doing. I can't help but think that that is the way you attenuate your spirit, and eventually you pay big time for that kind of shit.

* It might be Psalm 97 in "your" Bible. I'm reading the Orthodox Study Bible--published by Thomas Nelson, New King James Version--a gift from a very devout Greek Orthodox friend, and it gives the number as 96, but it's followed by a 97 in parentheses.