Killing in the name of

In our new america, where “legitimate political discourse” is confused with haphazard insurrections, a whole range of other vile activities rapidly becomes normalized.

When Paul Pelosi, husband of former Speaker of the House Nancy, was attacked by a hammer-wielding home invader, the writing was on the wall for what was to come. How did David DePape get to that point, believing that Pelosi and other Democratic leaders needed to be terminated like vermin? It would be easy — and alas, it has been by many conservative corners of the web and media — to merely discount him as an outsider, a “bad apple”, an outlier, or a miscellaneous scapegoat (gay/progressive/jew/etc).

But perhaps old Occam has more incisive things to say about this new phenomenon. Case in point, when the leader of the free world claims that political foes are “vermin”, that’s more than rhetoric. That’s a direct call to action to those like DePape that are on the edge psychologically.

Don’t forget James Alex Fields, the Charleston protest car attacker. The trauma of that scene was just as brutal and stunning. Same question: how did Fields get to that point? What pushed his thinking to that point?

Kyle Rittenhouse, stalking Progressive protestors in the dark with a long rifle. How did he get there?

And now enter Vance Boelter, the bleakest of them all. Boelter had a detailed assassination plan, complete with lists of Democratic names, spouses, addresses, to seek out in the middle of the night and murder in the homes. He was halfway successful with the two families that he destroyed.

Boelter eerliy shares a lot of my own upbringing, being involved in Christian ministry, homeschooling, mission work, etc. Where did he go wrong?

In his condoning of the January 6 Insurrectionists, Trump was heard yelling at Kevin McCarty: “Well, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.” And these words proved a roadmap for Trump shortly after he took office when he pardoned nearly all of them, including the most violent of police-beating criminals.

The message is consistent and clear. It’s a perversion of Luke 6:28 to “bless those that curse you”:

Do harm in my name, and I will forgive you. I will bless you for destroying my enemies.