Jamin Bradley

Trump has changed the name of the “Department of Defense” to the “Department of War.” This strikes a particular chord for me as a pacifist. My denomination of Free Methodism holds “that every nation has a responsibility to protect itself against invasion and aggression” but “regard aggression, as an instrument of local, state, or national policy, as indefensible.”

The quest for war and power flies in the face of Jesus. Yet Americans have chosen to appoint a hateful, spiteful, power-hungry leader to the white house. He takes no responsibility for anything. He posts threats online every day. He gaslights everyone about what’s real and what’s not. He blames his enemies for everything. He has a habit of speaking in extremes. He lies without any hint of repentance. He is cruel and rude. When his own party called him out on the Epstein files, he turned on them too.

I think of King Saul, Israel’s first King. He was a young, handsome, tall man with a rich father. These qualities are intentionally mentioned, for Saul seemed like everything Israel wanted in a King: the young, attractive, rich kid who reminded them of the Nephilim-giant kings of other nations. Trump captured people’s attention in his own way, using his wealth and celebrity to his advantage as he spoke/lied in ways that made everyone sound like idiots and made him sound like a genius. America fell for it and now sees what King Saul is really like.

From defense to war. “It’s just a word,” some might say. If it is, then why change it? Obviously, for conceptual and thematic reasons. It is but another threat on his long list of threats.

Christians: Look to Jesus, not to Trump.