Response to January 6, 2021
The scenes on my TV from the terrorist attack on the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow (that is, steal) the election, will remain in my head for a long time to come. As with many, I’m appalled, saddened. If I thought covid-19 was unprecedented calling for unprecedented prayers (that is, prayers of lament; see my devotional book, Unprecedented Prayers for Unprecedented Times), we’ve now gone even further into the ‘unprecedented.’ Lament remains the only prayer-form I can offer these days for this country I adopted and became a citizen of. And I became a citizen precisely because it’s election process was so secure, so regular, so safe.
I grew up in apartheid South Africa and, even though as a white citizen I had the right to vote (unlike so many of my friends who were refused the right in the land of their birth and the birth of generations of their ancestors because of skin color), by the time I reached voting age, the apartheid regime had become unstable, unsettled and fearful. Elections were postponed and cancelled. I never got a chance to vote until I became a U.S. citizen in my early 50’s and voted for the first time. I don’t take voting for granted. I therefore lament over the attempt by Trump supporters to overthrow the election results because, tragically, they believe every lie Trump tells (and he’s been lying every day since he’s been in office; lies that can all be fact-checked and found wanting). His repeated lies about the election remind me of the story the fisherman tells of fish that got away. Every time the story is told, the size of the fish grows, and the story becomes more outlandish. Every time Trump tells his version of the 2020 election, the lie gets bigger and the story more outlandish (he won by a landslide!). He lost both the popular and the electoral vote, as Trump’s multiple lawsuits have proven, over and over.
This morning I read an article in the BBC news, “What the Capitol riot means for the US foreign policy” [1]. It quotes the Secretary-General of Nato, who made a statement normally reserved for rogue regimes, but it was about the U.S. this time: “… shocking scenes in Washington DC. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected” (emphasis mine). The author of the article then said, “The episode says much about Washington’s standing in the world after four years of the Donald Trump presidency.” He went onto to describe just how far the US has fallen in the eyes of the world. Trump didn’t make America great. Trump trashed America in the eyes of the world. I know this to be true, because I travel abroad, and I have family and friends around the globe who tell me the same thing. It wasn’t easy to read things like:
The US’s loss of standing in the world is just another of those unprecedented tragedies I lament over. If I weren’t a Christian, this would be enough to lament about. But I am a Christian. I follow the one, Jesus, who claimed, “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6). So, it saddens me, in the core of my being, that people who claim to be Christian and follow Jesus have sold themselves to Donald Trump’s lies, have traded the truth for a lie, love for hatred, made a human being their god whom they were willing to follow to the point of committing seditious crimes. The insurrectionists waved oversized flags that included Trump’s name and “make America godly again.” They carried large crosses (the symbol of Christianity) and bowed their heads before them, presumably in prayer. Cried out ‘believe in Jesus’ and then, shockingly added, ‘believe in Trump.’ Christian imagery was widely visible among these violent insurrectionists. Flags and banners claimed things like ‘Jesus saves,’ ‘Jesus 2020,’ and much more. Their hate-filled actions of January 6 demonstrate they were acting in an anti-Christ manner. With their leader Trump, not only have they trashed the US in the eyes of the world, they’ve also trashed Jesus and Christianity.
Sedition against the US government, indeed the entire nation took place on January 6, but so too did idolatrous blasphemy against the Lord of the Universe, whom I happen to worship, take place, discrediting Christianity in the eyes of many. An ardent supporter of Trump posted, “Never worry about who will be offended if you speak the truth. Worry about who will be misled, deceived and destroyed if you don’t.” I don’t know whether that was a hint that I should join the believers in Trump’s lies or whether it signals a sign that they’ve woken up and seen the damage done to and by those who believed Trump’s lies. I pray it’s the latter. I lament, over and over, the mockery Trump’s supporters have made and continue to make of the Christian religion.
I echo the popular conservative Bible teacher, Beth Moore’s tweet, “I don’t know the Jesus some have paraded and waved around in the middle of this treachery today. They may be acting in the name of some other Jesus but that’s not Jesus of the Gospels” [2]. To which I say a loud Amen!
I lament, as Jeremiah did centuries earlier, and complain of my fellow-Christians as he did of his people:
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading. (Lamentations 2:14)
There have been many, on a variety of platforms, who've had numerous ‘false and deceptive visions’ and made ‘false and misleading’ claims which we, followers of the One who said, I am the Truth, should reject and denounce, and not blindly follow as Israel did it's false prophets. And we know what happened to that nation—sacked by the Babylonians and taken into captivity.
But I have hope, as the prophets did. They believed, as the psalmist put it, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps 145:8). Even Jeremiah, despite his long lament over his nation and people (the longest lament in the Bible), believed God’s steadfast love never ceases, and his mercies never come to an end (Lam 3:22-23).
But (and, yes, there’s a ‘but’) we need to heed the prophet Joel’s admonition: “Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). He is a God who generously, indeed lavishly scatters grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy, even for the worst of us.
I’ll continue to lament, even as I keep reminding myself that I lament in the presence of a God who is gracious and merciful.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55585546
[2] In https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/01/trump-capitol-riot-evangelical-leaders-reactions.html
My book, Unprecedented Prayers is available at: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/jackie-smallbones/unprecedented-prayers-for-unprecedented-times/paperback/product-85vmyr.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Jackie L. Smallbones©
Orange City, Iowa
January 2021
The scenes on my TV from the terrorist attack on the Capitol and the attempt to overthrow (that is, steal) the election, will remain in my head for a long time to come. As with many, I’m appalled, saddened. If I thought covid-19 was unprecedented calling for unprecedented prayers (that is, prayers of lament; see my devotional book, Unprecedented Prayers for Unprecedented Times), we’ve now gone even further into the ‘unprecedented.’ Lament remains the only prayer-form I can offer these days for this country I adopted and became a citizen of. And I became a citizen precisely because it’s election process was so secure, so regular, so safe.
I grew up in apartheid South Africa and, even though as a white citizen I had the right to vote (unlike so many of my friends who were refused the right in the land of their birth and the birth of generations of their ancestors because of skin color), by the time I reached voting age, the apartheid regime had become unstable, unsettled and fearful. Elections were postponed and cancelled. I never got a chance to vote until I became a U.S. citizen in my early 50’s and voted for the first time. I don’t take voting for granted. I therefore lament over the attempt by Trump supporters to overthrow the election results because, tragically, they believe every lie Trump tells (and he’s been lying every day since he’s been in office; lies that can all be fact-checked and found wanting). His repeated lies about the election remind me of the story the fisherman tells of fish that got away. Every time the story is told, the size of the fish grows, and the story becomes more outlandish. Every time Trump tells his version of the 2020 election, the lie gets bigger and the story more outlandish (he won by a landslide!). He lost both the popular and the electoral vote, as Trump’s multiple lawsuits have proven, over and over.
This morning I read an article in the BBC news, “What the Capitol riot means for the US foreign policy” [1]. It quotes the Secretary-General of Nato, who made a statement normally reserved for rogue regimes, but it was about the U.S. this time: “… shocking scenes in Washington DC. The outcome of this democratic election must be respected” (emphasis mine). The author of the article then said, “The episode says much about Washington’s standing in the world after four years of the Donald Trump presidency.” He went onto to describe just how far the US has fallen in the eyes of the world. Trump didn’t make America great. Trump trashed America in the eyes of the world. I know this to be true, because I travel abroad, and I have family and friends around the globe who tell me the same thing. It wasn’t easy to read things like:
- “The US has haemorrhaged both influence and soft power” around the globe.
- “The US is by far the most politically dysfunctional and divided of all the world’s advanced industrial democracies.”
- “No wonder then that the Chinese President Xi Jinping is convinced that the crisis has demonstrated the superiority of his system.”
The US’s loss of standing in the world is just another of those unprecedented tragedies I lament over. If I weren’t a Christian, this would be enough to lament about. But I am a Christian. I follow the one, Jesus, who claimed, “I am the truth” (Jn 14:6). So, it saddens me, in the core of my being, that people who claim to be Christian and follow Jesus have sold themselves to Donald Trump’s lies, have traded the truth for a lie, love for hatred, made a human being their god whom they were willing to follow to the point of committing seditious crimes. The insurrectionists waved oversized flags that included Trump’s name and “make America godly again.” They carried large crosses (the symbol of Christianity) and bowed their heads before them, presumably in prayer. Cried out ‘believe in Jesus’ and then, shockingly added, ‘believe in Trump.’ Christian imagery was widely visible among these violent insurrectionists. Flags and banners claimed things like ‘Jesus saves,’ ‘Jesus 2020,’ and much more. Their hate-filled actions of January 6 demonstrate they were acting in an anti-Christ manner. With their leader Trump, not only have they trashed the US in the eyes of the world, they’ve also trashed Jesus and Christianity.
Sedition against the US government, indeed the entire nation took place on January 6, but so too did idolatrous blasphemy against the Lord of the Universe, whom I happen to worship, take place, discrediting Christianity in the eyes of many. An ardent supporter of Trump posted, “Never worry about who will be offended if you speak the truth. Worry about who will be misled, deceived and destroyed if you don’t.” I don’t know whether that was a hint that I should join the believers in Trump’s lies or whether it signals a sign that they’ve woken up and seen the damage done to and by those who believed Trump’s lies. I pray it’s the latter. I lament, over and over, the mockery Trump’s supporters have made and continue to make of the Christian religion.
I echo the popular conservative Bible teacher, Beth Moore’s tweet, “I don’t know the Jesus some have paraded and waved around in the middle of this treachery today. They may be acting in the name of some other Jesus but that’s not Jesus of the Gospels” [2]. To which I say a loud Amen!
I lament, as Jeremiah did centuries earlier, and complain of my fellow-Christians as he did of his people:
Your prophets have seen for you
false and deceptive visions;
they have not exposed your iniquity
to restore your fortunes,
but have seen oracles for you
that are false and misleading. (Lamentations 2:14)
There have been many, on a variety of platforms, who've had numerous ‘false and deceptive visions’ and made ‘false and misleading’ claims which we, followers of the One who said, I am the Truth, should reject and denounce, and not blindly follow as Israel did it's false prophets. And we know what happened to that nation—sacked by the Babylonians and taken into captivity.
But I have hope, as the prophets did. They believed, as the psalmist put it, “The LORD is gracious and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love” (Ps 145:8). Even Jeremiah, despite his long lament over his nation and people (the longest lament in the Bible), believed God’s steadfast love never ceases, and his mercies never come to an end (Lam 3:22-23).
But (and, yes, there’s a ‘but’) we need to heed the prophet Joel’s admonition: “Return to the LORD, your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love” (Joel 2:13). He is a God who generously, indeed lavishly scatters grace upon grace, mercy upon mercy, even for the worst of us.
I’ll continue to lament, even as I keep reminding myself that I lament in the presence of a God who is gracious and merciful.
[1] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-55585546
[2] In https://slate.com/human-interest/2021/01/trump-capitol-riot-evangelical-leaders-reactions.html
My book, Unprecedented Prayers is available at: https://www.lulu.com/en/us/shop/jackie-smallbones/unprecedented-prayers-for-unprecedented-times/paperback/product-85vmyr.html?page=1&pageSize=4
Jackie L. Smallbones©
Orange City, Iowa
January 2021
