My Enemies

There is a dangerous enemy out there. They hate our freedom. They rejoice in any catastrophe that befalls us and credit God’s wrath. They have a plan to conquer us and subject us to a theocratic tyranny. They want to turn back the clock on the rights and opportunities of women. They are known by many names: the religious right, values voters, Christianists. It is really hard to love them. They are batshit insane and can’t be reasoned with.

They think that Jesus is coming back any minute now to unleash destruction on nonbelievers and make a hell on earth. Seriously, that’s what they think about Jesus. The whole Prince of Peace thing, the sermon on the mount, that wasn’t their Jesus. Their Jesus is a hater.

They support policies that they think will hasten the day when the Jews in Israel all get killed (except for 144,000 of them). It’s nothing personal. They love Jews, really. They just reckon that a bunch of dead Jews is the precursor to the second coming. With friends like them, Israel doesn’t need enemies. They are way more likely to bring about the destruction of Israel than all the Muslims in the world.

Meanwhile, while we’re stuck here on earth awaiting damnation, they aim to establish the most legalistic and totalitarian regime that they can. They don’t believe that Jesus died for their sins and that their sins are forgiven. Their Jesus is judgmental and holds every little sin against them, even sins that they just thought about committing. Every one of them is one masturbation session away from hellfire.

How do we fight such an enemy? I pray for them. I rebuke them for slandering God. I rejoice that they are a minority, and I hope that they stay that way. I don’t think that we’ll ever be free of them, but they can with effort be managed. It’s like living with a cancer that can’t be cured but which can be kept under control.