prophets – Regardful Reverend

“Between the Christianity of this land, and the Christianity of Christ, I recognize the widest possible difference.” -Frederick Douglass

“A poem cannot stop a bullet. A novel can’t diffuse a bomb. But we are not helpless. We can sing the truth and name the liars.” -Salman Rushdie

A blog entry can’t stop a bullet or war, either. But here I am, writing, because I must. I write from a lens of a follower of Christ. Take what resonates, release what doesn’t from your own spiritual identities.

Are we “great” yet?

Will we ever learn?

I remember visiting the Museum of Nuclear Science and History in Albuquerque NM last summer, and seeing the massive Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM), weighing in at 71,000 tons, labeled, “Peacekeeper MX”. Of course, it was used as a deterrent. But I would suggest there is something missing if we cannot notice, and at least grapple with, the oxymoron of such a combination. Peace…true peace, cannot co-exist with bombs. You cannot pretend peace is “power through strength” if that definition of strength involves violence. I know we live in the realities of war and evil. I am not suggesting passivity, but I endeavor to live into a different power, the one Jesus calls us to, not the army of “Christian” soldiers you marched to in a summer bible camp game with creepy song lyrics. It is not the peace during the Reagan years in which evangelical churches literally prayed for a small ICBM multi-entry vehicle, a missile with 4 warheads for selective targets. (Ask my partner about that experience growing up…) The peace Jesus calls us to is a peace that is not deceitful, pretending to be “strength” but it is that of true peace, the one that “begins with me” the one that “begins with a smile” the one that reminds us of belonging, the one that comes out of authentic awareness of who we are, peace as the “means by which we arrive” to lofty goals, the peace of “generosity….and dynamism”, the one that works for justice, not retribution, the calmness of heart in the midst of chaos, the breath of Jesus who embodied peace in ways that defy our learned, defensive behavior to turn to violence, or sit frozen in fear. (Mother Theresa, Albert Einstein, Oscar Romero, Eckhart Tolle, Martin Luther King Jr., Jesus Christ…) Perhaps a utopian dream, but the peacemakers Jesus called blessed were not the ones like those sitting in oval offices laced with gaudy smatterings of golden trinkets, and preachers who declare such blessings with their hand on the one who would deport Jesus if he set foot in the U.S., who drops bombs in part to get in on the media attention.

There is not a lot we can be certain of, but when assessing the things that cause suffering in this nation, most of the time, we can be certain they are rooted in one or both of the following: capitalism and white supremacy. The actions that exploit and harm for profit in the industrial complexes of militarism, criminal injustice, war, power, and greed, are cogs in the oppressive, trampling wheels upon human lives and this precious planet’s destruction. The phony passion for violence and profit pretending to be patriotism has serious consequences Jesus would turn tables over. You know who should be the table-turners now? Us. We are the hands and feet of Christ.

In the midst of so much we cannot be certain of, we can be in wonder about the biblical prophets who spoke poetically, with a call for transformation, and to courage. Moral courage. They did not speak with false power. Peace is rooted in courage. The courage of peacemakers, not warmongers. Those prophets of old and their poetry cannot be reduced to ideology. Those prophets also remind us that we would be remiss to avoid the brokenness that is real, rather than denying it in order to focus on triumph and prosperity. Prophets in the Bible, they rose up and imagined a different world. “I am about to do a new thing, do not remember the former things, or consider the things of old, I am about to do a new thing, do you not perceive it?” -Isaiah 43:19. Notice how such a call to a moment of consideration is about the present. Prophecy is not fortune telling. It is truth telling. It is imagination, and creativity. The flaw and poor influence of the popular book series, “Left Behind” got it wrong. The power of prophecy lies in calling out what needs to change, what must be critically examined, and how we should get in the way of cycles that repeat and perpetuate exploitation, violence, and neglect. We see the misguided use of images of lions as representation of a “kingly Jesus” (of which Jesus would decry, for Christ is not of empire), where Christian nationalist exceptionalism pretends to care about Jewish people, when in reality, they portray a superficial pretense for their own salvation at the expense of Jews. Their allegiance to such a flawed eschatology is actually characteristic of antisemitism, which they claim to stand against. They continue to turn a blind eye, or even support belligerence toward Palestinians, ethnic cleansing, and colonialism. Jesus weeps.

I have struggled to find words, or perhaps effective responses for the wrath of evil we are seeing unfold in such a heightened manner under the Tr*mp dominance administration of oppressive power. To blog about it and try to keep up would mean multiple entries every.single.day. in order to keep up! (And some people are doing just that, God be with them!) Admittedly, the overwhelm has prevented me from doing so lately. But I know I am defeated if I do not try. That’s what they want- to overwhelm us to acquiescence. I refuse. Yet, Tr*mp is but a boil in the stench of a cesspool of colonialist, exploitative, false-power that is this country’s long, brutal history. And the infrastructure that brought us to this point will not go away when Tr*mp is gone. It could even produce worse, given that Tr*mp is so flagrantly unintelligent and incompetent with little to say but all-cap lies, and word salad speeches topped with disinformation, off-the-cuff “dumb-assery” and all of the incessant nonsense social media posts in between. (As my firstborn would say in response, “Sir, this is a Wendy’s.”) He is reckless and reactive, and his narcissism will be the death of us all. If his speeches ever make any amount of “sense”, albeit still riddled with cruelty, we can be fairly sure it’s white nationalist Stephen Miller speaking/writing instead, even though he likes to throw in all-cap rants as well. We should be even more concerned over his puppet-master manipulation of Tr*mp (as well as Putin and Netanyahu’s) as he implements his dream of what MAGA truly means: white supremacy, conceited, consolidated power, and greed. Tr*mp may not be stupid, but he was dumb enough to fall into dictator’s hands while he aspires to be one.

Tr*mp’s egomaniacal decision, as are many of his decisions, to drop bombs on Iranian nuclear development sites, isn’t about protection or “peace”. His social media posts have been a continuous barrage (no pun intended) of grandstanding, reflective of how dangerous it is to have a fickle narcissist in charge. After all, Tr*mp is the one who, in his first term, killed the JCPOA even though it was working (with which Obama patiently negotiated- because it takes time and hard work to engage in diplomatic negotiations- imagine that). But Tr*mp’s desire to pretend he is a success and savior, to try to take ownership, argued it was “bad”. (You know, like insisting Biden’s rescued and thriving economy is his, while he seeks to destroy it and later blame it on his adversaries. His favorite go-to in lack of accountability: the banal blaming of Biden…) And of course, predictably, Iran began uranium production again. And make no mistake, Tr*mp’s ego-based dominance, pretending his “brilliant” decision to bomb Iran (which with what we know so far, was largely unsuccessful in destroying anything of significance, while costing tax payers around $45 million), is textbook narcissism. And now, there is an even higher risk that Iran will be emboldened to in fact develop a nuke in the aftermath. Tr*mp and his ilk like to say they are bringing “peace” but it’s not about true peace, especially the peace that Christ blesses in his sacred words, “Blessed are the peacemakers”. It is rather for profit, whether it is financial stakes in companies invested in ongoing violence, war, prison/detainment centers, and gun manufacturing, or the profit of hubris. It is not the true strength of doing the hard work of patience, connection, discussion, community, humility, integrity, empathy, and bridge building. Tr*mp wants the focus on him, to have his ego stroked, and does so through distraction- an ongoing carrot-dangling to either please his sycophants and base, or to get us to forget his tyrannical behavior and utter failures. To act as if bombing Iran was only at war with their nuclear program is gaslighting we will not tolerate. Dropping bombs is an act of war. What his premature decision to bomb Iran’s nuclear building sites is about, has to do with other things in opposition of protection, peace, and diplomacy.

It also comes of no surprise, that in the midst of adding fuel to the fire and risks of escalation, that the SCOTUS lifted a lower court ruling that prevented the Tr*mp administration from deporting migrants to countries that aren’t even their places of origin. That move, by a court that has been usurped by Tr*mp loyalists, elevates fear of violence perpetrated against immigrants here, and in lands they could be sent to. In addition, it is yet another weakening of democracy. It erodes even further, a fundamental principle: that of due process. As Justice Sotomayor wrote in her dutiful dissent, joined by Justices Kagan and Jackson: “The government has made clear in word and deed that it feels itself unconstrained by law, free to deport anyone anywhere without notice or an opportunity to be heard.” There is more money to be made in government contracts with prisons and detention centers, and inhumane realities will rise within them. Even as such immoral practices have and will continue in the U.S. (i.e. Florida’s new detention center- more on that soon), it would behoove us to recall the way historical dictators shipped off human beings to places outside their own country to avoid accountability for the violence they would endure…

Every aim of the FOTUS (no, that’s not a typo; what should we expect when a 34x convicted felon is in charge?), is to consolidate power, and undermine democracy, which with war there, will provide even more leverage to harm us here. So, while the escalation with Iran has its own worrisome risks for many, it is also a rising risk for the United States’ ability to prevent authoritarian, tyrannical rule. Tr*mp’s declaration for “National Emergencies” has been at a record high among presidents, and we’re only 6 months into this fiasco! It is an excuse to deregulate important protections in place, to evade congressional approval, impose idiotic tariffs, and override state officials who are saying no to the administration’s federalizing of the National Guard and troop deployments in our own cities. And while domestic terrorism is the biggest threat to America (most recently evident in the largely ignored by Tr*mp, assassination of congresswoman, Melissa Hortman, her partner, Mark and their dog, Gilbert, as well as the recent tragic murder of two firefighters by a reportedly gun-obsessed young man with N*zi tendencies), Tr*mp will invoke the word “terrorism” even more now, but not in its appropriate direction, but in furthering xenophobia and manipulation to drive fear and islamophobia, and justify “crackdowns” on those who don’t meet “American” expectations. (Tr*mp has been too busy profiting- again- off the American duped by announcing his new cologne line instead of saying anything yet about the assassination of the firefighters in Idaho.) This is white nationalism and fascism in full force. In addition, Tr*mp childishly posted the “bomb Iran” song with total indifference to innocent lives lost. The lyrics in that song are disturbing and disgusting. It is a shameful embarrassment. It is nowhere near any resemblance of true leadership, let alone anything near to Jesus-peace. Tr*mp wants peace? He is peace? I think not.

With the same ignorance of Iraqi people and culture during the Iraq war, we are now perpetuating the same with Iran. How many Iranian people are we currently hearing from about what’s going on right now? (A former professor of mine provided a list of some to follow and read- see list below- I have much to continue to learn in that realm, too!) For the U.S. to fear monger about Iran as a serious threat, whether they are or not, is another ironic position, given the bombing, war, and nuclear weapons stock that outweighs Iran’s reality and potentiality. How many nuclear weapons does Iran have compared to the U.S, Russia, Israel, etc.? Zero. For now…Of course nobody wants Iran to have nuclear bombs, but nobody should. And yes, Iran’s government is tyrannical and dismissive of human rights, but are we also paying attention to the erosion of rights here in the U.S., too? The tyranny that is spreading? We are missing where the larger threats and massive destruction capabilities are truly coming from, in addition to from where genocide and war is funded, and even being exulted, in boastful, toxic dominion rhetoric. Author, professor, historian, Timothy Snyder reminds us in his “5 Things to Remember About War: 1. Many things reported with confidence in the first hours or days will turn out not to be true. 2. Whatever they say, the people who start wars are often thinking chiefly about domestic politics. 3. The rationale given for a war will change over time, such that actual success or failure in achieving a named objective is less relevant than one might think. 4. Wars are unpredictable. 5. Wars are easy to start and hard to stop.”

The hypocrisy of funding billions of dollars for the military industrial complex, funding ICE whose money has run dry in its grotesque excessive use, and pretending “fraud and waste” prevention justifies allowing children to starve, die, and suffer under the dismantling of USAID, the removal and erosion of social safety nets (the Big, Ugly Bill), and complicity in war/genocide is abhorrently anti-Christ. To zip-tie people in wheelchairs as they protest, to enrich the ultra-wealthy at the expense of the rest of us, is utterly disgraceful. Oligarchy and democracy cannot coexist. The idea of selling off millions of acres of public lands for oil, logging, tech-bro profits, and AI environmental destruction, removing tax incentives for clean energy, pushing us over the edge of the already fragile environmental crisis, isn’t reflective of our responsibility to care for the earth. This bill is a moral travesty. People will literally die if it passes. It further militarizes this nation, over-funding cruelty, while decimating funds that support human flourishing, and relieve financial burdens on the poor, middle, and working class. The sickness of excessive racism, materialism, and militarism MLK Jr. warned us of, continues today. Speaking of prophets, the spiritual death he warned about has been spiraling for decades. “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on war than programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

Tonight, as I post this, we wait with trepidation upon the imminent passing of a bill that will cause such devastation and ruin for decades to come, handing future generations trauma and heavy burdens, while the ultra-wealthy will be the only beneficiaries of money they wouldn’t even know was missing if it were used in humane ways. Profit over people. Only 29% of Americans* actually approve of the bill, which is indicative of the GOP’s loyalty to Tr*mp, not us- even those who voted for him. It is mind boggling, to think this could be our reality as we approach a holiday supposedly about freedom, where fireworks traumatize a large percentage of our population (and devastate wildlife), of this nation’s promises fallen short (see Frederick Douglass’ “What to the Slave is the 4th of July”), to where our very fought for freedoms are eroding before us.

SCOTUS recently issued a ruling that limits the ability for federal judges to issue universal injunctions. And as is commonplace for the Tr*mp administration, the spin is that our judicial system is weaponized against Tr*mp, when the reality is, the Tr*mp administration is eroding the check of the judicial system so they can weaponize it against others. (The accusations-are-confessions truism is a common thread of Tr*mpism rhetoric and attacks.) “With the stroke of a pen, the President has made a ‘solemn mockery’ of our Constitution,” Justice Sotomayor wrote. “Rather than stand firm, the Court gives way. Because such complicity should know no place in our system of law, I dissent.” It is not hyperbole to acknowledge the existential threat this poses to the constitution, and to the rights of vulnerable people, and to all of us subsequently.

When profit rules over prophets, and when societies have lost their way, concentration camps are built with redirected tax payer/stolen FEMA money, built literally surrounded by alligators as “deterrents” to escapees, and then smirkingly boasted about by a press secretary, who conveniently wasn’t wearing her usual cross necklace while announcing it. (Not that it ever stopped her before in spewing blasphemy and the regurgitation of lies in an effort to normalize it all.) We are not a civilized, enlightened society when we build such camps that profit off the exploitation of and cruelty towards human beings, and sell merchandise with “Alligator Alcatraz” on it like we are attending a concert with front row seats to barbarism and flesh-hungry alligators. I can’t believe this is our current, shameful reality. Only wicked hearts speak about alligator infested concentration camps with glee. As is reiterated, time and time again: Cruelty is the point.

What has unfolded in the first half of the first year of this administration is predictable, pathetic, dangerous, and reckless.

Politics is one of my top interests, yet I do not claim to be an expert. However, it is my/our responsibility to understand and to think critically about it, and to seek out solid resources for guidance along the way. (Beware of false prophets.) My studies and learnings have been largely centered in theology and compassionate care, social justice and intersectionality, and even as that is an ongoing, personal learning and transformation, where I will fall short, and try again, I turn to the prophets of ancient and modern times who reveal the truth and calling for us all. For all the narratives out there about flawed “end times” theology, literally being used to justify war, violence and disarray in the Middle East, I am baffled there isn’t more concern that the U.S. may have elected and put into power the very antichrist they fear and use to justify their myopic, misguided hope of Jesus’ literal return. The idolatry of Christian Nationalism is rampant in the U.S. now, and Tr*mp is at the helm (with white nationalist Stephen Miller commanding his every word and move). Perhaps MAGA has chosen to follow the wrong God. If we share a concern over what the model of an antichrist means, even symbolically, and if we believe that good and evil have very real consequences, we might realize that the moment is now to recognize the anti-christ(s) in our midst. And part of being against all that is anti-christ, is to name evil. Even as Tr*mp is beloved in God’s eyes, as all living beings are, his embodiment of evil brings Jesus to weep. We shall continue to name such evils, and protest their influence.

We must discern those who act for profit from those who are benevolently prophetic. Think about Revelation 13: “Who is like the beast, and who can fight against it?” Much of the establishments’ parties and the spineless have decided the answer is, “we are” and “no-one.” They won’t oppose him; they deem their resistance as futile, and so they legitimize Tr*mp’s positions emboldening his power, while those who have the guts to oppose him risk ridicule and political defeat. Think about Tr*mp’s own life, filled with serial adultery, sexual violence, an irrefutable tapestry of lies, his abhorrent, vulgar language. (No, I’m not talking about the time he said, “They don’t know what the f*ck they’re talking about- which was another example of an accusation as a confession. And even as that certainly wasn’t presidential of him, his speeches in general stink of crassness and indecency, as well is idiocy.) His obsession with materialism and attention, his criminal behavior, his trampling of the constitution, etc., etc. all point to a beast. Think about “the beast was given a mouth uttering haughty and blasphemous words” as he panders to professed Christians, demanding loyalty at the expense of the reverence toward the Christ they profess to follow. Think about later passages in Revelation where we are warned about the false prophet who leads people astray, and now we have hoards of evangelical Christians who find comfort in the prosperity gospel, and believe Tr*mp is likened to the persecution of Christ himself. Jesus refused to make pacts with he devil, in direct opposition of Tr*mp cult followers, even some from pulpits, who disregard Tr*mp’s immorality, criminality, as an excuse to further the cause of their “gospel”, making Tr*mp the anti-christ he might in fact want to be. But that is a betrayal of the Gospel, and a trap into playing god by declaring a larger purpose (to the detriment of the vulnerable with which Jesus actually stood), and wherein they become gods themselves. And although we could dive deeper, I will point out one last item about Tr*mp’s anti-Christ-ness. Even if coincidental, it is still a symbolic cautionary to think about the “name of the beast and the number of its name” on the forehead. I’m inclined to wonder if years from now, red MAGA hats in antique stores will make shoppers cringe as when coming across items of clothing with N*zi symbols, haunted and faded, raising moral questions about why one would ever want to collect them (let alone wear them now…).

Tr*mp may not be the anti-christ (that would give him too much credit), but he is an antichrist. We must reject what parades as prophesy but is truly demonic, what parades as Christlike when the words and actions he spews, and some of his followers mimic, only reject Christ, even if they may not realize it. Indeed, the prophecy of Revelation provides for us: “A call for the endurance of saints” to fully reject the fraudulent POTUS and his disciples of deceit, in addition to any power structure that thrives in capitalism, complicity with war and violence, and white supremacy.

Biblical prophets call us to reject Tr*mpism. “Love thy neighbor”, “every good tree bears good fruit”, “pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall”, Jesus himself saw through the devil’s temptations, and focus on selfishness and serving of ego, which he knew were not in service to God (Mt. 4:1-11); wicked schemes, false tongues, and haughtiness stirring up strife and doing what is clearly wrong (Proverbs 6:16-19). Let’s see, what else: Psalm 1:1 (sitting in the company of mockers), John 3:20-21(hiding from the light), Psalm 36:1-4 (self flattery), Luke 12:1-15 (greed and abundance of possessions), Proverbs 19:20 (being willing to learn from correction), Isaiah 5:18-23 (what sorrow for those who say evil is good and good is evil…(accusations are confessions), what sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever)- the propaganda, the dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion policies, the sin of American evangelicalism scofflaw (Proverbs 26:4-5). 2 Chronicles 7:14, and on and on and on. Whose will will we follow? “God will give them a strong delusion…” 2 Thessalonians 2:11. See the golden idol, with his profit making bible, who also refused to place his own hand upon a Bible as he ~~swore~~ lied his oath of office, bent on revenge. Have we not noticed the symbolism of difference when Tr*mp’s first term and second term presidential photos are juxtaposed? Have we not paid attention to how he thinks only losers have compassion and empathy, all of which flies in the face of the prophet Micah who reminds us that our true endeavor is to do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly?

We are all called to do our part. Whether through writing, speaking, marching, protesting, calling congress leaders, making art, writing poetry like the prophets of antiquity, sending notecards, acting in service and protection to others, especially those at risk of being harmed by Tr*mp’s policies, and so much more, God has equipped us with gifts to discern what is false and what is prophetically Christlike. I may not be able to write as well as others already have and will, but I cannot be silent. We are all obligated to share, and say aloud what we know, what we’ve learned, to make connections, to continue to strengthen our communities in the shadow of tyranny. To be the dissenting dutiful. To keep feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, caring for the least of these. Many have contributed their voice in profound ways, from whom I have learned from, who inspire me, and give me hope.

Of the profits and prophets, may we discern between them. May we lift people over profit in the way of Christ. For profits will be dressed in false prophecy. And true prophets will be twisted into enemies. But if the prophets you interpret aren’t calling you to an alignment of peace that insists on human flourishing now, you have missed the incessant return of Jesus, happening here and now, most ever so in those whom false prophets would have you fear, loathe, other; in those who are kidnapped by masked agents on the streets, and in the faces of those who lose their healthcare, SNAP benefits, choices, and autonomy, their freedom to love; in the sacred pristine public lands of divinely created lushness where all God’s creatures live, waiting to be sold off, in the faces of those snatched by terrorists, and in the faces of those who lie under the rubble of war crimes.

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*https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2025/06/17/how-americans-view-the-gops-budget-and-tax-bill/

*https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/nations-story-what-slave-fourth-july

A list of books/authors to read for better understanding of Iran, thanks to a former professor of mine and others who contributed to the list:

Iran’s Grand Strategy; A Political History, Vali Nasr

Theology of Discontent, & Iran; A People Interrupted, Hamid Dabashi

The Ayatollah Begs to Differ, Hooman Majd

The Rose Garden of Martyrs, by Christopher Bellaigue

Women With Mustaches and Men Without Beards, Afsenah Najmabadi

Follow Dr. Narges Bajoghli on Instagram: @nargesbajoghli

Just a snippet of others:

https://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/2025/06/04/trumps-big-ugly-bill-budget-reconciliation/