"You have heard that it was said, 'An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if anyone would sue you and take your tunic, let him have your cloak as well. And if anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. Give to the one who begs from you, and do not refuse the one who would borrow from you. - Matthew 5:38-42 (ESV)
This is what happens when your political idolatry evolves past the point of human decency, let alone Christian decency. We must remember that when we dance with the devil, he always leads. What starts out with good intentions can often end up in a "how did we get here moment." Perhaps it all started for some of us as strictly political. We liked the brashness of the seeming outsider Donald Trump cast himself as in 2015. His brand sold and the church bought it. We looked the other way when his spiritual advisor was revealed to be the obvious charlatan in Paula White. We excused it away when he surrounded himself with more hucksters and when he was constantly excused by Charisma News. When January 6th, 2020, happened we found ourselves going deeper down the rabbit hole. We were told they were just misguided tourists or FBI plants or Antifa and that was good enough for us. In the 2024 election, all caution and guardrails were removed. Hatred was now on the menu, and we were helping ourselves to a double portion. Haitians were obviously not eating pets in Ohio, but we reposted and retweeted the lies anyway because some random person on Fox News said their cat was missing. It did not matter to us if this actually hurt real people, many of whom were our Christian brothers and sisters. That is how easily our idolatry metastasizes. The Faustian bargain the church made started with things that we more easily squared away with our faith. Three times unfaithful? Hey, he was younger then. Cheating on his third wife with a porn star? He's a changed man! Tape comes out with his own voice bragging about being able to grab women by their genitals because he is famous? Oh, come on, that was 2004! As if none of it matters. This moved into accepting absurd narratives designed to Christianize him. He was suddenly a baby Christian, right? We were told he was the second coming of King Cyrus or King Jehu. We were promised that he had an Elijah mantle and a Deborah anointing. For everyone pointing out that he couldn't name one bible verse and admitted that he did not need to ask God for forgiveness, we just calmly pointed to the photo op where he held a bible upside down. With each instance our witness, faith and credibility eroded. Hate rallies in Madison Square Garden where Puerto Rico was referred to as a floating island of trash? Hey that was just a comedian! As if the jokes were not vetted and approved beforehand, which they were. None of it mattered anymore because our idolatry had devolved to the point that the only thing that mattered was protecting the brand. Confirming the bias because having to admit now that the last ten years were horrifically unchristian was just a non-starter. It does not end there, however. It never does. Satan is never satisfied with the level of debasement we have grown comfortable with. He is always willing to take us further and further down that hole.
So, I present to you in that spirit, "Pastor" Joel Webbon. I addressed Mr. Webbon a few times prior to the election. He is a rabid Trumper cosplaying as a pastor but tens of thousands of people who claim to be Christian follow him. He is a boil on the husk of the apostate church that needs to be lanced. He has openly advocated that women should not be allowed to vote and said that women who bring unproven claims of sexual assault need to be executed. Seriously. As a pastor he said this. He abused Deuteronomy 19 to support this absurd theology. This is the famous "eye for an eye" scripture. A quick look at the key verse today reminds us that Jesus did away with the law in general and specifically the eye for an eye! This is what happens when your idolatry devolves. Now that his idol has won the presidency, Webbon seems emboldened to drag more people down his rancid hole of apostasy and stupidity. Let us reason through the above linked article and you may not even believe what he is saying now, in the name of Jesus of course - wink wink.
"Christian nationalist Pastor Joel Webbon, who supported President-elect Donald Trump "in order to honor Christ," said on a Right Response Ministries podcast Wednesday that shooting and killing migrants is the "more merciful option." During an almost two-hour video podcast episode, Webbon spoke about immigration policy and border security, arguing that "Biblical Justice" means punishing a few, while the "rest stand in fear." Webbon, the president and founder of the Texas-based Right Response Ministries, has previously argued that women should not have the right to vote and that Christian parents are "failing in their duties to protect and provide for their children," by living in a predominantly blue state, such as California. He also serves as the senior pastor at Covenant Bible Church in Georgetown, Texas. In a Right Response Ministries episode posted on November 13, Webbon argued, "for the next 20 to 25 years there should be virtually zero immigration, and I'm not talking about illegal, I'm talking about legal. No immigration," to the United States." - Newsweek
This is what happens when idolatrous hirelings refuse to stay in their lane. We saw this during COVID, when many pastors refused to listen to experts and instead fed their sheep into the woodchipper by reopening their churches during a worldwide plague. There will be much blood to answer for on their part. Webbon, who clearly knows nothing about immigration other than talking points he gets from his biased news sources, makes a total ass of himself here. If you shut down all immigration for 20 years there are entire industries that will close, including agriculture. The effect on the economy would be devastating. What work could be done, will cost much more money with shorter labor pools. Not to mention, this is hardly a Christian response to a problem. Note that we see the genesis of his cult of personality idolatry in action here. He starts with the absurd notion that he supported the most amoral candidate in history in order to "honor Christ." Which part was honoring Jesus? Was it the three marriages or the six bankruptcies? Was it the 34 felonies or the rape conviction? Was it the stealing of national security secrets or the sleeping with the porn star? When you are willing to embrace your idolatry to the point of ignoring all of this and pretending it somehow honors Christ, it is of little wonder that you devolve into thinking it is Christian to kill other human beings. That killing those who have been so devastated in their own countries is the more "merciful" option. How utterly devoid of any Christian sentiment or biblical understanding at all. It is not biblical justice to shoot and kill brown people you do not like simply because you were lucky enough to have been born into prosperity and they were not. That is the antithesis of biblical justice. This lunatic has a following! People listen to him and think they are being taught biblically! Beloved, if you EVER find yourself considering that killing other people as a means to achieve some sense of biblical justice, then I would wager you are so deceived I would doubt your very salvation.
"Immigration and border security were top issues for voters during the 2024 election last week, with Republicans overperforming Democrats. Trump secured his second term last week after beating out the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris, by securing 312 Electoral College votes and the popular vote. Republicans also won a majority in the House and the Senate. On the campaign trail, Trump pledged mass deportations and to be tough on immigration. During his first term, Trump's 2017 border wall policy aimed to construct a barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border to curb illegal immigration and enhance national security. It involved reallocating federal funds, using existing barriers, and promoting stricter immigration enforcement. It faced legal challenges and significant political debate throughout his presidency." - Newsweek
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