​The Trumplicanism Church

About the leader who sits so far-right from God he can’t see Him

I have been reading Harvard PHD Heather Cox Richardson for more than a decade because she knows how important Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) is in the study of our history. She published “Democracy Awakening: Notes on the State of America” in 2023. My copy is marked up and underlined from her foreword to her last sentence. Here are a few memorable lines from her foreword after years of Trumplicanism:

A country that stood in the global symbol of democracy has been teetering on the brink of authoritarianism. Hitler’s rise to absolute power began with his consolidation of political influence to win 36.8 percent of the vote in 1933, which parlayed into a deal to become German chancellor. The absolute dictatorship came afterward. This is a book about how a small group of people have tried to make us believe that our fundamental principles aren’t true. They have made war on American democracy by using language that served their interests, then led us toward authoritarianism by creating a disaffected population and promising to re-create an imagined past where those people could feel important. As they took control, they falsely claimed they were following the nation’s true and natural laws. In the 1930s President Franklin Delano Roosevelt clearly and repeatedly spelled out the difference between a society based on the idea that all people are equal and a society based on the idea that some people are better than others and have a right to rule.

Think Freedom Caucus, “conservative” Republicans, evangelical and fundamentalist southern Christians like Franklin Graham, and Donald John Trump — a sexual predator, jerk, prick, Lyin’ King, malignant narcissist, sociopath-psychopath, ignorant war criminal and annual winner of the Ignoble Prize for Prevarication so nuts he shouldn’t be within 235,000 miles of our nuclear button.

Any difference between Trump’s Christians and Islamic Taliban?

Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth belongs to the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC), a denomination of churches developed by a 20th century religious movement called Christian Reconstruction. The problem with the label is that Jesus Christ would not recognize that it represents his theological positions. CREC is only 33 years old and was developed by Doug Wilson, a pastor in Moscow, Idaho. The church calls for the implementation of biblical law based on very conservative evangelical understanding of Christianity. These people believe Jesus Christ is a democratic-capitalist-socialist-liberal.

The CREC claims it has more than 160 churches around the world. It also operates private elementary, middle and high schools (sometimes referred to as classical schools), provides curriculum and materials and offers homeschooling guidelines and materials. It runs Canon Press, a media and publishing house, operates Saint Andrews University and the denomination headquarters. all based in Moscow and supervised by Wilson.

The CREC follows the documents of the Continental Reformed and Presbyterian churches. They are often called the Three Forms of Unity and include the Belgic Confession of 1561 as a summary of faith against Roman Catholic accusations, the Heidelberg Catechism of 1563 (which has warm tones and focuses on comfort, laws and gospels), and the Canons of Dort of 1618-19, which outlines five major points of Calvinism. It also follows the Westminster Confession of faith of 1646, which is recognized for its detailed and precise language. The CFREC believes that God created the world in six days, that patriarchy (the rule of men), should dominate home, church and country.

Why do some women wear kerchiefs the entire day?

They are the wives of members of the CREC brand of churches who feel they must submit to the authority of their husbands at all times. A New York Times article from April 4, 2026, describes what happens in Prescott, Ariz. at the King’s Way Reformed Church.

A kerchief on women indicates devotion to God seven days a week. Marybelle East, 36, wears hers all the time because this tells her husband she submits to his authority. The husbands handle all the politics because they think America would be better off if women did not vote. They follow biblical patriarchy. Their pastor often posts and sermonizes against feminists, Catholics, the LBGTQUIA+ community, immigration (it’s national suicide), Muslims and Hindus are demons, and the world is falling apart because of women. CREC pastors cite the concept that God encourages marriage so that women can be controlled by their husbands.

The women at King’s Way universally believe feminism is “weird” and women in civil authority and voting is “unnatural.” They believe female independence brings on stress, anger, frustration, and depression. They add that a woman’s natural tenderness makes them susceptible to supporting immigration and all liberal policies and they also have “toxic empathy.” Ultraconservative Trumplican women repeat this on podcasts: “Don’t allow that love and compassion to paralyze your brain from thinking, especially when we are making policy decisions.”

It has come to pass that ultraconservatives on the internet “manosphere” continue to push for repeal of the 19th Amendment. Baylor Professor of History Beth Allson Barr has written a book titled “The Making of Biblical Womanhood “ where she discusses and advocates for women’s equality in all churches The assistant pastor of King’s Way in Prescott (and a UPS driver) sermonizes that “Politics is by nature warlike. Women weren’t made for battle. They were made for love. They were made for beauty.”

His wife, in her tight kerchief, adds, “God designed it that way. As Republicans we have the same view of everything.”

After reading Pete Hegseth’s bio, he’s a perfect fit for Trump

There are 27 psychiatrists and psychologists who determined Donald Trump was a malignant narcissist. If the same 27 examined the bio of Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, I’m sure they would diagnose him as a malignant Homo sapien male. One incident in his life fits into his life story.

While he was an officer in the National Guard, he was not allowed by his unit to attend the inauguration of Joe Biden because members of his unit reported they were afraid he might “do something.” I repeat, Hegseth is a very active member of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches. His actions follow the precepts. Against any form of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, he recently removed the names of two Black men and two women Army officers who had made the promotion list of about three dozen who were mostly white. A Black female officer was not promoted because, in her new assignment, she would accompany President Trump on trips to Arlington National Cemetery. Trump did not want to be seen with a Black officer by his side.

Hegseth is our leading “Christian” soldier, as in that famous hymn “Onward Christian Soldiers,” marching off to as many wars as possible. After all, we have troops in 700 bases in about half of the countries in the world. And we have to remember, the guy with five deferments from Vietnam and painful bone spurs from a family that in its history has never had a son or daughter in a military uniform — who has personally ended eight wars and working on several others — has appointed a Secretary of War who has Pentagon prayers instead of writing Pentagon papers.

Hegseth recently had a “Christian” worship service in the Pentagon about our war with Iran and prayed “for overwhelming violence of action against those who deserve no mercy.” He described Iranians as “barbaric savages”. This is the intolerant brand of evangelical Christian nationalism that is extreme even by the Divided States of America theology. There’s not much forgiveness and “love your enemies” thought in Hegseth’s military prayer meetings.

The big question is, how did this “Minnesota Nice” kid from Minneapolis and a high-end suburb called Forest Lake, the valedictorian of his high school class, a graduate of Princeton University with a degree in history and politics, an officer in the National Guard who was denied promotion because of tattoos on visible places that were associated with the Christian right and extremism, end up being Secretary of War who endorsed war crimes and ruled the military did not need to establish rules of engagement? He has displayed no knowledge of the Geneva Conventions and other international treaties that the U.S. has signed to prevent our troops from committing war crimes. Why is he against having women in the military? Is it his religion? Hegseth has also approved the ban on transgender and LBGTQUIA+ people in the military and has revoked the benefits of those who have retired. Has he ever heard of the Amazons?

He was employed by Fox News for a decade (2014-2024), a network that has glorified lies for every day of its life. He served as a weekend anchor for years and was a friend of Roger Ailes, the serial Fox sexual harasser. Hegseth has been married three times (like his present employer) and has paid off a woman who accused him of sexual harassment. He was also known as a drunk that occasionally had to be carried home. On accepting his cabinet position, he “promised” to give up drinking. He remains a prominent member of Make America Great Again (MAGA) and works closely with Stephen Miller, the architect of the movement to Make America White Forever (MAWF) by deporting 22 million undocumented “worst of the worst” aliens who are of different colors and beliefs. As a member of his church, he believes slavery is fine and that women should not vote.

There are two “Christian” denominations, Christian Dominionists and Christian Identity, that support the idea that the Divided States of America is really a Christian nation. The Dominionists, closely associated with Minnesotan Michele Bachmann, a member of the House of Representatives, believe their church should have dominion over every act in the country. Members of Christian Identity, one of whom was Timothy McVeigh, the Oklahoma City bomber who killed 168 men, women, and children in a federal building, believe that God created the Black race to serve the white race in power as slaves.

Our United Nations representative Dan Negrea just voted against a UN resolution to recognize slavery as a “crime against humanity.” Only two other countries voted against the resolution: Israel and Argentina. Both of these nations have committed many war crimes.

Trump and his minions should have been ragged claws in the sea

My favorite poet T.S. Eliot writes meaningful stuff. About Homo sapiens, he writes, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.” He believes the human race in its history (and even prehistory) has lived in various states of ignorance and wonder — like, as in “I wonder if.”

In “Good and Evil,” Friedrich Nietzsche he has things to say about ignorance: “From the beginning we have contrived to retain our ignorance in order to enjoy an almost inconceivable freedom.”

I think Eliot has written the most depressing but truthful line about humankind’s inability to rise above ignorance in his poem “The Love Song of J. Alfred Profrock.” In this work, he says, “I should have been a pair of ragged claws scuttling across the floors of silent seas.”