Skeptical Avenger

Trump would no doubt consider himself to be an alpha male. While the idea of the “alpha male” has proven anthropologically to be nonsense, Trump has shown me a pattern, at least among some citizens of the United States, suggesting that many people want to be led. Moreover, they want to be led by a strong personality and give this personality unquestioning devotion.

This “wanting to be led” does not preclude individuals from wanting to lead others themselves, either. Indeed, most self-proclaimed alpha males in the U.S. seem to be Trump followers. While I think that a true “alpha” would be a person others want to follow, the self-proclaimed ones seem to feel it’s more important that they want to lead – more particularly, to dominate.

But then I look at Trump, and I see a man who wants to dominate, and I see way, way too many people who seem to want to be led by him. Does this make him alpha? I find the idea sickening, but he does meet my superficial criteria.

Let us circle to the Abrahamic god Yahweh, whose love and kindness, or lack thereof, exceeds Trump’s. It’s not a question of whether this being exists but rather the fact that people want him to exist. Atheists pointing out his cruel and oppressive personality never seem to phase his followers. Indeed, I’m beginning to suspect that many consider his brutality to be a significant feature, as they fantasize that he will direct that brutality toward the people they don’t like.

I don’t include followers of Jesus in this group. I use the phrase followers of Jesus rather than Christians because I consider the two groups distinctly different, the difference summarized by the amount of respect given to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. Many Christians seem to believe that Jesus was sent to earth to save only those people who worship him “correctly” and to send everyone else to eternal torture; the more horrifying, the better. Many in this group consider the Sermon on the Mount to be woke nonsense. (The existence or lack thereof of a historical Jesus is irrelevant to the discussion.)

People who like the idea of an authoritarian god also like the idea of a domineering Trump. These are people for whom the cruelty of their desired policies is most definitely the point. They delight in the concept of a Hell where their enemies will suffer.

You claim to be Christians but you adulate the God of the Old Testament over Christ Delighting in the cruelties of the former While ignoring the forgiveness and mercy of the latter.

News And Guts

Something to keep an eye on. While all the attention in the west has been focused on Donald Trump, President Putin has troops on the move in the Ukraine.

Military situation in eastern Ukraine worsens

The foreign ministry of Ukraine expressed deep concern Monday night (30 January) over the “intensification of the Russian-terrorist forces in Donbas”. Other reports, however, speak of a “creeping offensive” of Ukrainian forces in an attempt to create…WWW.EURACTIV.COM|BY GEORGI GOTEV

I've been expecting something like this. Keep in mind that Putin is ex-KGB and had a significant role in the Syrian crisis as well.

This fits in really well with a cool conspiracy theory. Putin helps get Trump elected, and Trump launches a massive Shitzkrieg of executive orders to keep everyone distracted, including an order dealing with precisely the refugees that Putin helped create.

"Combining all of these facts, we have a fairly clear picture in play. 1.Trump was, indeed, perfectly honest during the campaign; he intends to do everything he said, and more. This should not be reassuring to you. 2.The regime’s main organizational goal right now is to transfer all effective power to a tight inner circle, eliminating any possible checks from either the Federal bureaucracy, Congress, or the Courts. Departments are being reorganized or purged to effect this. 3.The inner circle is actively probing the means by which they can seize unchallenged power; yesterday’s moves should be read as the first part of that. 4.The aims of crushing various groups — Muslims, Latinos, the black and trans communities, academics, the press — are very much primary aims of the regime, and are likely to be acted on with much greater speed than was earlier suspected. The secondary aim of personal enrichment is also very much in play, and clever people will find ways to play these two goals off each other."

https://medium.com/@yonatanzunger/trial-balloon-for-a-coup-e024990891d5#.ketls9o9l 

Read this, please. We must stop fucking around.