Why Can't People See?

 Recent developments in our nation's capital are getting more and more alarming. Now Trump has taken over the military, telling officers at a meeting in the Pentagon, "If you don't agree with me, you can walk out--and lose your commission." In other words, his favorite line: "You're fired!" Anyone who knows what happened in Germany with Hitler in the 1930s should be alarmed at the parallels. Now the military that is supposed to defend our country will be turned against US citizens to "control internal terrorists"--in other words the people who oppose Trump. Our freedoms will be a thing of the past, while the military becomes Trump's new Gestapo. There's more. Now he's telling schools that depend on government funding that they have to teach his version of history and philosophy. If they don't, he promises to cut their funding.  Again so parallel to Hitler's early moves in Germany. By the way, he's already cut funding to the independent news voices PBS and NPR. If he can find a way around the FCC, he'll start cutting networks, too. It could happen. Look what he's already done to the departments supposed to protect our health and welfare.

How has he gotten away with this? I see several reasons. First, he has some kind of power to make people believe anything he says, whether it's true or not. (Like what Revelation says the Anti-Christ will do, even to believers.) Next he's managed, through force, threats, and plain fear to cripple Congress, and get the Supreme Court in his pocket. The Balance of Powers our forefathers put in the Constitution is being dismantled. Intimidation has made this possible, and some of our forefathers foresaw this possibility.

The other reason I see for people's blindness is the misplaced belief that America is God's chosen people. We're not. The Bible never even hints at that. In fact a careful reading of Revelation doesn't show any hint of a world power that resembles the United States. Perhaps God's plan is to use Trump to take us out of the picture completely. After all, the main thing Hitler accomplished was the decline and fall of Germany. It would not be the power it is now without NATO and the Marshall Plan. Meanwhile, the rising powers appear to be Russia and China, and powers resembling them are seen in Revelation--"the King of the North" and the "Millions-man army of the East".

The most disturbing reason I see for so many people's ignorance of what is happening right under our noses is poor knowledge of history. History has been the most neglected and poorly-taught subject in too many of our schools. World history dwells on Egypt, Greece and Rome. US History starts in the "glory days" of the colonies and the American Revolution. If they're lucky they get up to the 1800s and the Civil War, or perhaps World War I.  I had to read about World War II on my own. I was one of the strange ones who found history interesting. In seventh grade, I read every single book my junior high school library had on World War II. Including the ones about the Concentration Camps, and yes, "The Diary of Anne Frank."

So most Americans haven't a clue what went on in Germany between World War I and World War II. I find it so upsetting that the things imposed by the Allies on the losers of World War I merely set the stage for the next World War.

The average American doesn't know about how parallel the 2020s are to the Roaring 20s of the 1920s. And a few may have been told of what came next, the Great Depression of the 1930s. But the people who lived through that time are almost all dead and gone now. Memories are short and getting shorter. And the 1940s brought World War II. Most of the participants in that are dead and gone, too. I can't help but fear that this time the next World War won't wait until the 2040s. It may be just around the corner.

In conclusion, all I can say is our education system has been so concerned with the future, STEM--science, technology, electronics, and math--that history is totally neglected. And this is a tragedy, for as Mark Twain once said, "Those who don't learn from history are doomed to repeat it." And that's exactly what is happening now.  

The Dangers of Draining the Swamp

 Recently I visited my son in Tumwater/Olympia, Washington. Lake Olympia used to be a tidal estuary, but was dammed to make it a lake. Last year, they drained the lake because it seemed unhealthy, and the stench was horrible! Without the tidal flows coming in and out, it had turned into a cesspool. They quickly filled it back up.

It made me think of all the politicians I hear promising to "Drain the Swamp" of our government. But a strange thing has happened as they began that process. The stink and debris they found was appalling. Everyone on any "side" was disgusted, angered, and dismayed. Panic set in and the natural human nature came into play, as everyone pointed to everyone else, saying, "It's your fault!" Humans can never accept responsibility for their own mistakes, especially the rich and powerful. Instead they seek scapegoats to pin the blame on, shifting it from themselves. We all do it, but it's especially common the more power a person has, especially despots. Any study of history will reveal it over and over again. Protestants scapegoated Catholics. Christians scapegoated Jews. Rich scapegoated poor. Individual groups on the outside of "polite society" were further ostracized. Minorities were especially susceptible. Anyone who we could label as "different."

But look at what the bottom of that swamp revealed: genocide and holocausts, slavery, prejudice and bigotry. Downright persecution, to the point of killing and maiming people for no reason, except they were "different" from those in power.

The swamp-drainers quickly found ways to cover up all those awful remains. Pretending it didn't happen if we could hide it again. Perhaps go back a century or two and live "the good old way"--which was what started filling that swamp in the first place. But if it was hidden again, well...was it really there? Denial is a strong human trait:

--There weren't any burning upside down crosses in there, were there? Men hiding their identities in their long white robes and peaked white hoods. Lynched men dangling from ropes on trees. Native children beaten for speaking their native language. Women beaten because, after all, the man was the master of his house, not to mention those who were raped and then blamed for it. Women treated as property and second class citizens, if they were citizens at all--with no right to vote.

--Let's fly the stars and stripes higher and higher, with Confederate flags or skull-and-crossbones next to it. What are we saying when we do that? "I'm right and everyone else is wrong."??? Let's blind ourselves and pretend none of it ever happened. If we keep the blinders on long enough, maybe we can pretend greatness existed in the past. But God saw it all, and He won't forget. One way or another, His judgment will eventually come. "Judgment is mine," He reminds the world, "Not yours."  Far too many of us try to take judgment into our own hands. The ultimate disobedience. 

This Is Only My Opinion, and the Last I Knew, I Was Still Entitled to One

 

I Can’t Keep Quiet Any Longer

Well, well…Trump has proved beyond any doubt what an ignorant and greedy dumb ass he is.  Speaking of asses, if you have ever read C.S. Lewis’s Chronicles of Narnia Book 7, The Last Battle, there’s a strong parallel. In this book, Puzzle the Donkey is convinced by the evil Ape to wear an old lion’s hide and pretend he is Aslan, the true King of Narnia (and a type of Christ). He has been turned into a false Christ, what the Bible calls an Anti-Christ. I wonder who the Ape is behind the Jackass Trump. Elon Musk? Maybe the Devil himself?

Some of us have known what a blind narcissist Trump is ever since The Apprentice. He doesn’t understand or have any real experience with governing, domestic relations, economics or foreign relations, and now the whole world knows it. All he knows how to do is please his egotistical self. He doesn’t know the difference between right and wrong, truth and lies. He must always be right, the measure of all things. He thinks he is all-powerful now that he is President of the most powerful, influential nation in the world. (But how long will this last, I wonder?) Never mind checks and balances; never mind the Constitution, if it stands in his way. Never mind that the rest of the world’s leaders know what an idiot he is.

I have read a lot about the rise and fall of empires such as Rome, the British Empire, the Third Reich. All eventually weaken through poor government, and fall. Our turn is next, whether we want to believe it or not.

The saddest part to me is how he has deceived even Christians. Whenever I see a vehicle with a “Trump” bumper sticker and a “Jesus” bumper sticker, I want to attach a note to their windshield saying, “I am very sorry for you because you have been deceived by the Anti-Christ. Didn’t Jesus say ‘You can’t worship both God and money.’ ? But you elected a leader whose god is money.”

People may say they don’t worship money. It’s just a necessary part of life. Okay so substitute “consumerism”. How many of us feel we have to have the most up-to-date houses and furnishings, appliances, phones, cars and trucks-- all the gadgets of modern life. They’re supposed to make us happy. That’s what all the commercials say. But do all those possessions really make us happy? There are more depressed and suicidal people in this consumer society we live in than there ever have been before. Sometimes I think I’d be happier living in a shack on some tropical island.

I’ve pondered for a long time why so many Christians support Trump and his values. So far I’ve come up with two ideas. 1) They have been led astray by the idols of money and consumerism. Some say that it’s getting hard to tell the difference between Christians and non-Christians in their actual behaviors in the everyday world. 2) They still think that the USA is the “Big Kahuna”, the God-chosen nation, the most powerful and perfect nation, the cradle of truth, wisdom, and democracy. But any honest and diligent historian can tell you this isn’t so. History has been written by the victors, who have swept our crimes and mistakes under the rug—the persecution of the poor and minorities, the attempted genocide of the indigenous peoples, the enslavement of other humans. We can’t “make America great again” when it’s never been all that great to start with. All the great empires of the past have done these same things, but the worst part is we are still doing it.

A third possibility has also occurred to me. Perhaps God is using Trump like he used the evil kings of ancient Israel to lead their people astray to the worship of other gods and idols, instead of the True and Only God of Heaven and Earth. As a result, Israel was demolished over and over again, and eventually led into exile.

“But we don’t worship idols and bow to statues,” you may say.

Well, in this world of consumerism that surrounds us and infiltrates almost every aspect of our lives, a lot of us do without realizing it: Build a newer and bigger house, or even a newer and bigger church. Get rid of that “dated” furniture. Buy a newer and fancier vehicle with all the newest technological bells and whistles. Use more than our share of the earth’s limited resources, at the expense of the rest of the peoples of the world. Keep using those fossil fuels. Sure they’ll run out eventually, but we’ll figure something else out later. Never mind that it may be too late by then. Climate change? It’s a myth…

These are some of the idols we worship. Not to mention Trump himself, thinking he can deceive Christians that he’s one of them by printing his own special version of the Bible. Hitler did that, by the way. His Bible claimed that Jesus wasn’t Jewish at all, but a member of the white, Aryan Master Race. Sounds eerily familiar…

We might as well admit that we live in a post-Christian world. Too many people who claim to be Christian are really worshipping America, not the Kingdom of God that Jesus taught. As early as the third century AD, when Emperor Constantine of the Roman Empire made Christianity the state religion, the church Christ founded began to stray from His teachings—such as help the poor, sick, and needy; the outcasts, those on the fringes of society; comfort those in need; love your neighbor as yourself. Many churches give this lip service, but does it show in what they are doing? That early church was soon infiltrated by the forces of wealth and power, the very things Jesus condemned in the religious rulers of His day. And the church of today hasn’t escaped this influence of power-politics.

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” Too many of us love only ourselves. (I admit I’m guilty of this at times, too.) Oh and remember Thomas Jefferson’s famous words—“life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”? We’re all stuck on the last part and overlook the other two. Happiness is what we pursue, at the expense of anyone else who stands in our way.

Now we have the prime role model of this as our ‘leader’. And if anyone dares to challenge him or disagree, he’ll say his favorite line, “You’re fired!” If that doesn’t work, he’ll send in his Storm Troopers. It’s even clearer this time around, as he has Musk playing the Goebbels to Trump’s Fuhrer.

Yes, we should pray for our leaders and for God to deliver our country from its sins. But that’s not enough. We need to repent of our past sins. And delivering the USA may not be God’s plan. He may be using Trump to take us down, as He took Israel down—off our high horse—like He did to all the empires before us. I wonder what the next world empire will be—China? Russia? Or will computers and AI take over completely, making human beings obsolete? Any true reader of science fiction can attest to this possibility.

My final take is that people think Trump will save us from the “evil Democrats”. But who will save us from Trump? Will the God we worship, or at best think we worship? I wonder. He has His own plans, and they probably aren’t ours.

 

My Next Book Is Almost Here - A Historical Fiction Based On My Irish Ancestors

 

                               Book release date:  April 11, 2025

A Journey Through Tragedy, Survival, and Resilience

        In the shadow of Ireland’s Great Hunger of the 1840s, one woman’s strength shapes the destiny of generations. When time traveler Emilia Parker slips into the past, she is thrust into the harrowing world of her ancestors, through the eyes of her great-great-grandmother Maggie Cantlon. Families are ravaged by famine, forced from their homeland, and cast adrift on the perilous Atlantic.

From the ruthless grip of starvation to the cruel holds of England’s “Coffin Ships”, she experiences her ancestor’s suffering, endurance, and the unyielding hope of the Irish spirit. Inspired by true events, An Irish Odyssey: From Despair to Hope, follows Maggie’s family from the desperate shores of Ireland to the rugged frontiers of Canada and Michigan, where they carve out new lives in the lumber camps, railroad building camps, and the booming mines of the 19^th century.

         M.F. Erler’s immersive storytelling brings to life the forgotten history of a people abandoned by their rulers but bound by their faith, resilience, and determination to survive. For readers of historical fiction, Irish heritage, and epic family sagas, this powerful novel is both a tribute to the past and a warning for the future. Fans will find themselves swept away in this gripping, meticulously researched tale of loss, survival, and the indomitable human spirit. (Review by SFP, Author, Oregon)

 

For details contact: mferler@peaksandbeyond

What Is Wrong With This World?

     I know it's been a long time since I posted anything. Health and emotional problems have overwhelmed me these past few months. My mind has been full of fears, panic, paranoia, and feeling lost. Last night in bed I finally began to sort out some of the feelings and thoughts that have been haunting me, and here is what I came up with:

    After 72 years of feeling all my idealism, hopes, and dreams slowly slip away with the sands of time--never to return--I know what's wrong with the world now. Avarice--greed for power and wealth is the dominating force in nearly all of humanity.

    Ironically, or maybe intentionally, Thomas Jefferson laid the foundation in the Declaration of Independence: "...Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness." Those in power latched onto this, but in their pursuit of happiness (for themselves, of course, not the greater good), they deprived the majority of humanity their life and liberty. The have-nots, Indigenous Peoples, immigrants, etc. were marginalized, even scapegoated, and often considered inferior because they didn't have the same opportunities to pursue wealth. In fact, they were often prevented from those opportunities by those very people with the power. Money and power and success have become the idols/gods of this world, and it's even truer today than ever.

    Although a student of history (of which there are too few) can tell you that the world has been this way ever since Adam and Eve ate the Forbidden Fruit.

    And what about Jefferson's other famous phrase: "...All men are created equal..."?  In 1776, he meant only men, of course. Women weren't considered equal to men (except in a few Indigenous cultures, such as the Cherokee). In many ways, they still aren't, especially in the United States. The saddest part is that Jesus treated women as equally important to men, and the Early Church had women leaders. But the church that has taken His name was drawn into the power game and has been forever since ruled by men, with only a few exceptions.

    Also, there's that problematic word "equal". George Orwell stated if quite well in his book Animal Farm, when the pigs declared, "Some are more equal than others." This type of thinking is still at large in the world today, especially in current US political circles. History just keeps repeating itself.