Physician, heal yourself!
Jesus Christ
Perhaps I should stop trying to make this once-a-week column contemporaneous. Instead of writing about current events, maybe I should just write about things that interest me, like poetry, science, history, spirituality or philosophy.
But then another radicalized agent of the progressive Democrat cabal tried to kill the president. So I begin this essay three days after the third assassination attempt on President Trump’s life.
I am operating within the bounds of the “three day rule” which I described in last week’s essay. Therefore, you may never read of my current anger, which borders on irrationality. So at the moment, I am ventilating on my computer screen.
Years ago, I discovered that my thinking becomes clearer when I organize jumbled thoughts and emotions into sentences, paragraphs and essays. So, if you read this essay about our national sickness, you will have some inkling of this physician’s struggle.
I have previously explained that the word politics derives from the Greek word polis for city-states like Athens. In other words, politics is the workings of the polis, or the modern-day city, state or country.
At times like these, I identify with Erica Kirk, who was at the White House Correspondents’ dinner. In the aftermath of the shooting, she said, “I just want to go home.” I often feel similarly and just want to escape the hatred, villainous rhetoric and pernicious political combat.
Founder Patrick Henry decried the notion of peace in a speech before the Virginia Convention, building on the words of the Biblical prophet Jeremiah. “Gentlemen, cry, peace, peace! But there is no peace. The war has already begun.” Similarly, I cannot shirk my responsibilities as a citizen and patriot. One year later, in 1776, Founder Thomas Paine wrote, “THESE are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands by it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman. Tyranny, like hell, is not easily conquered.”
So, as a member of this “polis,” it is my duty to oppose the great evil that has come to our land. In my travels, I have searched for refuge, but I found there was no place of retreat. I did consider Wellington, New Zealand, and Victoria, British Columbia, as I traveled while reflecting upon Edna St. Vincent Millay’s poem:
How shall I know, unless I go
To Cairo and Cathay,
Whether or not this blessed spot
Is blest in every way?
Now it may be, the flower for me
Is beneath my nose:
How shall I tell, unless I smell
The Carthaginian rose?
I’ve been to where the ancient capital of Hannibal’s Carthaginian empire once stood. I found no rose better than Knoxville, Tennessee, and my American homeland. And I will not stand by and let it be taken by the forces of evil.
Denying that the media and Democrats have not radicalized fringe elements of our country is to deny observation and reason. I’ve decried President Trump’s reactionary late-night tweets, but the comparison to the left’s proclamations that he is Hitler, a king, a fascist, a racist, a pedophile, an authoritarian and I could go on, is far worse than ridiculous political hyperbole. These statements are pernicious, seditious lies. These lies are designed to incite marginal people to violence.
The murderer of Charlie Kirk, with the psychiatric syndrome of gender dysphoria, is an obvious example. But the latest assassination attempt of President Trump and his Cabinet was not by an insane person, but by an educated California teacher who had nonetheless become radicalized to murderous rage and became a soldier for the left. This assassin’s manifesto was an anti-MAGA, anti-Christian screed proclaiming Trump the anti-Christ. I see little difference between the Democrat radicalization of the unsound and radicalized Islamic terrorists.
The old cartoon serial Pogo once opined, “We have met the enemy and he is us.” We listen to the serial-lying media and Democrats, the very people who preached Covid lockdowns, Biden is not demented, Kamala is competent, Russian and Ukrainian collusion hoaxes, political lawfare and two bogus impeachments. We listen to pseudo-comedians and actors whose lives are facades of reality. We elect leaders, many of whom are otherwise unaccomplished, dull and reprobates.
Arguably, we are a sick nation. As a doctor, I’m trained to seek the cause of illness and hopefully treat the problem and prevent recurrence.
The greatest extant (existing) history of a people or culture is the history of the ancient Hebrews. And as a student of the Bible, I see remarkable comparisons between the Old Testament Hebrews and modern-day America. Ancient prophets warned the people and leaders about false idols and apostasy. When the people turned to the Lord, they prospered. When they turned away, they experienced calamity.
The founders of our country were God-fearing leaders, and our people prospered, largely avoiding calamity. Many Americans have renounced God (apostates) or see no relevance of God in their lives (functional atheists). Many have fallen for the lies of cultural Marxism, a philosophy devoid of God and one that embraces the false idol of the state.
Alisa Childers’ book “Another Gospel” depicts Christianity being transformed by progressive ideology. In the 1950s, Congress made the motto of our country “In God We Trust.” One wonders if our national motto and the filter of trusting in God have become passé.
In these challenging times, I need the theology of the old hymns like “Blessed Assurance.” I trust in God, my wife and my family. And I trust in Trump, who, like me, is a sinner, but whose heart is to make America great again. We both believe in God-given rights rather than rights being derived from government. I am happy to profess that I am an evangelical Christian who embraces the Gospel message. I am not a fundamentalist because, although I believe that the Bible is God’s revealed message to humans, thoughtful consideration of scripture in each person’s life resonates with me more than absolutes.
Saint Augustine wrote in the opening of his book “Confessions,” “Our hearts are restless till they find rest in Thee.” And I find strength in church with a throng of fellow Christians singing hymns laced with theology. It saved this doctor’s soul. You should try it. It is the pathway to saving this country.
