are little more than dusty, mumbled recitations. Who wants to stick around for that?

In 1970, 90 percent of Americans self-identified as Christians; today it’s about 63 percent. This decline has many causes, but it doesn’t help that churches are no longer moral leaders. I’m not talking about pushing one’s religious dogma. Pushing the Golden Rule would be sufficient. Jesus required Christians to befriend the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger, the unclothed, the sick, and the imprisoned; all actions congruent with love thy neighbor. Most churches are silent as Donald Trump and Elon Musk disregard the law and plow through the US government, firing inspectors general, guardians of ethical behavior, gutting departments that promote diversity, equity, and inclusion—all Christian values — blocking the USAID funds that help impoverished people around the world, and pardoning convicted criminals who worked on Trump’s behalf. This is all contrary to the Gospels’ red-letter text, which teaches altruism and kindness, concepts incomprehensible to our current president. By remaining silent, the clergy have made themselves and the church irrelevant. This hasn’t always been the case. Sojourner Truth stood against slavery, Dietrich Bonhoeffer resisted the Nazis, Martin Luther King gave his life for civil rights, and Desmond Tutu helped dismantle apartheid. Today, Episcopal Bishop Marianne Budde stands largely alone as she is pilloried by the president and his party for publicly asking him to show mercy to those who are scared. In typical third-grade style, Trump has called her “nasty,” “not compelling or smart,” and is demanding an apology. The clergy’s reaction? Crickets. Why are people leaving the church? Well, when churches espouse values on Sunday mornings but fail to support the likes of Bishop Budde or condemn a president who acts without compassion or ignores his oath of office, then those values

[Editor’s Note: Uhoh, another message about church… I got some flak last week in Text the Times for reporting that church attendance was at an alltime low. I mean, I didn’t make those folks stop going to church. Here’s the thing, I think… it’s generally true that churches do not have the same reach that they once had in the community. I’m not singling out any one church. In fact, there are churches right here in our community that are seeing tremendous participation, attendance and activity in the community. But overall, it’s just not seen as the major influence it once was. Case in point: We were just talking about this in Sunday school last week. When I was a kid, if you played a sport, there was no practice and there were no games on Wednesday or Sunday. Period. It wasn’t even a discussion. Why? Because those were “church days” and it just wasn’t an option. Nowadays, there are games an practices all the time on those days. In fact, just a few years ago, when my daughter was in competitive volleyball and softball, there were whole tournament that were scheduled to run Saturday and Sunday. And look, as to some of your specifics, you have to know that most of the folks who you probably think of as “the church” are largely made up of people who see what the Trump administration is doing and thinking, “It’s about time!” So, I would not expect to see a lot of pushback on that front] —–— I hear they are finally going to fix the bridge on Rich Road by the Walmart. First, it’s about time. Second, I’ll believe it when I see it. [Editor’s Note: That whole debacle has been a farce of the highest order and an shining example of bureaucracy in action at its absolute pettiest – a whole lot of finger-pointing from various municipal and state agencies about who was responsible for what. You want to talk about “government efficiency” and such? How much did the overall cost of those repairs go up over the last three years? Same thing with that overpass by the Marion Walmart that we will likely never see]