Why do they always get away with things no Democrat or Progressive Liberal could ever get away with? [View all]

https://signalpress.blogspot.com/2024/12/why-do-they-get-away-with-it-and-we-dont.html

The parade of incompetent, corrupt, sexually promiscuous buffoons and druggies that Trump is nominating for positions in his administration reminded me of someone from the recent past who, while he may not fall in exactly the same category as the assorted deplorables Trump is choosing, is one of those extremists on the far right who, regardless of the incredible lack of integrity and ethics in public comments that they make, manage not only to escape criticism or accountability, but somehow get rewarded for their insanity.

Let me introduce you to Wiley Drake. Drake is pastor of the First Southern Baptist Church of Buena Park, California, or, at least, he was a decade ago when some of these events happened. Originally from Arkansas, Drake is an activist of sorts who turned his church recreational building into a makeshift homeless shelter without consultation with the neighbors or the city of Buena Park. Then, when city officials tried to enforce ordinances that were, in effect, the will of the people, he played the role of the poor, persecuted guy who was being harassed by liberal government officials for just trying to do some good.

The church also houses a radio station, hosting Drake's own program which is a combination of ultra conservative religious mish-mash and social issue advocacy, particularly raging against the usual targets of abortion rights activists, and the LGBTQ community. But he made a name for himself among his Southern Baptist brethren by calling for "imprecatory prayer" against President Barack Obama. For those who may not recognize that term, an imprecatory prayer is a prayer for someone to die as punishment for disobedience to God. It's mentioned in the Old Testament, most frequently in the Psalms, associated with King David who prayed for God to deliver him from his enemies and there are occasional, less subtle prayers asking God to deliver the death of an enemy.

But imprecatory prayers are not part of the Christian gospel. In fact, Jesus turns this idea completely upside down early on, instructing his followers not to resist an "evildoer," but to turn the other cheek, to love their enemies, and pray for their persecutors, not against them. Noting that in the context of Christianity, one of its essential core doctrines is the belief that Jesus is divine, is the son of God and was sent to reveal God to humanity, these words of Jesus take precedence over everything in the Old Testament, imprecatory prayer would be an act of disobedience to Christ.

Progressive liberals, Democrats, even political moderates, would never be able to get away with that. But among the conservative religious element that has allowed an ungodly, licentious intruder (See Jude v.4) into the various fundamentalists, Baptists, Pentecostals, Charismatics and non-denominational conservative, right-wing Christian churches in the form of right wing political extremism, it's become the brand.