Dear Friends, … live from the scene, our special correspondent Jesus,

who is called Christ, what does he think?

“This is the only news show where you hear what Jesus thinks,”

said a mother of three school-aged children

who’d driven four hours from central North Carolina for the taping.

I’m trying not to make fun of the words above, sorry, but it’s hard. There is a way though. This mother of three wants to hear words explaining to her the deepest questions of her faith. From whose mouth will the truest of such words come? She is not saying that she will hear Jesus’ voice, only that he has entrusted his thoughts to those to whom she listens.

Some members of the United States Congress tell us that they have conversations with God. They don’t say how often, but they do say what at least some of them are about. One describes asking God’s advice on how to plan his campaign to become Speaker of the House. Another asks God’s help in deciding whether or not to ditch the district that she currently represents and switch to a more reliably reactionary district, given that her chances of re-election in her current district are getting smaller and smaller by the minute.

The mother of three stands high above these vacuous and corrupt conversationalists with God.

So what’s this all about? It’s about FlashPoint, a national (though still fairly small) tv program specializing in extreme pro-Trump reactionary “politics”, plus apocalyptic pronouncements and forecasts about the End of Days.

Everything I know about FlashPoint comes from an NBC News article, but that’s quite a lot. The article begins with a description of a live taping of the show, in Virginia Beach, Virginia, for which attendees had paid $60 each – not an exorbitant price in today’s entertainment world. It continues by interspersing the live taping with more general information about the show, its beliefs and its aims. All of which is pretty hair-raising, especially the emphasis on necessary violence. I encourage you all to read the article (Inside the Christian TV show rallying Trump superfans with apocalyptic warnings), and to read more about FlashPoint.

We  already know about quite a few such organizations, and we must take them very seriously. Still, what struck me most was what the mother of three, and also another participant said:

“‘This is the only news show where you hear what Jesus thinks,” said a mother of three school-aged children who’d driven four hours from central North Carolina for the taping.”

“‘I watch to get the truth,’ said one FlashPoint attendee, who described a “supernatural” rush of clarity the first time she found the show while flipping channels two years ago.”

I don’t know, maybe I’m just gullible, but I am moved by these statements. I want good and happiness for the mother and her three children, for the seeker after truth. Yes, I want that for everyone, but in a very abstract way. The handful of words I know that these two uttered are concrete and real to me, and give me a personal desire for their welfare.

So what? That anyone can believe what they say they believe is almost incomprehensible to me.

Love and Solidarity,

Bobby