The Week in Review (1-25-25)

1. It was a cold week, with several days hovering around minus temperatures. I don't know if it's accurate, but I read somewhere that as the Arctic warms and melts, there is less containment of cold temperatures to the north, causing them to seep down further south. Reminds me of the movie The Day After Tomorrow (2004).

I ended up ordering another chicken coop, the third real one although we have two small coops and two I've tried to build. The problem with mine and the small ones is that they aren't particularly good in zero-degree weather. The result is that I have a number of more vulnerable chickens in my garage, which is far from ideal.

2. My work is always interesting. We have used AI to translate a number of Kingswood Learn microcourses into Spanish. It's fun to see Bud Bence or Dave Smith speaking fluent Spanish in manipulated videos.

Then of course there is my usual overseeing of the courses we offer -- and the ones I teach as well. There are student issues, helicopter parents. The usual.

3. I took my Wesleyan systematic theology and reformated it as a new iteration: What Christians Believe -- In Simple Terms. It had one sale on the day I put out a Facebook ad. But I took the ad down. I've done that several times. Create an ad. Be disappointed with the initial sales. Take it down. I continue to get a trickle of daily purchases of A Biblical Argument for Women in Ministry and Leadership.

My problem has always been having too many ideas. I probably have 10 books in progress right now. I drive my wife and kids crazy pitching ideas to them.

4. It has been the first week of the Trump administration. Here are some of the developments I've seen.

• He officially defined gender as male and female for the nation.
• He pulled out of the Paris accord in relation to climate change. He pulled out of the World Health Organization.
• Some of his nominees were approved, perhaps most notably Pete Hegseth at the DOD.
• He renamed the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America.
• He tried to purchase Greenland, but apparently it's not for sale.
• He is dismantling DEI progams. There have been extensive movements against any programs that are favorable to minorities. Here in Indiana, the new governor has defunded Martin College, the only primarily African-American college in the state.
• He has frozen foreign aid.
• He was very upset when the bishop at the National Cathedral asked him to show compassion toward immigrants and LGBTQ individuals. He blasted her on social media, as did many others.
• He declassified the files on the JFK assassination.
• The inauguration was taken indoors ostensibly because of the cold. The featured guests were billionaire social media moguls.
• He pardoned all the January 6 rioters, including those who harmed police officers.
• There's a proposed Constitution amendment in the House to allow Trump to have a third term. People are joking about Obama running if that's the case. I can't see it going the distance.
• Security details for people like Fauci have been revoked with words approving violence toward him. I saw some social media from prominent Christians calling for the hanging of Deborah Birx.
• Trump noted that while Biden had pre-emptively pardoned his family and others, he hadn't pardoned himself and thus, presumably, was fair game for prosecution.
• Trump revoked the security clearances of all the intelligence individuals (51 individuals) who thought that the Hunter Biden laptop story bore the hallmarks of a Russian information operation.

Some of these are predictable. Some are more significant than others. Here are some perhaps to watch more carefully.

• ICE has gone into action detaining undocumented immigrants. There are reports of citizens getting swept up with the undocumented with a kind of "guilty till proven innocent" approach. Trump has given the green light to detain at churches and schools. ICE agents can now show up at your worship service to detain whoever they suspect may be undocumented.
• The border was declared a national emergency, allowing the use of the military. The ease with which the military can be called up is a little disturbing.
• By executive order, there is an attempt to undo birthright citizenship. This of course is unconstitutional and probably won't stand, but we'll see what the Supreme Court does. 
• He has abolished rules against discrimination. If you don't want to hire a woman or a person of color just because they're a woman or person of color, you don't have to. The tone does not seem to be one of "everyone should be treated equal" but one of "let's go back to the good old days when white men did whatever they wanted." 
• I don't think most Americans realize how much good the federal government does in helping people in disasters and those on the edges. We take it for granted.  
• Many internal checks and balances are being removed. Last night, 12 independent inspectors were fired in the government. 
• Research on health-related problems like cancer and diabetes has been halted at the NIH.

The evangelical world is over the moon. Franklin Graham's prayer at the inauguration was incredibly celebratory, and I can see the absolute glee among many in my circles on Facebook as well. I've been mulling this over a lot. The only item above that seems overtly religious is the definition of gender. I know that some Bible colleges have struggled with Biden regulations relating to discrimination.

The only conclusion I can reach is that my fellow evangelicals have been convinced of many things that are not specifically Christian but evoke a concern for justice. For example, many Christians have been convinced that COVID was a hoax, that the deep state is nefariously controlling the country, that innocent people have been wrongly prosecuted, and that the government is evil. That would explain the sense of triumph over evil.