The beginning of this week marked half a year since President-elect Trump escaped a bullet by the skin of his ear, two weeks until his inauguration, and four years since, as some liturgical calendars might have it, the twelfth day of Christmas gave us thousands of rioters a-rioting.
When political crimes are committed by civilians, it can be hard to take our eyes off the heavy as he runs for the thicket with his sack of money. But the real lesson to be learned is often found in the media’s behavior as they pocket the trail of coins he left behind.
IN MEMORIAM
Before I address the target of the first assassination attempt, I would like to pay respects to the brother in Christ that election season forgot. The gunfire on July 13, 2024 was not an attempted murder. It was a murder. Corey Comperatore, a veteran, firefighter, and active church member, passed into glory while throwing himself down upon his wife and daughters. It thus makes perfect sense, and not in a good way, that the media barely gave him a nod before brushing his name under the rug.
Comperatore is the kind of man the church should covet. If anyone wonders about his political views or denomination, my only comment is that I would have loved to spend an evening with him over steaks, smiles, and discussions of our different theologies. But the most important thing, both about the man and about that day, was the sacrifice that he made. It is of no little significance that one stray shot into that rally took a man who didn’t just offer lip service, but actively demonstrated the love of Christ by assuming the fatality upon himself. The testimony of his family proves his legacy to be the kind that every Christian man should aspire to leave.
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends.
LATE TERM
In the United States, between 1,500 and 2,500 babies are murdered in the womb every day. Contrary to political pro-life rhetoric, this isn’t death for the sake of death. It’s a blood sacrifice. Abortion has been successfully defended, normalized, commodified, and romanticized because there is a cause behind it. And we will never win the war against it if we don’t take the unpalatable step of understanding that cause.
The cause is a humanist construct termed “autonomy.” While our founding fathers spoke of inalienable rights endowed to us by our Creator, the American left speaks of autonomy as though we, extraordinary happenstances of evolution, belong to ourselves by assumption of some cosmic title deed. The preceding “clump of cells” argument only went so far, because Darwinism allows no one to ascend higher. Despite its dependence on biological inequality, evolution allows for no inequality in moral relevance. Goo we are and to goo we shall return, says the professor, but without resurrection, judgment, or God’s image.
“Sentience” is the current mainstream metric of moral relevance, and this works for their narrative because conditions can be placed upon it—i.e., your moral relevance ends where their autonomy begins. Life in the womb is the most convenient instance of this, and abortion is their demonstration. They have nothing inherently against babies; they just need to remind you that when the sanctity of human life clashes with their autonomy, their autonomy will win.
What they’ve failed to account for is the fact that threats to autonomy exist everywhere. If a politician poses a threat to their autonomy, he may be protected by the law of the land; but he is not protected by their doctrine. Add to this a near decade of the politically correct establishment fighting dirty, telling everyone to fear him, and wiping their muck boots on Jewish graves by comparing him to Hitler. The American left has more than enough basis to abort such a man in peak consistency.
When Donald Trump was elected to his first term, assassination wishes emerged from high places and low. Social media posts got likes for saying it, celebrities got cheers for saying it, and social media posts of celebrities saying it got more likes and more cheers. No one seemed too worried about saying turning into doing; and for many, this was due to the naivete of their pixel palace. But there were no doubt others who, while not morally feral enough to pull the trigger themselves, were secretly crossing their fingers in the hopes that the signal would reach someone who was.
Well, Thomas Crooks was that person first; and just a few months later, Ryan Routh was arrested for plotting to finish the job. While it is evident that these men had their own agendas and do not represent the American left, the media’s disposition after these incidents was conspicuously embarrassed. They gave obligatory disapproval, but it seemed they suddenly lost their touch when it came to outrage.
Vice president Harris repeatedly stated that violence has no place in our country; yet her crusade for abortion was the highest pin on her sash throughout her presidential campaign. To advocate for the murder of unoffending babies is to condone the murder of any activist who opposes this so-called right. Before anyone accuses me of a straw man, I am not saying the mainstream left’s narrative would ever teach this. They won’t even admit it to themselves. But it follows by the most elementary principles of logic.
Proverbs 28:5
Evil men do not understand justice,
But those who seek the Lord understand all.
FOUR SCORE AND SEVEN BEERS AGO
And now for the inevitable question: “What about January 6th, hmm?” January 6th was bad. Really bad. Did everyone there have the same intentions? No. Such notions from the left’s narrative overestimate these amateurs’ capacity for organization. But the big picture of what occurred is in no way a good or redeemable thing; and no sound, consistent Christian can make excuses for it.
Mike Pence, a brother in Christ by all accounts, came to a different conclusion than Trump on the integrity of the election. In response, a band of hooligans at the capitol chanted “hang Mike Pence” while parading a noose through the streets. Whether this was just all talk, or whether this makeshift noose would have been adequate, doesn’t change the fact that a lynching threat is a lynching threat. If those responsible don’t repent, they will go to the same place Thomas Crooks went; and the who, what, when, where, and why won’t matter in Hell.
This was far from the only sin committed that day, but it is perhaps the most glaring instance of hypocrisy within a nominally pro-life movement. In memorable fashion, the Christless right proved itself to be a hopelessly unqualified army for righteousness in our nation. But thankfully, it is not a political movement that the Bride of Christ appeals to. Thus, when the left seeks to leverage that timber, rope, and horned Shamanic headdress, Biblical Christians have no need for defensiveness. That foolishness isn’t in their book.
So yes, let’s talk about January 6th. Let’s talk about how separation from Christ affects the right as well as the left. Let’s talk about how both sides cried out for the assassination of Mike Pence (albeit one side four years earlier than the other). But we must also acknowledge that the Church has a God-given standard that condemns the political violence of that winter, while the left cannot consistently condemn the political violence of this past summer.
I’m not interested in weighing how much attention was given to every fine detail, but it helps to have an awareness of how the two surges compare. One case saw thousands of rioters, some of whom made murderous threats, rise and fall in a day. The other case saw two confirmed culprits, in separate but close incidents, make calculated assassination attempts. Did the media treat both of these cases as substantial ideological threats? Hardly. To this day, we can’t stop hearing about the one that hasn’t reemerged in four years, while the one from just a matter of months ago is all but forgotten.
Psalm 12:8
The wicked prowl on every side,
When vileness is exalted among the sons of men.
THE LORD’S ARMY
The left is inconsistent. The right is inconsistent. Even the Church is prone to stumble in both directions. But God and His Word are perfect. When the Pharisees demanded that the Kingdom of God come in the form of an earthly politician, they schemed to have the Lord Jesus crucified. When America demands a future in flags, unholy violence ensues. There is nothing new under the sun (Ecclesiastes 1:9). But our labor for New Christendom is not one of impulsion or desperation, but of faith in the promises of a Master who can never be removed from office.
1 Timothy 2:1-2
Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
Donald Trump may never cease to be one of the most controversial figures of the 21st Century, even within the Church. But, because he is our president-elect, the Church is commanded to gather on one common ground for him. That common ground is the throne of grace. If attempts were made on his life before he had even been elected, how much more should we be praying—and I do mean praying, not worrying—for his safety at the upcoming inauguration.
But eternally more important is the man’s soul. He has had much exposure to Christianity in his political career, yet exhibits no signs of Gospel repentance. Even without people trying to kill him, a man approaching the age of 80 should grasp the importance of making sure he is right with God. We should pray earnestly that he does not leave the White House only to learn too late that all his money, deals, votes, wits, and guts could not save him. The gate is just as narrow for him as it is for all the world, but for now, it remains open. May he humble himself and be cleansed while the Lord’s common graces are upon him. Amen.
