Moses And Jesus January 28, 2026January 28, 2026 But first . . . HE ALONE IS FIXING IT His people are “doing a helluva job” (30 seconds). Americans’ confidence in the US economy falls sharply in January to lowest level since 2014. But c’mon — why so glum? Corporate profits are strong and billionaires have never done better! Isn’t that enough? And now . . . MOSES International Holocaust Remembrance Day prompted Noa Tishby (Israel: A Simple Guide to the Most Misunderstood Country on Earth) to co-author this New York Post essay yesterday: Hatred of Israel is the new antisemitism. You can hate what Netanyahu and Israel have done to Gazans, as many Israelis themselves do . . . but should hate even more, I would argue, what Hamas has done to Gazans and Israelis. Either way, no one should hate Palestinians or Israelis per se — or Jews. Yet so many do. Almost all of whom vote MAGA. This deeply personal Newsweek essay linking Trump to antisemitism was written before the 2024 election. JESUS “I’d like to punch him in the face.” — Jesus, Two Corinthians There is a modest but real chance for Democrats to win John Cornyn’s Texas Senate seat in November — not least because he faces a tough primary of his own — and two outstanding Democrats are vying for that chance. Jasmine Crockett blew me away on a recent Zoom and would make a fine Senator. Texas is not known for electing persons of color (though it’s had two female governors and, from 1993-2013, Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson) . . . but a majority of the state’s eligible voters are themselves persons of color — and she’s terrific. James Talarico is, too. He has blown me away with clips like this one (2 minutes), asserting with a seminarian’s authority that “there is nothing Christian about Christian nationalism.” They’d both be great, so the only thing that matters is which one has the best chance of winning. If it does not become clear which one that is, then I’d like to see Talarico get it — and here’s why. The race is likely to get loads of national attention. And getting that word out to Christians around the country — that if they are real Christians, it’s time to think hard about which party they should call home — could make a difference in races nationwide. This man has done that hard thinking: I am a straight, white, cisgender, very obviously privileged man in my early forties. I have a beard that is turning gray. I wear flannel. I wear trucker hats. I wear Carhartt pants. I took up fishing this past year. If you passed me in a parking lot, there is a solid chance you would assume I am either very angry, very conservative, or about to complain loudly about something on Facebook. Fair assumption. I look like THAT guy. I grew up in a home with firearms. Firearm safety was taken seriously. I was taught how to handle them, where the safety was, how to shoot, and how to respect the responsibility that comes with all of that and I understand that culture because I lived in it. I was also a conservative evangelical Christian pastor for 15 years. As a senior in high school, I attended meetings for the Young Republicans. I registered to vote as soon as I could and voted for George W. Bush the first time I was eligible in 2000. I voted for him again in 2004. That was normal where I was. That was expected. That was the air I breathed. Then something inconvenient happened. I started thinking… and I didn’t like the smell of what I was stepping in. In 2008, I voted for Barack Obama. I was still an evangelical Christian pastor. I did not tell anyone. In 2012, I voted for Obama again. I was a worship pastor and youth pastor at a very conservative baptist church in a very conservative small coastal town in Northern California near Crescent City. After Obama won reelection, I posted on Facebook that “everything was going to be okay”. That was it. One sentence. I was called into the pastor’s office and grilled about who I voted for and where my politics stood. The same pastor had previously grilled me for allowing a young queer girl to attend overnight church trips. He also took issue with me saying Christians should care about social justice. Apparently loving your neighbor was fine until you meant it. I share all of this because I did not arrive here accidentally. I lived in that world. I led in it. I preached in it. I defended it. Most of my friends, family, and community thought exactly the way I did at the time. I attended a conservative Christian Bible college and I graduated. After I left evangelical Christianity, I went back to school and earned a second degree from a local very liberal state school in digital cinema. But at the state school, no one there indoctrinated me. I didn’t catch any woke mind virus. No one tried to change me. What they did do was put me in rooms with people I had been taught to fear. LGBTQ+ students. Immigrants. Artists. Humans. A large reason I left evangelical Christianity and my career as a pastor was because LGBTQ+ kids kept showing up to our youth group. The elders of my Church complained that the youth group did not feel welcoming to church kids anymore. What they really meant was that it felt too welcoming to everyone else and all the kids who went to Christian school, and came from Christian homes, and who were in church the first Sunday after they were born, felt uncomfortable. The LGBTQ+ students came because they felt safe. We did not preach at them. We ate pizza. We played dumb youth group games. We gave them a place to exist without being fixed. That was apparently a problem. There are a thousand others reasons I left that world, but that one still sits heavy. Here is why I am speaking up… I have the ability to move between worlds. I can walk into a Sportsman’s Warehouse in flannel, Carhartts, sunglasses, and a big beard, grab some tackle, and no one would ever guess I had just come from a rally supporting public lands or standing against hate and authoritarianism. That matters. People who look like me are often assumed to be safe, neutral, or on the other side. That gives me access. And access comes with responsibility. It is more important than ever for people who look like me to speak up. To speak out. To say clearly that hate and discrimination are not acceptable. To say that just because you do not understand someone does not mean they have less value or dignity. To say that LGBTQ+ people are not threats. They are people. Who have dignity worth and purpose and just want to live their lives in peace. If you grew up conservative evangelical, I see you. I know how deeply this stuff runs. I know how much of it is shaped by church, family, community, and media echo chambers. A lot of people were not taught to hate intentionally. They were taught who to fear. That does not excuse harm. But it does mean change is possible. I am living proof of that. And if you are liberal, I would gently suggest remembering that people do not usually change because they are screamed at by strangers online. Again, I know this because I am standing here. It was honestly the love and compassion of the LGBTQ+ community that began to lead me out. They asked me sincere questions about my beliefs, my faith, about who I was as a person. I soon learned, “hey… they’re pretty cool!” So if you are conservative and angry right now, pause and ask why. Who taught you that anger. Who benefits from it. Who gets hurt by it. What is happening right now is not normal. It is not okay. And I am not going to stay quiet just because silence is comfortable for people who look like me. If my flannel and beard help someone listen who otherwise would not, then I will use that. Because compassion, dignity, and justice are not radical ideas. They are human ones. Oh, and they’re also the ones Jesus taught. “For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” — Matthew 25:35–40 Sorry to go on so long. (The comments following his post are great, too.) Tomorrow — more on this topic, and on leaving MAGA. Join Indivisible! Support the opposition!