Text only version: The Higher Power: Would Pence appeal to his higher angels and betray Trump?

By Hal Brown

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Read this: Pence testimony will hold key to proving Trump conspiracy charges: legal expert

Of all the people who were Trump sycophants none have the ability to reveal information which could lead to Trump being indicted, tried, and convicted of felonies which could result in him being incarcerated than his former vice president. 

The worst crime Trump committed was his treason involving the January 6th insurrection. It may be the most difficult to convict him of this, but it is far more serious than the Mar-a-Lago documents case or New York and Georgia state crimes.

Of all of the people who can testify under oath, swearing to God, to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, Mike Pence is probably the least likely to lie to protect Trump for religious reasons.

His religious beliefs may be mocked by cynics who say he put aside Christian values as he turned a blind eye to both Trump's history and his inhumane policies. We all seen photos like these (link) showing Pence gazing at Trump with a worshipful expression.

What mental gymnastics he engaged in to ponder what Christ would think about Trump may never be known. 

We know from survey data that a significant minority of Trump supporters believe he was anointed by God.

As a psychodynamically oriented therapist I can see how he would have related to Trump as a father figure because of some inner need. I know it seems impossible, unfathomable if you will, that anybody saw Trump this way but many people did and still do.

In retrospect he may have had a revelation, even a visitation from an angel who absolved him. It could have been Archangel Michael holding the Scales of Justice. He is known as the angel who will weigh souls on Judgment Day.

Pence may be saying the Prayer to Saint Michael § In the Leonine Prayers

Blessed Michael, archangel,
defend us in the hour of conflict.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil
(may God restrain him, we humbly pray):
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God thrust Satan down to hell
and with him those other wicked spirits
who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
Amen

Pence may now believe he was under the influence of Satan. This would be consistent with believing that Trump himself was an agent of Satan who literally bedeviled him. 

All of this would accrue to the advantage of justice being served. 

As an atheist I respect people who live their religious beliefs and values and don't bend, twist, and distort the religious teachings, for example in the Bible and Koran, to justify intolerance and cruelty. No-one needs to believe in God to live by the simple saying "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" otherwise known as The Golden Rule. (Perhaps ironically the GOP's favorite amendment to the Constitution is the second and The "Golden Rule" was proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth during his Sermon on the Mount and described by him as the second great commandment. Wikipedia)

I think there are signs that Mike Pence already has, or is in the process, of redeeming himself. That I don't believe in God doesn't mean I won't honor him for returning to his personal God.

I may even say God bless Mike Pence....

The Higher Power: Would Pence appeal to his higher angels and betray Trump?

By Hal Brown

Background, Angel of Light (1960) Salvadore Dali

Text only version here.

Read: 

Pence testimony will hold key to proving Trump conspiracy charges: legal expert

Of all the people who were Trump sycophants none have the ability to reveal information which could lead to Trump being indicted, tried, and convicted of felonies which could result in him being incarcerated than his former vice president. 

The worst crime Trump committed was his treason involving the January 6th insurrection. It may be the most difficult to convict him of this, but it is far more serious than the Mar-a-Lago documents case or New York and Georgia state crimes.

Of all of the people who can testify under oath, swearing to God, to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, Mike Pence is probably the least likely to lie to protect Trump for religious reasons.

His religious beliefs may be mocked by cynics who say he put aside Christian values as he turned a blind eye to both Trump's history and his inhumane policies. We all seen photos like these (link) showing Pence gazing at Trump with a worshipful expression.

What mental gymnastics he engaged in to ponder what Christ would think about Trump may never be known. 

We know from survey data that a significant minority of Trump supporters believe he was anointed by God.

As a psychodynamically oriented therapist I can see how he would have related to Trump as a father figure because of some inner need. I know it seems impossible, unfathomable if you will, that anybody saw Trump this way but many people did and still do.

In retrospect he may have had a revelation, even a visitation from an angel who absolved him. It could have been Archangel Michael holding the Scales of Justice. He is known as the angel who will weigh souls on Judgment Day.

Painting by Rogier van der Weyden

Pence may be saying the Prayer to Saint Michael § In the Leonine Prayers

Blessed Michael, archangel,
defend us in the hour of conflict.
Be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil
(may God restrain him, we humbly pray):
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God thrust Satan down to hell
and with him those other wicked spirits
who wander through the world for the ruin of souls.
Amen

Pence may now believe he was under the influence of Satan. This would be consistent with believing that Trump himself was an agent of Satan who literally bedeviled him. 

All of this would accrue to the advantage of justice being served. 

As an atheist I respect people who live their religious beliefs and values and don't bend, twist, and distort the religious teachings, for example in the Bible and Koran, to justify intolerance and cruelty. No-one needs to believe in God to live by the simple saying "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" otherwise known as The Golden Rule. (Perhaps ironically the GOP's favorite amendment to the Constitution is the second and The "Golden Rule" was proclaimed by Jesus of Nazareth during his Sermon on the Mount and described by him as the second great commandment. Wikipedia)

I think there are signs that Mike Pence already has, or is in the process, of redeeming himself. That I don't believe in God doesn't mean I won't honor him for returning to his personal God.

I may even say God bless Mike Pence....

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' grim vision of a "woke mob" enforcing Satanic rituals

 

Click image to enlarge

This was the subtitle of this Salon story:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders' grim vision of a "woke mob" enforcing Satanic rituals

This is the real way the article appears.

Regular readers of my blog know that I often can't resist making my own version of images used to illustrate various articles.

Images I used to make my illustration

Excerpt:

I looked for any mention of Satanism or specifically of satanic rituals in the article but there weren't any. She may not have uttered his name because she believes, as some people do, that you must never say the name of a demon out loud.

The word "rituals" does appear three times:

"We are under attack in a left-wing culture war we didn't start and never wanted to fight," she proclaimed, although the antecedent of "we" was not altogether clear. "Every day, we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols," she said. 

That certainly sounds alarming, but specifics were again absent: What false idols and what flags, and where are these alleged rituals mandatory?

"Every day," Sanders said, "we are told that we must partake in their rituals, salute their flags, and worship their false idols." 

She also may have wanted to invoke this QAnon conspiracy belief...

... that liberal politicians and Hollywood "elites" are harvesting the blood of children to extract adrenochrome for its psychedelic and life-extending benefits. (Reference)

Sanders has company among the super-Maga high priests. None other than a blood relative of His Highness Donald Trump, Donald Trump, Jr., believes that Hollywood satanic rituals will soon be exposed. Hollywood, Democrats, you say tomato they say tomatoh.

One could suggest that Satan is one of the Democrat's false idols, although it could be said that if you are a Christian who believes in Heaven and Hell to suggest that Satan is not real, i.e., false, would also be to say that God and Christ aren't real either. 

Let's assume for the sake of argument that Sanders is a sincerely true-believing Christian. This would mean that she believes in Satan, aka the Devil, Lucifer, Beezlebub, the antichrist and 25 or so other names from the Bible. As the righteous believer she is, she would believe both God and Satan are keeping an active eye on her and her activities. 

It would seem that in the State of the Union response she has mightily pissed Satan off. Why does he even need demons. He has a "woke mob" working for him. Not only are they woke, but they all are well educated and have significantly above average IQs.

I sure hope for her sake that God will protect her from this mob... not really... I am rooting for Satan. 

Seriously, though, unless you are a delusional MAGA nutcase there is one word in the Salon article title that rings as true as a church bell. 

_______________________________

Footnotes:

Sarah Huckabee Sanders is not known to have ever claimed to be a witch or having had ever attended a Witches Sabbath. This is a midnight meeting of witches to practice witchcraft and sorcery; in the Middle Ages it was supposed to be a demonic orgy.

Above: Sixteenth-century Swiss representation of Sabbath gathering from the chronicles of Johann Jakob Wick. Note Devil seated on serpent-enlaced throne, witch performing the osculum infame upon a demon and another being aided by a demon to summon a storm from her cauldron, while others carouse and prepare magic potions

Unlike failed Delaware GOP senate candidate Christine O'Donnell she has never had to state that she wasn't a witch.

Insert: Francisco Goya (1746–1828), Witches’ Sabbath (1797-98), oil on canvas, 43 x 30 cm, Museo Lázaro Galdiano, Madrid, Spain. 

Addendum: No insult is intended as far as those who practice Wicca or Paganism. Differences  between them and Satan worship are explained here. The likes of Sanders and QAnon cultists don't know anything about Wicca and Paganism and I am sure think they all worship Satan. Of course this is not true (LINK).

Click above to enlarge

Reference to above here 

The Arkansas  federal funding as a share of total state revenue is 30.3%. Reference.

Satanic ritual abuse has been the subject of serious scholarship. Here's one such example from the Christian Research Institute website. ( See Wikipedia). Note that it was originally published in 2009 but updated in 2022.

The Hard Facts about Satanic Ritual Abuse

Here's the Wikipedia entry about satanic panic which is about allegations of ritual abuse.

This was in VOX in 2021:

Why Satanic Panic never really ended

The collective fears that consumed the US in the 1980s and ’90s are still alive and well — all the way through QAnon and beyond.