Trump's State of the Union and the Season of Lent
PLUS, the latest writing from the Convocation team.
This week, The Convocation Unscripted team breaks down Trump's rambling State of the Union speech--full of lies, bigotry, and self-aggrandizement. Trump's authoritarian ambitions are well in the open now. This speech was also given on the evening before Ash Wednesday, which marks the beginning of Lent in the Christian tradition. We note that Republican members of Congress, most of whom claim to be followers of Jesus, had advance copies of the speech and knew it was filled with lies, and yet none felt the conviction to stand up for the truth. We also talked about the need for churches to have the courage to speak up for the truth and that hiding behind concerns about this witness being "too political" was not defensible in these critical days. Click below to watch the conversation.
Mark your calendars!
As a reminder, we’ll be conducting our Convocation Unscripted podcast conversations weekly for the first 100 days of Trump’s administration. Here’s the rhythm: We’ll hold The Convocation Unscripted+LIVE on the first Thursdays of each month at 5:00 p.m. ET; on the other weeks, the Convocation team will record the show on Thursdays.
And each week, we’ll post the show Friday afternoon here via this newsletter, on our YouTube channel, and on our audio podcast. (NOTE: You can click on those links to receive the show directly via YouTube or Apple podcasts.)If you or a friend would like to join us for one of our upcoming live conversations, please be sure to subscribe to this newsletter, where we’ll send out the registration link the Tuesday before the show.
Here’s the schedule for the upcoming TCU+LIVE shows—we hope you’ll join us:
April 3, 5:00 p.m. ET
May 1, 5:00 p.m. ET
Diana’s highlighting of Elon’s views in favor of “empathy for the ideal of civilization” instead of empathy for the “ people in a community” is incredibly important to understand. It is key to understanding the moves Elon is making. I think he is a true believer in his role of bringing civilization to its true and full potential (as he envisions it). This is particularly scary considering his wealth and resources and his increasing power in our government.
I would love for you all to talk in more depth about the two kinds of empathy Diana talked about specifically. While to many of us the danger of Elon’s views are self-evident, to others it is not. Many people need to be taught about these different views and why one is aligned with Christ and the other is quite the opposite. Her point about Trump teaching people to favor his and Elon’s version of empathy for that ideal civilization from his large, world-wide platform is quite chilling.
Thank you for the “shout out” for Canada! I think our political leaders and the population generally realize that the threat is from Donald Trump alone. We cherish the relationship we have had with America and hope for its return very soon. We need to work at the relationships we enjoy and that will outlast Trump.
Gov Andy Beshear (D) Kentucky is one of the sanest voices in US government on this important issue and should be supported.
Donald Trump has repeatedly demonstrated that his signature is meaningless, not unlike Putin. Trump signed a trade agreement with Canada and Mexico and doesn’t even have the decency to attempt a renegotiation. He will run roughshod over everything non MAGA Americans value.