Books I have read

‘American Prophecies’ And The Vision Of A God-Ordained U.S.

Posted on February 15, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

We have lots of Stand With Israel signs in Preble County. One can only speculate what the signs would say if the Shepherd of Hermes, instead of The Revelation of John, had been included in the Bible as originally planned. This sign is attached to a Baptist Church in Camden, Ohio.

Two men walking up the hill, one disappears and one’s left standing still — I Wish We’d All Been Ready, Larry Norman, Upon This Rock, 1969. This song, which includes the phrase, ‘the Son has come and you’ve been left behind,’ was a conservative Christian anthem in the late 60s and early 70s. It may have been the inspiration for the Left Behind series penned by Tim LeHaye and Jerry Jenkins. More than 65 million of the books have sold worldwide. The song has been recorded by Pat Boone, Cliff Richards and a slew of CCM artists.

Let me begin by saying, I don’t believe it.

I don’t believe in the Rapture. I don’t believe in Armageddon and I certainly don’t believe that Israel is part of God’s plan. It’s about politics and exploiting fear.

But I wanted to learn about the Israel movement because of the overwhelming number of ‘Stand with Israel’ signs in my county. When I first noticed them years ago, I mocked them, not grasping what they really meant — that a regressive, apocalyptic worldview was invading my community. It’s a worldview that believes the end of time will occur with Armageddon in Israel.

Growing up in an evangelical church whose brand had a muddy view of the end times, I was never overly interested in Armageddon — or its common partner — the rapture. The rapture is a worldview that asserts the righteous will be ‘taken away’ into paradise while the rest of us are left on earth to learn a hard lesson.

This worldview was told (and sold) in exhausting detail via the Left Behind book series.

The Fearful Faithful

Fundamentalism is the preferred form of Christianity in my part of America. Literal signs of this belief structure are everywhere — from the ‘If you die tonight, will you go to Heaven or Hell?’ billboards along I-70 to the ‘repent and be baptized’ sign as you enter Camden, Ohio. In the past several decades, despite a declining population, we have seen the number of our churches grow — with an increasing move toward stricter interpretations of what the ‘Bible really means.’

Despite our growing number of churches, fear is pervasive, with many local churches compelled to remind citizens that we are a ‘Christian nation’ under siege by the forces of evil. In a recent letter to the editor the minister of the Eaton Church of Christ explains the presence of small white crosses starting to pop up throughout Preble County.

“We have decided that if our local, state, and federal governments are going to bow to the demands of those who would see all the symbols of the Christian foundation of this nation removed, then we will do our best to remind them…They (the white crosses) are a way to remind those around us that this nation became the greatest nation in the world because of its Christian foundations: true morality, Christian principles and the providence of the one true God and creator.”

This approach to interpreting America’s history is common among fundamentalist who have decided that, just like with the Bible, they are the only ones to be trusted with understanding our country’s nuanced beginnings.

God Knows Best

Fundamentalism exploits the simple faith of many, and few do it better than bestselling author Michael D. Evans. In American Prophecies: Ancient Scriptures Reveal Our Nation’s Future, Evans details how America is in the path of prophecy as he analyzes current and past U.S. events surrounding the Nation of Israel. According to Evans, the U.S. and Israel were chosen by god as part of a divine plan to save (most of) the world.

The book is worth reading to better understand the reasoning behind the Stand with Israel movement. This peculiar, fundamentalist movement has believers sadistically waiting for a nuclear war to prove their interpretation of the Bible is correct.

Evans builds his case for Israel’s holy role in America (and vice versa) by relying on Old Testament verses that, he says, prove America is part of the ‘prophecy stream.’ He details the various times in American history when presidents succeeded, or failed, to follow God’s will concerning the Jews. Overall, it appears that the GOP has been better at understanding God’s will than the Democrats, as one would expect based on the author’s political affiliations. But, politics aside, Evans does appear to truly believe that we have divine protection as a country.

God’s Protection

One example Evans gives is General George Washington.

According to Evans, on the battlefield bullets tore through Washington’s coat, but did not pierce his flesh. This, and other events like it, are proof to Evans that that God’s hand was working as a shield for Washington as God guided the country’s inception. But, as anyone who has read war accounts know, these type of ‘miracles’ are fairly common throughout history.

By Evans’ logic Dick Winters (Band of Brothers) or a Preble County WWII vet I met years ago were protected by God. This local soldier’s story of survival includes many ‘intuitions’ that saved his life (‘move away from that tree’) and in one incident, as an 18-year-old soldier, he was one of only two to survive a SS ambush. This man, who detailed other unexplainable events, said he struggled with understanding how he was saved in battle when the guy next to him was killed.

This phenomenon is commonly referred to as survivor’s guilt, but for Evans, in the case of Washington, it was part of a master plan.

What Were They Thinking?

The book employs a retelling — or a ‘getting inside the head’ — of past president’s action and in Evans’ defense his life has intertwined with a lot of high-ranking political figures so he would be privy to some of their thought processes. The book was published in 2004 so 9/11 and the president all conservatives love to hate — Bill Clinton — was still fresh on Evans’ mind.

So, as expected, throughout the book Evans political leanings often influence his spiritual insights. But, at times, his reasoning feel insane.

For example, Evans quotes an unnamed ‘brilliant and respected scholar whom I have known for decades,’ who gives yet another verification that God is protecting Israel. The scholar says,

“If you look at a satellite image of the city of Jerusalem, you will see the tetragrammaton YHWH. It is clearly visible in the photos.”

YHWH is the Hebrew word for Yahweh — the ‘unspoken name of God,’ Evans says.

Moving The Embassy

As spiritual advisor to 45* Evans was elated when the U.S. Embassy was recently moved to Jerusalem, saying at a December ceremony honoring Trump,

No president in history has ever built such an alliance for the State of Israel and the Jewish people, and no president has courageously stood up for the State of Israel on the global stage as you had Mr. President.

The embassy move is a mixed bag of blessings. If you believe in biblical prophecies, we’re one step closer to the end, and if you don’t believe, well a hard lesson is awaiting.

No Rating on Book. If one wishes to understand the ‘end times’ mindset, but does not want to read the 16-part Left Behind series, this succinct work should do the trick. The book I read is a signed edition –and since I bought it at Goodwill it was discarded by the original owner. I’m not sure what that says about the destination of his/her soul.

Afterthought

As Evans explains in the book, 65 million Americans profess to be Christian and he pontificates what would happen if the Rapture occurred today emptying the country of their souls. It was this argument that almost made me a believer since I could not see a downside.

“Realize, also, if that (the Rapture) happened today it would take our president. Who else would it take? How many members of the Senate? The House? How many judges? How many governors? How many mayors and city council members?”

Although I find the belief system superstitious, one part of the book I did find intriguing — and somewhat entertaining — was the list of Bible verses each U.S. president used when sworn in. Some, like Reagan understood the marketing power of a verse while others, like Lincoln, just let the Bible fall open. At least one president, Pierce, chose not to use a Bible at the inauguration.

Categories: American History, Books I have read, My America, Politics, Religion | Tags: , ,

‘Broke USA:’ Exploiting The Working Poor Is Big Business

Posted on February 5, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

Broke, USA: From Pawnshops to Poverty, Inc.—How the Working Poor Became Big Business by Gary Rivlin opens in Dayton, Ohio, a city 20 miles or so to the east of my hometown of Eaton. The opening vignette is the story of a hard-working man who fell on hard times when his wife developed health problems. Eventually, the couple travel to nearby Huber Heights, where they are duped into signing a predatory loan.

When the story opens, the couple have lost their home and have moved a second time — this time into a less than ideal mobile home park — and the man, now in his early 70s, does not see retirement as a possibility. He seems resigned to his fate.

His story is just one of many sprinkled throughout the book as Rivlin crisscrosses the Midwest, including frequent stops in Dayton and Montgomery County. The author investigates the various industries that have exploited lower income workers. These industries include: Rent to Own stores, paycheck lending stories, pawn shops and loans stores dealing in subprime loans. And, as the book notes, these businesses have left behind devastated communities.

In the City of Eaton (pop. 8,200), we have three payday lending stores, a pawn shop and a rent to own store.

What really gives the books ‘its legs’ is the author also reports the other side of the story. He interviews industry leaders and travels to the various networking events each industry holds. He reports on their marketing tactics, their training methods and paints a complete picture from a consumer, industry, and consumer protection point of view. The story includes a lot of ‘unsung heroes’ who fought for the disadvantaged and duped.

After reading the book, I became very aware of the holes in our legislation, and economy, that create exploitation. And, the stories of the victims make it difficult to believe that the current legislative drive — to deregulate — will benefit the middle and lower-middle classes.

My Rating: 5 out of 5 stars. This book gets a high rating because it’s written in a way that all players get a say. Granted, some of the players do not come across as positively as others, but I am okay with that because of the loss of wealth inflicted on many from the working class.

Afterthought

My interest in Rivlin’s book is the unresolved foreclosure crisis Preble County still faces. According to Policy Matters Ohio, Preble County ranked in the top 10 for home foreclosures every year between 2007 and 2013. It peaked at 3rd in the state in 2013 before dropping out of the top 10 in 2014 when it ranked 16th in Ohio.

With 4.5 foreclosures per 1,000, in 2016, our foreclosure density ranks eighth in the state.

Despite the economic decline, as evidence by our foreclosure rates, Preble County saw an uptick in property values during the 2017/2018 revaluation. The uptick in values (mostly for non-farm properties) came as the farm lobby successfully drove down property values on Preble County farmland.  But, some of our farmers are doing okay thanks to government handouts (see chart, click on chart to access database).

According to the EWG Farm Subsidy Database, Preble County farmers received $118 million in subsidies between 1996-2016. Ohio ranks 13th in the nation for monies received. Preble County ranks 16 (out of 88 counties) in EQIP funds received. The most common use of EQIP funds in Ohio is to build fences.

Click on chart to access database.

Categories: 8th congressional district, Books I have read, My America, Preble County

‘We’ve Got A Job’ Tells Forgotten Story Of 1963 Children’s March In Birmingham

Posted on February 1, 2018 by CharlieClaywell

Scene from 1963 Children’s March courtesy of Wikipedia.

Although not formally educated in American history, I consider myself a devout student. My interest was casual until the death of my father 17 years ago when it intensified. My first foray was tracking down his Korean War medals. Then I dove into my family’s history learning about its colonial and pre-colonial American past. The natural progression led to studying American history.

When I look back over the nearly two decades, I’m pleased with the quest and the natural growth it produced — including a better understanding of America’s race wars.

It’s Just A Word

Growing up in an evangelical home, I was acutely aware which words not to use. Soft curse words like damn could evoke a lecture. When, as a seven-year-old, I told Mom I wanted a recently released toy called Son of a Gun, she threatened to punish me (‘You want me to mash your mouth’).

But the N-word was more acceptable.

That is not to say my parents used the word or embraced it (they didn’t), but when I dropped the word as a teenager, in anger, at a black man, there was no lecture. I learned the word years earlier from my paternal grandfather who used it to describe a community of  ‘yella n-word’ (a reference to their lighter skin tone) that lived near him in Cumberland County, Kentucky. As an eight-year-old sitting on the couch watching TV with Grandpa, he used it freely when black entertainers appeared on TV, saying, ‘Now there’s one happy N-word.’

I relay this, not to expose the subtle, and not so subtle, prejudice of my childhood, but rather to show that what we teach our children matters.

We’ve Got A Job

Juvenile-level literature like We’ve Got A Job matters on many levels. The book teaches our children positive role models, and it also tells the stories of parents who did ‘teach their children well.’

Like most Americans, I’ve long been familiar with the images, and TV footage, of the Civil Rights movement. Some of the most gripping images, like the one above, capture dogs attacking peaceful protesters. The water hose news footage is also very disturbing to watch especially since, as Americans, we lie to ourselves and say we’re a Christian nation ordained by God as a ‘city set on a hill,’ but our actions say otherwise.

But, what I never knew, until reading We’ve Got A Job by Cynthia Levinson was that thousands — literally thousands — of black juveniles were arrested and crammed into American jails because of their peaceful protests. In Job, the author details the lives of four participants — the youngest is nine-year-old Audrey Hendricks — telling their stories of courage and resolve as they took on the blind hatred of Alabama’s White power structure.

The Birmingham Children’s March took place between May 2 and May 11 in 1963. In the March, roughly 4,000 elementary, middle and high school children were arrested and jailed. The March was organized by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the author weaves in the role King, and other Black leaders, played as they navigated the delicate balance of protest amid the violence.

Although written for a 12-15 year old audience, the book is a compelling read for adults — and include many unknown facts and stories. One that struck me was — on the day four black girls were killed in a church bombing — two other black juveniles were murdered. One was killed by a police officer and a second, a 16-year-old black male, was shot and killed by a white Eagle Scout.

Levinson received several awards for the book including, the Golden Kite Award for Nonfiction. The book is a reminder that when evil exists — good people, of all ages — rise to resist.

Rating 5 out of 5. I rate this book highly for two reasons: it is very well written as it weaves a lot of information together, some well-known, some hardly known, into a compelling account of an important week in American history. The other reason — the author captures a story that was nearly lost to history.

Categories: American History, Americans Who Got It Right, Books I have read, My America