I AM WRITING THIS on the afternoon of Tuesday, May 26th, 2026, which means I’m writing while the Texas Republican Senate runoff election is underway. I am a Texan. Sen. John Cornyn, who has represented Texas for over 23 years, is facing Ken Paxton, the current Tx attorney general and the candidate who is endorsed by Trump. By the time I finish writing this, I will know which of them will face James Talarico in November,but I won’t publish tomorrow, Wednesday, May 27. Coincidentally, over the Memorial Day weekend, in my county of Rockwall Texas, a monument of the ten commandments was erected at the old County Courthouse. I did not attend the unveiling, but have read press and social media reports and seen many photos. There were plenty of small town politicians, leaders of churches, and local, patriotically clad citizens in attendance, including at least one Trump hat. It’s troubling enough to see a government building adorned with a monument to a particular religion, but what was most troubling to me is that, etched at the bottom of the monument is: “Proverbs 29:2 When the righteous are in authority, the people rejoice.” The plaza of the old County Courthouse was filled with people who appeared to be rejoicing. Where, though, are the righteous authorities in either my state or my nation?
Continue reading “Corruption Attracts Corruption: What that Says About Religious Paxton Voters”Category: Politics
Whack-a-Doodle Timelines, the Death of a Prophet, and a Massacre or Two
DOES ANYONE ELSE FEEL STUCK on a timeline that is too confounding for words? Everything around me feels shoved into reverse as it stutters forward. Can a crab walk in two directions at the same time? Because it seems like anything can happen, especially if it makes no sense. And what does it signify when the people you’ve always known best are people you feel you don’t know at all? Is it only me? I doubt it. And that feels like the point. I need to slow down, start somewhere, so, because I’m the center of my own universe, let me start with Sunday morning, Sept. 28, 2025. I know what happened then. Not really. Oh, and it might be important to know (if you didn’t already) that I’m a Latter-day Saint. A Mormon. (Can I say that again?) Or it might not matter at all.
So here it is. On Sunday morning, a 40 year old man – a veteran who decorates his pick up truck with US flags and his home with a Trump sign – plowed into a Stake Center of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then rained terror in the form of gunfire and improvised explosive devises on a congregation that included scores of children. He killed four people and wounded eight. To his mind, each victim, whether killed, wounded or traumatized, is or was, an “antiChrist” (his word), a Mormon, someone like me. The word he used – “antiChrist” – is decidedly Christian, but the actions he committed are not.
Continue reading “Whack-a-Doodle Timelines, the Death of a Prophet, and a Massacre or Two”On Developing a Grassroots American Resistance
WHEN I BEGAN this blog, I felt the need to build bridges. In one of my earliest posts, I spoke as a conservative about the need to rethink the common misconception that political progressives were evil. And here we are again. But at this moment in US political history, I don’t feel that old drive to build bridges between people with contrary perspectives, and, while I’ve shied away from politics on the blog, I’m less inclined to do that right now, even though this specific post won’t delve into policy conflicts. Lately my personal FB account is a long string of public political posts that center on my objections to the Trump administration’s efforts to enact Project 2025. To be clear, I formally left the Republican Party in 2016 to become an Independent. Why? Because I’d paid attention to Trump’s behavior the previous 40ish years and because I agree with the First Presidency’s advice to elect ethical (or principled) leaders. That year, the Republican party elevated a moral reprobate.
Continue reading “On Developing a Grassroots American Resistance”On LDS Abortion Exceptions and the Angel Mother
For most Latter-day Saints, the answer to the abortion question is a resounding no. Yet, the official Handbooks of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints clearly state that abortion is allowable when:
- Pregnancy resulted from forcible rape or incest.
- A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy.
- A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth. (See 24.1.4)
In a recent Salt Lake Tribune article, Peggy Fletcher Stack demonstrates this stance on abortion suits the faithful of both political parties. The unanswered question, then, is how most practicing LDS came to their strident opposition to abortion. Continue reading “On LDS Abortion Exceptions and the Angel Mother”
The NeverTrump Message
Pressure is mounting on conservative NeverTrump voters like me to pledge our allegiance to the business mogul. I can’t speak for every person in the NeverTrump camp, but this life-long conservative is sure going to speak for herself so that those who don’t understand my NeverTrump position can comprehend why all the nonsensical arguments being thrown about won’t convince me to “unite for the sake of the party.” Continue reading “The NeverTrump Message”