Because he appears repeatedly on this blog, it may seem I have knives out for Dr. Richard Land, SBC honcho and Christian Post executive editor. He’s an unabashedly loyal Trumpist culture warrior. He also an erudite and seasoned religion professor. Which is why I wonder why the most inane bullshit spills from his Christian brain onto the opinion pages of the Christian Post Breitbart. That he and his Christian news website have turned rabid MAGA is not my random personal delusion. In 2019, longtime political editor Napp Nazworth was quit-fired after opposing a strong Trump-supporting editorial. He likened the Christian news website to the far-right website Breitbart. “We are now on Team Trump”, management told him.
This time concerns Land’s op-ed of August 26th, “The Mar-a-Lago raid: A constitutional ‘tipping point’?” Land criticizes the “very general and controversial search warrant” executed by the FBI, accusing the government of “trampling the Fourth Amendment”. In fits of partisan hyperbole, he excoriates the government as acting like a banana republic, and suspecting the FBI of planting evidence. “How do we as Americans step back from this dangerous political precipice?” Answering his rhetorical question, Land says “it is up to the people (that’s all of us, folks) to hold all three branches of our government accountable to keeping the guarantees specified in our Constitution.”
Under the Presidential Records Act of 1978, former presidents are required to give all White House and presidential records back to the federal government when they leave office. Keeping such records on private property such as Mar-a-Lago is a violation of that Federal law. Evidence of storage of documents and materials related to national security was compelling enough – including a number of sworn cooperating witnesses. A pile of boxes – with some 300 highly classified pages – casually stashed a basement stairway. What does Dr. Land not see there about “holding all three branches of our government accountable”? This material wasn’t Donald Trump’s personal property any more than a soldier can hang on to his GI-issued assault weapon after he leaves the Army.
Land suggests that if the Federal Government can get away with abandoning the constitutional rights of a former President, who is safe from abuse? Well, thankfully there are limits to 4th Amendment rights to privacy. Otherwise, the (extensive) list of SBC ministers and church workers accused of sexual abuse – including child pornographers – would have remained hidden from scrutiny and never seen the light of day. And just as in the search for child pornography on convicted Christian Josh Duggar’s computer, there was evidence convincing enough for a Federal judge to issue a probable cause to believe the illegally mishandled documents at Mar-a-Lago contained some of America’s most sensitive secrets.
I agree with a commenter to his piece, who wrote: “I’m a conservative, born again Christian, but I’m disgusted by what I just read. There were certainly a few valid points, but they were lost in the drivel. This article is not just stating a view – its ignoring glaring facts in its writing and shows cult-like endearment to our former president. It’s disturbing.”
This is what happens when MAGA Christian activists decide they are experienced Constitutional lawyers. The facts suggest Dr. Land should drop his screed about Trump’s Fourth Amendment rights being violated, and just go with the “How Dare They Mess With The LORD’s Anointed”. Because facts are not important for Breitbart Christians. And because for them, the Divine Trump is not bound by the rules intended for lesser humans. Like self-proclaimed “prophet” Robin Bullock reporting that God is very upset about the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago: “God didn’t like that. It didn’t sit well in Heaven.” Kick it up to the heavenly courtroom of God if you don’t like how our democracy works down here on earth.
From Under The Rubble 
Your post seems reasonable to me. But does that matter? How?
You ever talk to a cult follower? How far does reasonable get you?
This is the same man who brought us “Russia are you listening?” and “Lock her up.” I am not Hillary supporter (not a hater either, but definitely NOT a supporter). I was troubled when 2016 coughed up THESE TWO for the American people to choose from. There were OTHER choices along the way, but we boiled it down to THESE two.
Wow! That’s lose/lose. And so we lost.
I felt like the rhetoric “Russia, are you listening?” and “Lock her up” was extreme and hateful at the time, but it was … dare I say… reasonable. Just barely, but it was. Far more SELF-serving, but I could see the reason in it.
Now turn about is fair play. But that isn’t self serving. Turn about is reasonable. But not self serving. Trumpism is blatantly self serving – reason be damned, fair play be danmed with it.
We are still losing 2016.
And all we had to fight with was Hillary.
Now if an election doesn’t go Trumps way, it was rigged. He was saying that even when he won! That’s not reasonable, it’s self serving in truly scary ways.
I dunno what good being reasonable with him or his ilk does for us. Perhaps historians can pick up the bread crumb trail, but talk is cheap now, no matter how reasonable. Yet, as a Christian, the obvious alternative isn’t authorized for me. I am not granted some sort of FIGHT which eliminates this unreasonable threat. In fact, at root, that is what my church friends are doing. They are embracing the weapons of this world, reason be damned. They have hitched their wagon to this extremely selfish man who doesn’t really care about anyone but himself as if that is how they will achieve God’s glory.
Let me not go that way. They prove how it fails with EVERY word.
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