Editor’s Note: Welcome to new subscribers on day 184 of the Great Con II. This week saw the worst jobs reports since December 2020. The administration continued the purge of science from health, and the funeral services industry was delighted.

As someone who grew up in the home of a minister, I am familiar with Christian tenets and concepts. I’m also knowledgeable of the history of governing and the shortcomings of trying to turn faith into law.

Christianity, at its heart, proclaims a new testament of love, justice, and mercy, a big break from the Old Testament full of laws, wars, divine kings, and vengeance. Yet, the history of Christianity is littered with attempts to make it a law, and weaponized to justify oppression, violence, and exclusion, the very opposite of the teachings of the New Testament and the one called Jesus. The Founding Fathers were so concerned with avoiding the abuses that drove the pilgrims from Europe that they wrote the Constitution with explicit instructions to separate church and state.

That has not kept believers or zealots from continuing to attempt to make Christianity more a law than a choice, and they do it by ignoring the message and selecting certain words.

For example, in the Old South, defenders of slavery ignored the Bible’s new call to love one’s neighbor and instead picked old scripture to sanctify bondage. The most infamous example is the so-called “Curse of Ham,” drawn from Genesis 9:25: “Cursed be Canaan! The lowest of slaves will he be to his brothers.” This passage was twisted to claim that black people, as supposed descendants of Ham, were divinely destined for servitude. Slaveholders also cited the New Testament to demand obedience from the enslaved. Ephesians 6:5 commands, “Slaves, obey your earthly masters with respect and fear, and with sincerity of heart, just as you would obey Christ.” Similarly, 1 Peter 2:18 instructs, “Slaves, in reverent fear of God submit yourselves to your masters, not only to those who are good and considerate, but also to those who are harsh.” These verses were read from Southern pulpits to reinforce the social order, suggesting that slavery was not only permissible but divinely mandated.

Despite everything we know about racism and economics, the Bible is still used to defend racial segregation. Bob Jones University, a notorious defender of segregation, published sermons and pamphlets arguing that “God created race, God authored the boundaries that separate the races, God segregated the Jews from all others and His salvation plan could not have occurred otherwise, and God wants the boundaries to remain.”

During the Red Scare, Senator Joseph McCarthy and his supporters cast the fight against communism as a holy war. Communism was painted as inherently atheistic, and thus, opposition to it became a Christian duty. While McCarthy himself rarely quoted scripture, his movement was supported by Christian leaders who invoked verses like 2 Corinthians 6:14: “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” This passage was used to frame communists as spiritual enemies, justifying blacklists, loyalty oaths, and the persecution of dissenters as acts of faith rather than violations of justice.

Despite such history, zealous individuals have again invoked Christian scripture to advance political agendas that often contradict the faith’s core teachings. The current president has frequently referenced the Bible or “my Christians” in public, most times awkwardly, as he is not familiar with the tenets of Christianity, only its ability to be used as a tool.

When he cited “Two Corinthians 3:17”—“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty”—to a Liberty University audience, they heard the words but missed the true intent of the messenger. He also named “an eye for an eye” (Exodus 21:24) as a favorite verse, a principle Jesus explicitly rejected in Matthew 5:38-39: “You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also.”

The current president’s selective use of scripture continues the tradition of seeking to justify retribution and an image of strength, scoffing at the Christian virtues of forgiveness and humility, bending the country toward a history full of fallen theological states.

J.D. Vance and others have cited verses like Psalm 23:4—“Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”—to frame political struggles as spiritual battles, casting opponents as enemies of faith rather than fellow citizens. Kings and popes did the same thing, leaving the bones and bodies of followers and innocents from Europe to the Middle East to take the “holy land” from nonbelievers.

The history of religious beliefs being co-opted for immoral causes is a stark reminder of the ease with which a spiritual choice can be weaponized. Much of the Middle East today is awash in state-level religion that controls what citizens can say, do, think, or act upon, most especially women. Recent efforts in India, the world’s largest democracy, have even seen comedians under physical and legal threat from a Hinduist government majority intent on keeping power.

When the Bible is read selectively, stripped of context, or wielded as a weapon, Christianity, too, can sanctify injustice, division, and cruelty. Yet, the same texts, read with humility, integrity, and a respect for history, call believers to love, justice, and reconciliation. For Christians today, the challenge is not necessarily to abandon scripture, but to reclaim it as a faith, not rules or laws, from those who would twist it for actual power. The gospel’s radical message of love and liberation is one of building faith, not using it to govern others.

The lesson is not to abandon one’s spiritual belief, but to guard against its distortion to justify exclusion, forced compliance, violence, or the pursuit of power.

Remember this: the same texts that inspired Harriet Tubman and Martin Luther King Jr. were once used to justify their oppression. The same texts that moved Abraham Lincoln to act also moved Joe McCarthy to libel.

Only by confronting the uncomfortable truth that a charlatan in Jesus’ name is currently invoking harm, can American Christians ensure their faith is a force for healing, not control.

It isn’t often connected, but personal courage is essential to a democracy. Without it, democracy does not exist. It’s not just going to war against threats from the outside; it’s recognizing the slow erosion of freedoms by the lust for power within.

You can look around the world, where autocracies now outnumber democracies for the first time, and you see people are cowed into nothing but survival, bereft of the opportunity to be creative or function as a true individual. Our own administration has flipped every past president in their graves by cozying up to the world’s thugs. This has given more legitimacy to these governments that actively control their people's freedoms.

Take, for example, this piece on El Salvador, whose president is one of the recent thugs invited into the White House. Do you remember what your parents told you about the company you keep? Or that lying down with dogs will give you fleas?

This report offers an inside look at how El Salvador has fallen into dictatorship by merging branches of government and taking more control of security forces, precisely the same steps this administration has taken here in the U.S. The average Salvadorian may have gotten more security in the streets, but they also got a lifetime dictator and no hope of freedom beyond the good graces and whims of one man.

Don’t let it happen here.

The future is here. Right now.

The Olympics will be in Los Angeles in 2028, and this company has the exclusive rights for you to take a taxi.

In the air.

That’s right.

Take a look at this video and get an idea of how fast this technology is advancing. I have little doubt they will be ready before the Olympics. If the flight itself can be standardized to the safety of taking a plane, this will quickly become a common alternative transportation choice for numerous cities and small towns that sit just outside regional airports. We are already seeing Waymo’s driverless taxis expand in major cities. These electric jets will someday be another mode of routine transportation.

This is another highlight I want to share from our recent trip. My middle school history teacher, Mr. Mann, would’ve been proud. Seeing the famed Bayeux Tapestry in person was a truly great experience. It's quite the mystery how this huge interpretive cloth has managed to survive through centuries of conflict.

During the French Revolution, the tapestry was nearly used by soldiers to cover military wagons but rescued just in time by a local lawyer who recognized its historical value and hid it until the danger had passed.

During WWII, the tapestry faced significant risk of looting by the Nazis, who valued it both for its artistic merit and its supposed confirmation of Germanic heritage. The tapestry was hidden, moved multiple times, and narrowly avoided being transported to Germany.

When you visit the Bayeux Tapestry, it is displayed in a large, dimly lit oval room aligned in polished timber, safely preserved from touch behind glass. Stretching 230 feet long, as you walk by and listen to the narration, the scenes of battles and the faces of kings and soldiers from long ago seem to come alive. This is where the King of England meets his end at the Battle of Hastings, and where William the Bastard becomes William the Conqueror, claiming the English throne. It's a world treasure, cherished for its uniqueness and age.

We were some of the last visitors as the museum is now closed until 2027. Recently, French President Emanuelle Macron agreed to lend this historic treasure to England. The sharing of such antiquities has long been a way to foster cooperation and build ties, especially between countries like England and France, which have had their share of historical conflicts.

Here in the United States, we’ve had our own conflicts to learn from. We have museums dedicated to African American history, Native Americans, and the Holocaust. These aren't just about vanquished nations or peoples; they're also memorials to victims and a way to bring history to life, helping us learn from the past, imploring us to evolve, so we don't continue repeating the same mistakes.

Lest we forget.

And Now….

Don’t forget to support the Porcupine by checking out the new t-shirts in the store (link below).

Despite the chaos and pain in the world, always remember that you’re never alone. Good people are everywhere, working to unlock our creative potential and make progress to a new level of universal happiness and adventure.

Keep making good trouble. Opportunities will come. Stay committed to your reading habit, and being a good human.