Mark Hackett

Side note: before anyone yells at me that "not all evangelicals are like this," I say as much in this article. Not all evangelicals are like this. Most are though, and those that aren't rarely if ever speak up about this problem.

It just is what it is.

The main point remains the same: most evangelicals simply don't care about persecuted Christians as much as they think they do and are told they do, and evangelical culture/institutions play a huge role in blinding them to this truth.

I made some off the cuff remarks to help explain why. After some feedback and questions, I've expanded on them to provide a more clear picture. See above link.

Understanding evangelical priorities Why white evangelicals are often silent when the Trump Administration acts against their stated concerns.

In June, CT published an article about ICE agents going after persecuted Christians who had fled to the US. A lot of folks were asking "How can evangelicals be okay with this?" as many do when the Trump Administration acts against a "top" evangelical priority.

www.markhackett.com/writings/und...

Trump’s new tariffs will slam America’s already brutal housing crisis October’s “kitchen cabinet” tax will affect homebuyers and renters alike.

"Back in April, the NAHB estimated that tariffs were adding about $10,900 to the cost of building a typical new home...and nearly 75% of American households can’t afford a median-priced new home."

The so-called "pro-family" party seems to really hate families.

Surveying the new American Imperial Cult The Religious Right’s bowing to MAGA, and trying to live with moral clarity in the face of widespread moral collapse.

figure some things out. Only solution I came up with is to tell the truth & LIVE (not just speak) the Gospel as best we can, where we find ourselves.

Sometimes merely being faithful & resisting corruption & moral decay is all we can do. I hope that's enough.

www.markhackett.com/writings/sur...

swath of the public, perhaps even a majority.

Again, the memo was pulled down, but we already knew this was the direction they wanted to go. This screams the already loud part louder.

I don't know what to do about any of it. A few months ago I wrote this (as a lifelong Christian) to try to...

are valid, respectfully-made, and rooted in real world examples, usually with inspiring calls for all of us to try to do better, too.

This document was not created in a vacuum, and it shouldn't be read in one either. This is about using a handful of incidents to try to crack down on a broad...

the admin have a VERY narrow definition of what counts as "traditional," so narrow even a lot of traditionalists have issue with it) have been a part of the country since before the founding.

Examples abound of the administration/MAGA freaking out over legitimate critiques of the country that...

Coming back to this. A lot in this doc that gives away the real intentions/motivations, but this seems to be the crux.

This is an inherently political document. Legitimate and thoughtful critique of America, capitalism, specific strands of Christianity, "traditional" values (keep in mind many in...

More of a lol, but this seems to be an admission by the administration that they haven't been trying to prevent/end legitimate criminal activity in the first place.

So much for "the party of law and order."

To the best of my knowledge, what we've seen in extreme left spaces is lone wolf, too. I'm happy to be corrected on this if I am wrong, but with hard data/facts, not bluster and the elevation of specific speech into something it's not.

A. I'm pretty sure we already have laws about this stuff.

B. The country is still waiting for hard evidence of "coordination" among left-wing extremists. We've seen criminal coordination of right-wing extremists (Jan 6) and lone wolf right-wing violence after.

that could be grounds for investigation.

Where are all the lines here? I suppose leaving the country in the dark is the point though. It's a chilling effect.

This clause is very vague, especially considering that so much of what comes before pertains to speech.

It sounds like if someone made an honest comparison between MAGA and the Nazis –and by honest I mean saying where the metaphor works enough & where it doesn't (it is a far from perfect metaphor)–

I'm sorry, are we explaining Jan 6? Why did so many people who participated in identical actions get let off the hook?

We knew going into this that Trump 2.0 was going to gaslight the country. Even I underestimated how bad they would be at it. Like, at least try to sound halfway truthful. Geez.

Law enforcement should act against political violence & threats, regardless of what ideological spectrum it comes from, within the confines of the law. This memoranda isn't that. It's about a minority corner of political violence + using it as a pretext to crack down on free speech MAGA doesn't like

No mention of right-wing political violence, despite high profile cases such as the assassination of Rep. Melissa Hortman & her husband. Also, notice anything major missing? JAN 6

Apparently the White House posted this at some point last night and has since removed it.

You should take the time to read; it is deeply alarming. All the 🚩🚩🚩.

A few things that jumped off the screen at me...

archive.ph/hpbUn

Bad theology is still theology.

It just happens to be bad.

The government is neither a business nor a nonprofit, much less a "move fast and break things" tech firm. Instead of making government work like Silicon Valley, we should be making government work like government.

We are on this dumbest of timelines by choice. It's time to grow up America.

Armed Guards and Muscle Milk: Senate Investigation Reveals DOGE Takeover Details A new Senate report claims DOGE put every American's Social Security number at risk—and that officials at federal agencies essentially obstructed an investigation, all but denying DOGE even exists.

“In a worst-case scenario, one whistleblower noted the possibility that the agency may need to re-issue SSNs to all who possess one."

The tech bros can fix the government, they said.

No they can't.

www.wired.com/story/armed-...

People always ask about my backyard #office and want to see what it looks like. I finally took a few minutes and made a video tour so I can show instead of tell. It’s small but cozy.

Middle Earth for life! 🧙

I understand why it's there and it has good moments (Tom Bombadil is a lot of fun), but overall it's just not working for me yet. Two seasons in and it still feels extremely disconnected from the rest of the show.

Hoping that changes next season.

Recently finished a rewatch of #RingsofPower and I appreciated it a lot more. I'm not a lore purist on books-to-screens adaptations so the liberties taken don't bug me.

I think my one difficulty is the Harfoot-Gandalf storyline.

I have a feeling this is what the looming National Guard deployment to #Memphis, my home, is really all about.

For such a wordy memoranda this “plan” is very light on actual details. But I suppose that’s the point.

www.whitehouse.gov/presidential...

Welp, the city I’ve always called home is in it now. 😔

What an exhausting time to be alive.

Authoritarianism Feels Surprisingly Normal—Until It Doesn’t Life in Venezuela was deceptively mundane. Then everything collapsed.

"There is a lag in time between the abstract threat of authoritarianism and its concrete realization, between hoping that your fears are mere paranoia and seeing them fulfilled."

www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archiv...

Your occasional reminder that our country had the opportunity to elect a qualified woman to the Presidency, one who even warned us about pretty much everything we are seeing now.

Our country chose the 🤡 instead.

Bravado is not bravery. Machismo is not strong and smart leadership. Saying you're making progress doesn't mean you actually are.

We are living on the dumbest timeline, and it all begins and ends in the White House.