The Life and Times of Bruce Gerencser

Tag: President Donald Trump

  • Ohio U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno is Writing a Bill to Fund $5,000 Voting Bribery Scheme

    Warning: MAGA Republicans and Donald Trump are thoroughly filleted, roasted, and fed to feral cats in this post. If your fascist fee-fees are easily hurt, do NOT read this post. If you are a feral cat, I apologize for grouping you together with such miscreants.

    You’ve been warned!😜 If you ignore my “sincere” warning, and read this anyway, Preparation H will be provided for hemorrhoid irritation and inflammation at the end of the post. 😜

    Last week, diehard MAGA fans and fearful legislators gathered in Dallas, Texas for two days of masturbatory worship of their King, Lord, and Savior Donald Trump. Truly, the sick display of fealty and devotion to Trump had all the markings of a fundamentalist religious cult, complete with Senator Tim Scott acting as if he were demon possessed.

    Trump, of course, was vintage huckster, delivering speeches filled with lies, deceit, half-truths, distortions, mockeries, and wild promises he can’t possibly deliver.

    Trump, thinking money can buy anything — and to-date he’s right — delivered the promises of promises: a $5,000 check to very American adult. Of course, Trump could fulfill this $1.3 trillion budget buster today, with a little help from his co-conspirators in crime, Congressional Republicans. And more than likely, a few Democrats afraid of voters turning turning on them if they don’t get their part of the largest socialist transfer of wealth in U.S. history, will support Trump’s promise too.

    Is this illegal? Trump put a condition on the promise: taxpayers must vote in Republican majorities in both the House and Senate. In other words, Trump wants to use tax money to bribe voters to vote for Republicans in November. Bribing voters is still illegal, right? Well, it was until the faux golden age of Trumpism. According to some experts, since Trump is giving “Trump Dividends” to all adults, it is technically not a bribe. Ah yes, “technically.” Who better exploits technicalities like the man who wrote “The Art of the Steal.”

    Now that oligarchs and robber barons control every branch of government, there are no norms, decency, or morality. All that matters is the 1,000 year reign of MAGA. Well, that and making lots and lots of money off the bowed backs of the American people.

    Enter Ohio U.S. Senator Bernie Moreno, a man whose brown nose is never far from his master’s ass. The toddler-in-chief is screaming for a lollipop, and Moreno, wanting to get a big gold star beside his name, promised to write a bill funding Trump’s bribery scheme. If Ohioans had any doubt, Moreno has the morals of, well, Donald Trump. I was going to say alley cat, but I didn’t want to besmirch the good name of alley cats everywhere.

    News 5 Cleveland reports:

    Ohio U.S. Sen. Bernie Moreno is drafting legislation to fund President Donald Trump’s new promise: $5,000 to every adult citizen if the Republicans maintain their majority in the midterms.

    Trump acknowledged in his speech at the GOP’s midterm convention in Dallas on Wednesday that this year’s elections are competitive. He offered an unprecedented incentive to vote.

    “If the Republicans win the House of Representatives and the United States Senate, both of them, because of our economic, tremendous economic success… I will issue a dividend to every adult citizen in the United States of America for $5,000,” Trump said.

    This money would have stipulations, the president added, saying it could only be spent in the United States.

    Michael McGovern, president of progressive organization Innovation Ohio, said it’s another empty promise.

    “This is the same party that has cracked down on people’s ability to give out water or pizza to people waiting in line to vote, now is throwing around $5000 but ‘only if you vote for us?’” McGovern said. “I don’t know if that passes the smell test, and really reeks of desperation.”

    The president did not give details on how he would provide $5,000 to all 270 million adults, costing more than a trillion dollars.

    “Is it possible? The short answer is no, unless Congress were to appropriate the money,” retired Case Western Reserve University law professor Jonathan Entin said.

    Moreno, Ohio’s senior senator who attended the speech on Wednesday, was the first to offer help.

    “I will get a bill ready so that we can get the Trump Dividend passed immediately after the November 3rd election … because Republicans (and America) will win!” Moreno said in a post on X.

    It’s illegal to buy votes, but the payouts wouldn’t just go to Republicans, Entin said.

    “It says, ‘I will pay every American however they voted,’” he explained.

    And even if it feels like a bribe?

    “Who is going to prosecute him?” Entin asked. “Even former presidents have very broad immunity from criminal prosecution in connection with their official actions.”

    And where is Ohio’s other feckless senator Jon Husted in all of this? According to news reports, he is thinking about it, and wants to learn “more.” More, my ass. Much like his fellow Republican, Moreno, Husted lacks any capability to act independently of the Orange Wizard.

    I have no doubt Moreno and Husted agree with Trump when he says the $5,000 payments will be issued because of our “tremendous economic success.” Trump wants people to believe that his tariffs and the record investments of business have brought about $21 trillion of economic growth. This, of course, is a bald-faced lie. Much like Trump saying he is paying for his big, beautiful $600 million ballroom, there’s no truth in the president’s promise. If Moreno’s bill passes both houses after the election, the authorized payments will increase the federal budget deficit by $1.3 trillion dollars. If passed, this bill will increase Trump’s national debt total to almost $15 trillion during his six years in office. Think about that for a moment: $15 trillion in six short years; over one-third of the total national debt.

    What happened to Republicans being the party of fiscal responsibility? You’re kidding, right? They have NEVER been the party of monetary responsibility; not since Ronald Reagan and the trickle-down economics lie told to Americans forty-five years ago.

    There are three planks— one plank each for the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost they feign to worship — in the Republican platform: criminalizing abortion, giving massive tax cuts to the rich, and giving the MAGA king whatever he wants.

    So what do we do? The only thing we can do is vote. Seems simple, but half of eligible voters rarely, if ever, vote. We need these voters, along with disaffected Republicans, to vote Democratic in November. I don’t care who is on the ticket, I will vote only for Democrats this year. I don’t like my choices this year: Sherrod Brown and Marcy Kaptur, but I’d vote for a Democratic zombie extra from The Walking Dead before I’d vote for a Republican.

    Every two years the various political parties scream “the sky is falling,” but this election season the warning is warranted. If Democrats can’t win majorities in Congress, nothing will stand in the way of the Trumpist overthrow of our republic. What about the senate filibuster, Bruce? You’re kidding, right? Are you really this stupid? If Republicans win in November, they will use the reconciliation process to give Trump most of what he wants. The rest? I predict they will abolish the filibuster in one, simple majority stab in the heart of American democracy.

    Our future really comes down to your vote. Will you do what’s best for our country? I hope so.

    And for Republicans who read this post, I lied about the Preparation H, just like Trump did about $5,000 Oprah-like checks. You deserve all the ass pain you get if you vote for Republican candidates in November. Your ass deserves better — Vote Democrat!

  • The “Why?” Question

    Many Americans never asked “why” after Muslims hijacked planes and flew them into buildings on 9-11.

    Many Americans never asked “why” after Hamas killed over 1,200 Israelis on 10-7 — most of them civilians— and kidnapped several hundred people.

    And now the United States is waging war against Iran, and few Americans bother to ask “why?”

    The U.S. government is currently controlled by fascists, oligarchs, theocrats, and technocrats. Donald Trump and his feckless, immoral administration only care about personal financial enrichment and political power. Trump, Vance, Rubio, Hegseth, and company show no care or regard for the American people. These fascists self-righteously say they are protecting the American people from nuclear weapons and Muslim terrorism. Never asked is “why?”

    Robert “I’ve Got a Brain Worm” Kennedy, Jr., has decimated Health & Human Services and is currently promoting distortions, conspiracy theories, and lies about vaccines, COVID, autism, and dietary guidelines. Why aren’t more Americans asking “why?”

    Donald Trump is doing away with federal support of wind and solar power, giving millions of dollars to oil, natural gas, and coal companies. Dare we ask, “why”?

    Americans tend not to be too big on answering the question “why?” Why? 😅 Cuz, we are AMERICANS! We are a people divinely chosen by the Christian God of the Bible. We are a shining light on a hill for all the world to see. Manifest destiny! Might makes right, right? Right? There’s no need to ask “why?” when God is on your side and you are always right.

    Name the last president who admitted to the American people he was wrong. Trump, for instance, has never been wrong. He’s an expert on e-v-e-r-y-t-h-i-n-g, including swimming pools, ballrooms, and grass. Trump doesn’t apologize to anyone. Instead, he blames others for his mistakes, failures, and errors in judgment. Trump is an impetuous man who cannot and will not tell the truth, even when a lie is not necessary. Does anyone doubt, then, that Trump NEVER asks “why?” (And the same can be said for MAGA in general.)

    Post-Jesus, answering the “why” question has been vital in helping me better understand the country and world I live in. And let me be clear, understanding both is essential to a well-rounded view of the world. If all we wear are Pro-American glasses we are going to have a false, truncated view of the world. This is why the majority of Americans are illiterate about countries, peoples, religions, and politics outside of the United States.

    Sadly, way too many Americans wrongly think the answer to the question, “Why do so many people hate us?” is “We’re America!!!!! And other countries hate the American Dream and our way of life!” Rarely do Americans step beyond the facade and wrestle with the hard questions about what our nation has become and why.

    As an Evangelical-pastor-turned-atheist, I am seldom asked “why?” by my critics, who ignore my attempts to answer the question without them asking. Their minds are made up, so there’s no reason to ask me “why” or read my biographical writing. In their minds, “The Bible says,” end of discussion. What they really mean, of course, is that their churches, pastors, and favorite podcast hosts interpret the Bible for them. Most Evangelicals do not daily read the Bible, and their go-to source for Bible knowledge is their pastors — who rarely preach exegetical sermons and are more focused on “felt needs.” The goal? Make people happy and their wallets lighter.

    If we are going to be skeptics, it is essential for us to ask “why?” even if the answers we receive are painful to hear. Part of the deconstruction process for me required asking “why” questions. I suspect that was or is the same for many of you. Evangelicalism taught us to trust and never doubt, especially in matters of faith. Want to be “happy in Jesus”? There’s only one way: “Trust and obey, for there’s no other way to be happy in Jesus.” Of course, the “obey” part is conditioned on obedience to the theological edicts of pastors and churches. Never ask “why,” just obey.

    Over the years, attempting to answer “why” questions has taken me down many paths, forcing me to confront my ignorance, biases, and bullheadedness. When the “why” question arises, I try my best to answer it, regardless of what I might find.

    Motivations matter to me. Personally, anyway, it was not enough to rage against Islam when Muslims flew planes into buildings on 9-11. “Why” did they do this? Is the United States culpable in any way? What about the “war on terror” that followed, to this day? Dare we ask “why” the United States is waging war on multiple fronts, killing scores of innocents with our bombs and bullets? So much so that we are running out of munitions and Hegseth is asking for billions of dollars of additional war funding. Surely you aren’t so stupid as to believe all the violence, bloodshed, and war crimes are “protecting the American way of life.” Do you feel safe? Now that undocumented immigrants are literally running for their lives, are we better off as a nation? Asking “why” about these issues and others is essential if there’s any chance for the “land of the free, and the home of the brave” to survive.

    Please share your pithy thoughts in the comment section. And if you don’t, let me ask, “Why?”? 😜😜

  • Bruce’s Ten Hot Takes for August 6, 2026

    hot takes 2

    Bill Maher said he would vote for Sarah Palin before he would vote for a Democratic Socialist. Who is Bill Maher?

    James Carville said he would leave the Democratic Party before supporting someone like Michigan primary winner Abdul El-Sayed. Don’t let the door hit you in the ass on your way out, James. YOU, and others like you — centrist Democrats —are choking the life out of the Democratic Party.

    Democratic Socialists are not communists, and anyone that suggests otherwise is a liar. Are some DSA members communists? Sure, but that’s not the official party position. I, for one, am not a communist.

    One more month until the NFL season begins. Will this be the year for my Bengals, also known as the Bungles?

    It’s been a rough year for the Cincinnati Reds, mainly due to injuries and malfeasance by the front office. I hope ownership cleans house. Better yet, sell the team to someone who is willing to spend the necessary money to field a winner.

    I’ve concluded that tens of millions of Americans love Jesus and hate Muslims. And Blacks. And Mexicans. And immigrants. They hate anyone who doesn’t think and look like them.

    High school football starts in less than two weeks. I love high school football, so I’m looking forward to attending as many games as possible this year.

    Trump said today that the American economy is booming. Really? Where? Not in rural Northwest Ohio.

    Most Americans say they wouldn’t vote for a Democrat Socialist. This is not surprising since most of these people voted for Trump three times. They wouldn’t know a good candidate if their lives depended on it. Way too many ignorant voters in this country.

    Monty Fritts, a MAGA Republican gubernatorial candidate in Tennessee, argued that the First Amendment does not apply to state governments. If elected, he plans to ban mosques and non-Christian religions. Go ahead and tell me again why we shouldn’t consider a candidate’s religion when deciding whether to vote for them?

    Bonus: God’s Store House Food Bank in Bluefield, West Virginia refused food donations from LGBTQ people. Why? Cuz the Bible says . . .

    My God, we live in the land of stupid, and we are getting stupider by the day.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Does “Baby Christian” Trump Respect God and Pastors?

    baby christian trump

    Warning! This post contains content offensive to easily butt-hurt Evangelical Christians. You have been warned.🤣

    For the record, the animals in my graphic above are “Lemmings.” 🙂 A throwback tip of the hat to the 1991 Lemmings DOS/Windows computer game. 🤣

    According Landon Schott, pastor of Mercy Culture in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S. President Donald “Jesus” Trump is a baby Christian who respects God and pastors. And when he uses the word “God,” he is referring to the Evangelical God of the Bible.

    Video Link

    In what way is Donald Trump a “baby” Christian? He’s attended Norman Vincent Peale’s church as a young man, and in recent years he has professed a squishy, ignorant, Two-Corinthians faith in the Evangelical Jesus. What IS absent is any outward evidence that he is “a new creation in Christ.” A baby Christian, then, is a person whose life shows that “old things are passed away, and all things become new.” There was a time Evangelicals believed in the importance of church attendance, tithing, prayer, tithing, Bible reading, tithing, and fasting for congregants. Has Trump done any of these things outside of a red-meat-for-Evangelicals photo op? The answer is “No” for those of you desperately seeking for evidence to justify Trump’s decidedly non-Christian beliefs and behavior. Shit, he can’t even follow the two great commands of “loving God” and “loving your fellow man.”

    All of us have a front row seat for the Trump Catastrophe — brought to you by politically drunk Evangelicals everywhere. It is alarming how few Evangelicals are willing to speak a word against Trump, a fellow believer. Judge not, right? (Please read Does the Bible Really Say “Thou Shalt Not Judge?”) No one is exempt from judgment (or personal accountability). Why are so many Evangelicals unwilling to give a true, honest accounting of the past decade of Trump’s life? Why have they largely ignored Trump’s prominence in the Epstein Files. Even when he turned himself into “Meme Jesus” or showed himself with “Sexy Gay Jesus,” there was not even a whimper from most of the Evangelicals who voted for Trump three #$W%&^ times. (Translation available for Evangelicals who don’t know Brucean Greek. Text me and I’ll send you the proper translation.) 🤣

    Now, let me demolish Schott’s delusional notion that Donald Trump is a “baby Christian” who “respects” God and pastors.

    First, Donald Trump respects no one, including himself.

    We have overwhelming evidence that says Donald Trump respects two things: power and money (and dick size). I have a draft post in my file about how Trump measures success; how everything in his life can be reduced to a small mushroom dick man craving to be known as “Donnie Big Dick.” I have yet to see Trump respect someone who different from him or who has less than he does. While Trump shows blushing rosy-cheeked respect for autocrats, dictators, thieves, and murderers, it is only because he lusts after their power and wealth. Trump is an American president who actually wants to be king; an iron-fisted ruler over all — not only in this country, but the world. Evangelicals in the 1960s were outraged when the Beatles declared they were “bigger than Jesus.” Oh the anti-Beatles/anti-rock and roll sermons I heard from Evangelical preachers as a child. Yet, Donald Trump recently proclaimed that he is, at least, as big as Jesus or even a modern “Savior” himself. I wonder how many Evangelical preachers condemned Trump from the pulpit last Sunday as their forebears did the Beatles sixty years ago? Not many. Disagree? Cough up the video/printed evidence that shows preachers skinning Trump alive before God and man for his blasphemous mockery of your Master, Savior, Lord, King, and sexy boyfriend Jesus H. Christ. I’ll be waiting . . .

    Second, does anyone really believe he is a Christian?

    Does anyone really believe that Trump is a Christian? Not even Trump believes he is a Christian, yet millions of Evangelicals are hellbent on saying he is! Why is that? To suggest otherwise requires Evangelicals to admit they were wrong — not one time, not two times, not even three times, since many Evangelicals would, if they could, vote for Trump today. No, they have been captured by the MAGA cult, and the only way out for them is to be deprogrammed and, in time, confess they were wrong.

    There was a time in Evangelicalism, when you at least had to attend church on Easter, Mother’s Day, and Christmas to be considered a Christian. Today, Trump never attends church, yet he is considered a Christian. How can these things be? It is quite the thing to watch the Evangelicalism of my youth voluntarily flush itself down the gold right-wing toilet. Politics were rarely mentioned. Today, Evangelicalism might as well be an official arm of the Republican/Libertarian Party. Right-wing politics became fuel for the latest culture war. Evangelicals came to believe that saving souls and personal piety was not enough. Their new goal is to take back the United States for God and institute a Biblical version of Sharia law.

    Third, respect is shown by behavior.

    What in Trump’s behavior remotely suggests he respects God? I am not talking about the shameless superficial plays of Trump to fawning Evangelicals who surround him in the oval office to feel up his crotch, offer Evan-fellatio, or attend worship services (rallies) when he is in attendance. Trump, even in his demented Grandpa state, still knows how to work a crowd.

    Trump has spent the past ten years showing Evangelicals that he is a pathological liar, a racist, a bigot, an ableist, and a “grab them by the pussy” misogynist. There’s nothing more for them to know about his character, morals, and ethics. He is absent all three, as anyone who is paying attention can see (and hear).

    Fourth, Trump is a user, and pastors are useful fools.

    Evangelicals make a mockery of their faith when they continue to fawn over and worship Donald Trump. “Oh, it’s not that bad,” Evangelicals say. Really? Have you watched Trump’s rallies and press conferences? Have you seen his speeches at Evangelical conferences? Have you watched his Christian cabinet members slavishly, lavishly, and disgustingly fawn over him? If these very things happened under Obama or Biden, why there would be Evangelicals rioting in the street; and might I say, rightly so.

    What happens when a person stops being useful? The moment Trump sees no benefit (money/power/worship) he will attack, ridicule, and abandon them quicker than he did Melania so he could have sex with Stormy Daniels.

    Alex Ashley in Rolling Stone recently wrote an excellent article titled, “Trump’s Long, Strange Relationship with Faith.”

    Here’s the money quote:

    What the FULL record reveals is that Trump has never encountered religion as a source of authority over him. He encountered it first as a tool for success, then as a constituency to be managed, and finally as a competing claim to the kind of absolute authority he believes he holds.

    Finally, it is evident that many Evangelicals have forsaken their theological and moral foundation for the crumbs that fell from the rich man’s table or a bowl of pottage after selling their souls to the vicar of Lucifer on earth. Preachers such as James Dobson, Richard Jeffress, and Franklin Graham, among others, have become bootlickers, defenders of virtually everything the “baby Christian” Trump writes, says, posts, and does. The lack of criticism from Evangelical big shots after Trump’s blasphemous memes and violent tweets is deafening and nauseating. My God, most of the atheists I know have better morals and ethics than these modern day Elmer Gantrys. These hirelings only care about having the preeminence, which gives them close access to the god of this world’s political power. Evangelicals learned that they could gain wins in the culture war by controlling the three branches of power. New mantra: “Why Pray When You Can Vote?” or “Why Refrain from Fornication When You Control Legislation?”

    Is Evangelicalism even salvageable? It’s doubtful. Now that larger churches and megachurches dominate the Evangelical church scene, they have become denominations unto themselves. They have amassed tremendous political and social power, and control. Even in rural areas such as where I live, large Evangelical churches are everywhere, and megachurches are but 30 minutes to an hour away — which Evangelicals will gladly drive if they can have metaphorical sex with their musclebound boyfriend named Jesus.

    Rome is burning, but far too many Evangelicals in the safe confines of their religious temples are obsessed with making sweet, sweet love to Jesus. And just think, American taxpayers subsidize their lovemaking, all the while these fine Christians burn 250 years of national secular progress to the ground.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • How Should Thinking People Treat Hardcore Trump Supporters?

    no king but trump

    In 2015, Donald Trump came down a golden escalator to announce his first presidential campaign, which he handily won. Trump lost his 2020 re-election bid, spending the next four years planning revenge on all those deemed his “enemies.” Re-elected in 2024, Trump wasted no time in exacting revenge, pillaging the Federal treasury, waging war, killing protesters, deporting U.S. citizens, breaking contracts/treaties, and turning the United States into a laughingstock of the world. Trump is determined to cause chaos and destroy any semblance of the American dream. All he cares about is building his big, beautiful ballroom and, much like a male dog, leaving his mark on everything he touches. Instead of being a caretaker or a temporary resident, Trump thinks the government is his personal fiefdom, which he rules over like a crazy man.

    Who do we blame for the mess that has engulfed our country? Trump? Sure, but he wouldn’t be president unless Americans voted for him. It is our Republican/MAGA/Independent friends and neighbors who have given Trump two terms in office. These same voters gave Republicans complete control of all three branches of government. They are directly to blame for the mess we are in, though Democrats have plenty of shit on their shoes too. Hillary? Biden? Kamala? Is this the best Democrats had to offer? It’s no wonder Democrats lost two of the last three presidential elections. That said, Evangelical Christians are primarily to blame for giving us Donald Trump (as are lazy-ass people who don’t bother to vote). And these same Evangelicals continue to support Republican/MAGA candidates down ballot, ensuring Republican control of the federal government and many state governments. If Democrats don’t get their shit together or Evangelicals finally find moral courage, we are in for more of the same.

    How should we respond to our MAGA family, friends, and neighbors, many of whom are kind, thoughtful people. Why is there such a disconnect between their moral/ethical beliefs and how they vote? Are they as racist and bigoted as the people they elect? On Sundays, they worship the “Prince of Peace,” and the rest of the week they bend their knees to the most un-Christian president in U.S. history. Why is there so much cognitive dissonance among the MAGA faithful? Can they not see beyond the current culture war?

    How do you respond to your MAGA family, friends, and neighbors? Please share your experiences in the comment section.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Just Remember, Killing Children is a “Cost of Doing Business” For the United States

    trump on collateral damage

    According to our warmonger-in-chief, President Donald Trump, the goal of aggressive U.S. military actions in Iran, the Middle East, Venezuela, and countless other “secret” wars waged by American soldiers, planes, bombs, and cyberhacks across the globe, is to bring peace throughout the world. This fantasy has long been believed by those in power, so Trump comes by this delusion naturally. The fact remains that war cannot bring peace. This is akin to saying that a husband beats his wife to improve their marriage. Most of us know that domestic violence NEVER makes a marriage better. So it is with war being the precursor to peace. At best, war brings the cessation of hostilities, until such times as a previous enemy does something that runs afoul of the American myth and we attack them again. The United States has been meddling in Iran for my entire life. There never has been “peace” between the two countries, and anyone who thinks the present war will somehow be different is delusional.

    The United States has always used military violence to advance its political, social, economic, and religious agenda. We are a bloody nation; a bloody people; our history is filled with the slaughter of innocents, from indigenous people to Iranian school children. Whatever moral high ground the United States may have had after World War Two is long gone, covered by the blood of millions of innocents murdered in immoral, unconstitutional wars. And what do we do? Increase the military’s budget to over $1 trillion a year, with “what good are bombs if you can’t use them” Trump demanding 50% more for the military budget. Where will this money come from? Record budget deficits and draconian cuts to domestic programs that primarily help working class and poor people.

    Trump, Hegseth, and other men of “peace,” say that “collateral damage” is the cost other countries must pay if they want a free world — whatever the hell that means. Innocents always bear the brunt of military aggression, as is the case in Iran. Early on, collateral damage meant killing more than a hundred school children, and then, with a whopper of a lie, trying to blame the Iranians for killing their own young ones. There may have been a time when U.S. presidents could pull the wool over the eyes of American people but those days are gone. Thanks to the Internet, smartphones, social media, and other tools, it is almost impossible for the United States to cover up its international crimes as they help to advance imperialism and protect capitalism. A wide variety of people from across the globe read this site. Perhaps some of my non-American readers will share how the U.S. is viewed by them and their fellow citizens. From what I have heard from several European readers, whatever goodwill the world wars gave us, we have lost it and are now viewed as a predatory state. And maybe we have always been a predatory state, but our predations are so out in the open now that many of us in this country are ashamed to be Americans.

    We are world power in decline, headed for the boneyard of human history. World powers come and go: Greece, Rome, Great Britain, Spain, France, Denmark, and the USSR, to name a few, have come and gone. And the United States will one day be added to this list: yet another nation whose hubris and willingness to use horrific violence to advance its agenda brought it to its knees. And when this happens, we will have no one to blame but ourselves. We still have the power to change but it is unlikely we will do so. We have convinced ourselves that the “American Way of Life” must be protected at all costs, even if it means slaughtering innocent people.Capitalism, military might, and economic power must be maintained and advanced at all costs. Sorry if that cost is killing your children on their way to school or destroying your power plants, water supplies, and other infrastructure. That’s just the way it is. USA! USA! USA! We’re #1! We’re #1! We’re #1! And so the American delusion goes.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Letter to the Editor: Evangelical Silence on Trump is Deafening

    Published in the Crescent-News on Thursday, April 23, 2026.

    Dear Editor,

    I keep hoping to read in the Crescent-News a plethora of letters from Evangelicals condemning Donald Trump’s use of Christianity to advance his unholy, violent agenda. Alas, there are no letters to be found. Even publishing a meme showing Trump as Jesus was not enough to dislodge them from the president’s hip. Both Paula White and Pete Hegseth favorably compared Trump’s self-inflicted troubles to the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus.

    Why the silence from Evangelicals? They are directly responsible for putting Trump in the White House. Three times in the past ten years, almost 80 percent of voting White Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump. By the the 2024 election, every American knew who and what Donald Trump really was. Everyone knew Trump was a violent narcissist who couldn’t tell the truth if his life depended on it, yet devout people of faith voted for him anyway.

    Spare me the explanations about not voting for a “pastor in chief.” I was an Evangelical for 50 years. I listened to preachers excoriate President Bill Clinton over a stained blue dress. Despicable? You bet. And at the time, I eviscerated Clinton from the pulpit, as I would have Trump today if I were still a pastor. If Evangelical pastors can’t see Trump in the same light they viewed Clinton, they have lost their moral authority. They have sold their souls for a bowl of soup.

    Worse, an increasing number of Evangelicals have adopted theocratic beliefs, asserting that the separation of church and state is a myth. Both Russ Vought and Hegseth are card carrying theocrats who believe the Evangelical God has called them to re-establish the United States as a Christian nation. Their nefarious dogma will lead to violence and death on our streets, as is currently happening in Iran and the greater Middle East.

    The Pope recently condemned Trump’s offensive war against Iran. More than a few Evangelical talking heads told the Pope to “shut up and mind your own business.” J.D. Vance — allegedly a Catholic — lectured the Pope on “just war theory.” What is going on in Iran is anything but “just.” The United States is waging an immoral war against [the newspaper’s editor removed “the people of” from my letter] the people of Iran. And Cuba is next, if Trump gets his way.

    Several letter writers have suggested than I am morally lacking. Maybe, but I’m moral enough to know it’s evil to wage offensive wars and murder innocent people.

    Bruce Gerencser

    Ney, Ohio

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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  • Beware of the Mouse

    mouse

    I lived on U.S. 30 east of Lima, Ohio in the late 1960s. Dad had hornswoggled someone into renting him a home with an option to buy after twelve months. For one year, the Gerencsers lived in a new tri-level home, complete with a brand-new Pontiac Bonneville convertible in the garage. Almost sixty years later, the house is showing its age, and seems small compared to what I envisioned as a child.

    Lots happened my fourth/fifth-grade year [we moved to Farmer halfway through my fifth grade year]:

    • My younger brother fell off his bike and knocked out his two front teeth.
    • My younger brother also closed his eyes when trying to catch a baseball, catching the ball with his nose. The fracture required surgery to repair.
    • My father embezzled $10,000 from the insurance company he worked for at the time.
    • Dad was investigated by the ATF for illegally selling firearms at gun shows.
    • Dad started having an affair with an unknown woman.
    • Mom tried to kill herself by driving the Bonneville into a truck.
    • Mom tried to kill herself by overdosing on prescription drugs.
    • Mom tried to kill herself by slitting her wrists. I came home from school and found her lying in a pool of blood.
    • I tripped over a kindergartner on the playground, driving a rock into my knee. This required five stitches to repair.

    That’s enough living for a ten-year-old boy. Not that anyone asked. I don’t ever remember a time when my parents asked my opinion about anything. Dad would come home and saying we were moving — end of discussion. As most kids from dysfunctional homes do, I learned to adapt. Sadly, growing up this way has made it hard for me to feel like I belonged. Every year or two, we moved to a new community. I hoped we would finally find a place to call home. That never happened The longest we lived in one community was two and a half years.

    Dad was rarely home, and Mom subscribed to “out of sight, out of mind” parenting. Out of sight meant “go outside and play. I’ll call you (holler) when it is time to eat.” I spent most daylight hours outside, as long as it was warm enough to do so. You know, more than 25 degrees. 🙂

    I was a country kid. I enjoyed wandering nearby fields and stands of trees. I had a love for wildlife, including hunting and fishing. One day, as I walked into the garage, I caught sight of a mouse scurrying out of the corner of the garage. I decided to “catch” the mouse. I spent ten minutes or so chasing the mouse around the garage. Eventually, I cornered him and bent over to pick him up. Just as my fingers touched the soft fur of the young mouse, he lunged forward and bit me. I howled, and off he ran, safe from that redheaded boy. I wouldn’t have hurt the mouse, but he didn’t know that. The mouse did what animals do when threatened: he fought back.

    This is a lesson I have never forgotten. I have passed it on to our six children and sixteen grandchildren. What was that lesson, you ask? “Don’t try to catch a mouse”? No, the important lesson to learn was this: When you corner an animal and give them no way out, they will defend themselves. Every year, scores of Americans die from being gored, trampled, or bitten by cornered animals. Is the animal to blame? Of course not. Animals do what animals do, and humans are no different.

    Currently, President Donald Trump is trying to bully various nation-states into submission. He uses tariffs, the Justice Department, Homeland Security, and military intervention to back people and nations into a corner, thinking they will give him what he wants — money and power. What this stupid man refuses to understand is that actions have consequences. So Trump continues to push people and nations until they snap, biting him on the hand. What did he expect would happen? I fear that he will one day push and push and push, to the point where an alleged “enemy” fears the loss of power and control or the loss of economic well-being. And when this happens, Trump shouldn’t be surprised if the proverbial mouse bites him on the hand. All of us are dangerous when we lose all hope. Push Iran into a corner, what do you think they will do? Say uncle? I doubt it.

    We live in dangerous times. It remains to be seen if we will survive the actions of the lunatic currently inhabiting the White House.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Trump Dump: Oh the Irony . . .

    donald trump trash truck

    Imagine in Iran that instead of spending their wealth, billions of dollars, supporting terrorists or weapons, had spent that money helping the people of Iran, you’d have a much different country.

    — Secretary of State Marco Rubio, as reported by Snopes

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

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    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.

  • Quote of the Day: The Process of Grotesque Self-Deception in American Politics

    war brings peace middle east

    By Mark Twain

    Next the statesmen will invent cheap lies, putting the blame upon the nation that is attacked, and every man will be glad of those conscience-soothing falsities, and will diligently study them, and refuse to examine any refutations of them; and thus he will by and by convince himself that the war is just, and will thank God for the better sleep he enjoys after this process of grotesque self-deception. (Chronicle of Young Satan)

    ….

    The loud little handful—as usual—will shout for the war… The great, big, dull bulk of the nation will rub its sleepy eyes… and say, earnestly and indignantly, ‘It is unjust and dishonorable, and there is no necessity for it. (The Chronicle of Young Satan)

    ….

    Man is the only animal that deals in that atrocity of atrocities—War. He is the only one that gathers his brethren about him and goes forth in cold blood and calm pulse to exterminate his kind. (The Lowest Animal)

    The War Prayer, a short story by Mark Twain, as published on American Literature

    It was a time of great and exalting excitement. The country was up in arms, the war was on, in every breast burned the holy fire of patriotism; the drums were beating, the bands playing, the toy pistols popping, the bunched firecrackers hissing and sputtering; on every hand and far down the receding and fading spreads of roofs and balconies a fluttering wilderness of flags flashed in the sun; daily the young volunteers marched down the wide avenue gay and fine in their new uniforms, the proud fathers and mothers and sisters and sweethearts cheering them with voices choked with happy emotion as they swung by; nightly the packed mass meetings listened, panting, to patriot oratory which stirred the deepest deeps of their hearts and which they interrupted at briefest intervals with cyclones of applause, the tears running down their cheeks the while; in the churches the pastors preached devotion to flag and country and invoked the God of Battles, beseeching His aid in our good cause in outpouring of fervid eloquence which moved every listener.

    It was indeed a glad and gracious time, and the half dozen rash spirits that ventured to disapprove of the war and cast a doubt upon its righteousness straightway got such a stern and angry warning that for their personal safety’s sake they quickly shrank out of sight and offended no more in that way.

    Sunday morning came-next day the battalions would leave for the front; the church was filled; the volunteers were there, their faces alight with material dreams-visions of a stern advance, the gathering momentum, the rushing charge, the flashing sabers, the flight of the foe, the tumult, the enveloping smoke, the fierce pursuit, the surrender!-then home from the war, bronzed heros, welcomed, adored, submerged in golden seas of glory! With the volunteers sat their dear ones, proud, happy, and envied by the neighbors and friends who had no sons and brothers to send forth to the field of honor, there to win for the flag or, failing, die the noblest of noble deaths. The service proceeded; a war chapter from the Old Testament was read; the first prayer was said; it was followed by an organ burst that shook the building, and with one impulse the house rose, with glowing eyes and beating hearts, and poured out that tremendous invocation — “God the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest, Thunder thy clarion and lightning thy sword!”

    Then came the “long” prayer. None could remember the like of it for passionate pleading and moving and beautiful language. The burden of its supplication was that an ever–merciful and benignant Father of us all would watch over our noble young soldiers and aid, comfort, and encourage them in their patriotic work; bless them, shield them in His mighty hand, make them strong and confident, invincible in the bloody onset; help them to crush the foe, grant to them and to their flag and country imperishable honor and glory –

    An aged stranger entered and moved with slow and noiseless step up the main aisle, his eyes fixed upon the minister, his long body clothed in a robe that reached to his feet, his head bare, his white hair descending in a frothy cataract to his shoulders, his seamy face unnaturally pale, pale even to ghastliness. With all eyes following him and wondering, he made his silent way; without pausing, he ascended to the preacher’s side and stood there, waiting. With shut lids the preacher, unconscious of his presence, continued his moving prayer, and at last finished it with the words, uttered in fervent appeal,”Bless our arms, grant us the victory, O Lord our God, Father and Protector of our land and flag!”

    The stranger touched his arm, motioned him to step aside — which the startled minister did — and took his place. During some moments he surveyed the spellbound audience with solemn eyes in which burned an uncanny light; then in a deep voice he said

    “I come from the Throne-bearing a message from Almighty God!” The words smote the house with a shock; if the stranger perceived it he gave no attention. “He has heard the prayer of His servant your shepherd and grant it if such shall be your desire after I, His messenger, shall have explained to you its import-that is to say, its full import. For it is like unto many of the prayers of men, in that it asks for more than he who utters it is aware of-except he pause and think. “God’s servant and yours has prayed his prayer. Has he paused and taken thought? Is it one prayer? No, it is two- one uttered, the other not. Both have reached the ear of His Who hearth all supplications, the spoken and the unspoken. Ponder this-keep it in mind. If you beseech a blessing upon yourself, beware! lest without intent you invoke a curse upon a neighbor at the same time. If you pray for the blessing of rain upon your crop which needs it, by that act you are possibly praying for a curse upon some neighbor’s crop which may not need rain and can be injured by it. “You have heard your servant’s prayer-the uttered part of it. I am commissioned by God to put into words the other part of it-that part which the pastor, and also you in your hearts, fervently prayed silently. And ignorantly and unthinkingly? God grant that it was so! You heard these words: ‘Grant us the victory, O Lord our God!’ That is sufficient. The whole of the uttered prayer is compact into those pregnant words. Elaborations were not necessary. When you have prayed for victory you have prayed for many unmentioned results which follow victory-must follow it, cannot help but follow it. Upon the listening spirit of God the Father fell also the unspoken part of the prayer. He commandeth me to put it into words. Listen!

    “O Lord our Father, our young patriots, idols of our hearts, go forth to battle — be Thou near them! With them, in spirit, we also go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe. O Lord our God, help us to tear their soldiers to bloody shreds with our shells; help us to cover their smiling fields with the pale forms of their patriot dead; help us to drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded, writhing in pain; help us to lay waste their humble homes with a hurricane of fire; help us to wring the hearts of their unoffending widows with unavailing grief; help us to turn them out roofless with their little children to wander unfriended the wastes of their desolated land in rags and hunger and thirst, sports of the sun flames of summer and the icy winds of winter, broken in spirit, worn with travail, imploring Thee for the refuge of the grave and denied it-for our sakes who adore Thee, Lord, blast their hopes, blight their lives, protract their bitter pilgrimage, make heavy their steps, water their way with their tears, stain the white snow with the blood of their wounded feet! We ask it, in the spirit of love, of Him Who is the Source of Love, and Who is ever-faithful refuge and friend of all that are sore beset and seek His aid with humble and contrite hearts. Amen.

    (After a pause)

    “Ye have prayed it; if ye still desire it, speak! The messenger of the Most High waits.”

    It was believed afterward that the man was a lunatic, because there was no sense in what he said.

    Bruce Gerencser, 69, lives in rural Northwest Ohio with his wife of 48 years. He and his wife have six grown children and thirteen grandchildren. Bruce pastored Evangelical churches for twenty-five years in Ohio, Texas, and Michigan. Bruce left the ministry in 2005, and in 2008 he left Christianity. Bruce is now a humanist and an atheist.

    Your comments are welcome and appreciated. All first-time comments are moderated. Please read the commenting rules before commenting.

    You can email Bruce via the Contact Form.