Hello, those dropping by from the A to Z challenge and welcome to Team Saturdazzle!
Team Saturdazzle is the best thing on the internet that no one has ever heard of. It's one of those super cool, super hip things that needs no explanation.
Okay here's a small explanation; Team Saturdazzle occurs each Saturday at Leap of Dave and is a Potpourri of randomness and merriment. Team Saturdazzle began when I led a work group chat at a previous job on our Saturday shift. I called the chat, wait for it, Team Saturdazzle.
This year I have titled all the Team Saturdazzle posts with titles that look like they are episodes of the T.V. Show Friends. That's why this post is called The one Without The Kool Aid.
So for the Saturday's of the challenge I will have my A to Z post as the first part of the Team Saturdazzle post.
Here are this week’s prompts:
1.Write a post based on the word roommates.
2. Write a post in exactly 12 sentences (lines).
3. What’s something that makes you far angrier than it should?
4. Write about something you’ve recently spent a lot of time wondering about.
5. If you could change the color of one thing, what would it be and why?
6. If you knew you could live forever, how would you spend your days differently?
My A to Z Challenge Theme this year is the ABC's of me. Each day in the month of April with the exception of Sundays I will be posting about one aspect of my life that begins with the letter of the day. Today's letter is E so let's get right to it shall we?
E is for Evangelical Sans The Trump Kool-Aid
As a Christian I believe that the only thing I deserve is an eternity without God as a result of my own sins. I also believe that my salvation comes from God through Christ and is taught in the Bible. Nothing else is needed. When evangelicals defend unchristian behavior because they like the politics behind it they are not showing an understanding of Christ's redemptive love to a watching world.
Dave Roller - The Politics of Christianity 7/1/2020 Random Acts of Daveness Word Press Blog
Yes, I am quoting myself. I will be making many of the points today that I have made multiple times on this and other platforms. Since it is the ABC's of me, and I am, in fact, me. I will be quoting myself whenever possible. All quotes unless otherwise noted are from the post The Politics of Christianity which there is a link for in the paragraph above this one.
John Holton of The Sound of One Hand Typing put out his prompt list earlier this week for his Writer's Workshop segment. I chose #4: Write about something that you recently spent a lot of time thinking about. I've been ruminating about this topic for many many years and that includes recently. It is one of those things that makes me go" Hmmmm?".
I consider myself an evangelical Christian. This is how Wikipedia defines Evangelicalism:
Evangelicalism (/ˌiːvænˈdʒɛlɪkəlɪzəm, ˌɛvæn-, -ən/), evangelical Christianity, or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, trans-denominational movement within Protestant Christianity that maintains the belief that the essence of the Gospel consists of the doctrine of salvation by grace alone, solely through faith in Jesus's atonement.] Evangelicals believe in the centrality of the conversion or "born again" experience in receiving salvation, in the authority of the Bible as God's revelation to humanity, and in spreading the Christian message.
Wikipedia
I know I wrote more experientially and anecdotally when I wrote about being a Christian on my C post. However if I were to take an academic or explanatory approach it would match pretty close to Wikipedia's entry above. The Wikipedia entry is very similar to the 5 Solas (Latin for alone) the tenet's of the protestant reformation.
They are Grace Alone, Faith Alone, Christ Alone, Glory of God Alone, and Scripture Alone. Evangelicals, in a nutshell, believe in those 5 points and spreading that message as a regular practice of their faith. -
The problem of putting something in a nutshell, is that there is usually a nut or two alongside. (That is definitely a future quote from me.) Among American evangelicals these days there seems to be many who are nutty about Making America Great Again. It's as if there was a 6th sola, America alone (Sola America) and since 2016 a 7th Sola : Trump Alone (Sola Donalda)
It wasn't always this way. Back in the 1980's and 1990's I knew evangelical Christians who were Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and some even who were fans of the Green Bay Packers. aka Packertarians. Back then Donald Trump was not necessarily someone you would equate with evangelicalism of any stripe.
A letter to the editor in a suburban Chicago newspaper, The Daily Herald regarding Muslim reaction to Trumps proposed Taj Mahal casino had this to say about Trump:
Donald Trump's very name has become synonymous with conspicuous consumption, greed and arrogance. He is now linking himself with gambling more and more. A Reaction To Trump, Daily Herald April 27th 1990
The author did not identify himself as an evangelical in the letter, however, since I was the author of the letter, I can assure you that I was an evangelical at the time , and still am (sans the Trump Kool-Aid).
Billy Graham, who I will refer to for the rest of this piece, as EFE (Everybody's Favorite Evangelical) had this to say about gambling:
“Gambling is nowhere approved in the Bible. Instead, the Bible stresses that the Christian should earn his living by honest work and effort, and this would exclude relying on chance (2 Thessalonians 3:10-12). The Bible tells us to ‘abstain from all appearance of evil’ (1 Thessalonians 5:22). Gambling has often done untold evil to people by making them lose money that could be used for good purposes or even the necessities of life. Money is given to us by God to be used for good, not evil. Anyone seeking to do God’s will should not be involved in gambling.” Billy Graham - My Answer Column quoted in Gospel Herald Article 1/26/17
Trump still profits from his previously owned casino resorts. The AP reported this past Tuesday that Trump has an agreement with Bally's that if they build a casino on the former Trump Links that Bally purchased in 2023 that they will pay him 115 Million dollars. It is just one of many instances where it makes it hard for me to understand the relationship between Trump and Evangelicals.
Michael J. Kruger wrote an excellent article at his website canon fodder entitled "How the 5 solas do more than respond to Catholicism". Kruger breaks down each sola, saying what it fights against. Kruger says that Soli Deo Gloria (For God's glory alone) is about "letting go of our glory, and living for God's glory." He concludes that Soli Deo Gloria fights against pride.
If that's the case, MAGA doesn't make sense coming from the mouth of an Evangelical. Making America great again and all our energies on being a proud American sound like what people who need Christ may be looking for Glory but not the evangelicals dedicated to sharing that Christ. The Wikipedia definition calls evangelicalism a world wide movement. If that's the case, wouldn't the aims of evangelicals be more global, if not other worldly, than national?
In my post, The politics of Christianity I explain how I have both a passion for political involvement and also a passion to shower the world with the love of Christ. I then say:
If I had to choose between passions I hope I’d choose the passion mandated in the Bible. Jesus states this passion very succinctly in the book of John ...
12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
John 15:12-13
Or in the words of EFE:
“I’m trying to stay out of it and just keep preaching the gospel, because there’s nothing coming out of Washington or any of those places that are going to save the world or transform men and women. It’s Christ,”
Billy Graham 1987 – quoted in What Billy Graham taught us about a healthy relationship between religion and politics – Deseret News 2/21/2018 also quoted in TPOC
The point I hope I am making is that evangelicalism has nothing to do with Trump. This doesn't mean that evangelicals should have nothing to do with him. Evangelicals carry the good news of Jesus Christ and that message is vital and has eternal consequences. It is a message worth sharing to presidents, felons, adulterers, poor losers, and instigators of riots. Evangelicals can and should vote in their countries elections, but that doesn't mean they need to drink the Kool-Aid.
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Team Saturdazzle At The Movies
Powered By Box Office Mojo
Top 10 Films
top 10 Films of 2025 as of 3/31/2005
10. Paddington In Peru
9. A Complete Unknown Down 1 from February
8. Nosferatu down 2 from February
7. One of These Days
6. Moana 2 down 1 from February
5 Snow White
4. Sonic The Hedgehog 3 down 1 from February
3. Dog Man up 1 from January
2. Mufasa The Lion King
1. Captain America: Brave New World
Top 10 Films of March 2025
10. Dog Man down 8 from Debruary
9. A Working Man
8. Paddington in Peru down 4 from February
7. Last Breath Up 13 from February
6. Black Bag
5. Novocaine
4. The Monkey up 2 from February
3. Mickey 17
2. Captain America: Brave New World down 1 from February
1. Snow White
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I just love this standup routine from Nate Bargatze from the first time he hosted Saturday Night Live. The first few minutes are pretty good but it's the last 5 to 6 that just about kill me. So funny.
I may have broke AI
While I was researching and writing my A to Z post for today, I searched for how the 5 Solas would be translated in other languages. This was for a point I decided not to make. I looked it up in Spanish, Russian and Greek. Each time Googles AI gave me an overview with the 5 Solas and what they would be called in that language and then I could further search the links below that. Being the totally Saturdazalous person that I am I decided to see how the Solas might look in Klingon. AI went to work but after 30 seconds it was still thinking and I decided that maybe I should back out before anything really bad happened.
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That's about all I have for Team Saturdazzle today. Thanks for stopping by either from The Sound of One Hand Typing or the ABC Challenge. For More Writer's Workshop click here. To get back to the A to Z Challenge website click here. To go back directly to the A to Z Challenge Master List click here. Otherwise leave a message at the tone and I'll call you back at my earliest convenience.
Beeeeep!
