January 6

- Christian nationalism, on view at the January 6 riot at the Capitol

To conservatives Christians ... you may not understand what it would mean to let democracy slide. You may think a Trump dictatorship would mean a conservative regime, sort of like Orban's Poland that Tucker Carlson so loves. A regime that would preserve a (rather unrealistic) 50s lifestyle where most of the people with power are Christian, are white, are men.

It would be a regime where women stay home and make and raise babies, where they don't get to decide whether they want to be pregnant (or, gasp, whether they want to have pets).

A regime where immigrants know their place, where religious minorities know their place, where non-whites know their place.

A regime where gay people can't marry and adopt, but stay in the shadows (or become Catholic priests).

A regime where the poor are kicked to the curb, not givrn our hard-earned tax revenue.

A regime where the sick earn their medical care, or crawl off under a bush to die, out of our sight.

A regime where education means telling children what to think, not how to think. Because, give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man.

And finally, a regime where if you have a change of heart, if you change your mind, you will be SOL. A dictatorship means you don't get to chooose. Anyrhing.

There are a lot of Christians who think this is what they want .... a theocracy with Trump at the top, then Trump Jr., then Ivanka, then Barron, etc. They believe that the dark joy of having liberals under their thumb will be worth selling their souls. I can't convince those people - they are just lost.

But for those Christians who aren't quite sure if democracy is worth saving, think of all the stuff Jesus said, think of what he did. Think of how he treated people, who he hung out with, what he thought was important. Think about his decision that winning wasn't the ultimate goal in life, that being good was better, even if it means you lose. Trump is the antithesis of Jesus.

Today is the one year anniversary of the violent attack on our Capitol, all for the purpose of overturning a free and fair election, and replacing the man voters chose with a man they rejected. Trump planned this so that he could hold onto power. Forever. Like Putin, like Xi, like Kim Jong-un, like Erdoğan, like Orban. He's not done trying. Neither are his crazed followers.