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Here's my main question: ARE YOU SURPRISED TRUMP IS BACK? WHY OR WHY NOT?

Secondary, follow-up questions: How are you metabolizing the news that our 2020—a campaign competition of Biden v. Trump—is recurring? (And how will you take care of yourself amid the chaos that ensues in our churches and families?)

Tell me all your thoughts + predictions, pretty please!!

**Fair warning: Kind kids get responses; mean kids get blocked.**

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I am completely unsurprised, tbh, that Trump would run again. I was, however, surprised to learn that the Republicans seem powerless to stop his run? That confuses me.

My main concern about this run has to do with the furthering fracturing of American Evangelicalism, which is already tattered, at best. I don't mind the revelation of the past few years in that now we KNOW the underside. But I feel for all of you (and for myself!) because we're the ones who have to deal with the reality of Trumpism among our families and friends and church communities. It's been a painful season, and I feel troubled that we seem to be on the cusp of reliving it.

Mostly, I'm praying that the appeal of pragmatism and the urgency of the culture wars begins to fade for church leaders. PLEASE DEAR GOD. Instead, I'm praying that we start looking around and seeking to care for the marginalized and oppressed. Then again, that's never been what us evangelicals have been known for.... :-(

Anyone have a hopeful perspective on this? Or is it all bad news from here on out?

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Nov 18, 2022Liked by Liz Charlotte Grant

I'm Canadian, so I get to watch this from a safe emotional distance. However, many of my close Canadian relatives are as pro-Trump as the most avid American (thanks, American political entertainment complex), so I still get to taste some of this fervor.

With that in mind, I am 100% not surprised Trump is back. His ego would not allow him to stay away, especially since he can regurgitate this "the last election was stolen from me" line (IMO). Interestingly, I just started reading Confidence Man (a book detailing how Trump's political approach was shaped and how he got into the White House the first time), so that analysis of his character made me even less surprised by the announcement yesterday.

For myself, when I'm annoyed/exhausted/tempted to be caught up in the weird ways political ideology mixes with religious ideology mixes with celebritizing anyone talked about in the news is to remind myself that we're all so fleeting. Yes, it matters to be engaged and involved, to ensure my voice is heard, that I advocate for what I believe is right, but, in the end, I'm a fleeting voice. So are the voices of the religious zealots and the buffoonish politicians. God and His purposes will ultimately prevail.

It feels a little weird saying that, given how much I've deconstructed in the last few years, but I still know that God is good and that He loves people. If we have wicked leaders, we can still do good where we are, with the people around us. When dissension and hate scream loudly, we can quietly make our small corners of the world better by speaking truth and bringing the peace and kindness of God with us. I have to believe that, in the end, that has more impact on the world than the loud cries of the influential and the riled up mobs.

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