The GOP, after years of gradual but strong growth, now dominates all levels and branches of US government. And it now stands for nationalism (the polar opposite of patriotism), Peronism, and at minimum the quiet toleration of racism, misogyny, anti-Semitism and shameless corruption.

Meanwhile, the Democrats will almost certainly purge themselves of the filthy Clinton machine, and have the opportunity to rethink the wisdom of identity politics rather than “doubling down” on it (as Jonathan Haidt is warning them not to do). One of the lessons of Trump is that if identity politics is sauce for the goose, it’s sauce for the gander. Some of us have been jumping up and down trying to warn our friends on the left about this for generations. Perhaps now they’ll listen.

And somewhere in America, an aspiring fascist dictator who is not buffoonishly un-self-controlled or totally lacking in political talent is watching carefully and taking copious notes.

As for me? All the confident predictions I made about what Trump would do in office will now, against all my expectations, actually be tested. So all the credibility I built up by standing against Trump may well be squandered.

Conservatism, I fear, may be dead. There will be no living in the same house with Trump and his slaves now, not without accepting the collar. And if even a sizeable minority of “conservatives” accept the collar, conservatism will become a word without meaning.

But God is not dead, and there is still much of the raw material of goodness in this country.

I’m grateful to Evan McMullin for trying, and for giving the rest of us the opportunity to do the same. Well done.

The last post in my series on suffering and work is now posted at The Green Room:

The bookends of the Great Commission tell us that Jesus is in two places at once. He is in heaven, reigning at the right hand of God the Father, and that is why we are sent out on a mission into the nations to make disciples and carry out God’s purposes in the world. But he is also with us by the Spirit “to the very end of the age,” and that is why we have power to carry out our mission.

And transformation is, above all, painful! Jesus has chosen, at least in the present life, not to transform us without our involvement. He could, by an act of mere power, purify us unilaterally. But his holy love is glorified more when we choose to submit to a painful process of transformation that uses our own self-sacrificial labor as the means of transformation.

This has been a very fruitful series for me. Next up – practical thoughts about the different ways in which different kinds of churches respond to the challenges of a dark culture.

Mere Orthodoxy carries an article in which I say a few things that need to be said:

Yet it is fear of these very dangers that has prevented responsible leaders from building an authentic gospel witness to politics. That paralysis has created the vacuum within which fools like James Dobson and Tony Perkins, glory hounds like Eric Metaxas and prostitutes like Ralph “I Need to Start Humping in Corporate Accounts!” Reed operate.

For too long, our only political duty has been to not be Jerry Falwell. Well, it turns out that if all we know how to do is not be Jerry Falwell, the gap is filled by Jerry Falwell, Jr.

The article is actually about something else – a six-part program for fixing the mess, including:

Moore is one of the few evangelical leaders who has firmly and consistently campaigned against the sellout to Trump from the beginning. He is also one of the few evangelical leaders whose full-time job is building a credible political witness. Other prominent evangelical voices who were against Trump from the beginning, like David French, Peter Wehner and Michael Cromartie, are also professionally charged in various ways with maintaining a credible political voice for evangelical Christianity.

This is not a coincidence; it is a critically important pattern. We need many more Christians in positions like this, whose professional calling is to steward such efforts full time. Politics is a domain with specialized knowledge, and we need experts – thinkers and practitioners alike – with mastery of its subtleties.

Your thoughts, challenges, affirmations and rotten vegetables are appreciated, as always.

The Kenosha News carries my letter to the editor today:

Regarding your recent endorsement of Hillary Clinton: It’s never a good idea to choose the lesser of two evils; it only rewards evil and incentivizes more of it. Voting for a candidate who lies and breaks the law with impunity, and whose campaign was recently caught trying to incite a violent riot at her opponent’s rally, is no less a bad idea because her major opponent is a racist, misogynistic, illiberal reprobate. The election of either of these candidates would be a major blow to our national political culture. Every vote for an alternative reduces that damage.

Your readers can vote to preserve America’s national honor by writing in Evan McMullin. Don’t forget to mark the oval or rectangle next to the write in space, so your vote will count!

Greg Forster 

Pleasant Prairie, Wi.

My seven-part series on work and suffering approaches its conclusion with Part 6, now posted at The Green Room:

The word “therefore” is important. The church is sent out into the world to make disciples of all nations because Jesus has been given all authority in heaven and on earth.

And as we learn to understand, trust and obey Jesus in our whole lives, we help him rule the world…We are sent out into the world to tell it the truth about God, with gentleness and respect but not ashamed of the gospel; to reconnect it to God, with justice and mercy; to rule it for God, responsible for his world as his stewards.

And that is often a painful task!

Consider what Martin Luther says about changing diapers…

As always, your thoughts are most welcome!