About nine or ten years ago, I remember slowly making my way through the second season of the F/X series Fargo, when I was shocked by something one of the characters was looking at in Episode 8.

There is much to be shocked by in this series, but it wasn’t the spontaneous murdering, unexpected twists, or random alien spacecraft that caused me to rewind and hit pause. It was a sign hanging on the brick wall outside of a bar – a plaque that said, “HERE WERE HANGED 22 SIOUX INDIANS MAY 25^th 1882.” The character looking at the plaque is Native American, so it’s a subtle tie-in to his story arc.

Fargo is a very well written series, for the most part, in terms of anthological crime dramas. But one of the things about it that has always bugged me a little, is the opening claim that “THIS IS A TRUE STORY.”

As it turns out, none of the stories are true – at least, not in any way that can be corroborated. They’re not even “based on” true stories. They are entirely fictitious. And more than that, even actual historical references are often made up. I don’t know why the show writers and runners make this claim, but I think it has something to do with the idea that it adds dramatic weight to the stories – for people who don’t care to check. And for people who do care, the show gives them something interesting to research. I don’t know though. Either way, the “true story” claim always bothered me a little. But being aware of the gimmick, I was able to look past it. After all, there’s been plenty of other shows and movies during the last decade that have made use of the whole “alternate history,” “multiple universes,” trope.

In any case, being the student of history that I am, I couldn’t let the zoom-in on this plaque about Native Americans being hung in 1882 pass by without some research. So I was immediately on a mission to find out if this was true, as I had never heard about it.

And the truth that I ran into, as I did my Google searches and subsequent article reading, was actually more shocking than the fictionalized plaque in the television show.

As far as I was able to discover, the closest, real historical event, to the one referenced in the show, was the hanging of 38 Sioux men in southern Minnesota, in 1862, on the orders of Abraham Lincoln. The executions took place at the end of the Dakota War, also known as the Sioux Uprising – which was a rebellion that occurred after decades of unjust treatment, false treaties, and systematic starvation at the hands of the United States military.

I don’t know if this is what the writers of Fargo wanted me to discover while researching their bogus history, but that’s what I found. 

Unfortunately, none of the Native American persecution I read about was surprising.

The surprising part was seeing Abraham Lincoln’s name attached to the story as the overseer of the executions. 

It was an unexpected blow to my image of a man whose reputation for truth, justice, honor, dignity, and sacrifice, had been carefully crafted by an unknown number of lessons, by many trusted teachers, scattered throughout my childhood, and into early adulthood. 

I was every bit as shocked and upset as Luke Skywalker, when he found out that his mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi had withheld the truth from him – the full, gut-wrenching truth, that Darth Vader was his father. “Ben, why didn’t you tell me!?” – Insert the names of my elementary teachers in place of Ben, and that’s what I was whispering in my mind for days. “Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Sowers, Mr. Clunie, Dr. Damron… why didn’t you tell me?”

Every time I see an opportunity to interject a Star Wars metaphor, I can’t resist.

Well, anyway, that’s the way reality is – much more complicated than we realize most of the time, and even more so with historical events. Even this situation with Lincoln and the hangings is much more complicated than what I’ve just now said about it. So I’ll come back to that in a moment. 

But for now, I want to talk about Donald Trump.

Those who know me well, have heard me say, on more than one occasion, that I’m not really into politics.

I never really have been.

My parents weren’t into politics, and neither were my grandparents – at least not in any way that was noticeable.

So, maybe that’s why I grew up, not really caring about it all that much. I was usually aware of what was going on, and I know my family members, parents and grandparents included, had their opinions. But it was never something that dominated our interactions, or influenced our conversations in any way. It was just something going on in the background, behind other things that were more important – like Church, and family, and school. That’s just the way it was in our family.

So, back in 2015, when I first heard that Donald Trump was running for President of the United States, I remember having two thoughts, one right after the other…

First thought: It’s some kind of joke. 

Second thought: It makes sense. 

I was pretty convinced, by 2015, that our political system is basically an elaborate game that rich people get to play, and since Donald Trump’s name had been (in my mind) associated with money and the Monopoly Man, since I was a kid – it made sense that he would try getting into the politics game.

I honestly didn’t see him as being fundamentally different than anyone else running for President on either side.

Sure, he was different in terms of his loud, obnoxious tone, his rude rhetoric, juvenile name calling, and reputation for licentious language and behavior.

That makes his outward persona a lot different.

But I didn’t think he was really going to be any different indoors, in terms of how presidents act and operate the Executive Branch. I thought he was just putting on a show to get attention, because getting attention is how people win elections. 

A lot of people probably think I’m an idiot for thinking that, but I’m just being honest.

I confess…. sincerely…

…that in 2015…

I was truly more concerned, with whether or not the old Muppet Babies cartoons were going to be released on DVD or Blu-ray, than about what Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton were saying in the news.

And then he won the election. 

And then….

I had to… 

::::with a heavy, decade long sigh::::

…begin forming an actual opinion about what I thought.

Part of being a minister, in my opinion, is noticing how people react to things.

Another part of being a minister, is watching other people react to things, without reacting to things yourself. Or at least taking some time, and thinking and praying through what your reaction is going to be.

The fact that I had never really felt personally invested in politics helped me a great deal in this regard, when it came to formulating an opinion and reaction to Trump – both 1.0 and 2.0.

I’m not saying that I’ve never been aware, or that I didn’t care at all, or that I was uninformed, or even that my life wasn’t affected by political decisions.

I was aware, I was informed, I did care (a little bit), and I know that my life has been affected.

If Obama hadn’t done what he did for health care in our country I would have died without insurance and proper medical care when I was in my mid-30s.

That’s a fact.

That Obama was also responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent men, women, and children, in covert drone strikes is also a fact. The only dispute is how many hundreds. 

The point is, these conversations are complicated, multi-faceted, and can be very emotionally triggering for a lot of people.

I’m not above being emotionally triggered. But I have had a lot of practice in being disciplined about my reactions.

The Trump-Biden Era (if we can call it that) has caused a level of division across our society that is reality bending.

I mean that quite literally.

There are people in our country, in our workplaces, in our schools, in our churches, and in our families, who are all seeing the same things, and perceiving two (or sometimes more than two) very different realities. 

These two realities seem to hinge on a single conclusion-making rubric for a lot of people.

Whether we’re talking about Trump, Biden, Harris, Obama, Musk, or really anyone else, at any level, including the neighbor with a sign on their lawn – the process of coming to a conclusion about any given issue or set of circumstances, seems to begin and end, with the labeling of everything someone says and does – and everyone who supports anything they say or do – as being worthy of DEMONIZATION or CANONIZATION. 

What I mean is… for too many people, it often sounds like the last ten years, our country has either been run by Satan, or it’s been run by Jesus, depending on who was President, and how someone defines Jesus and Satan in their personal, culturally defined, theology.

I say “culturally defined,” because that’s what most of it is – as opposed to biblically defined theology. This manifests in a tendency, by both sides, to attach definitive labels of either glorification or damnation (to use biblical language) to the people they support or condemn. 

I’m not judging anyone for this. I’ve found myself being tempted to do the same at times. But I think we can do better. It’s lazy to just slap a Jesus or Satan sticker on everything and call it a term. It’s harder to actually dig deeper into issues, with an open mind. 

And look, here’s the deal – after looking at, thinking about, scrutinizing, and researching, it may be possible to come to the conclusion, in good faith, that everything a political figure has said and done is either all evil, or all good. That may be possible. I think that’s rarely the case, but it is a possibility. 

Regardless, what I’m asking here, and what I’m hoping for – is that, even if you come to one of those two conclusions – that Trump is either Satan or Jesus – everyone will stop short of applying the same judgment to the people who voted for and/or support him (or any other candidate/official that you think is Satan – or Jesus).

Nothing good, wholesome, constructive, or redemptive, is going to come from aiming rhetoric and vitriol at those who voted for a particular person. Say what you want to about the official in office, or running for office, and whatever they are doing – that’s fine, that’s what they signed up for – judgment by the electorate.

But your neighbor across the street, your cousin at Easter dinner, your barber, your doctor, your granny, the person sitting on the other end of your pew, the person praying with you at church on Wednesday night, the clerk at Dollar General who helped you carry the enormous sack of dogfood to the car, and the nurse who will wipe your butt without complaining when you’re in the hospital, are all just people with different opinions. And their opinions might be different than yours, but they are still worthy of respect – as human beings created in God’s image. 

But opinions are being bought and sold for pennies on the dollar these days. 

There are numerous combinations of sources that contribute, individually, to how every person consumes information and form their opinions. 

There’s legacy media, independent journalists, cable news, network news, Instagram and Facebook reels, podcast interviews, newspapers and magazines (mostly online now), links that people you know send to you, and probably a few dozen YouTube channels (and growing) that are at the professional level with millions of regular viewers. -And thousands of smaller channels as well that people watch.

And there is also “THE ALGORITHM.”

“THE ALGORITHM,” which is more and more being run entirely by artificial intelligence programs, (i.e. not actual human beings) is what DECIDES which stories, videos, posts, links, and opinions appear in every individual’s “FEED.”

For example, if (for some hypothetical reason) you one day find yourself watching episodes of Mork and Mindy on YouTube – your viewing of said late 70s early 80s sitcom will be duly noted, and the next time you open your YouTube feed, you will have more episodes of Mork and Mindy waiting for you. And if you watch a few more of those, then that will be duly noted as well, and the next time you open YouTube, you will be presented with similar shows like Happy Days or Laverne and Shirley.

In other words, “THE ALGORITHM” will attempt to fill your “FEED” with things that it thinks you want to see, while gradually filtering out, things which it thinks you don’t want to see. 

Facebook works the same way. Whatever you watch, click, or comment on, will dictate more of what you are presented with.

“THE ALGORITHM” keeps track of everything – what you’re clicking on, what you’re buying from Amazon, whose profile you looked at, what post you gave a 👍 to, what post you gave a ❤️ to, what you got at Walmart yesterday (or a year ago), what music you downloaded, what you’re watching on Netflix, and which podcast you listened to while you were in the shower. It knows when you are sleeping. It knows when you’re awake. It knows if you’ve been bad or good, so… you know.

If you click on a story by Rachel Maddow, or a clip of the Tucker Carlson Show somehow, either intentionally, or by accident, “THE ALGORITHM” will also take THAT click into consideration.

The point is, every person’s individual clicks – whether intentional, or on a whim, in between cracking a few eggs into a skillet one morning, or when you’re waiting for a train to pass at your local railroad stop, or on a break at work, or even if it’s accidental while you’re sitting on the pot one afternoon – “THE ALGORITHM” will take note of it, and attempt to adjust and generate your “FEED,” accordingly.

And again, it will show you more and more of what it thinks you want to see. Over the past several years, this has created individualized, on demand news, for a lot of people. And it has all but destroyed objectivity in reporting.

What I’m saying is, the sources of information that everyone sees and hears – is – and will be, increasingly individual – because what every person clicks on is individual. No human being is standing over you, to see what you click on when you’re taking a dump on Monday morning. It’s just you… and God… and “THE ALGORITHM.”

There are computers watching you, ALL THE TIME.

Allow me to repeat and emphasize – They see EVERYTHING YOU ARE CLICKING ON.

And the people next door, or down the street, or in the pew next to you, may not be clicking on the same things, or seeing the same news sources that you are.

What I’m saying is, our passive exposure to information is chaotic, varied, and intentionally subjective.

Now this has obviously created, and will continue to create a lot of problems in our society. Think of the whole George Floyd issue… Everyone saw the same thing, but depending on what mixture of news sources you consumed afterwards – you interpreted what you saw one of two completely different ways. The same thing happens with EVERY OTHER STORY in the news now.

This is a big challenge for those of us in the Church. The Church is supposed to be a place of unity. Well, I know that went out the window centuries ago, but the plague of disunity is still very much virulent, and we don’t have to keep feeding it. We have to counteract it. And we can do so with humility, love, and grace. And by focusing our minds on the truth of Scripture.

So, please, have some grace for the people who don’t think the way you do, or agree with your opinions.

Try to see them as human beings, instead of pawns in the political machinery that you’re demonizing, and that you’re so angry about.

They are probably getting different information than you are.

And besides that, it’s all going to change one day.

Donald Trump I’m 100% sure, is not Jesus, (about 95% sure he isn’t Satan) and that means his administration will eventually end, and another one will take its place, and then another, and another, until the real Jesus comes back.

Those of us who claim to be followers of Christ should know all this, and we should have a perspective that is aligned with God’s eternal Kingdom. We have to rise above the politics of this world. We’re citizens of another Kingdom (Philippians 3:20); a Kingdom that is not of this world (John 18:36). We’re citizens of an eternal Kingdom that will still be standing, eons after all the kingdoms of this world have crumbled into dust.

It could all change tomorrow, or next week, or in four years.

But, eventually, it will all change. And the real Kingdom will come.

We should be acting like citizens of that Kingdom now. Our perspective should be eternal, rather than just temporal. And Scripture teaches us about what that kind of perspective looks like…

When the Apostle Paul was in a Roman prison, awaiting his imminent execution, he wrote a letter to his faithful protégé Timothy, urging him “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, ² for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way. ³ This is good, and it is pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴ who desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1^st Timothy 2:1-4, NIV).

Paul, who was about to have his head removed by Roman authorities, asked Timothy to pray for them, rather than curse them. And Paul wasn’t the only Christian being persecuted by the authorities – the whole Church was being run to ground at the time.

That should tell us something about what our own attitudes should be toward those who are committing atrocities, and acting in ways that we think are unjust and destructive. Cursing them and theirs is not the attitude of Christ, and it doesn’t actually accomplish anything. The only people seeing your angry Facebook post (for the most part) are people that already agree with you. The people you’re trying to convince aren’t going to respond to your condescending condemnation of them, and most of them probably aren’t even seeing or hearing what you say and post. So try something else.

Try praying.

Praying is the most powerful thing we can do.

And finally, back now to Abraham Lincoln and the hanging of 38 Sioux men in 1862.

As I said earlier, the situation was more complicated than what a single pass over the surface of it can reveal, or what a single episode of a fictional television show could allude to.

Abraham Lincoln did sign off on the execution of those 38 Native Americans. But he only did so, after commuting the sentences of 265 other men who were condemned to die as well. The man was a lawyer at heart. He examined every case, looked into all the details, pardoned all those who were innocent of charges worthy of death, and affirmed the sentences of those who had committed the worst offenses – rape and murder of innocent people. Moreover, Lincoln did so against the advice of his fellow Republicans in Minnesota, who wanted all of them to hang to set an example.

Even so, there were still two innocent men that were executed by accident, due to language barriers, miscommunication, and being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Politics are messy.

Politics are complicated.

Politics are fickle.

And our perceptions are also messy, complicated, and fickle.

That’s why we need to have grace. 

That’s why we need to ask the Lord for grace and mercy, and justice, rather than condemnation, and damnation.

No government on Earth is perfectly righteous, because there are no human beings that are perfectly righteous. Only Jesus Christ is perfectly righteous. His coming Kingdom is the only one that will be righteous. 

Right now, those of us who believe in him and his Kingdom, have to live like it’s real.

If we really believe his kingdom is real, we will follow his teachings, and his commands – like the command to, “love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. ⁴⁶ If you love those who love you, what reward will you get?” (Matthew 5:44-46, NIV).

Love those who wouldn’t love you.

Love those who don’t think like you.

Love those who didn’t vote like you.

Love those who watch different news than you. 

And…