Submitted by Mike Giorgino
The Democrats’ witch hunt has arrived in Coronado.
On Sunday May 20, the Coronado Performing Arts Center was the site for a showing of a propaganda film, “God and Country,” produced by Rob Reiner. It was like watching a long string of 30 second anti-Trump commercials with a common theme: the rise of Trump is the result of “Christian Nationalism,” which threatens fascism, theocracy, and the end of democracy in America.
Intended as red meat for blue voters, the film seeks to rally the Democrat faithful for the battle ahead in 2024. When you’re hunting witches, they are never in short supply. The film points an accusing finger at not only Donald Trump, but a host of other deplorables, including Tucker Carlson, Senator Ted Cruz, former President George W. Bush, Congress Woman Marjorie Taylor Greene, My Pillow’s Mike Lindell, and many others.
The film is a textbook example of guilt through association. Hitler allegedly was assisted by a Protestant theologian while he planned the Jewish holocaust. The KKK burned crosses to terrorize black people. Christian evangelists in the U.S. opposed gay marriage and abortion. Trump held up a bible in front of (fire bombed) St. John’s Church. Christians rallied in Washington the day before the January 6th riot at the Capitol. And George Washington didn’t really pray in the snow at Valley Forge (despite first party accounts to the contrary!).
Following the film, a Southwestern College professor led a panel discussion with three local pastors. He played a short clip by local Democrat activist Brad Willis, essentially calling for the banishment of the Awaken Church from Coronado.
The First Amendment of our Constitution protects freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of assembly. Yet, two of the local pastors seemed hostile to Awaken Church, while not explicitly calling for their expulsion. To his great credit, Reverend David Rodriguez of Graham Memorial Church stated that while he does not subscribe to Awaken’s ideology, he would NOT support banning them from Coronado.
I am a proud supporter of President Trump. I am not a “Christian Nationalist.” And I am NOT a supporter of Awaken Church and find many of their views obnoxious. However, like philosopher Karl Popper who famously warned that excessive tolerance of the intolerant could destroy a free society, I believe “as long as we can counter them by rational argument and keep them in check by public opinion, suppression would certainly be unwise.”
First, they came for Awaken Church and I did nothing. Then they came for me. Where does that witch hunt end?
Mike Giorgino
