A Port Allen, Louisiana, woman has expressed the sentiments of many Americans, including mine, about the sad state of political affairs in this country.

“I’m not sure how we developed such divisive, condescending and insulting behaviors as a society, but it is truly destroying the very fabric of our nation,” Catherine Altazan said in her letter to The Advocate.

“Regardless of where it began, each of us needs to focus today on the many things we have in common in order to once again become the United States of America,” she said.

Lying is a major problem, she said, and “we not only accept the egregious lies being spread on the campaign trail, we perpetuate them by reposting falsehoods on social media.”

One of those questionable statements came in a story about Louisiana’s Republican Gov. Jeff Landry being named the nation’s No. 2 conservative GOP governor by the MAGA-aligned Conservative Political Action Conference.

Matt Schlapp, the chairman of that conference, said in its endorsement of former President Donald Trump, “The extreme leftist Marxists have infiltrated our colleges, universities, elementary schools, the military, in fact all of our sacred institutions.”

That is quite a stretch of the truth.

The Associated Press reported last week that Christian nationalist leaders are telling followers that Vice President Kamala Harris is under the influence of a “Jezebel spirit.” The AP said the term has a long history of being used in the U.S. against women, especially Black women.

Anthea Butler, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has studied the New Apostolic Reformation, which is described as a politicized movement of charismatic Christianity.

Here are other stretches of the truth:

The AP said some preachers with ties to the New Apostolic Reformation are describing Trump as being anointed by God, fighting on the side of the angels.

Lance Wallnau, who has 1 million Facebook followers and who has used “Jezebel spirit” to describe Harris, is considered a prophet of the Reformation. He said, “She can look presidential and that’s the seduction of what I would say is witchcraft.”

After backlash on his comments, Wallnau said, “For the record, Kamala isn’t a demon and no living soul on planet earth is a demon…”

Ché Ahn said Trump is a “type of Jehu,” the biblical figure who overthrew the evil Queen Jezebel’s reign and ordered her death.

Perhaps the lie that has lived the longest is Trump’s insistence that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. More courts than we can count have said it didn’t happen, but the lie survives.

Some of the judges who have sentenced Jan. 6, 2021, rioters that participated in the attack on the U.S. Capitol fear another burst of political violence could be coming.

U.S. District Judge Reggie Walton, before sentencing a rioter to prison and without mentioning Trump by name, said, “That sore loser is saying the same things he said before. He’s riling up the troops again, so if he doesn’t get what he wants, it’s not inconceivable that we will experience that same situation again. And who knows? It could be worse.”

Judge Jia Cobb said during a sentencing hearing, “It scares me to think about what will happen if anyone on either side is not happy with the results of the election.”

One rioter said, “You can give me 100 years and I’d do it all over again.”

Walton said this month, “We’re in a real difficult time in our country and I hope we can survive it. I’ve got a young daughter, I’ve got a grandson, and I would like for America to be available to them and be as good to them as it has been to me. But I don’t know if we survive with the mentality that took place that day.”

Altazan, in her letter, said “in order to make the United States truly great again, we must constantly search for the truth, stay informed, think independently and pray for one another.”

Trump and other candidates need to remember what the apostle Paul told the Ephesians in Chapter 4:31-32, “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.”

Those are mighty tall orders, but they could unite us again.

Jim Beam, the retired editor of the American Press, has covered people and politics for more than six decades. Contact him at 337-515-8871 or jim.beam.press@gmail.com.

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