A ‘Frontline’ documentary looks at the life and career of Trump’s chief strategist.
The subject of this documentary has never yielded in his regard for the infliction of shock and chaos as a political tactic, according to the commentators, mainly journalists, assembled for “ Bannon’s War,” a “Frontline” film on the life and career of Steve Bannon... an enduring belief in the value of chaos and disorder to undermine the establishment, usurp its power... he ran for student body president and won a surprise victory by running on a platform in which he attacked his rivals as tools of the administration—of the establishment—and by claiming for himself the mantle of “an outsider.”.. The young Bannon who emerges from this background is an omnivorous reader—a devourer, especially, of philosophy and history that yielded clues to the future. Future calamities, in particular. No danger preoccupied him more than the one posed by the Islamic world, which would in his view forever be a mortal threat to the West... nothing would have greater impact on him than the Sept. 11 attacks, proof to him of Islam’s continuing war against Western civilization... had lost none of his ingrained belief in the value of disruption... Mr. Bannon and President Trump, the film notes, wanted the ensuing outrage, the protests, the shock and, not least, the media’s cameras. They were sending a message: Change had come; Trump was making good on his promises.
The Three Boxes: Order, Disorder, Re-order
We dare not get rid of our pain before we have learned what it has to teach us. Most of religion gives answers too quickly, dismisses pain too easily, and seeks to be distracted—to maintain some ideal order. So we must resist the instant fix and acknowledge ourselves as beginners to be open to true transformation. In the great spiritual traditions, the wounds to our ego are our teachers to be welcomed. They should be paid attention to, not litigated or even perfectly resolved. How can a Christian look at the Crucified One and not get this essential point?
.. Once we can learn to live in this third spacious place, neither fighting nor fleeing reality but holding the creative tension itself, we are in the spacious place of grace out of which all newness comes.
.. There is no direct flight from order to reorder, you must go through disorder, which is surely why Jesus dramatically and shockingly endured it on the cross. He knew we would all want to deny disorder unless he made it clear.
Trump: Putting Out Fires, or Starting Them?
Republicans don’t face a particularly heavy lift at their national convention this week convincing Americans that when it comes to security, the house is on fire. The harder test may be convincing them that Donald Trump is more fireman than arsonist.
.. “I think they will do a great job [this week] of reinforcing all the scary stuff,” says the long-time GOP strategist Mike Murphy, a frequent Trump critic. “The question is how they make Trump the answer.
.. Trump suggested to O’Reilly that if elected he would direct the attorney general to investigate the BLM movement. “I have seen them marching down the street essentially calling death to the police,” Trump said. “And I think we’re going to have to look into that.”
.. Indeed, analysts in both parties believe one of the principal hurdles Trump faces is the sense among many voters that at a time when the seams appear to be loosening in America, he would intensify racial, ethnic, and cultural divisions.
.. “One of the big fears about Trump is that he will make a divided country even more divided. And that he exacerbates the divisions for his own political benefit.”
Allegany Boys Camp: The Author of Order
God has created humans to function best with a certain amount of structure. God himself is a God of order. 1 Corinthians 14:33a says, “For God is not the author of confusion but of peace.” A little later in the same chapter, verse 40 says, “Let all things be done decently and in order.
God also exemplifies extreme order in the way He created the earth and the universe. The planets orbit the sun in very stable and predictable patterns. Eclipses can be predicted very accurately years in advance. Even in the middle of a long cold winter we all have a firm belief that spring will come again. Unfortunately, humans living in a sin-cursed world tend to live lives that are very busy and not nearly as organized as our Creator or even His creation around us.
In a group camp, we work very hard to establish a structured routine in which everyone knows what is coming next and what is expected of each member of the group. Many of the boys at camp have had a hard time being organized with their belongings or in the way that try to accomplish a given task. Often that lack of organization ultimately leads to failure which directly affects a boy’s sense of self-worth. When a boy comes to camp, much of his effort during the first two months is often spent on establishing the ABC’s of camp, which simply are: A. A clean camper, B. A clean campsite, and C. A clean tent.
For example, mornings at camp are very structured. The whole group gets up at the same time. Next they make their beds and sweep their tent floor. The it’s time for a short group devotional. Here they talk about what they have planned for the rest of the day. The whole day goes in a similar fashion and the group always knows what’s coming up next. This structure lends itself to a sense of security. A group that feels secure can solve problems very well as opposed to an insecure group. As we help boys learn to be neat and organized with the physical things in life we are also, by the grace of God, establishing a sense of peace and rest in thee emotional and spiritual parts of a boy also.
The structure at camp provides a great opportunity to teach the concept of right and wrong. As each boy learns to life life in an organized way he also learns that there is a right and wrong way to do any given task. Ultimately the result we seek through the structured lifestyle at camp is to bring each boy into a personal relationship with the Author of order.
Chief Leighton Martin, Supervisor
Source: a hard copy of camp newsletter, not available on the web