Tag: truth

Who Won the 2020 Election?

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“A lie told once remains a lie, but a lie told a thousand times becomes the truth.”

This quote has been attributed to Joseph Goebbels, Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945. There is little evidence that he ever said it or wrote it, but it doesn’t really matter. The quote feels accurate — like it would be a practice any good propagandist would adhere to, but never admit. The quote also rings true to our experience — accurately describing the power of deception and lies when repeated. I know too many people who believe a lie even when there is no evidence of its veracity. Yes, there are still people who believe that Haitians in Springfield, Ohio, eat dogs and cats. Lies repeated often enough DO replace the truth. It’s why conspiracy theories abound.

Two weeks ago, Donald J. Trump told us yet again how the 2020 presidential election was stolen. He claimed our elections are vulnerable to fraud and susceptible to error. The voting machines are unreliable. Mail-in ballots can be easily falsified. Results can be manipulated by unscrupulous poll workers or nefarious nations. Non-citizens vote in elections on a regular basis, skewing the results. Therefore, we must change election laws to prevent rampant election tampering. And all this was said without presenting a shred of evidence

We have heard the same lie about the insecurity of our elections for the past 6 plus years. It appears that the lie has become the truth for everyone in the ‘Trumposphere.” In his confirmation hearing as Director of National Intelligence on July 15, 2026, Jay Clayton was asked specifically under oath by Senator Jon Ossoff, “Did Joe Biden win the 2020 election?” Clayton refused to answer the question. Even after repeated attempts to get an “honest and forthright” answer, Clayton continued to refuse.

Others in the administration and those being considered for appointments have also refused to answer the question or have equivocated by saying that Biden was “certified” as president. What is more disturbing to me, however, is the number of regular people — including people of faith — who won’t (or can’t) answer the question definitively. The lie has been told often enough that there is uncertainty and a hesitancy to commit, and it has been told often enough to undermine confidence in election results in 2026 and beyond.

Liars and deceivers will tell lies and deceive. But as people of faith, we have an obligation to call them out and tell the truth. Scripture warns of false prophets and false teachers who lead people away from the truth. The Didache, one of the earliest Christian church instructional manuals also known as “The Teaching of the Twelve Disciples”, gave churches clear guidelines as to how to identify false teachers, and the letters from the apostle John, provided truth to counter their deceptions (see especially 2 John). The Psalmist prayed, “Deliver me, O Lord, from lying lips, from a deceitful tongue.” — Psalm 120:2 (NRSVUE) We cannot allow ourselves to be led astray by those seeking to control the narrative for their own agenda and benefit.

Who won the 2020 election? Each one of us needs to answer that question. And if your answer isn’t Joe Biden, I would ask you a second question: “Why do you believe he didn’t win?”

In the Cover of Night

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

In the gospels, disturbing things happen in the middle of the night. This is especially seen in the events surrounding Jesus’s arrest and trials. It begins ominously with Judas’s departure in the middle of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples. John’s gospel makes the observation:“And it was night.” (John 13:30). Later that night, Judas–with the temple police–approaches Jesus on the Mount of Olives and seals Jesus’s arrest with a kiss. Jesus is arrested and whisked away to the Sanhedrin which has gathered in the middle of the night for a sham trial. “Very early in the morning” (Mark 15:1), the Sanhedrin puts their plan in motion, binding Jesus and taking him to Pilate to demand that Jesus be executed. By noon, Jesus is hanging on the cross, and he’s dead by 3:00 pm.

The arrest, the sham trial, the decision to pursue execution–they all happen in the cover of darkness. Why? Why do most disturbing things happen at night? It’s because very few people are around to witness the crimes and expose the corruption. John writes, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20)

.Why am I writing about this? I write because political bodies continue to use the cover of night to make it easier to carry out their plans without the public’s knowledge.

Why did the House Budget Committee schedule a vote on the “One Big Beautiful [budget] Bill Act” on Sunday, May 19, at 10:00 pm? (By the way, it passed.) Why did the House Rules Committee schedule its vote to advance the Bill to the full House at 1:00 am tomorrow, Wednesday, May 21? That’s right: 1:00 o’clock AM! Obviously, it is to ensure passage of the bill without the watchful eyes of the Press or the scrutiny of the public.

And it’s no wonder they want to keep this budget hidden. It will do harm to almost every aspect of public life. It will remove protections from our air and water and release public land to private corporations to drill, mine and deforest. It will reduce funding for healthcare for children and seniors (Medicaid) and housing vouchers for low-income families while increasing funding for the military, border security and ICE detention and deportation. It will add trillions of dollars to the national debt while reducing the taxes for billionaires and corporations.

But there were witnesses to the unlawful acts of Caiaphas–the Rome-appointed High Priest–and the Sanhedrin. They wanted it kept hidden in the dark of the night, but their deeds were exposed and their actions were made public. All four gospels provide a record thanks to Peter and John who follow Jesus to the Sanhedrin, and thanks to Nicodemus who was a member of the Sanhedrin and had objected to the ongoing harassment and condemnation of Jesus (John 7:50-51) and who became a public follower of Jesus when he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus’s crucified body.

There will be witnesses to the vote on the budget. There will be a public record of the names of every representative who voted for death and destruction. There will be Representatives who will expose the bill and its damaging propositions. There will be brave independent journalists who will tell the truth.

Those with a vested interest in this budget will vilify and denounce those who would expose their underhanded tactics. But we must not listen to their spin and twisted narratives. Remember, it’s all taking place in the middle of the night–and that should tells us all we need to know about their motives, intentions and goals. They want power to rob widows and orphans and aliens and the needy. And they want us to be asleep while they do it.