Dialogue 3 GODS’ SIDE "I find it divisive to claim that "God is on my side." He's on everyone's side." You accuse me of claiming that God is on my side or on the side of the liberals, but my only claim is that God is on the side of good and that is where Jesus, if he were physically alive and acting in the world of today, with its different opportunities, realities and risks, with it's different, more egalitarian political environment would stand. Everyone must decide for themselves, drawing on whatever sources of wisdom they see fit, where the good lies. I have made it clear where I think that is. I have made it clear I don’t believe that place is intrinsically liberal or conservative, but rather a sphere of love which either a true conservative or liberal may inhabit. I do not believe we should shy a way from saying that God stands for something, that Jesus stands for something. When we act in ways that are racist or anti-Semitic, God is not on our side. When we press our knee against the neck of an un-armed black man lying in the street, or make excuses for the person who does, God is not on our side. When we discriminate against gay people, Hispanics or Moslems, God is not on our side. In my mind, those lost and wayward souls, most of whom identify it must be said, with the Republican and conservative bank of the political divide, who act in the ways I describe, are blasphemers against what Jesus called the Spirit of Truth. In my mind, they blaspheme against the Spirit of Truth when they call the Pandemic a hoax or a partisan conspiracy; when they deny the reality of Climate Change; when they deny the reality of systemic racism; when they deny the reality that the first black president was born in America; and yes, when they deny the reality of a free and fair election. All of these denials place them in opposition not only to Jesus himself, not only to his most important teachings, but to the transcendent reality Jesus was referring to when he talked about the Spirit of Truth. Ultimately, on a certain level God may love us all. But that does not mean He/She loves us all equally, loves the wicked child as much as the child who is kind. It does not mean we are all equally deserving. As it is said, "And again I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God." Mark 10:25 It does not mean that, like a parent who nevertheless loves her wayward child, despite the hateful things the child may do, that the parent does not set rules for the child and inflict punishment or express disapproval when the child takes the side not of the parent, but of their own evil desires.