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By J. Jeff Toler for Shenandoah Christian Alliance j.toler@sca4christ.org
“Stupid is as stupid does.” —Forrest Gump (from the movie, Forrest Gump)
On Thanksgiving day, following a phone call with the father of 20 year-old National Guardsman, Sarah Beckstrom, whom President Trump learned had just died from gunshot wounds inflicted by an Afghan refugee. He was explaining to CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes and other reporters gathered at his Mira Lago Florida home, she died while her father was holding her hand. Cordes pointed out to the President that the suspect had “worked very closely with the CIA in Afghanistan for years that he was vetted, and the vetting came up clean.”
“He went cuckoo.” Trump replied, “He went nuts. And that happens too often with these people,” he explained, insisting that Afghans “came in unvetted.”
But Cordes couldn’t let that pass. “Your DOJ IG just reported this year that there was thorough vetting by DHS and by the FBI of these Afghans who were brought into the U.S. So why do you blame the Biden administration?”
That was too much for Trump.
“Are you stupid? Are you a stupid person?” he asked her, continuing to repeat to himself as he grew more agitated, “They came in on a plane with thousands of people that shouldn’t be here — and you’re just asking questions because you’re a stupid person.”
You can watch the video here: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbYHs7Ot43M] To read and hear the news accounts, you would think Trump had completely lost control, yelling and screaming at her. He was enraged. But I didn’t see that. Hit the link and see if you would agree with me.
I will admit though, asking someone if they are stupid is insulting. But only if they actually are. It’s especially unbecoming if you are the President of the United States—no matter how warranted. Nevertheless, I can at least relate. Badgering this president is not smart, especially so when following an emotionally charged phone call.
In this present day and age it must be noted, there is a lot of “stupid” going around. Or, if you prefer, a lot of ignorance. Recently, we read that there are 50 million migrants in the US right now. While that may sound alarming, it’s plausible depending on how we count them. According to the Census Bureau’s 2022 American Community Survey, there were about 46.2 million foreign-born people living in the United States. [https://www2.census.gov/library/publications/2024/demo/acsbr-019.pdf] We can expect more than that considering recent immigrant population activity. [https://cis.org/Report/ForeignBorn-Number-and-Share-US-Population-AllTime-Highs-January-2025] Illegals aliens? That number is essentially unknown.
Trump’s “stupid” was only a prelude for triggering his critics when Trump later deemed Minnesota Governor Mike Walz retarded. You can trust me when I say, that more than most, I am very sensitive about this word. My daughter has made it clear she will not bear anyone using it around her.
When pressed, Trump stood firm by this slur by saying, “I think there’s something wrong with him,” referring to the billions of dollars in fraud under his watch that only recently was uncovered by City Journal investigative reporter, Chris Rufo.
In blunt parlance, there is stupid, there is retarded, and then there is the intractable ignorance of cognitive dissonance.
In the case of the Minnesota welfare fraud scandal, this may count as one of the most, if not the most, dramatic examples of cognitive dissonance (CD) in modern history. If this were a stage play, the players are a ruthless tribal people who lived out their lives without any remorse, corrupt or incompetent bureaucracies, and cognitively dissonant Christians.
It amazes me how brazen and ruthless this scheme has already proven to be. But here is the question I have struggled with up to now: if the Somalis were only relatively recent arrivals—in the grand scheme of things—how did they pull this off all by themselves? The short answer is, they didn’t. They had assistance from state agencies, corrupt officials, (we call them corruptocrats) and another, very crucial mediating agency we might not have expected: the Lutheran church. Specifically, the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. (ELCA)
When we look at the extraordinary role the Lutheran churches played in funneling tens of thousands of Somali Muslims into Minnesota, CD is not just a factor, it is one of the main drivers.
We can safely say, Lutheran churches—especially ELCA congregations—see themselves as compassionate, welcoming, nonjudgmental, and defenders of the disadvantaged. This high moral self-image becomes a controlling narrative, but the reality of importing overwhelmingly Muslim, clan-based, socially illiberal populations into a fragile American civic culture conflicts with this ideal. This is when CD really kicks in.
The ELCA churches resolved the discomfort of CD by reframing the mass migration as “the Gospel in action.” They defined the risk as hospitality, and ignored the long-term consequences by declaring their critics as fear mongers. All that was needed was to recast cultural incompatibility as “bigotry.” A charge that almost never fails to silence critics.
For many Lutherans, refugee sponsorship became a substitute for what their churches appeared to be encountering: diminishing evangelistic zeal, shrinking congregations, confidence in trusting non-theological authority, and even moral irrelevance.
Governor Tim Walz
I will not pretend to know why Governor Walz would have turned a blind eye to the graft and corruption, but for ELCA, the equation was simple: If we help refugees, we remain morally relevant.
But the refugees did not assimilate, and their presence is straining social cohesion. The church faces an uncomfortable dissonance. Rather than reassess the wisdom of their poor choices, they double down. This is classic cognitive-dissonance management. The better way would be to confront the consequences of their own policies and repent.
Many will prooftext “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” —Matthew 25:35 as justification for their ministry. Those same “strangers” now living in their communities respond to the compassion with massive exploitation. They refuse to integrate into the community because their belief system is not just indifferent to The Church, they hate the Christian. How then should Christians respond to those Somalis and bureaucrats whose hearts devise wicked schemes? (2 Samuel 11) Through confrontation. How should the accused respond? Contrition and repentance. (2 Samuel 12) How does a progressive church encourage that?
All of this is not meant just as an attack on the ELCA. But rather, it is intended to explain what happens when the “Social Gospel” redefines the scriptures to promote a “new” Christianity primarily as social justice activism. It becomes political advocacy for the “marginalized” by administering compassion through social programs. How is it possible to love others by expecting the state to do our charity work? Especially when our brothers must pay for it without knowing the truth.
Compare this to the age old, traditional Christian teachings of sin and redemption, prudence and stewardship, and clarity concerning good and evil.
Sources:
https://www.brookings.edu/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/20060925_singer.pdf
Photo by Eastman Childs on Unsplash
GREAT article. Our church and churchmen have been groomed and tranformed over the years into the false gospel of “none-offending”! And the Devil has had himself a soul-destroying field day!! Imagine for a second how a President Teddy Roosevelt would have handled these enemy traitors masquerading as journalists!