Donald Trump makes me sick.

So do Kamala Harris, Bernie Sanders, Joe Biden, Mayor Pete, Beto the furry, and the rest of the dwarves.  So does Chuck Schumer. Nancy Pelosi. Cocaine Mitch.

Rush Limbaugh? PUKE. And don’t get me started on Hannity, Laura Ingraham, Joe Scarborough, …

Rick Wilson? Jonah Goldberg? The Bulwark?  A pox on all of ’em.

They’re killing me. So I’m resigning, I’m quitting. I’m OUT.

Rob Bell–heretic or not, he’s a brilliant guy & a great communicator–once said, “Stop giving your energy to things that make you miserable.” Or something to that effect.

[Note: the actual quote, found a month after this was published, is “Stop putting your energy into saying or doing things that create a world you don’t want to live in.”]

And if memory serves, he said that BEFORE Twitter became the cesspool of contempt that it is today. So it’s prophetic, in a way. God’s word that I need to hear right now.

Politics today makes me miserable. Fox News makes me miserable. So do CNN, MSNBC, etc. Donald Trump. Alexandra Ocasio Cortez. Bill Kristol. Rush Limbaugh. All the people I used to listen to. All the people I disagree with so vehemently. All the people I listen to today. They’re making me SICK.

They’re making ALL of us sick. They’re the outrage industry, making money & grabbing power for themselves by inflaming suspicion, anger, fear, and contempt. The quickest way to make a buck or win an election is to make YOUR people hate (fear, resent, etc.) the other side.

Stop giving your energy to things that make you miserable.

I’m stopping. NOW. I’m unfollowing the outrage monkeys on Twitter. I’m unsubscribing from their podcasts. No more “sick burns” or “good Republican DESTROYS evil Democrat.” NO more “you’ll never believe what this pro-choicer says! You’ve never heard anything so stupid & evil.” No more “Trump’s such an idiot.”

Don’t share that garbage with me. Even if I agree with it. ESPECIALLY if I agree with it. I don’t want to know. I can’t handle it any more.

That stuff is addictive, because it appeals to my ego & self-righteousness. It appeals to my fears and prejudices.  It’s bruising my soul.

NO MORE.

“But how will I know what’s happening in Washington?”

I’ll be healthier & happier if I don’t know, if I fiddle while Washington burns. So if God lets it burn, let it burn.

It’s not like my outrage ever accomplished anything good for me (or anyone else) anyway.

Being outraged to no effect (or worse, to a horrible, Christ-denying effect) is a great picture of what it means to be miserable.

Philippians 4:8 (NIV): “Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

Anger & fear are the path to the dark side.

And ginning up anger and fear for clicks or votes or dollars or giggles is EVIL.

I’ve quoted Rob Bell, Yoda, and the apostle Paul.  I may as well also quote The Wire: “The only way to win is not to play the game.”

Stop playing the game.  Stop feeding the dark side.  Stop giving them your energy.