It was the worst of times. And it was the worst of times.

There are two visions of America — that is, the United States of America — that both agree the nation is failing. But they agree on almost nothing else, and that is real reason that the nation in such deep discord and danger as a republic.

Most people who are likely to be reading anything I write are well aware of the national problem that one vision sees, but I’ll outline some of the main features. The problem this vision sees in America is that it exists in a world that is facing a rapidly accelerating climate crisis, combined with rapidly depleting energy resources, species extinction, chronic drought, rapid viral evolution, and a significantly dysfunctional government/private-sector “engine” that cannot seem to even discuss these matters. Instead, the government and private-sector are united only in minting new billionaires. Our democracy is being torn apart by dishonest politicians, corrupt businesses, demagogues, and is on the brink of collapsing into complete chaos.

It was the worst of times.

There is another vision of America — that is, the United States of America — that many of you are only partially-aware of. This is the White Christofascist vision.

The “white” portion refers to racism based upon a core belief that people with pale skin and European ancestry are, on the whole, mentally and spiritually superior to people of other racial and ethnic backgrounds. They believe that you can dress up a black man and put him in the White House, but he can at best only go through the motions of being a President, because he does not have any greatness in him. It isn’t in his genes, or as they used to say, in his blood.

By contrast, any white man can lead, or govern, because it is in his genes, his blood, his inherent superiority. In this vision, when the Declaration of Independence declares “all men are created equal…” there is a silent whisper afterward, “… according to their kind.” But the kinds of men are most assuredly not equal, and the kinds are divided by skin color. All white men are created equal. All black men are created equal. But white men and black men are not equal to each other.

The Christo- portion of this represents the belief that Christianity is the One True Religion. The -fascist portion of it means that a uniform code of “Christian values” must govern all American behavior, and form the “standard” against which all custom and law must be measured. These Christian values can be enforced by legal penalties, including fines, intimidation and beatings, incarceration, exile, or execution, as necessary. It’s called “discipline.” Even white people need a firm hand at the tiller, and the rest require governance.

The problem that this second vision sees in America is this: an “invasion” of dark-skinned non-Christians into the nation, a decline in Christian church affiliation and attendance, a culture that violates “Christian values” with impunity and even with government protection — violations such as same-sex fornication and marriage, acceptance of sexual abominations like medically-facilitated sex changes, acceptance of abortion, acceptance of birth control and sexual license, teaching of non-Christian concepts in public schools to children, a “woke” abomination that denies the inherent superiority, under God, of white people, and “confiscatory taxation” of the successful, which is thrown away on poor people, non-whites, and non-Christians, resulting in government-run “socialism.” Our nation is being torn apart by all this un-Christian behavior, and is on the brink of falling into chaos.

It was the worst of times.

I apologize in advance if I was less than flattering in my description of the White Christofascist world-view. I find it completely appalling, and at least made an effort at objectivity.

But I’m not going to go into a critique of either world view here.

What I wanted to point out is that, while a lot of politicians and religious leaders are two-faced, lying cowards seeking to steal from the public, a lot of them are deeply sincere.

You need to pay attention to what they are sincere about.