matthew 7:13 – Poor Roger's Almanac

The first verse in this chorus can be seen here. Below is the second.

Today, 3/28/2026, was “No Kings” day in Missoula, in conjunction with multiple like events all over the country. I attended the local protest along with a few of my friends and had a relatively good time, talking with passers-by, none of whom could be bothered to get into in-depth conversations, and would-be politicians, all of whom were making a show of concern, letting the public know that they were, of course, not Donald Trump. I would estimate the crowd as numbering at least 5, 000, but there may have been twice that many there. Good turnout, but then this is a deep blue city in a red state, so I’m not really surprised at the size of the crowd.

I tried to get a video of the participants as they paraded past, chanting their slogans and holding their signs, all of which were designed to show opposition to Trump. Unfortunately, my phone shut down in the middle of the take and I lost everything, so I can’t give you that. What I can show you are the signs I had printed up specifically for this occasion, which got a fairly decent reception, a lot of thumbs up, and head nods.

The main problem I have with people like these is that they are inconsistent with their professed creed–No Kings! What they are really saying is that we don’t want Donald Trump to be the king. The whole shebang, nationwide, was not a protest against rulers in high places but a massive show of TDS, Trump Derangement Syndrome. I think it is a fairly safe bet that if Kamala Harris had won the Oval Office in 2024, there would not be anything of this nature cropping up, at least not from the left side of the bed. The fact of the matter is that most, probably an extremely large percentage of the crowd, would be considered leftists, progressives, and liberal. In other words, Democrats, who would be completely happy to serve a king (or a queen), as long as he (or she) had no connection to Trump. It’s not that they don’t want a king, they just want one they agree with.

Caitlin Johnstone recently wrote about this phenomenon and, while I disagree with quite a lot of her political philosophy, she was dead on the mark here.

Trump is not some freakish aberration; he is the product of the same American political status quo as his predecessors. He became president the same way they did, and the powers he now wields were given to his office via mundane executive, legislative and judicial decisions and precedents before he was ever elected.

But because the “No Kings” protests are organized by liberal defenders of that same political status quo, the demonstrations cannot address any of this. The whole thing is designed to be as large and inclusive as possible while also ensuring that it doesn’t disrupt the established order in any meaningful way. They make no real demands. They coordinate the demonstrations with police and government officials. Protesters show up for a few hours with their brunch signs and their orange guy shirts, and then they go home without inconveniencing anybody.

They are not protesting against the US empire. They just want a more polite, photogenic empire.

For a couple years during the Covid years (2021-2022), a small number of us spent a lot of Saturday afternoons on the streets and sidewalks of Missoula demonstrating against the “regime” of the time. It is quite probable that many of the people who were protesting “NO KINGS!” today hated us, flipped us off, shouted obscene remarks, etc., and refused to treat us decently because we were proclaiming a different message than what they wanted. It is not far-fetched to believe that, if they had had the control of the state then, we might have spent more than a few days in the county jail, yet here they are telling anyone who will listen that they don’t want to be ruled…by anyone. Especially Trump. And, to further make the connection, there was then virtually no unified, significant outcry over the Covid thing, in the same way that there is no real protest over the Iran war. As long as Covid and its ramifications didn’t touch daily lives, people ignored it, and, until the war “collateral damage” starts hitting close to home, people will ignore it.

I can’t be bothered, let the king handle it.

This is not a question of “kings vs. no kings”. It is a question of which king or whose king. A question of who will be king. Kings speak of authority and the concept of authority is inescapable. There will always be an authority figure, always someone who will exercise authority over others. Whether they are called kings or presidents (as Johnstone points out) is irrelevant. You could call them Smokey the Bear or the Grand Ayatollah and it wouldn’t matter. Persons in positions of power, from parents of children to leaders of great nations, have authority and they use it to advance and further their agenda. Unfortunately, sometimes this authority is used to harm those who are subject to it and, in this, even parents of young children are not exempt, because they can (and do) abuse it to the detriment of their children who are unable to defend themselves. The greatest abuse of this power is, in my opinion, that “freedom” known as a woman’s right to choose, a.k.a., abortion, in which an unborn human being is destroyed forever simply because she decided to kill it. Authority, but perverted and lethal.

The slogan I presented, “No law but love, no kings but Christ”, is a paraphrase on the popular saying from fifty or so years ago, “No law but love, no creed but Christ”, which, like every other popular fad and fashion flared for a little while, then died away. The principle, however, remains as true today as it was then: If we, as individuals truly lived in the way that Jesus taught, “Love your enemies” and “Love your neighbor as you love yourself”, then there would be no need for a political king to force everyone to subject themselves to his rule. If we were to acknowledge Jesus as our King, which He is, and live according to the truths that He spoke, then we would love our enemies and our neighbors as He loves us. There would be no need for a political king because society would be made up of self-controlled individuals who did no harm to their neighbors. This would be an enormous change from the world of today in which most people are out to get whatever they can for themselves and they are willing to take it from someone else. We operate in a world, based not on love, but selfishness, greed, and hate.

This will go on and on until people quit looking for a savior to impose their desires on the world, but find a Savior who works miracles in the human heart and transforms the sin nature we all possess into one conforming to the Spirit of God. This is not done through political action nor is it done through ritualistic practices of religion, but is accomplished only through a continual surrender to the Spirit and constant repentance of our sinful lifestyles. This, rather than depending on the whims of a “king”, is the only way to freedom and liberty, and, because it requires a radical change from the way we are means that it is usually discarded out of hand.

“…wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it.” — Jesus Christ (Matthew 7:13

This is the political solution. Choose a leader, make him responsible, and then, when you don’t like him, agitate for a replacement. And it never works. Never.

The following quote grabbed my attention as soon as I read it. It comes from an article on ZeroHedge which seeks to explain why the politically driven gender divide between men and women has been growing increasingly wider in the last two decades. It does not take any political stand, neither left nor right, liberal nor conservative, on the issues, but rather tries to unravel the reasons for the movement in a fairly rational and balanced manner.

“I think this is why you see so little defection. Not because the ideology is true, but because the psychological cost of leaving is higher than the cost of staying. Easier to double down. Easier to believe the problem is that society hasn’t changed enough yet.”

I tend to agree with the conclusion reached and believe this trend will probably continue until the entire modern culture is destroyed and something completely different with a fundamentally opposing attitude takes its place. It is not likely that the society world-wide is going to make a corrective course change voluntarily, instead, it will be driven by necessity and reality.

Now, without taking up with one side or the other, I found this to be revealing of a truth far, far older than the idiotic, senseless, lies which pass for solid bedrock today, namely,

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.” — Matthew 7:13-14 (NKJV)

If, and I stress if, the argument in the article cited is accurate, then it correlates strongly with this passage of Scripture, because the paragraph cited lays it out quite plainly. It is harder to leave the dominant mode of thinking and change one’s way of life than it is to continue with the prevailing mindset. It is extremely difficult for someone who has believed a certain philosophy and lived with that as the guiding principle for a lifetime to admit they were wrong. It is less radical to blend in with the herd, to go with the flow, than to move against it.

It is easier to stay on the plantation than to escape from it.

Keep in mind that this fits regardless of the male/female distinction. In whatever societal circles men find themselves, the pressure to conform and fit in is just as strong and compelling as in the female side, but it takes a different form. The passage of Scripture, which is a direct quote from Jesus Christ, does not discriminate between men and women. There is no blame cast here, no finger pointing. Instead, this pattern should be seen as an admonition to everyone that “going along with the crowd” leads to disaster and destruction, sometimes in the short run, always in the long run.

It is interesting that the very next verse in Matthew warns about listening to voices which are false and misleading.

“Beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves.”

This is a succinct summary of the situation we find ourselves in today. Everywhere, at all levels of society, there are people who are deliberately trying to massage the message and sway the masses for a purpose, usually related to the accumulation of power and wealth. This phenomenon encompasses all strata of society but the result is the same: the masses of people, both men and women, are being swallowed up in a sinkhole of eternal consequence which has nothing at its base except lies, lies which are driven by a hatred of the truth.

He who dies with the most toys wins.
Do whatever feels good.
You can have it all.
Express your inner self and grab for your own desires.
Someone else is always at fault. You never are.
Someone else will correct your situation. You are not responsible.
The only one worth living for is yourself.
Don’t make waves. Blend in.
The end always justifies the means.

Etc., etc., etc., Forever and ever.

The destruction of the modern way of life is upon us and can be seen everywhere if you only care to look and are willing to face the facts. There is only one remedy and it cannot be imposed from without by slavish devotion to an algorithmic feed nor ideological training, but must spring from the personal admission of wrong (confession of sin) and a radical departure (repentance) from the predominant thought which grips entire cultures. This is a spiritual endeavor which, if genuine and heart-felt, will lead to the emancipation of your individual soul and spirit. It can only come from trusting in the wisdom which comes from above, which is love–love for God and love for your neighbor as if he were you, and placing your faith in Jesus the Christ, who shows us the way.

Few there be that find it.