Faith with a side of Politics

False Evidence Appearing Real

When I hear something even remotely related to the Trump Administration’s shenanigans it many times makes my heart sick. When I think of the troops being sent into the streets of Washington DC, the capitulation of private businesses, academic institutions, or even media companies, or not honoring the sacrifice which soldiers have made to their country by way of their retirement benefits, or even these headlines:

Trump names Stallone and Kiss for Kennedy Center Honors and says he’ll host the awards show

White House orders a review of exhibits at Smithsonian museums ahead of the nations 250th birthday

Harvard and Trump are nearing a settlement including a $500 million payment

An appeals court lets the Trump administration suspend or end billions in foreign aid

These are only a few. I constantly have to remind myself of 2nd Timothy 1:7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, of love, and a sound mind.

Fear. This is one of main focuses of the Trump Administration; to keep the people, namely us in state of fear and panic. Everyday there is a break from cultural norms. There is something he doesn’t like so he either feels he can manipulate a government entity, legal entity, private institution to bend their will to fit his agenda. Why? Because he is President of the United States…or as the representative of Texas said when asked why they were changing the congressional maps, because he can. Just because you can do something does not mean you should.

For example, James and Mila Baturin have been making the Kennedy Center Honors medallions for over 47 years. This honor evolved into a family business and James was making steps to pass this business down to his children. However, in August of 2025 he was notified the contract was being terminated. The explanation given was ” transitioning to a new partnership for the creation of the Honors medallions”. Never-mind the fact there has been a war on otherism within anywhere the federal government has interest.

Now Shawna why would you say that?

In January 2025, President Trump signed Executive Orders (EOs) targeting DEI programs, framing them as “radical and wasteful” and discriminatory. The EOs: 

• Directed the elimination of all DEI offices and programs within the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security.
• Ended the recognition of “unspecified” or “other” gender markers on federal forms, restricting the options to only “male” and “female”.
• Prohibited using federal funds to promote gender inclusivity.
• Ordered reviews of previous DEI initiatives within federal agencies to identify alleged instances of discrimination.
• Eliminated the “equity” strategic plans that agencies had developed under the previous administration. 

Recently due to these actions by the federal government we have seen many high profile private sector organizations roll back their DEI programs. These companies include Target, Disney, Paramount, financial institutions indicating scaled back or elimination of DEI initiatives entirely. However, other companies such as Costco have remained firm on their DEI commitments.

So in not allowing these organizations or this administration to keep me in fear I just used what seems to get their attention. I stopped spending my greenbacks in places who considered my diversity to not be worth their time.

I refuse to allow an administration to dictate the peace in my mind and my life. This does not mean I don’t think what they are doing and have done is cruel to families , to the people they have been sworn to serve. Sometimes I have to wonder if they even know what it means to have empathy and compassion on their fellow man. its funny (or maybe not) I was thinking today about this following headline:

Trump bypasses Congress to cancel nearly $5 billion in foreign aid

The thought which crossed my mind was this -> at the most basic of levels providing aid to foreign governments is simply being a good samaritan. And why do we provide foreign aid to foreign governments? First, so we can look as if we are a good neighbor. I help you, you help me when I need it type of thing. What will be the consequences for this type of thing? Well, people ALWAYS remember when you didn’t help them out so trust and believe this will come back to bite us. The actions of the Trump administration will be long felt in the United States even after he shuts his eyes never to open them again.

The question to ask yourself is if you are living on the side of fear or faith.