“Make America Great Again”… But What Made It Evil?!

Added: 2026-05-29

[00:00:00]You know, I discovered something. So many folks are wearing red hats quoting this thing that was said years ago uh by Reagan. Make America great again. And while MAGA has now taken over uh the Republican party and really is its own political party, MAGA is not Republican.

[00:00:21]What got me is people are talking about make America great again, but nobody's talking about what made it evil in the first place.

[00:00:30]So before you can make America great again, won't you talk about what made it evil? It's really strange that Pope Leo can apologize for the Catholic Church's role in slavery, but American Christians are just trying to find a way to defend slavery. My God, what is wrong of us?

[00:00:48]Stay tuned for Do Drops. Peace. Hey, welcome to Do Drops uh with Dewey. I'm so glad you're here. It's a pleasure and honor to have you here. Do me a favor.

[00:00:57]If this is your first time watching, won't you type number one in the chat?

[00:01:01]That way we can correspond with you and certainly show you appreciation for uh tuning in for the first time. Uh do me a favor. Won't you consider subscribing, liking, commenting, and sharing. You've been watching uh this do drop series with us for the past five weeks. We we call it do drops because it's just good information. That's a play on my nickname as well. Um and I'm excited about this conversation we've been having on faith and government. It's been an incredible conversation. I mean, you have been viewing your engagements.

[00:01:29]I mean, uh, your comments by the thousands, your views by the thousands because I think people are trying to navigate how do I have my faith uh, as a believer in the public square in terms of the civic arena in which we live. We live in a crazy political climate. So, thank you all for tuning in. You know, I saw something the other day that was really interesting. Um uh we saw a couple weeks ago how there was a lot of division between the pope the Catholic uh Roman Catholic pope and some of our governmental leaders. Uh the pope made some statements that he felt about the immoral, unjust and illegal and unnecessary war in Iran. Of course he was attacked by President JD Vance and so many others uh across the MAGA world came out against the pope uh even in so much that um the uh uh the speaker of the house said that the president knew more about the Bible than the pope. So it's just really crazy this whole thing.

[00:02:22]But the pope came out and gave a formal apology on behalf of the Catholic Church uh for its role in slavery. And I want to talk about that because I think it's very very important that we understand what that means when you talk about redemption and we talk about uh making a difference. You know we talk about the church many people say that the church of the Lord Jesus got started in 42 AD by St. Mark. Uh some suggest that some suggest it was Pentecost but many people point it back to St. Mark as being the one who actually founded the first church. Uh we know the Coptic church was started in Ethiopia later on but when the church started it had the history of schisms from 42 AD. Then we get to certain schisms and issues in the church. Uh doctrines of nnosticism, dosatism and then senianism were all issues in the church that uh dealt with whether or not Jesus was fully divine, fully human, if he had the mirage of a body, if he was um um divine while on earth and uh divine in heaven. But the divinity left him. So a whole lot of commentary about narcissism, dosatism and Corinthianism in the first century world really up first up into the third century and so much that uh around the 4th century is when we see how uh Catholicism the foundation was laid for it to become the state religion there in Rome by Constantine. uh the Roman emperor there uh signed something called Constantine signed something called the edict of Milan and the edict of Milan was really just something he signed because two kingdoms were uh having chaos and two kingdoms were getting ready to be joined by uh in matrimony and one person from one kingdom versus another person from another kingdom were trying to get married and because of all the craziness uh related to faith Constantine signed the edict Malone around 312 313 BC AD, which really laid the foundation for Catholicism to become the state religion there in Rome. And so, uh, when Constantine did that, it was not because he loved the Catholic Church or loved Jesus. It really was for the purpose of empire and control. And so, when Constantine laid the foundation for Catholicism to become to become the state religion as it inevitably became, please know it was all about keeping peace. It was all about keeping the people in order. And so we saw how religion was even used in the 4th century by Constantine as a tool of manipulation to make the people docil just for the purposes of political expediency. So it's very important to understand that the edict Milan then the church begin to have some other schisms maybe 13 years after Constantine signed the edict of Milan you had something called the council of Na and that necessitated a guy whose name was Aras who was teaching that Jesus was not of the same substance as God but of a similar substance. And so um it was uh Aras who taught that Jesus he used the word homoius in Greek. Homo meaning same usius meaning essence. The Greek letter o in the middle means to negate essence negate the suffix. And so homosius mean he was of a similar substance or like substance versus homosius which meant same substance. And so they met in 325 AD at a council called Naa to really correct the teachings of of Aras. And so you had that that that um 325 AD. Then 381 you had a council at Constantinople guy whose name was Apollina was teaching that um Jesus was too uh uh divine to be human. Aras said he was too human to be divine. Apollina said he was too divine to be human. So in 381 AD they met at Constantinople to at a council 31 AD and they came up with something called hoopatic union where they were trying to affirm the full divinity and full humanity of Jesus but really it was politicians and scholars who all came together to do that. Um also around the time you saw how they came together Charles had done and came back for Nia Constantinople. So there was seven ecumenical councils that kind of came along with the Catholic church. A lot of it was for the purpose of correcting doctrine, but a lot of it was for the purpose of just keeping order and keeping the Catholic Church in power.

[00:06:39]And so you saw that rising in a very very significant way. And the truth of the matter is a lot of what the Catholic Church did from Constantine on up into the 16th century was for the purpose of empire. I mean the the Catholic Church played a significant role in the slave trade. Um the Catholic Church uh played a significant role in disenfranchisement and deunanization.

[00:07:06]Some say that the Catholic Church played a role even in organized crime. And so from Constantine on up to Pope Pius, Pope 60s, uh uni munifi dissimus d a lot of what they did in Latin uh was was about control. As a matter of fact, when the scriptures were translated in that into into uh Latin, you got the Vulgate and they didn't want the people to have the Bible in any other translation other than Latin. That gave them power to control what the people thought in so much that the Catholic Church would even have people killed if they tried to translate the scriptures in other language. That's how dogmatic the Catholic Church was about controlling empire. And so it's important that we understand the history because if you don't understand it, you won't ever fi make amends for it and why this is so significant. Um it it it is it is it is very very difficult to to to really understand history and faith apart from the history of the Catholic Church. Then when you got to the 12th through 15th centuries uh around really 14th 15th century they started doing something called the selling of indulgences where they would finance those in the Catholic church would finance their building programs by selling indulgences. What was an indulgence? It was really almost like an alle cart prayer list. So if you wanted to preach to pray for you based upon your sin you paid a certain amount of money and that money would get you a prayer. So if you cuss somebody out, that was a that was a a cost for that prayer. If you were disrespectful, if you were, you know, doing something illicit, each immoral act had a price attached to it. And uh and so they called it the selling of indulgences. And so they were really taking advantage of people uh who wanted prayer uh by using faith and charging people. It was really they were commodifying the gospel. The Catholic Church did that. And that's when Martin Luther came along in the 16th century and he wrote something called the 95 thesis that he hung on the church there in in Wittenberg to decry what the Catholic Church was doing. And from Martin Luther we get the Protestant Reformation. And so that's Luther and John Calvin etc. And so now Baptists and Methodists we're called Protestants protest that came as a result of Martin Luther having issues with what had been going on in the Catholic Church. So really from from the 4th century with Constantine all the way up to the Protestant Reformation, you saw a lot of dastily things that were happening by the Catholic Church, perpetrated by the Catholic Church in the name of God. And so this is why this makes what the Pope Leo just did so significant because for the first time in history has a pope of the Roman Catholic Church stood to say we were wrong in our role in our involvement in slavery. And people think that doesn't matter. Well, it doesn't matter because you can't fix what you can't face. Uh and so that's so important because while Pope Leo is willing to admit uh the Catholic Church era and to ask for prayer, a lot of people in the West, even most recently the UN, people didn't even want to uh vote. Certain countries, America being amongst them, didn't want to vote to acknowledge the atrocities of slavery. And while Pope Leo and the Catholics uh the the the pontiff of the Catholic Church is admitting and expressing remorse and regret for the Catholic church involvement in slavery, how it uh helped to perpetuate slavery.

[00:10:44]You got people in America who are Christians who are saying that slavery was a necessary good and that slavery was a gift of God that God sent to Africans. And so it just shows you the dichomous motif and how is it that the pope and the Catholics can admit they're wrong in slavery and but yet many Protestants and many people who call themselves Christians even in America think that there was nothing wrong and try to justify its behavior even trying to whitewash it. Our president now is trying to have artifacts from slavery removed from the National African Museum and the Smithsonian Institution. There's a whitewashing because they're trying to make it seem like slavery was just indentured servantthood. And it's a good thing. And this is an issue because until America deals with its original sins, the sins of how it handled the Native Americans, the sin of slavery, this country was built on the back of racism. And racism is is America. And trying to justify it or whitewash it will not make it go away. And until we deal with the siege and uproot it and what you see happening now in America with the uh elimination of DEI and those people who saying we feel offended by civil rights. President Trump said he felt like as a white man white people lost opportunities based upon the civil rights act. I mean the nerve, the audacity, the unmititigated gall to be in this country 400 years and only have civil rights for 60 and say act as if white people have been victimized by the voting rights act by DEI. And then they call people who uh African-Americans who talk about slavery called victims and whiners when really the reality right now is a people who are victims and whiners right now more than anybody else.

[00:12:33]When now seems like white men are saying that they've been discriminated against and white Christians believe that they have been discriminated against in America. It is because of their inability to understand the true essence of systemic and institutional racism.

[00:12:48]When you say make America great again and take our country back as if they have been wrong. It is if instead of making the apologies and understanding that slavery was evil, slavery was wrong, slavery was not of God and slavery was not a Christian act. Trying to whitewash it and make it appear that that was a gift of God really does the opposite to what Pope Leo just did. And until America humbles itself, and I heard a preacher say some years ago, America needs a baptism. need to be baptized to remove the stench of systemic racism. It needs to baptize be baptized to remove the aroma of white nationalistic ideology. It needs to be baptized to remove the aroma of of privilege. And there are people who get upset when people we talk about the privilege that lightkinn affords in the west. If you don't believe that people of lighter skin in the west are have privilege and those who get upset, do me a favor. just look at the president of the United States. Uh if that's not the perfect personification of privilege because there's no way in any other place that a person of that IQ could occupy that type of office in the land.

[00:13:55]And I'm just simply saying to you that until America deals with its original sin of racism. It's funny that America broke from Brit, Great Britain, because of no of of no no taxation without representation, but at the same time are willing to want a right to eliminate black districts and get rid of black uh the only black representation we ever had. In the history of uh the Congress, Louisiana has only had four African-American sen senators uh or people in Congress, four in 170 years.

[00:14:30]And now those people lose their positions in the name of of equality, in the name of we have been wrong, in the name of they have certain rights. I mean, Georgia has had one African-American governor in his history. And to say just now and for our governor now, uh, Governor Kemp, to try to redraw the districts to make it more difficult for those things to happen on a congressional level. And now five counties in Georgia, all with women as DAs. Five counties, those districts are being re are being redrawn. And those five districts now, they're trying to remove the incumbent status so you can't tell who's who on the ballot. These things are rooted in systemic racism.

[00:15:14]And so I just I'm grateful that Pope Leo has set an example. Say what you want about his faith. Whether you're Christians and you don't believe in Catholicism, say what you want about his faith. But the difference is many of us communicate the name Jesus but don't demonstrate the nature of Jesus. Pope Leo has made an important move because to acknowledge something and until you acknowledge it the wrongs and the atrocities. The president of the United States will never acknowledge the atrocities of slavery but at the same time trying to get $1.8 8 billion dollars to give to the insurrectionists who desecrated and defecated in in our capitol on January the 6. So why is it that insurrectionist, racist insurrectionist who who caused harm, assaulted police officers and literally defecated in the US capital, they can get reparations. They can get some type of acknowledgement to acknowledge that that that they were done wrong. but at the same time try to whitewash what has happened in slavery when Africans and their contributions helped to build this country. I want to say thank you Pope Leo for hopeully hopefully setting the right example for this country because until we deal with America's original sins of dehumanization and racism we will continue to for violence because that is the essence of America racism the humanization giving three-fifths humanity to people demonization of darkerkinned people in this country and in the west are part of the original staining and immorality of America and until it is acknowledged. James Bowen once said, "While it is true that everything that is faced can't be fixed, it is also true that nothing can be fixed until it is faith. Until it is faced." Let's follow the example of Pope Leo and realize red, yellow, black, and white, we're all precious in God's sight. Jesus loves the little children of the world. You've been watching Dew Drops. Until next time, peace.