Cockatrice Eggs & Cancel Culture

For years, I've pondered the following verse from Isaiah 59:5,

“they hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web: he that eats of their eggs dies, and that which is crushed breaks out into a viper.”

Yet, it was not until Donald Trump began to challenge the Washington status quo and global political elites, that I understood what the prophet was trying to tell us.

The context surrounding this passage summarizes Israel’s political and spiritual condition before the Babylonian exile. The nation had reached a state of lawlessness that left no other option than Divine intervention; a course correction directed by God, Himself. A pattern dually noted throughout Israel's history.

Isaiah 59 begins with Isaiah telling the people that the Adonai’s hand is still outstretched and His ear can still hear. In other words, God had not moved—all His senses were working perfectly. He was still in Israel's midst. However, who had moved away from God, was Israel. Her sins and iniquities seriously impeded her relationship with the Almighty. As a nation, her hands were defiled by the blood of heinous crimes. Her lips knew nothing but lies and her tongue spoke perversely. At the root of Israel’s unruliness was the absence of two important pillars of society: justice and truth. And without these two moral pillars center stage in the consciousness of the nation, the political elites were having a field day. Their transgressions were endless; from shedding innocent blood to destroying the Torah’s (law) moral foundation. They pretended to want peace, but instead, they incited violence.

Isaiah summed up their actions with these words “there is no judgment in their endeavors, and all their paths are crooked.”

Why was there no judgment? Because there was no truth.

It was as God said, “And judgment is turned away backward, and justice stands afar off: for truth is fallen in the street, and equity cannot enter. Yes, truth fails; and he that departs from evil becomes a prey: and Adonai saw it, and it displeased him that there was no judgment.” 

When a nation loses its judgment—it can no longer find its way. It cannot discern between right and wrong, good and evil, holy and perverse. It may have an abundance of help from maps to navigational apps, and motivational speakers to psychologists, but when it comes to everyday life, its people are lost.

Judgment is not the same as “judging.” It is the ability to make sound decisions amidst conflicting circumstances.

You may remember the story of King Solomon who judged between two mothers and one baby. In brief, the story goes like this: There were two mothers who bore children at the same time. One night, one of the mothers smothered her baby while sleeping. So, she slipped into the room of the other mother and exchanged her dead child for the living one. In the morning when they awoke, the mother of the living child knew that the dead child was not her baby, but the other mother insisted it was. Hence, the matter was brought to the king. He heard their stories and proclaimed, “Divide the living child in two, and give half to the one, and half to the other.” Immediately, the real birth mother cried out telling him to give the living child to the other woman. But the murdering mother cried, “no, divide it, let it not be mine or hers.” Then Solomon commanded that the living child be given to its true birth mother.

How wise was that—I mean he went to the source of truth, the heart. Is it not written that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks?” This example of wise judgment—rightly dividing between the truth and the lie and providing a solution for the problem transcends human logic.

What struck me, and apparently, millions of other Americans, when Donald Trump first stepped into the political arena was his ability to look through the smokescreen of the Washington elites and bring solution-based ideas to America's challenges. Yes, his rhetoric was crass, and yes, his speech was simple (for some, too simple), but his tongue was sharp like a sword exposing and unraveling the Washington web, one strand at a time.

It was in the aftermath of Trump's first campaign appearance that I began to understand what the prophet was eluding to when he wrote, "they hatch cockatrice’ eggs, and weave the spider’s web." What happened after the first debate? Trump stepped on a cockatrice egg.

Have you ever heard of a cockatrice egg? 

Isaiah said that political elites who reject justice and judgment hatch them.

What are they? They, my friends, are the eggs of poisonous serpents like the death adder or the viper that thrust out their tongues to kill their victims. The word “cockatrice” comes from the Hebrew root word, “ צפע tseh’fahת” and it means, “to extrude.” In fact, did you know that the death adder has the most highly developed venom injecting mechanism of all snakes?

Interestingly, they are not aggressive animals. They only inject venom when they are threatened, caught, or stepped on. Furthermore, the death adder doesn’t hunt its prey, but lies in ambush and draws its prey to it. A death adder can go from strike position, to strike and envenoming its prey, and back to strike position in less than 0.15 seconds—that’s less than 1/4 of a second. 

Did you notice what happened within hours after Trump exposed the corruption of the Mexican government during his June 16th, 2015 campaign announcement? Macy’s dropped his clothing line, NBC and Univision (Spanish broadcaster) dropped the Ms. Universe and Ms. USA pageants, and Serta dropped his mattress line. Then ESPN and NASCAR had their moment: ESPN pulled out of a golf outing at Trump National Golf Club in Los Angeles, and NASCAR reneged on a banquet scheduled at the Trump National Miami Doral resort.

Yes, Donald Trump stepped on one or two Washington cockatrice eggs, and out came the vipers. 

Macy’s, pressured by the organization MoveOn.org, told MSNBC, “In light of statements made by Donald Trump, which is inconsistent with Macy’s values, we have decided to discontinue our business relationship with Mr. Trump . . ..” Serta’s rationale was, “Serta values diversity and does not agree with nor endorse the recent statements made by Mr. Trump.” NBC said, “At NBC, respect, and dignity for all people are cornerstones of our values. Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBC Universal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.” 

As for ESPN and NASCAR, they just flowed with the politically correct wave of human rights. 

About all of them, Trump wrote: 

I have lost a lot during this Presidential run defending the people of the United States. I have always heard that it is very hard for a successful person to run for President. Macy’s, NBC, Serta, and NASCAR have all taken the weak and very sad position of being politically correct even though they are wrong in terms of what is good for our country. 

Notably, these companies are all American-born, so their acts of disavowing Donald Trump over his immigration comments, in a country of free speech, lead us to ask, “what was taking place behind the scenes?” Let’s start with Macy’s. 

MoveOn.org created a petition to intimidate Macy’s into disenfranchising Trump. The petition read:  

Macy's: Donald Trump does not reflect “the magic of Macy's.” We urge you to sever ties with him. Macy's said it has a strong obligation to be “socially responsible” and that “actions speak louder than words.” Indeed, it's time to act.

Comparing Macy’s lack of response to that of NBC’s quick response, the petition released its adder’s venom into its unsuspecting signee. It was a vilification of Trump to the first degree! Hatred was framed in such a way to make both Trump and Macy’s look like full-fledged enemies of social responsibility.

MoveOn.org began the poster child for Cancel Culture. It stopped at nothing to villanize any business or individual connected to Donal Trump.

Who is MoveOn.org? And why did they go after Trump? I will answer that question in my next article. In the meantime, here is a glimpse into its background.

MoveOn.org “acts as a front for wealthy Democrats. It was founded with the help of financier George Soros who donated $1.46 million to get the organization rolling. Linda Pritzker of the Hyatt hotel family also gave the group a $4 million donation.” (Infowars)

This is the root of Cancel Culture—the cockatrice egg that strikes when justice and truth have fallen in the streets.

The prophet went to great lengths to give us an understanding of the times and its history lessons. 

In a day when history is being erased and understanding is being bludgeoned by immediate gratification and out-of-context images, let us remember: navigating the times requires understanding them. And, the one who learns from history is one who can change the future.