• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

The Apostle Ron DeSantis

July 8, 2023 | FlaglerLive | 12 Comments

Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (Florida Phoenix via Florida Channel)

By Celia Rivenbark

Is anyone surprised Ron DeSantis said recently he wished he could have been one of the Apostles? Here’s the Good News, Ron. You don’t have to sigh moonily in a TV interview about what could’ve been.

No! Real discipleship is as close as your nearest food pantry and soup kitchen. It’s as close as the shelters offering sanctuary to victims of domestic violence, human trafficking and hate crimes for just being who they are…Dare I say it, Ron…it’s as near as the border where asylum-seekers are used as political pawns and dropped onto cold sidewalks for a photo opp.




That’s right, Ron! Your lamentations are unnecessary! Cast off that hair shirt and become a modern-day disciple! But wait! There’s more Good News! You can start today. You don’t have to be sad that you missed the boat, so to speak, by not being around 2,000 years ago. You can be a fisher of men today! (And women, of course, but I didn’t wanna scare you.)

To see your eyes all lit up like that talking about how wonderful it would be to learn how to “be” from Jesus himself, well, it was quite compelling. Or something.

Cynics are saying you would say just about anything to make sure the Evangelical voting bloc supports you for president. Including saying on national TV you want, more than anything, to follow the teachings of a dark-skinned itinerant carpenter who spent all day advocating for poor folks.

Hey, that’s what you said. You honestly would chuck it all, the fame, the fortune, the fresh-squeezed orange juice at the mansion every morning if you could just become one of the starting 12. Sure, it sounds a little “left Coast” to admire someone whose entire life was all about easing the suffering of the least of these, but you’ll figure something out.

Listening to aspiring Disciple DeSantis describe his desire for a closer walk with someone who eschewed money and power every single time in favor of the “meek” was heartening to say the least. Good on you, Ron!




Now here’s the part where a naysayer would say: “That’s not what he meant! The Lord helps those who help themselves.”

And naysayers, as usual, are wrong. That’s why they have such a silly name. While Jesus was a fan of a good work ethic, he understood equity.

Ron, as an aspiring Apostle, you will toss that old playbook of misogyny and meanness onto the fire where it will smolder with the ashes of science textbooks and anything about two daddies. You will create a new playbook in which you put Christian principles in action instead of school principals in jail.

Ron 2.0 is gonna be…woke! No longer will woke go to die in Florida! Disciple Ron will know being woke is a good thing, not just something to be hissed at a teleprompter by some shiny face on Fox.




Jesus knew that 2,000 years ago and tried to make nice. Spoiler alert: It did NOT go over well with the big wigs so Disciple Ron will need to be prepared for a bit of a backlash.

Jesus wasn’t a fan of false prophets so DeSaintus might want to avoid some of the, er, less committed folks in the spotlight. Like Lauren Boebert. She likes to give pop-up sermons wherever two or more cameras are gathered but her messages are…dumb. Like how Jesus could’ve escaped his awful fate if he’d had enough AR-15s. I know what you’re thinking: “She’s possibly the worst human on earth”. No? Perhaps, then: “Pretty sure, AR-15s weren’t invented yet and, well, the whole point was he allowed himself to be crucified to atone for the sins of all humanity.” Heavy stuff, I know.

But Disciple Ron, you got this. Now go forth and not prosper.

Celia Rivenbark is a New York Times-bestselling author and columnist. Write her at [email protected]. 

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Pogo says

    July 8, 2023 at 9:21 pm

    @Celia Rivenbark

    Brilliant.

    @FlaglerLive

    More in the future — please.

    Maybe more chapels, and fewer churches…
    https://www.google.com/search?q=chapel+vs+church

  2. Donald J says

    July 9, 2023 at 5:02 am

    Ron DeSantis is the modern version of Judus, I made him, gave him every opportunity and he stabbed me in the back. If you are a true Christian like me you will reject this evil fool who came to us straight from the devil. You know it, I know it and everyone knows.

  3. A voter says

    July 9, 2023 at 6:36 am

    Great article

  4. Bonnie Russell says

    July 9, 2023 at 7:41 am

    Great description of what empty, hollow words are used by a candidate who has no idea about how to walk the walk or talk the talk. Thanks for my morning smile.

  5. J Lumpkin says

    July 9, 2023 at 9:51 am

    WOW!! And Amen!

  6. Michael Cocchiola says

    July 9, 2023 at 3:08 pm

    DeSaintis, my ass. More like DeSatan.

  7. Jackson1955 says

    July 10, 2023 at 3:38 pm

    Over 87,000 Covid deaths in Florida. Over 5000 teacher vacancies in our schools. School boards focused on book banning rather than educating children. Homeowners insurance averages over $4000 and may go up an additional 40% this year. Black registered voters arrested. And now an absentee governor bragging about anti-wokeness. He doesn’t make things better- he only attacks what he doesn’t like.

  8. Laurel says

    July 10, 2023 at 3:51 pm

    …and on the eight day, God looked at Ron and said “I knew I should have stopped on the seventh.”

  9. Mark says

    July 11, 2023 at 4:24 pm

    DeSant-miss

  10. YankeeExPat says

    July 11, 2023 at 4:32 pm

    I heard that God told Ron DeSantis that they were out of halos so he would have to wear a cardboard Burger King Crown in the interim.

  11. Boogeyman says

    July 12, 2023 at 11:34 pm

    So does this mean we address DeSantis as his royal assholiness?

  12. YankeeExPat says

    July 13, 2023 at 7:51 pm

    Bingo !

    Winner, Winner Chicken Diner !

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • celia pugliese on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Eighty six forty seven on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • Dusty on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • See no evil? on Moral Collapse: Florida Thinks Letting Prisoners Live in 100-Degree Heat with No Air Flow Isn’t Cruel Enough
  • Ray W, on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Me on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Dusty on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Joe D on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • The dude on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Palm Coast on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Laurel on 8,000 Homes, 800 RV Sites: Biggest Development Since Palm Coast Seeks Bunnell Commission Approval
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Tired of it on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Saturday, June 7, 2025
  • Laurel on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches
  • Judy M on Pam Richardson and Kim Carney Are Killing Flagler County’s Beaches

Log in