Part 3 (finally): Doctrine was not necessarily questioned by the regular public back then, but I look at it now as an adult in 2025 and ask myself what was written solely for a political purpose, and if there is a God, what God would want us to believe? I am not a theologian by any means, but I still question doctrine to an extent, and I question the origins and motivations of fundamental beliefs because of these councils.

Part 2: In Catholic school, we learned that the councils were called by church leaders due to a fundamental question that needed to be answered, but it was solved peacefully and the church reinstated its authority…

But as we‘ve learned in A Short History of Byzantium, church councils were highly political, and the outcome often depended on how many people from each side attended the council.

Part 1: Let‘s talk about ecumenical councils, particularly what their purpose was, what Catholic school said they were, and what they actually were. Whenever there was a conflict in the church, someone in a position of power, many times the emperor, would decree an ecumenical council. The council was a meeting of bishops to discuss the question presented, and the Holy Spirit was supposed to come down and guide the council to the right answer…

We‘re going to pull a little bit from the last book we read because I see parallels: What parallels do you see between the hippodrome mob rebellion and the January 6 insurrection we read about in The Divider? I see parallels, but I want to know what you all think. #thedivider #ashorthistoryofbyzantium #johnjuliusnorwich #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #joebiden #justinian #theodora #byzantium #byzantineempire #insurrection #rebellion

New word alert- Homooussios is used to describe Jesus and God as one. Constantine the Great inserted this word into Christian doctrine at the Council of Nicaea to counter Aries of Alexandria who told followers Jesus is not God. #ashorthistoryofbyzantium #johnjuliusnorwich #councilofnicaea #constantinethegreat #byzantineempire #homoousios #arianism #christianity #churchhistory #worldhistory #europeanhistory #history

I keep thinking about how Constantine created laws and legislation that was influenced by Christianity, but never mentioned it or Christ. It reminds me of my reversion to Islam and how I started doing things that were more in line with Islam before I started thinking about reverting. Constantine‘s decision was most likely political, but it makes me wonder if he was starting to adopt a Christian lifestyle before thinking about converting.

Is Trump going to destroy democracy? No. Is he a threat to the world as we know it? No. Is he going to get rid of the constitution? No. Is he a spoiled rich boy who has no regard for ethics and politics and is surrounded by people who can‘t say no to him? Yes. Are we in trouble? I‘ll let you decide that one. #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #uspolitics #ushistory #politicalscience #history #presidency #trumpadministration

Which leads me to my next question: Donald Trump is set to become president again, so what can we as citizens and even non-citizens do different this time that we didn‘t do last time whether it‘s in our communities here at home or whether it‘s how we hold our leaders accountable for their ideas as well as their actions? #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #accountability #president #congress #leaders #uspolitics #politicalscience

…And we know now that it‘s not over, and we get to do the same thing again… #thedivider #peterbaker #donaldtrump #susanglasser #americanpresidency #uspolitics #ushistory #history #politicalscience #impeachment

“You knew the house was burning down.”__Alex Warren #thedivider #donaldtrump #peterbaker #susanglasser #january6 #americanpresidency #alexwarren #uspolitics #politicalscience #ushistory #history #insurrection #impeachment #burningdown

Please. No. Not again. Can we please have a smooth, election certification? Or do we need to start rethinking the certification process? #thedivider #january6 #electioncertification #4yearslater #politicalscience #uspolitics #speakerofthehouse #president #vicepresident

#thedivider #susanglasser #peterbaker #insurrection #january6 #donaldtrumo #law&order #ushistory #history #uspolitics #politicalscience #counterterrorismstudies

Going off the last post, what if Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell had agreed last minute to prevent the certification of electoral votes and the January 6 mob was outside the Capitol and didn‘t get the message? Because let‘s be honest, at that point, no matter what happened inside, the Capitol would have been breached. I think that‘s what gets me. The alternative outcome most likely would not have prevented the insurrection.

Alternate history: As a historian, political science, and counterterrorism studies major, there‘s a lot of what ifs with January 6: What if there really was proven voter fraud? What if, in the middle of politics, we missed an opportunity to investigate fraud and fraud going forward? What if Mike Pence and Mitch McConnell would have stopped the vote? Would it have changed the outcome? I don‘t know.

Foreshadowing at its finest. #thedivider #susanglasser #peterbaker #foreshadowing #ushistory #uspolitics #history #politicalscience #presidency #election #defeat #donaldtrump

#thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #joebiden #harshreality #electoralcollege #americanpresidency #ushistory #uspolitics #history #politicalscience #voting #elections

It‘s time to move into our last section from November 2020-January 2021. Mentally, I‘m not ready to cover January 6, 2021, but we have to do it. We‘re sticking to #thedivider with a few opinions and discussions mixed in as we have been doing. As always, I open the floor to dissenting opinions, but most important, I open the floor to evidence above all else. Here we go. #susanglasser #peterbaker #january6 #donaldtrump #joebiden #presidency #history

And that was the problem with the whole pandemic. Politics got in the way. I wonder how many lives could have been saved had we not let politics get in the way of healthcare? #pandemic #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #covid19 #coronavirus #anthonyfauci #ushistory #history #politicalscience #uspolitics

Language alert!- In a world of rivals, Chris Christie and Donald Trump had remained friends… up until this point at least. After Trump‘s disastrous Oval Office speech that Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump convinced him to give, Chris Christie finally asked the question I‘m sure we‘ve all been asking since the beginning of this book- What the fuck does Jared know about politics? #thedivider #donaldtrump #jaredkushner #peterbaker #susanglasser

#thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #uspolitics #politicalscience #ushistory #history #presidency #donaldtrump

But is it a high crime though?… That is the question… #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #impeachment #ukraine #volodimirzelensky #foreignaid #uspolitics #politicalscience #history #ushistory

I could honestly repost Mulvaney‘s entire conversation, but I think I‘ll just highlight this. #mulvaney #mickmulvaney #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #ukraine #russia #foreignpolicy #corruption #donaldtrump #impeachment #presidency #internationalpolitics #worldhistory #history #politicalscience

But enough about what I think… how would the Middle East look today if John Bolton and Mike Pompeo got their way and we went to war with Iran? #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #johnbolyon #mikepompeo #war #iran #internationalpolitics #alternatehistory #history #ushistory #worldhistory #uspolitics #politicalscience

I‘m a political scientist, a historian, and as of recent, an anti war activist, particularly senseless wars with no purpose. I think Trump made the right call in deciding not to go to war with Iran. Strikes would have put more pressure on Iran, and a regime change could have been successful, but the other side of the matter is we could have started another 20 year war.

Once again, another Shakespeare reference. #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #uspolitics #robertmueller #politicalscience #ushistory #history #russia #russianinterference #investigation #uspresidency

I look at other sources of disinformation such as biased news sources such as Fox News or MSNBC on the left. I think if a person focuses on one news source alone, it‘s going to impact a person‘s decision more than Russia ever could. I guess the way I look at it, Russian interference is a big deal, but there were other influences in 2016 that could change a person‘s opinion before he or she even looked at Russian propaganda.

When it comes to Russian interference in the 2016 election we have, I am skeptical regarding how much the Russians influenced my vote, my family‘s votes, my state‘s vote, all the way to everyone in the US‘ vote. Did Russia create fake stories and fake social media pages to influence others? Yes, but I think at a certain point unless a person was truly undecided when finding a Russian page, most people had their minds made up.

And that he did 🤦🏻‍♀️ #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #secretaryofdefense #politics #politicalscience #uspolitics #mcmaster #ushistory #history

Donald Trump not only had a hard time understanding international politics, but also had a hard time understanding war and sacrifice. At a certain point, there was just no teaching him. #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #war #politics #uspolitics #internationalpolitics #military #sacrifice #history #worldhistory #ushistory #politicalscience

So there was no invasion. 🤷🏻‍♀️There was no mass caravan, but I think the lesson of the debacle is that unethical practices were never off the table for Trump. But what if there was an invasion? And what if it would have been successful? If the caravan had succeeded, what would the country look like today? And just because I‘m curious what measures could Trump have taken to prevent the migrants from crossing the border?

I was going to wait until the end of the chapter, but I decided to go ahead and post a thought. Clearly, the house was burning down in 2018, and when we say the house, we mean the White House and entire executive branch. Trump had grandiose ideas. Members of Trump‘s cabinet had grandiose ideas. Those who actually had knowledge of any type of legal procedures were shut down in a matter of minutes. Here‘s hoping 2025 will be better.

I love a good Shakespeare reference. After Trump‘s meeting with Putin and disastrous news conference, John Bolton told Republican Senator Roy Blunt that Putin will always be Putin and took the opportunity to make this reference to Hamlet. #thedivider #vladimirputin #donaldtrump #peterbaker #susanglasser #ushistory #internationalpolitics #worldhistory #politicalscience #russia #unitedstates #johnbolton #hamlet

Sometimes, I just laugh at some of the things Trump says because there‘s nothing else I can do. This is one of those times. #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #kimjongun #internationalpolitics #donaldtrump #internationalpolitics #politicalscience #history #worldhistory #negotiations #summit #northkorea #unitedstates

I like this quote. I don‘t want to lean one way or another with the quotes I choose, but I think this quote by Brendan Buck explains the state of Congress during the Trump presidency. #government #trump #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #brendanbuck #houseofrepresentatives #politicalscience #uspolitics #congress #paulryan #donaldtrump #history #ushistory

We got a lot of hirings and firings in chapter 8. I don‘t know about you, but I definitely got a headache reading these. Knowing that Trump is going to be president again in a few short months, I want to know if you could give him advice on what to look for as he chooses his cabinet members, what would you tell him? What makes a good cabinet member? #donaldtrump #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #presidency#presidentialcabinet #ushistory

And now the discussion… When I think of tax reform, I think of something for the greater good. This typically involves lowering taxes. However, as Trump has said, tax reform could raise taxes. I want to know what does tax reform mean to you?

Quote and discussion time starting with the quote…

“If there‘s a fire you‘re trying to douse, you can‘t put it wout from inside of the house. I‘m in the cabinet. I am complicit.” #thedivider #susanglasser #peterbaker #hamilton #trump #presidenttrump #ushistory#uspolitics #politicalscience #history #thomasjefferson

I think one of the issues with Trump is he was very “America first” which is okay, but he focused too much on domestic issues instead of international and domestic. He failed to study up on international issues and policies which led to the disastrous decisions and conflicts he had with his secretaries and generals. #donaldtrump #thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser

Everyone on Trump‘s staff agreed with everything he said to the point of where cabinet meetings looked like something out of North Korea. Other than the obvious of getting fired, what could have happened if someone would have just said “no?” #thedivider #donaldtrump #peterbaker #susanglasser #no #politics #politicalscience #history #americanpolitics #ushistory #alternatehistory #whatif #cabinetmeetings

I found what I read about Roy Cohn to be interesting, I also did my own research as well. I really want to know what happened to his wife. I tried to see if he had gotten divorced at one point but couldn‘t find any information anywhere. I‘m more interested as to when he contracted HIV and if he could have passed it to his wife. I would assume he did not, but it is interesting. #thedivider #roycohn #lgbtqhistory #history #donaldtrump #law

I should have posted this question first, but I want to know as we talk about Trump‘s success, how do you define success?

So knowing what we know, was Trump as successful as we always said he was? He engaged in questionable practices with questionable people, so can we really say he was successful?

Regardless of what you may think, Trump engaged in shady practices as well as had some shady connections…

#thedivider #peterbaker #susanglasser #donaldtrump #presidency #elections #ushistory #history #uspolitics #politicalscience

I wish more books started this way. #susanglasser #peterbaker #thedivider #donaldtrump #presidency #unitedstates #trump #ushistory #history

When you think about it, there were signs that there was going to be an insurrection. #insurrection #thedivider #donaldtrump #january6 #peterbaker #susanglasser #ushistory #history

It didn‘t move me enough for 5 stars, but definitely a great read I would recommend to all.

Taylor Swift does it again. Cornelia Street is the perfect song for Obama‘s departure from the White House. #obama #thecallofhistory #peterbaker #taylorswift #corneliastreet #popculture #lover #popculturehistory #presidency #inaguration #departure #epilogue #foreverpresident