Bottom line is that Republican politicians and a few Democratic politicians do not care about teachers or preachers or Rabbis or students or workers or any number of other groups who congregate in public spaces and who have been massacred by people who have easy access to weapons of mass death. They do not care and it will not stop.
And if Dalrymple and CT had such a high view of Scripture why didn’t they call for the impeachment and removal of trump when he was credibly accused of sexually assaulting nearly 20 women, or when he illegally banned Muslims, or when he validated neo-Nazis in Charlottesville, or when he caged children and split up immigrant families, or for the rampant corruption of him and his administration?
trump’s attack on Greta Thunberg is nothing new of course. Throughout human history societies have castigated and ostracized those who call their communities to live up to what they claim to be. Just as Jesus cries over Jerusalem for killing her prophets, so too does Jesus cry over how societies have ostracized activists and marginalized the organizers for justice.
Since we are in December, this is the month that those who follow Jesus are eagerly anticipating the birth of a baby in a barn in an obscure small town of Bethlehem who will grow up and ultimately change the world. So, it is appropriate that this is the month back in 1955 when the actions of an unknown, but revolutionary group of women, whose actions prepared the way for the birth of the modern-day Civil Rights Movement and the emergence of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. as the movement’s most powerful and eloquent leader.
I share this because as I sat at the dinner table yesterday I could not help but think of the many, many moments in my life when I have tried but failed to have special moments that reflect the justice of God’s Kin-dom. I thought of daily struggles I have dealing with my own entrenched privilege and hidden racism
But like I said, I am deeply concerned about the purity tests we demand of progressive politicians especially when we excuse away some pretty glaring hypocrisies and faults in religious leaders. Are we really serious that we expect more from Buttigieg than we do from Jim Wallis, William Barber or any number of United Methodist bishops?
On Saturday, in another remarkable rebuke of donald trump, Louisiana Governor, Democrat John Bel Edwards, was re-elected over trump loyalist and kooky businessman, Eddie Rispone, even after trump traveled to Louisiana three times in five weeks. Edwards won by focusing on issues that the people of his state cared about steering clear of grandiose plans or overly provocative campaign messages.
Here was a political appointee by the trump administration stating his deep concern about people in society not taking moral responsibility when the very man who appointed him has refused his entire life to take any moral responsibility for a single thing he has done. And yet, was he any different from so many people in the church today?
Though his approval ratings have steadily remained below 45% through his time in office the news that the Democratic National Committee is broke and has virtually no infrastructure in important swing states is deeply concerning for everyone interested in replacing the man currently occupying the White House.
It was reported on Tuesday that a Catholic priest in Florence, South Carolina refused Vice-President Biden communion because he disagrees with Biden’s stance on abortion. I do not want to shame the priest for not offering communion to Vice-President Biden, but let’s be honest; he is just following an exclusionary, elitist, non-liberating gospel that judges before it loves, demands before it welcomes, and represses before it transforms.
So, yes, let’s enjoy the chants of “Lock Him Up!” and the chorus of boos he got at Game 5 of the World Series. And let’s anticipate the coming impeachment in the House - it will be sweet to watch. But let’s also remain focused on the small ways this administration continues to make life so very hard for the poorest among us. More than anything, this is how we remain faithful.
So, yes, universal healthcare is the best option, the most cost-efficient in the long-term, and the most humane policy, but, I am not sure it is good politics because I am not convinced that progressives and left-of-center moderates will be able to fight with the same passion as those who hate affordable healthcare. So, tell me about the organizing infrastructure that I am not seeing that will be utilized to build a movement to ensure that universal healthcare becomes a reality and not just another campaign promise.
I am getting arrested on Tuesday, October 15 to protest the latest draconian effort by the racist trump administration which will set refugees at an all-time low level of 18,000 (it was around 75,000) under Presidents Bush and Obama), and it will also allow local communities to block resettlement in their communities. This is part of the ongoing effort by the trump administration to instill state-sponsored terrorism against migrants and to whiten America by dehumanizing migrants of every kind, including refugees.
“That’s not who we are” was joined with the also oft-mentioned, “We have never done it that way before.” Both statements, in fact, function as a kind of moronic tautology. These statements preserve power and the status quo and they identify the innovator as someone who does not fit; who is not good for the organization because the goal of the organization is maintain it’s current structure.
Justice is on our side. As Rev. Dr. King reminds us, "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice." We know that small groups of people with shared passion working towards the same goal can truly change the world. The question we need to constantly ask ourselves and others is simple: what are we passionate about? What is the thing - or things - that keep us up at night? And who else can we ask to join us so that we can begin to build movements that achieve real and lasting concrete change? This is how it is done.
Even as we are only ten days into this latest impeachable offense and the danger on the part of the occupant in the White House and the delusional obedience of his mindless followers will only dramatically ramp up as the process continues, this is why now, more than ever, it is best to remember that God speaks of great hope. It is in the dark times when God showers down the greatest blessings and fills us with uncontainable joy
More than disliking the utter hypocrisy and inhumanity of the evangelicals and their love affair with trump, evangelicals and the public in general – young and old alike – love authenticity and passion. No need to water down what we believe. We should live out what we believe. Our movement will be best served if we don’t try and be popular, but if just be who we are.
Today, September 11, we remember the horrific day 18 years ago and as I learned this morning on NPR, we also much recognize the costs that have been incurred for detaining those deemed “enemy combatants” at Guantanamo since 2001 have totaled $6 billion. Think about that. $6 billion for detaining a total of 775 people, mast of whom have been released because they were actually found to have done nothing wrong.
“Christian empires” aren’t the sole property of TV caricatures on TV. No, there are many people in the church, particularly in mainline denominations, who are building their own Christian mini-empires, minus the hairspray. What is core to these empires is self-enrichment, self-promotion, and/or self-protection.
