Category: Politics

The Ten Commandments in Louisiana

This is a Facebook post from yesterday, responding to the news that Louisiana has passed a bill requiring the posting of the Ten Commandments in all classrooms in the state.

Never mind the fact that what Louisiana has done is blatantly unconstitutional, has already been litigated in front of the Supreme Court, and will be struck down soon. Put that to the side. I just want to know: what’s the point of putting the Ten Commandments on the wall of every classroom in the state? What are they hoping to achieve? Is this an evangelism strategy?

I ask this because the same people pushing this stuff are the ones who allegedly spend a lot of time thinking about the Ten Commandments, and it doesn’t seem to be doing them a lot of good. “Thou shalt not kill”? Death penalty is pretty active in Louisiana. “Thou shalt not commit adultery”? They seem pretty gung-ho about a thrice divorced candidate who likes to brag about his supposed sexual conquests and in fact was just found guilty of paying off a porn star he cheated on his then-pregnant wife with. “Thou shalt now take the Lords name in vain”? What do you think yall are doing every time you invoke God to further the ends of patriarchy, racism, or militarism?

I could go on, but it will do no good, because if there is one thing my recent reading has been teaching me, it’s that a lot of the people in this country who want to claim the title “Christian” are anything but, and instead have baptized violent nationalism and patriarchy in the name of Jesus Christ. So, sorry conservatives, fundamentalist, and evangelicals: the example of your own corrupted faith doesn’t instill much hope in me that having the Ten Commandments in front of children all day every day will do much good. Your own example proves otherwise.

God never calls us “filth”

My city is currently gripped by grief over the death of a local LGBTQ+ teen named Nex Benedict. A couple of weeks ago, Nex was in a fight at school with three other students, and after sustaining some sort of head injury, died at the much-to-young age of 16. Nex was non-binary, and variously used she/her and they/them pronouns. A lot about Nex’s death is still not known, but what is known is this: a child died, and people in my state (and across the entire country) are deeply grieved by the ending of a life too soon, no matter the circumstances around that death.

Nex Benedict

Of course, when I say “my city” or “my state”, I wish I could say I was referring to everyone who lives in these places. But, as is far too often the case in Oklahoma, this is just not the case. Nex’s death, and the subsequent grief, has caused some fearful and small-minded people to react in hate and revulsion, as if they know deep within their souls that their continued actions and words about our LGBTQ+ siblings somehow contributes to deaths like Nex’s. Many of these same people want to appropriate the name “Christian” to lend support to their continued, backward attempt to turn LGBTQ+ people into an “other” who is outside the bounds of those they are committed to loving, protecting, and respecting. It is a heresy to use the name of Jesus Christ in this way, but one so common that many fail to see it for what it is: the opposite of the Gospel.

One of these heretics is state Senator Tom Wood, a Republican from Tahlequah (about an hour east of Tulsa.) In the wake of the death of a child, Senator Woods decided that now was the appropriate time to use the word “filth” to refer to LGBTQ+ people like Nex, and like a number of his own constituents that he supposedly was elected to represent the interests of (he clearly doesn’t take that part of his job very seriously, at least when it comes to people who look, think, believe or love differently from him.)

Filth Oklahome State Senator Tom Woods

Senator Woods has a very distinctive political theology he laid out in his remarks, one that is remarkably common in the places where a lot of Christians are found today: “We are a religious state. We are going to fight to keep that filth out of the state of Oklahoma, because we’re a Christian state. We’re a rural state. We want to lower taxes, and for people to live and work, and to go to the faith they choose.” This was the Senator’s answer to a question about Nex and the effect of legislation pending before our legislature here that places restrictions on LGBTQ+ people in Oklahoma.

Let’s just be really clear about this: we are not, in fact, a Christian state. I have many beloved friends here in Tulsa, and in other parts of the state, who are Jewish, or Muslim, or not religious at all. Our state, following the wise example of the First Amendment to the US Constitution, avoids establishing a state religion, and is constructed on a liberal democratic framework that presupposes the freedom of people to engage in whatever religion they choose to, without the state imposing one on them from above. This means that, in lawmaking, the state should not be enacting laws restricting the rights of people not just to practice their faith as they see fit, but their right to live their lifes in the way they choose to do so insofar as that living doesn’t restrict someone else’s right to do so as well. What this means is, kids like Nex Benedict have a right to exist just as they are; the fact that Nex was LGBTQ+, and went by certain pronouns, is completely and reasonably within their rights.

But, our leaders like Senator Tom Woods and Governor Kevin Stitt would like to restrict these freedoms, and more so, they would like to cast moral opprobrium on people like Nex, and worst of all, they want to do so in the name of Jesus Christ. As a Christian myself, let me just say, this is the worst kind of heresy, and aggrieves me deeply as a person of faith. I would never want the God I worship – the God of unconditional and boundless love, seen most clearly in the example of Jesus Christ, who loved and served and died to show us the full extent of God’s regard for us – to be used to denigrate and demean anyone, but especially not the most vulnerable among us. Our God is a God of the lonely and the oppressed, of the outcast and the marginalized, of the orphan and the widow and the immigrant. Our God tears down the mighty – the Senators and the Governors – in favor of the weak and the meek among us. Our God abhors empty worship and showy faith, and loves those who do justice and love kindness and walk humbly. Our God stands on the side our LGBTQ+ siblings, because God stands on the side of those who love wholly and without reservation, and against those who would restrict love and the welcoming of all peoples into God’s family.

God never calls people filth; God always comes to us with love, and calls us to act in the same way. Please send your prayers towards the family and friends of Nex Benedict, but also spare a prayer for the soul of Tom Woods; his heresy is dragging him down a bad road.

Actually solving the “crisis at the border” isn’t a priority for Republicans

Like most young people, I studied political science and went into political work early in my adult life because I was (and still am, really) intensely idealistic. Notions of justice and fairness and kindness drove me, and I wanted to do work that would make the world a fairer and better place, especially for people who had taken it on the chin time and time again.

And, like many idealistic young people, politics quickly jaded me, and after just a few years of watching games being played and unserious people putting on a public face that was wildly different from their private one, I got out, and went into academics (which is probably just as cynical and corrupt, but at least I don’t have to make compromises with those people to write what I want to write.) Since then, politics has faded far from the center of my attention, which feels like a big deal in my head, because it was so central to who I am for a long time. I still struggle with lingering feelings of guilt over my choice to pay minimal attention to what is going on politically, and also my choice to not identify publicly as a Democrat anymore, despite my own left politics. Every time I dip my toe back in, I very quickly get disgusted with the game playing and the crass cynicism of so many in politics. By games, I mean the strict left-right dichotomy, the inability to see anyting outside of the lens of whether this hurts my political opponent (which is far and away the lead consideration, more so than “will this do good for my side?”) It grosses me out and makes me unreasonably angry all at once, and as someone who tries to mitigate my anger as much as possible, it is best for me to just stay away from politics.

I should mention, as well, that my personal theology, as I’ve written here before, pushes me away from partisan politics, and deepens my commitment to a more just and more loving world, which, (paradoxically, the more politically inclined would say) makes me less interested in politics and more interested in localism and the potential of the small and mundane to effect real change on the world.

But, sometimes things break back through, and the fight over immigration this week is one of things. And, boy did it trigger that previously mentioned disgust. I’ve debated over writing this, because when I discuss politics, I want to avoid coming from a very partisan place; I like to spread the blame around (rightly, I believe.) But, as mentioned before, I am a person of the left, and in this case, its really hard to see how Democrats have done much wrong on trying to get an immigration deal passed. This paragraph kind of says it all:

Many Republicans, including Trump and members of Congress, have decided to oppose the plan for political reasons. They think they are likely to do better in this year’s elections if the immigration problem festers and they can blame Biden. “Let me tell you,” Troy Nehls, a House Republican from Texas, told CNN last month, “I’m not willing to do too damn much right now to help a Democrat and to help Joe Biden’s approval rating.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/briefing/republican-border-bill-ukraine.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=highlightShare

These are the games that I think a lot of people are sick of, and why Congress’ approval rating is in the dumps, and the people on the outside just can’t break out of it long enough to see that. Here is the opportunity to do something about an issue that voters view as a priority; it is heavily weighted towards what the GOP has stated time and again that they want in an immigration deal, because Democrats have finally figured out that to get the Ukraine funding they want, they have to make a deal that includes concessions. And, when presented with a bill that gives them everything that want, Republicans instead decide to move the goalpost, because they want to hurt Joe Biden more than they want to get anything done. It’s just gross, and another strike against our political leadership.

“A year ago they said, ‘We need a change in the law,’” said Mr. Lankford, frustrated by his Republican colleagues who had been up in arms about the border situation only to suddenly reject the new legislation. “Now the conversation is, ‘Just kidding, we don’t need a change in the law. We just need the president to use the laws they already have.’ That wasn’t where we were before.”

The episode left Democrats amazed.

“Just gobsmacked,” Senator Brian Schatz, Democrat of Hawaii, wrote on social media. “I’ve never seen anything like it. They literally demanded specific policy, got it, and then killed it.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/06/us/politics/border-republicans-ukraine-bill.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare

Remember: these are the same hacks who want to convince you that the situation at the border is so dangerous that we’re mere moments away from a national crisis. Here is Speaker Mike Johnson one month ago during a publicity tour to the border:

“We have no idea how many terrorists have come into the country and set up terrorism cells across the nation. Last month alone, we saw the most illegal crossings in recorded history. It is an unmitigated disaster, a catastrophe.“

And here Democrats have given him the golden opportunity to address that looming existential threat. No thanks, we’d rather not address this, said Republicans.

Here’s the question I have about the Congressional GOP: do they have no sense of history? Have none of them watched immigration deal after immigration deal die over the last 25 years? They are not going to get another chance at this. They think they will control both Houses of Congress and the White House next year and get something done then. But how has that worked out for them in the past? Look at the 115th Congress, during Trump’s first two years in office. Even under full GOP control they couldn’t do anything. What makes them think this time will be different? Take the good deal you have now. You probably won’t get a chance again.

But, then again, this isn’t about solving the problem at the border. Its about power, and scoring points against the other team, and not doing anything that could be seen as crossing Donald Trump. Democrats have chosen to not play anymore games on this. They want Ukraine aid and Gaza aid, and they are willing to make huge concessions on the border to make that happen, taking this issue off the table in the process. Republicans want to score political points in an election year. What a joke.

One last note. Kevin Drum asks a good question: how should liberals feel about the border bill? I basically agree with his answer:

So speaking for myself, the border provisions of the Senate bill mostly seem positive. They would tighten up border security moderately; speed up asylum hearings; provide counsel at immigration courts; and do nothing to make our treatment of immigrants more inhumane. No mass deportations. No ICE raids. No razor wire.

So yeah, I’d vote for it.