©Wendell
Griffen, 2017
Justice Is A Verb!
November 15,
2017
Like
many other people in the United States and elsewhere, I have observed the daily
events and controversy surrounding the candidacy of Roy Moore for election to
the U.S. Senate from the state of Alabama.
Like many other people, I do not know why people would elect a
politician to higher office who has consistently dishonored his sworn duty to
uphold the Constitution of the United States, and who has twice been removed from
judicial office for doing so.
I
do not know why people who say they care about decency would support a
middle-aged candidate whose former co-workers confirm allegations that he
repeatedly engaged in questionable – no, predatory – conduct toward teenaged
girls.
I
do not know why I should believe people who profess concern for women and girls
to be sincere about that concern when they now support Roy Moore after having previously
overwhelmingly endorsed, supported, voted to elect, and now continue to defend
Donald Trump, a known and serial misogynist.
And
I do not know why I or any other follower of the gospel of Jesus should believe
white evangelicals are followers of Jesus who support Donald Trump, Roy Moore,
and the policies and practices associated with them.
What
is clear, however, is that there are people – in Alabama and elsewhere
throughout the United States – who profess belief in democracy while supporting
politicians such as Donald Trump and Roy Moore, persons whose personal and
professional histories are defined by bigotry and other forms of oppression
towards vulnerable people, including women and girls.
And,
it is clear that Donald Trump, Roy Moore, and their white “evangelical
Christian” supporters are determined to return the United States to an era when
white patriarchy, white supremacy, and white nationalist militarism were the
defining features of every level of government (local, state, and national) in
the United States.
Donald
Trump, Roy Moore, and their white “evangelical Christian” supporters are not
patriots to democracy. They are
neo-fascists.
Donald
Trump, Roy Moore, and their white “evangelical Christian” supporters are, also,
not followers of the Jesus who respected women, who included women among his
closest followers, and who ordained women the first prophets of the resurrection
gospel of grace, liberation, justice, peace, and hope. Donald Trump, Roy Moore, and their white “evangelical
Christian” supporters are heretics to that gospel.
The
hard reality is that white “evangelical Christians” support Donald Trump, Roy Moore,
and politicians like them, including people like former Arizona sheriff Joe
Arpaio (who received a presidential pardon from Trump from his federal criminal
contempt conviction for refusing to stop using his office to racially profile and
terrorize Latinos).
The
hard reality is that white “evangelical Christians” must be denounced as political
and religious bigots, neo-fascists, and heretics. They are not devoted to democracy. They are not devoted to the Jesus of the New
Testament gospels whose life and ministry was defined by inclusive grace, truth,
compassion toward vulnerable persons, justice, peace, and resurrection
hope.
Instead,
their true devotion is to white religious nationalism. That is why white “evangelical Christians”
overwhelmingly supported Donald Trump’s candidacy for president of the United
States in 2016. That is why white “evangelical
Christians” are now determined to elect Roy Moore to the U.S. Senate from
Alabama.
That
devotion to white religious nationalism – a mixture of white supremacy, white
patriarchy, and religious nationalism – means white “evangelical Christians”
will turn out in record numbers to vote for Roy Moore in Alabama.
Devotion
to white religious nationalism will inspire them to engage in or disregard
overt and covert efforts to suppress, intimidate, and otherwise interfere with
efforts to vote by people who are poor, persons of color, progressive minded
women, students, senior citizens, and naturalized citizens of the United States
when voting occurs in Alabama for the U.S. Senate seat formerly held by current
Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
Devotion
to white religious nationalism is what inspires white “evangelical Christians”
to claim a divine right to rule the United States, and to impose their will on
the rest of the world in the name of American Empire.
So
what should people who truly believe in democracy do?
What
should prophetic-minded followers of the gospel of Jesus do?
People
who believe in democracy should resist the politics and religion of white
religious nationalism and white “evangelical Christians” and call it what it
truly is – neo-fascism, not democracy.
Prophetic
followers of Jesus should denounce white religious nationalism as moral and
theological fraud and a heresy to the gospel of Jesus.
People
who believe in democracy and prophetic followers of Jesus should organize
against white religious nationalism and neo-fascism. We should join forces to expose, challenge,
resist, and inform ourselves and others about the hateful claims of Donald
Trump, Roy Moore, and other favorites of white religious nationalism. Working together, we should defeat
politicians like Trump, Moore, and Joe Arpaio – along with the hateful and
fear-mongering policies they champion – at the ballot box in local, state, and
national elections.
That
is how we can, and should, protect and honor our cherished belief in
democracy. That is how we can, and
should, protect and preserve the United States as a free, inclusive, and
welcoming society. That is how we can,
and should, prevent our society from being controlled by bigoted religionists
who lust for power to impose their notion of American Empire on our nation and
the rest of the world.
The
issue for us is not what neo-fascists and white religious nationalists do or
what they will do. The issue is what
will people like you and I do. We have
the power to determine the future of our society. We have the power to step up together and
defeat the forces and menaces threatened by white religious nationalism and the
politicians embraced by white religious nationalists.
Do
not draw back from this challenge. Lean
into it as people who believe in and love democracy.
And
if you are a follower of Jesus, lean into it because you refuse to allow white
supremacists, lovers of patriarchy, and white “evangelical Christians” to
hijack the gospel of Jesus in the name of American Empire.
Hope
Fiercely!
