What Does It Mean to be a Christian Voter?

Jesus said, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and soul and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Matthew 22:37-40)

+Make sure your neighbors have enough food to eat.

+Make sure your neighbors have a safe place to live.

+Make sure your neighbors have the healthcare they need.

+Make sure your neighbors have clean water to drink.

+Make sure your neighbors have clean air to breathe.

+Make sure your neighbors are included and welcome in your community.

This includes:

+Your neighbors of another race

+Your neighbors of another religion

+Your neighbors from another country

+Your neighbors who are sick or have a disability

+Your neighbors who are LGBTQ+

+Your neighbors who are in poverty

+Your neighbors who are lonely

+Your neighbors who are in prison

These days, a plethora of politicians tell Christians that a "Christian voter" votes for the person who will "ban abortion." I also believe churches and clergy who crave political power repeat this lie to the people in their pews. However, abortion is largely a product of poverty, sexual / domestic violence, and lack of adequate healthcare. We cannot neglect the roots of this problem and trade the well-being of our neighbors and communities for a politician's potentially empty promises. We are called to care for the whole person of our neighbor; for their wellbeing and human dignity; we are called to care all of creation as well as humankind.

RBG's Death, and the Anguish of the Targeted

I read through my Facebook feed last night, and since we all have different FB feeds based on our social circles, I want to let you know what I am seeing. These are the people who are in anguish, especially now after RBG's passing:

BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color)

People who are here as immigrants, even those who are now citizens

LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender people

People who are part of interracial and/or intercultural families

People who belong to marginalized religious communities, such as Muslims and Jews

People with disabilities

Journalists, scientists, and academics

Women of all ages

Men (particularly clergy) who understand the level of peril these above groups are now in at this point in time in our country.

Friends, I'll say it again. it's not about Democrat or Republican anymore. It's about the rise of neo-Fascism, and that we've got about six weeks to prevent it from completely taking over.

It has already co-opted a large portion of Christians and Christian churches; a large portion of our Legislature; a large portion of our Executive branch at the state and federal level; and now there is a reasonable threat to our Supreme Court as well.

Straight, white, middle-class and wealthy people might end up being ok, but the rest of us who aren't these things will not be. And those we love who are these things, will not be.

So for those of us who love our neighbors--get out the vote, and help our neighbors get to the polls safely. Encourage early voting.

For those of us who seek to pastor our people--preach love of neighbor and our duty to seek the wellbeing of foreigners, the sick, the poor, the hungry. Teach about our country's history of ethnic cleansing and genocide, and Christian complicity in the Holocaust.

For those of us who are healthy enough to do so--volunteer as poll workers and election observers.

And pray, folks. Pray that we as a nation will come to our senses and realize that our true strength is in our diversity, welcome, and inclusion. Not in our suppression of civil rights and human dignity.

We Need to Talk About Neo-Fascism

Friends, we need to talk about Neo-Fascism.

We need to understand Neo-Fascism. We need to study how it emerged in other societies in the past, and understand how it has emerged in our own society.  We need to be writing about it and talking about it. Our love of neighbor compels us not to be silent:

Historically, Fascism is characterized by ultra-nationalism; the violent suppression of dissent or criticism (by journalists, academics/ scientists, and activists); and by a forcible segregation of society along racial, ethnic, religious, economic, gender/orientation, and ability/ disability lines. It is most commonly associated with WW2-era Italy (Mussolini) and Nazi Germany, but it has spread in other places and times as well.

Fascism seeks to remove (through concentration, detention, deportation/ expulsion, deprivation of basic needs, and death) any group seen to be weak, vulnerable, or a 'drain on society.' This is often justified through rhetoric appealing to 'law and order,' or by economic necessity.

A fascist leader may rise to power through a constitutional election process, but the leader often has authoritarian ambitions--a one party government; the leader may refuse to yield power to a democratically-elected opposition candidate, thereby becoming a dictator. They may be an autocrat--seeking to make and enforce policy without checks and balances on their authority. They slander, discredit, and sometimes forcibly remove or silence anyone who disagrees with them. They may be a charismatic leader who instills a deeply loyal following by emphasizing an 'us vs. them' rhetoric that gives a sense of belonging and a common enemy.

A fascist leader may be able to enforce their power through state-sponsored violence (co-opting the military and/or police); and/or through the use of non-state sponsored militia or paramilitary forces. These militias may terrorize targeted populations through their open display of weapons; shooting or beating up unarmed persons belonging to targeted groups; 'patrolling' and harassing neighborhoods where targeted populations live; burning down or otherwise attacking homes, businesses, houses of worship, or other civic structures of targeted populations; and/ or destroy property or attack people and blame the targeted groups for the destruction.

(We saw a lot of this over the summer in Minneapolis and other cities, where the majority of large-scale arson and other serious vandalism was committed by white persons, as court records and surveillance footage have later shown). By and large, Black people were blamed in the immediate aftermath for the actions of these white people).

A fascist leader may also co-opt large segments of the majority religion (historically Christianity), and the wealthy classes, by promising policies favorable to them. They may appeal to the working and middle classes by promising economic benefits, a return to 'traditional values,' or a return to 'law and order.'

Fascism invokes fear of anarchy, 'Marxism,' and liberal thought as the major threats to an orderly society. It is the complete opposite of egalitarianism. It can be incredibly misogynist--pushing for the return of women to stereotypical gender roles and out of the workforce. This has less of an impact on upper-income and/or right-wing Christian households, where women are less likely to have a full-time, needs-supporting income outside the home. Universities permitting dissent may be closed; public school curriculum may be altered to be more favorable to the fascist agenda; and pastors who speak out against human rights abuses may be forced out of their churches by supporters of the fascist leader. Mayors and governors who seek to preserve their citizens' civil rights may face retaliatory action as well until they comply with orders or are forced out of office.

We need to recognize, study, speak out against, and work to prevent neo-Fascism from overtaking our society this fall. I will be doing what I can to educate others, and I invite you to do the same.

If you would like to learn more about Fascism and don't know where to start, Wikipedia actually is a good starting point. It has dozens of scholarly resources to read cited there, for further study. Here's a link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism

We Are Each Others' Keepers

Good grief. I was listening to the BBC today covering a report of the UN Human Rights Commissioner on the excessive use of force against protestors, the incarceration of women and children, the abuses in police custody and the arrests of people by officials in unmarked cars, and the concern for additional violence related to the elections--and I honestly couldn't tell whether they were talking about our own United States or somewhere else until they finally said, "reporting from Minsk."

Denial ain't just a river in Egypt, folks. It's possible you could have surrounded yourself with a white enough social circle and be financially comfortable enough not to realize what's going on, but I do believe unless people are hiding under a rock and intentionally tuning out all standard reputable news sources, it's getting almost impossible to deny we have a major civil rights crisis in our country--affecting not only Black people, but also citizens of Latinx, Indigenous, Arab and Asian descent; immigrants (documented or undocumented) LGBTQ+ people, religious minorities, people who are poor, people who have disabilities. 

And increasingly, dissidents and protestors--even those who are peacefully expressing their concerns within their constitutional rights.

These times increasingly remind me of the famous quote from Pastor Martin Niemoeller, during the Holocaust:

"First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out—because I was not a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I did not speak out— because I was not a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—because I was not a Jew.

Then they came for me—and there was no one left to speak for me."

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/martin-niemoeller-first-they-came-for-the-socialists

We are each others' keepers, friends. When harm comes to our neighbors (even the neighbors we may choose not to see), harm comes to us as well.

Remembering: September 11, 2001

I was on home leave/ speaking tour from Palestine/ Israel for the month; and I'd had a layover at Newark a few days earlier, looking across the water at the Twin Towers. I considered going for a quick visit; then owing to jet lag and being unsure if I'd be back in time for my next flight, I decided to wait until my way back. I've never been through that way since. I would end up spending a full year in Iraq, before and after the war; appalled at the destruction and the suffering of the people; and eventually becoming one of the first to document what would later become known as the Abu Ghraib scandal. It often seems like yesterday. Such tremendous suffering; not only for us and the 3,000 people our country lost; but so much more so for the 1.5 million Iraqis who were killed for something they didn't do.