Message through the coronavirus

It seems that whenever the United States undergoes any trauma — take the war in Iraq and 9/11 as examples — folks who belong to the “religious right” try to tell people that the presence of gays and legal abortion were to blame. The same is being said today with the coronavirus pandemic.

It could be that the situation in which we find ourselves today is indeed the result of God’s judgment, but not in the way they believe. Rather, I suspect that He is judging much of the church on how we have always regarded the poor and powerless, which by the way is the second-most addressed issue in the Scriptures. Mind you, I’m not talking about “charity”; I’m referring to a general sense of empowerment, which would include adjusting the political system to allow folks to make their way without charity.

And guess what they would call that? “Socialism.” Which indicates to me that their own addiction to power, often practiced in the name of religion, sabotages the very spiritual awakening they say they want.

Let’s go back to the history of Israel, which remained in the Promised Land for 490 years but was exiled for 70. The number of years in both cases are significant — part of the Levitical law included returning parcels of land to their original clans every 50 years at part of the Year of Jubilee, but there’s no indication that Israel ever practiced that, the result being rampant economic and social inequality.

Today we have a president, supported by a majority of evangelical Christians who believe that “fake news” about the virus is designed to hurt him politically. This same president has shown no empathy toward those infected with the virus, insisting that his chief priority is getting the economy — that is, the stock market — going again and even saying recently that he wanted to see packed churches on Easter Sunday, which of course is just two weeks away. (Medical experts are saying that things will get worse, not better, over the next few weeks and likely beyond.)

And look just whom the quarantine is primarily affecting — folks who work in service industries such as restaurants and taverns, especially those that support live music (which means that many of my fellow musicians are out of work) as well as many retail outlets. And then you have overworked medical paraprofessionals, grocery store workers and warehouse employees, many of whom don’t make that much money in the first place and thus don’t own any stock.

I learned a couple of years ago that what we know today as the “religious right” was originally funded by industry groups. While there’s nothing wrong in itself with having money, even a lot of it, we seem to forget that whatever we have ultimately belongs to God and should be used for His purposes. It thus could be that depressing the stock market due to the coronavirus is another of His ways to let us know that we’re on the wrong track.

Sadly, I don’t think that message will be heeded.

Explaining and understanding Biden’s ‘invitation to the cookout’

One of the biggest surprises of the recent election season was former Vice-President Joe Biden’s improbably strong showing, winning 10 states, during last week’s “Super Tuesday” primaries propelled largely by African-American voters in the South — places where he didn’t even campaign in part due to lack of funds.

The suspicion is that Biden was bolstered by his association with former President Barack Obama, which is likely true but not for the reasons often suspected. The following piece by a Laurie Goff has been making its way online:

“This old rich white man played second fiddle to a black man. Not just any black man, but a younger black man, a smart black man. Not just for a day. Not [one], not [two] but eight years. He took his cues from this black man who had more power than [he] and was virtually unknown when he took the presidency, and Joe Biden had been around forever.

“He was willing and proud to be his [wingman]. Not once did he try to undermine him, this black man. Instead Joe walked in lockstep with him, he respected him, he loved and trusted him. He was led by him and he learned from him. And Joe did not have a problem with it.

“You tell me what 40+ year ‘establishment’ white politician has ever done that. Joe Biden is cut from a different cloth. And black folks understand that and for good reason. He has shown it.

“This is what showing up and being an ally looks like. When black people say they know Joe, this is how we know.” (Emphasis mine.)

The term “invited to the cookout” in African-American parlance refers to being in sync with the political goals and aspirations of the African-American community. And one of those goals is the ability to wield authority in the greater society without having to defer to what’s often considered the fragility of white society in general. It isn’t about specific programs targeted to us; it’s about self-determination as to what policies benefit not just us but America as a whole.

To put another way, blacks simply won’t be tokens or mere window-dressing. We demand and expect to be taken seriously.

This is why, for example, the Republican Party and the right-wing conservatives who run it have no chance of ever getting African-Americans to vote for them — they have never had any interest in sharing power with those with whom they disagree regardless of color. While we’re not always happy with the Democrats, in the words of Miami Herald columnist Leonard Pitts Jr., “At least our needs are on the table.” And it surely isn’t the Democrats trying to keep us from voting in the first place.

More to the point, however, in response to Obama’s election the year before, in 2009 the Republican Party elected Michael Steele to its presidency, but he ended up being forced out not long afterwards because of meddling. And just how many black conservatives are actually involved in crafting overall policy? Not. A. Single. One. (Window dressing, as I mentioned above.)

Why did Biden win despite what might be considered problematic political positions in his past? He as Vice President acted as though we were equal — and that means more than you might appreciate.

Misrepresenting God

One of my worst fears is coming true.

One of my concerns about evangelical Christians supporting President Trump with such fervor despite his lack of respect for even Christian traditions, let alone morality, is that we would end up making ourselves look and sound silly in the process and thus besmirch the Name of Jesus.

A Trump opponent in Asbury Park, N.J.  has taken that ball and run with it.

An entry in the Urban Legends Reference Page, better known as snopes.com, showed a sign being displayed on his lawn saying “God bows to President Donald J[sic] Trump [because] he is perfect.” It dawned on me, however, that he wasn’t just mocking the president.

He was mocking his evangelical supporters even more. And that hurts, because God is being embarrassed.

Now, we may say that that sign went too far and that the president is only being used by God as a tool to implement His divine agenda. But what actually is that agenda? Well, to these people it’s merely ending legal abortion, driving gays back into the closet and lifting up America. But Trump does so without a shred of humility or regret, focusing only on defeating the “enemies of God.”

And doing so doesn’t bless Him in the least, if for no other reason than He’s being misrepresented. Worse, the “world” is catching on.

The right’s real fear of ‘socialism’

Sen. Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who’s running for president and identifies as a “socialist,” has much of the conservative movement in a tizzy. As a result, it’s trying to hang the rest of the Democratic Party as pushing “socialism” (though more of a “democratic socialism” that prevails in Europe).

But there’s a reason for that. Those folks who say that oppose such are really saying something else — that they alone are entitled to what they have, primarily power, whether political or social, and don’t intend to share that with those they deem “inferior.”

In other words, what they really oppose is justice for the poor. Yes, they do.

And this goes back to the 1940s, with Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s “New Deal,” which was branded socialist but which FDR understood was needed to stave off a bigger problem — the widespread economic insecurity created by the Great Depression that resulted in Marxism, which he absolutely opposed, in much of Europe. Nevertheless, industry groups, feeling put upon by the administration because of an extremely high tax rate, forged an alliance with conservative religious groups to promote business activity as next to godliness. Have you noticed over the years that the “religious right” has always maintained a pro-business stance? That’s where it comes from.

Anyway, the Word of God mentions justice — and, in its context, it’s always “social justice” because it’s always collective and never merely individual — 150 times. It also mentions empowerment of the poor over 2,000 times, the second-largest theme in the Bible next to the worship of God. But many of those references are found in the Prophets, most notably in Isaiah, Amos and Micah, and the Epistle of James, which many evangelicals simply don’t read, which is why they dispute their presence.

It’s one reason many ignored or opposed the civil-rights movement, which came out of the conservative black church, saying then that God isn’t too concerned about social issues. They also deny the idea of “structural racism,” insisting that if people of color and those of lesser means simply played by the rules they would benefit. Ironically, many supporters of President Donald Trump complain that “the system is rigged,” which is why they voted for him in the first place.

What’s wrong with this picture? You would think that, rather than blaming the poor and powerless, they would seek them as allies and take their complaints to the top. Martin Luther King Jr., during one of his incarcerations, made that point — after hearing from some of his jailers that they felt that the system was screwing them, as well he said, in effect, “You ought to be with us.” And the big shots would fear that kind of alliance, which is why they’ve tried to keep people divided along race and class lines.

And that’s precisely why the fears of “socialism” don't register with me. Depending on who’s ox is being gored, everyone’s a socialist.

Don’t canonize Romney yet

After yesterday’s Senate vote to acquit President Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, Mitt Romney, former Massachusetts governor and now senator from Utah, received considerable praise for being the only Republican to find Trump guilty. Folks believe he was considerate of the evidence and put that over politics.

That is, at best, an exaggeration.

Remember that Romney is (or was — I don’t know if this is current) a bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, of course better known as the Mormon Church, to which two-thirds of Utahans belong.

I bring up that fact because, though Mormons tend to be as politically conservative as white evangelical Protestant Christians, 81 percent of which voted for Trump in 2016 — and he did win Utah that year — they vote their values. That is to say, Mormons were as a rule quite disgusted with Trump’s conduct in office as incongruent with their religion, even though they voted for him. On the other hand, such white evangelicals tend to vote their fears, which is why many remain in denial of Trump’s corruption and still support him regardless.

Let’s also remember that impeachment is less a moral mechanism than a political one, and Romney likely heard from his constituents that what Trump did was morally wrong. Romney probably did feel the same way and likely voted his conscience, but his Senate seat would have been in no danger regardless of how he voted.

You can’t say the same for his Republican colleagues, many of which, according to reports, would have pronounced him guilty had there been a secret ballot. But had they done so they would have faced the wrath of Trump supporters and perhaps even Trump himself, whether being “primaried” or verbally abused on social media and/or talk radio.

Basically, Romney’s “guilty” vote may have been every bit as political as his Republican colleagues’, but he was facing a different set of circumstances, so in this context he appears heroic. But it’s still politics, which means that every gesture has a hidden meaning.

No, there isn’t

The right-wing propaganda website breitbart.com published a piece insisting that African-Americans, based on the endorsement of a few celebrities, are leaving the “Democrat” party and throwing their support toward President Donald Trump.

If you believe that one, I have a bridge in Brooklyn or oceanfront property in Kansas to sell you. Trust me when I tell you that there is no such groundswell of support; if there were it would have happened decades ago — as conservatives were insisting even then. Indeed, on one internet forum in the early 2000s one person I was conversing with said that the first person of color to achieve the presidency would be a conservative Republican. I laughed.

With good reason, it turned out — because Barack Obama proved him wrong.

The reality is that Ronald Reagan, whom conservatives still revere but who was always contemptuous of black activists, drove most of the African-Americans out of the Republican Party; have you noticed that no Republican presidential candidate has received double-digit support since 1980? That reality likely chafes the psyche of the conservatives who have a hard time accepting that folks actually challenge them, which most African-Americans, who don’t fear them, do — which is why that piece ended up being published in the first place.

The bigger issue, however, is that in such propaganda the authors, as well as their supporters, don’t even talk to people they don’t agree with, so when things don’t come to pass, well, they just double down and shout louder.

But Trump’s overt racism and the conservatives’ unwillingness to address, let alone confront, it will keep the African-American community on what they call the “Democratic plantation” (though in reality they’re the ones playing “plantation politics”). They’ve said nothing about, among other things, housing and employment discrimination lawsuits against him going back decades, his broadsides against Mexicans and Muslims and remark about “sh__hole countries,” his vile attacks on former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick and other black NFL players protesting police brutality and his failure to deliver an address during Martin Luther King Jr. Day last year. (And during his lifetime, Dr. King displayed his own antipathy toward the political right.)

Why would any black person in his right mind support someone who does these things?