CARVING THE NINTH CIRCLE INTO STONE

Well, here they come again…no letup from the Texas Christian Nationalist contingent. Expectant mother, Kate Cox, sought court protection through the courts to allow her to have an abortion for a non-viable pregnancy; and, after that was accomplished, eagle-eyed Texas Attorney General Paxton put the kibosh on the ruling by appealing it to the Texas Supreme Court, which put a hold on the termination as they confer for a final ruling. Ken Paxton narrowly escaped impeachment recently, yet another miscalculation by conservatives, who don’t seem to mind that their office holders are crooks. Not satisfied that his act was severe enough, Paxton then threatened hospitals and doctors with both civil and criminal penalties if they follow Judge Guerra Gamble’s temporary restraining order favoring Cox. Nancy Jones in her Daily Kos commentary had written before Paxton’s intrusion, “We’re fixin’ to find out just how far these ‘Christian nationalists’ and their sadistic allies are willing to go.” After Paxton raised his ugly head, she commented further, “How far are they willing to go? We don’t know yet, but we’ve already ventured well into Dante’s ninth circle of hell. Christian, my ass!”

While Ken Paxton was acquitted by the Texas Senate trial, he still faces a federal investigation into the corruption charges that the Texans determined were groundless, or of no consequence in their eyes. In the meantime, he continues to do everything in his power to continue the suffering of the citizens of The Lone Star State. Heartlessness made another appearance in Congress, as Senator Josh Hawley of Missouri attacked Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, and Senator Mitch McConnell for taking out an amendment in the annual defense bill, which Hawley had co-sponsored. The measure would have extended compensation to people exposed to radiation from US nuclear testing for another nineteen years, its exclusion exposing another fracture in the GOP ranks. This bi-partisan amendment passed the Senate with a supermajority in August, but was not included in the final version of the bill, ultimately being dropped. Hawley called its removal a “betrayal” of the country’s commitment to the victims of radiation in service toward our national security. Though Hawley was quoted as saying, “Morally, this is obscene. To tell me that we have a trillion dollars to spend on defense contractors but we have nothing for the people of this country who their own government has poisoned – it’s ridiculous.” We might have more respect for his statement if he would begin to simply look around and probe a bit more seriously into the DC miasma.

Conservative Christians continue in their efforts to coerce others to believe as they do, because so-called ‘Christian values and principles’ tend to be one of the following: 1) General values and principles based on our innate sense of empathy which are shared by all cultures worldwide, yet claimed by Christians who want credit for them as if they are the sole arbiters of morality, or, 2) Deeply immoral commandments or prohibitions portrayed as God-sent, but in reality are just created as a means to control people and justify discriminating against others. So, the problem is that Christians Claim Number One as ‘uniquely Christian,’ while demanding Claim Number Two must be followed because it is just as valid because they originated it. Are you listening Mr. Paxton? And pass it on to Speaker Johnson while you’re at it!

A few months ago, the Alamo defenders in Austin attempted to pass Senate Bill 1515, requiring the Ten Commandments (that is, the version most favored by US Nationalists), to be displayed prominently in every public school classroom in the Bluebonnet State. This attempt to inject religion into the school system was immediately pounced on by State Representative James Talarico, the video of which may be seen on YouTube. The bill passed the Senate, after which it fell to the House Education Committee for consideration. There, Candy Nobel, a co-sponsor argued that, “This legislation will bring back this historic tradition of recognizing America’s foundational heritage in both our education and our judicial system.” Talarico posted a video of the meeting to his TikTok account, where he stood up for LGBTQ+ rights, calmly explaining why, as a Christian, he feels the “bill is not only unconstitutional, it’s not only un-American, it’s also deeply anti-Christian.” He said, “A religion that has to force people to put up a poster to prove its legitimacy is a dead religion, and it’s not one I want to be a part of. It’s not one I am part of.”

He argues further, “Every time on this committee that we try to teach basic students values like empathy or kindness, we’re told we can’t because that’s the parent’s role. Every time on this committee that we try to teach basic sex education to keep our kids safe, we’re told that’s the parent’s role, but now you’re putting religious commandments — literal commandments — in our classroom, and you’re saying that’s the state’s role. Why is that not the parent’s role?” Candy Nobel, silent at first, stammered a bit before saying, “That’s really an interesting rabbit trail that you’ve gone on with that.” Talarico asked Nobel, “Do you believe schools are for education and not indoctrination?” to which she answers, “Absolutely.” Talarico caps his argument with, “I guess what I’m trying to figure out is why having a rainbow flag in a classroom is indoctrination, but having the Ten Commandments in a classroom is not.” Standing up for the rights of students is a pattern in Talarico’s history, having fought against Governor Abbott’s voucher programs, book bans, and for having Narcan available for school emergencies. His arguments against Senate Bill 1515 may have been a factor in its outcome, but in any event it died on the vine before it could receive a vote as reported by The New York Times.

We have the two loudest mouths in DC to thank for carrying the ‘Christian Nationalism‘ banner: Marjorie Taylor Greene and Lauren Boebert, who speak as one on this subject, though one can’t stand the other, so they turn the other cheek — viewed on their backsides. And it’s not difficult to convince other lawmakers and candidates to follow their Pied Piper parade attacking the First Amendment…what fun! The only objections will be raised by heathens and pagans, like Jews, Hindus, atheists, agnostics, and Muslims – and Greene is able and willing to spout from any platform offered her. Boebert, who George Santos considered to be a Constitutional scholar in his expert view, pronounces that, “The church is supposed to direct the government, the government is not supposed to direct the church. I’m tired of this separation of church and state junk. This is not in the Constitution, it was a stinking letter and nothing like what they say it does.” Whoa, so Lauren, what’s that smell? Turns out she doesn’t like the content of a letter written by Thomas Jefferson who may have had a hand in writing the Constitution! So, if the gentleman was also a President, a vice-president, a Secretary of State, a lawyer and an architect, it hardly compares to Lauren’s GED from a Colorado high school, does it? Smells more like teen spirit, Lauren! Emanating from your ninth circle.

It’s reported that comedian Kathy Griffin had Mary Trump wincing after she detailed the one thing about Uncle Donald, that she believes “doesn’t get enough press.” She noticed “a distinct smell” during guest appearances on his ‘Apprentice‘ reality TV show. “It’s like body odor along with scented makeup products,” recalled Griffin. “But you can smell the hair products even outdoors,” she continued. Mary grimaced, but suggested someone should channel her uncle’s fragrance into a scented candle, “That’ll fly off the shelves at Christmas.” Might even outsell Gwyneth Paltrow’s famous candle!

The ‘Christian‘ part of ‘Christian Nationalism‘ hardly covers a lot of ground, being limited primarily to ‘fundamentalism,’ a carryover from the Nixon-Reagan-BushX2 years, with the ‘Orange Jesus’ corrupting it further. The ‘Nationalism‘ part of the term is also troublesome in that some equate it with patriotism. Where a true patriot might say, “I love my country and want it to be honorable, fair and just.” A Nationalist says, “My country, right or wrong.” It seems reasonable that the authors and signatories of the Constitution recognized that a theocracy is incompatible with democracy or republicanism, though with creeping religion holding sway over daily governmental affairs, we might be correct soon to call the US a theocracy.

A post on Quora says, “When a nation is dedicated and subservient to a divinity that has been absent for millennia, that divinity must then have its divine values interpreted by mere mortals. It follows that one or a few those mortals are then said to rule by divine right. That solves all problems. No need for voting, debate, or compromise. No need to form legislatures, congresses, or courts of law. The divinely appointed and anointed one is inspired from on high and therefore infallible. What made the US different from almost every other country that ever existed, and made it worthy of the patriotism it engenders, is that the founders said, ‘We are not buying this crap about the divine right of kings,’ as they gave the people the chance to determine their own destiny. No more failed theocracies, which is simply a power grab, being neither original nor likely to succeed!” No more ‘Orange Jesuses‘ — please!

Emo Philips had an interesting take on religionists: A guy was about to jump from the bridge when a Good Samaritan yelled, “Don’t do it!” Would-be jumper says, “Nobody loves me.” Good Sam says, “God loves you. Do you believe in God?” Answer is, “Yes.” Sam asks, “Are you a Christian or Jew?” Jumper answers, “A Christian.” Sam says, “Me, too! Protestant or Catholic?” Reply is, “Protestant.” “Me, too! What denomination?” asks Sam. Jumper says, “Baptist.” Good Sam replies, “Me, too! Northern or Southern Baptist?” Jumper answers, “Northern Baptist.” Sam enthusiastically answers, “Me, too. Northern Conservative Baptist or Northern Liberal Baptist?” Reply is, “Northern Conservative Baptist.” Excitable Sam says, “Me, too! Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region, or Northern Conservative Baptist Eastern Region?” Jumper answering back with, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region.” Hardly able to contain himself, Sam asks, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1879, or Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912?” Exhausted jumper answers, “Northern Conservative Baptist Great Lakes Region Council of 1912.” Good Sam says, “Die, heretic!” as he pushes the jumper over the railing.

Kevin Phillips, in his 2006 book, ‘American Theocracy’, quotes retired TV journalist and ordained Baptist minister, Bill Moyers, who broke with polite convention, by telling an audience at the Harvard Medical School that “one of the biggest changes in politics in my lifetime is that the delusional is no longer marginal. It has come in from the fringe, to sit in the seat of power in the Oval Office and in Congress. For the first time in our history, ideology and theology hold a monopoly of power in Washington.” Phillips says, “I would put it differently. These developments have warped the Republican Party and its electoral coalition, muted Democratic voices, and become a gathering threat to America’s future. No leading world power in modern memory has become a captive, even a partial captive, of the sort of biblical inerrancy – backwater, not mainstream – that dismisses modern technology and science.”

Phillips said further, “The intensity of religion in the US has deepened. Its huge carryover from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries turns out to have seeded a similar evangelical wave in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Such was religion’s enduring importance in the US when it was trod upon in the 1960s and thereafter by secular advocates determined to push Christianity out of the public square, a mistake that unleashed an evangelical, fundamentalist, and Pentecostal counter-reformation that in some ways is still building. Strong theocratic pressures are already visible in the Republican national coalition and its leadership, while the substantial portion of Christian America committed to theories of Armageddon and the inerrancy of the Bible has already made the GOP into America’s first religious party.” Remember, Phillips made these observations in 2006!

The United Methodist Church Conference in north Georgia has allowed more than a third of its congregations to formally cut ties after years of disagreement over the governing body’s ban on gay clergy and same-sex marriage. The churches defecting will no longer be allowed to practice their faith without arbitrary prejudice based on random interpretations of a text written a couple of thousand years ago. Novel, eh? Hardly heretical.

“The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” – William Faulkner