Alex Wagner is fascinating and infuriating because of her second show last night on MSNBC. I wanted to watch because she was covering what is happening in Florida with teachers being subjected to such extremes, that the shortage of teachers has caused the state to offer veterans positions, simply because they are veterans. (Needless to say, I am glad I moved out of Florida after 15 years there.) Her coverage of what teachers are going through with their training as the state is sinking to a whole new level of indoctrination of "Christian Nationalism" was fascinating.
It was the discussion that was carried out throughout the rest of the show that infuriated me.
She was interviewing Jelani Cobb, dean of the Columbia Journalism School. He is brilliant and Wagner is clearly intelligent. So how is it they missed the biggest point of all?
They missed the encapsulation of the many different Christian-based faiths into one use. Most of us are no longer wondering why Christianity itself has become an uncomfortable thing to belong to.
This is why the Constitution's 1st Amendment is something that needed to be first. It allows people of all faiths to choose on their own what they believe and to believe in nothing. It gives all people the right to speak freely so that no one can say only certain thoughts can be spoken. It gives the press the right to report. Other laws are in place to insure that the rights of others are not violated because of what some freedoms grant them to inflict damage onto others. You cannot slander anyone or you get sued.
All the other Christians out there trying to live as people of good deeds and trying to do the right thing have been slandered because of what the fringe Christian Nationalists try to do to everyone.
Watch Alex Wagner Tonight Highlights: Aug. 17
Is that really a problem, or just an abstract worry?
It is a serious problem. When nationalists go about constructing their nation, they have to define who is, and who is not, part of the nation. But there are always dissidents and minorities who do not or cannot conform to the nationalists’ preferred cultural template. In the absence of moral authority, nationalists can only establish themselves by force. Scholars are almost unanimous that nationalist governments tend to become authoritarian and oppressive in practice. For example, in past generations, to the extent that the United States had a quasi-established official religion of Protestantism, it did not respect true religious freedom. Worse, the United States and many individual states used Christianity as a prop to support slavery and segregation.
In other words, when you hear people saying the word Christian you may simply assume that you are included in the discussion of what nationalism is doing to the country.
If your faith is strong, you can stand up against this assault with confidence, defending that which you believe. If it is weak, then you may just go against the core of your soul and capitulate to their whims. If we do not defend all people of all faiths in this nation, then what are we willing to become?
Do you think that they will only go after non-Christians? They will not stop there. They will keep eroding all they can until they become the very thing the founding fathers reviled. They will be as the Pharisees were, hypocrites!
All of us of good faith, no matter what that faith is, need to stand up to them and make sure that reporters open their eyes to the fact that there are over 200 different Christian denominations in the US, but not all citizens are among them. The truth is, less than half the population attend religious service, no matter what group they feel connected to. Needless to say, there are also non-Christian-based faiths here are well.
We may not agree on what we believe but I think we all agree that should be left entirely up to each one of us to decide on our own and not have it forced on us, especially with our tax dollars. That is what all these new laws and regulations are funded by. All of our tax dollars pay for these politicians to take away our rights to believe as we choose to.
I don't know about you, but too many members of my family served in the military defending the rights these elected people want to take away. I want my rights defended as much as I want my neighbor's rights defended and it is appalling so many of us are afraid to even speak out to defend others or even our own.
Start finding out what you are voting for when you decide who to vote for instead of what party they represent. I want to know if they represent the rights of all, or just for some. I want to know if they are true to what they claim, or simply claim it hoping no one notices they are liars. It is time for us to make the devil tremble in the details of the truth.
The truth is, God was pro-choice because He gave all of us free will to decide for ourselves!
