Many R 2 Blame 4 Trump

 THERE IS PLENTY OF BLAME TO SHARE

+Bishop Durrell Watkins, D.Min. 

   I'm super annoyed. I know, take a number. But I'm not just annoyed by Our Clockwork Orange administration, or by Christian Nationalism (more broadly known as white supremacism), or by the earth crying out in pain (& her tears can cayse us quite a bit of pain) in response to abuse humanity has inflicted upon her. I'm annoyed by the all too common narrative that VP Harris was a bad choice & JB before her (& thst narrative is what made her a candidate).  If only the D's had made wiser choices(!). Um, no.

   I don't buy that  we had bad candidates (when T has a chance in hell, quality isn't the issue, & Harris is as good a leader as we might hope for & better than we deserved). I don't buy that D's are too liberal or too conservative, too much like GOP, too little like Rust belt America. Few D candidates are as left of center as FDR who saved this country from ruin. Both FDR & Johnson promised government help to address poverty and in differing measure, to address racial discrimination. And even if Dems are left of the vibe of the moment, their job is to sell their ideas, not hide/disguise/deny them to win elections. 

   This is a racist, homophobic, sexist country (one's singular lesbian friend or one hardline POC candidate does not negate this), wealth (even by those who lack it) is our religion, & the commercialized American church has embraced the greed & hatred & called them holy. Oligarchy, racism, neo-fascist leanings, & theocracy have conspired together to dominate this country, destroy its diversity, & diminish its compassion. This has been in the works for 40 years & they made a grab for power (complete with attacking the capital & being pardoned for it!!) when they knew few ppl of consequence would stand in their way. That is not the cause of any one or seven Dem tickets. 

Inexiable nonvoters are hugely to blame, as is the media who sold fact checking & truth telling for ratings & $$ while giving free air time to the most loathsome voices in American politics. 

   The coalition of evil told us they were coming (a rare instance of honesty) & the mild middle & pusillanimous media held the door open for them as they came. 

   And, the largest share of blame goes to every eligible voter who saw women's rights bulldozed, trans* people demonized, social safety nets put on the chopping block (as I angrily mix metaphors), & racist rhetoric normalized & thought, "Hell yeah, that sounds pretty good". 

   As culpable are those who saw how ugly it all was & supported it anyway for tax breaks or cult like loyalty to a brand. "I don't feel that way" means squat all if you in fact vote that way.

   We've lost house, senate, scotus, and WH...that coup took decades, not one Tuesday in one November. With little left to lose we may as well offer the bold alternative. They call centrists the "far left." I wish we could organize a loud & fully committed Left. We can at least speak up as conscience demands & vote every single time (local too). 

   But for now, the "how did we get here" question cannot be answered with "people didn't like the old guy who wasn't demonic & they didn't like the woman of color, so what could they do but empower an amoral dictator?" 

   No. People chose perfidy & cruelty & avarice and now we have chaos (as we did in his first term, but now there are fewer adults to restrain him and his dementia has worsened). Maybe we'll learn from this...but I have doubt.

   This is a huge mess. We can all do what we can, if not with real hope of healing, then as least with the consolation of having engaged in moral resistance. But this burning dinosaur turd is not because a Black woman was thrust into a candidacy with only 100 days to build a movement. It's because we've watched bigotry & greed grow larger, stronger, & more organized for over 4 decades without calling it out consistently & with conviction. Some are now coming to the realization that may have been a mistake. (dw)

America Lost and Right Wing Christianity was exposed as the Temple of Hypocrisy that it is

Re: Nov 5 election results:

I am proud to have been on the side of goodness. I always am displeased when my team doesn't win, but the Hillary and Harris DEFEATS (Hillary didn't really LOSE) are unique in that they left me bitter, broken, and depressed. If they had lost to a real person rather than to a cartoon villain, I would simply be "damn, we lost." But when Simon Bar Sinister was given the keys to 1600 P (grab) Avenue, it wasn't that my "side" lost, it was that America and in some ways the world lost. Decency lost. Truth lost. Kindness lost. Compassion lost. The quest for equity and fairness and justice was certainly set back. This isn't one democratic ideology being more popular than another, this is autocracy, oligarchy, and Neo-facsism being given a green light to ruin lives. and that is heartbreaking. We still have the tools of democracy to retard and sometimes prevent the march toward dystopia, and in two years we will have the chance of congressional victories that will offer more protection, and if we take our local and state elections seriously, that can provide another level of protection. But all the Bible and prayer and morals and decency talk that we were raised with meant nothing to those who taught it (or at least nothing to the ones they tried to teach) which is why the judgements and condemnations of evangelicals and fundamentalists should from this moment on mean not one damn thing to anyone ever again.

Justice for ALL...

I am an unapologetic activist for gay and lesbian equality, AND, I also see the need for the Queer community to recognize and address class, race, and gender privilege within our community (and also beyond). To be justice workers and change agents, we must be mindful of and concerned about all oppressions.

We Can End Oppression

It looks like there are only 5 states left with unchallenged marriage bans, and about 70% of states now have marriage equality. This is so much closer than I thought we'd be in my lifetime, and it is totally possible that we will have freedom to marry in all 50 states by the end of next year. If we can do this, we can also stop the war on women/choice, heal the deep wounds of racism in our country, establish economic justice and prosperity for all, and even end war for profit. Seriously, if we can win the race toward marriage equality, we can overcome all oppressions, and we must never stop trying to do just that.

80% Free Isn't Free Enough (More on the Hobby Lobby Court Decision)

In the fall out from the Hobby Lobby decision yesterday, some have argued that HL's insurance plans offer 16 of 20 possible contraceptive options; they only are denying plans that cover so-called abortifacients (such as the "morning after pill) because, in the view of Christianity held by the owners of Hobby Lobby, full human-life begins at conception.

But that is irrelevant. For Hobby Lobby owners to passionately hold a philosophical view is their right; it is not their right to enforce that view on anyone, not even their employees. If medical therapies are legal, then it should not be in the employer's power to make health care decisions for individuals.

The HL family is apparently evangelical in their beliefs; but if they were Christian Scientist, would they have the right to deny any insurance to anyone because they passionately disbelieved in the efficacy of "materia medica" for "true" healing? If they were Jehovah's Witnesses, who passionately and honestly oppose blood transfusions, would they be allowed to prevent employees from choosing them? If they were Scientologists who diagree with psychiatry, could they prevent people from taking medication that might control an anxiety disorder? You see, it doesn't matter if you agree with HL's view about birth control; the precedent has now been established that one's religious beliefs can trump someone else's personal freedom to choose, and that opens the door to religion being used in ways that you might later not find agreeable.

See, the issue isn't whether any of us share the HL family's faith (and as a pro-choice Christian, I do not); the issue is that as a corporation, the HL BUSINESS does not have religious liberties (though, according to the court which has established the personhood of corporations, I seem to be mistaken). Religious freedoms are afforded to individuals and to churches (or other religious bodies, e.g., temples, synagogues, etc.), and the beliefs of the HL owners are interfering with the rights of individuals to make their own health care choices. Someone who doesn't hold the HL's belief (aka opinion) should not be denied their freedom to choose for themselves.

So, the Hobby Lobbyists (a good phrase for a variety of reasons) are entitled to their beliefs, but they have now persuaded five MEN on the nation's highest court to give them the power over their female workers' bodies. They now have the ability to say of 20 options available, you may choose one of 16 regardless of what YOUR values, opinions, beliefs, or perceived needs are and regardless of what your medical practitioner believes is in your best interest. They have said 80% freedom is free enough, and I disagree.

This isn't about how devout the owners are; this is about the wage earner being denied legal choices. The worker must now sacrifice sovereignty over her own body to comply with someone else's values, and that is neither moral nor just.

Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Sunshine Cathedral

Senior Minister

Pastoral Response to the SCOTUS "Hobby Lobby" Decision

"[MCC] affirms that all people are entitled to the rights and resources that equip them to make their own decisions about their bodies, their sexuality, and their well-being, including the inalienable right of women to control their bodies. We call on all levels of government and civil society to honor and respect those rights." from MCC's Statement of Faith on Women's Reproductive Health, Rights, & Justice

Companions on the spiritual journey:

As a faith leader and a parish minister, I stand in solidarity with other people of faith who are outraged by the US Supreme Court's decision on June 30th, 2014 in the "Hobby Lobby" case. The Court ruled that requiring family-owned corporations to pay for insurance coverage for contraception violated a federal law protecting religious freedom. This decision, in my view, privileges the religious biases of a company's owners while treading on the rights and freedoms of individuals.

As so many leaders have already stated, this decision opens the door for a series of injustices. If legal medications can be denied because of someone's religious views (other than the one taking the medication), then it is entirely possible that family owned business could refuse to offer medical coverage for blood transfusions, AIDS therapies, vaccinations, psychiatric medications, medical marijuana, or any number of medical procedures because someone other than the recipient of the legal medications objected to them for "religious" reasons. Dogma is rarely life-enhancing and in this instance may prove to be very dangerous.

As a religious progressive, I support the idea that universal health care is a right, not a privilege; and I further affirm the verity that that neither churches nor corporations nor governments own human bodies and women are the ultimate authority when it comes to their own health care and procreative choices.

LBGT people know what it is to be judged, marginalized, and vilified for their consensual, adult relationships and gender identities; in other words, the Queer community knows what it means to have their bodies and their sovereignty over them diminished. As a Queer man I object to the colonization of bodies even (and maybe especially) when it is done in the name of religion.

The consciences, needs, and values of workers were ruled to be secondary to the religious opinions of business owners in the June 30th decision. The values of the powerful and privileged were affirmed while the values of workers of modest means were dismissed, and that is not justice.

It is time that people of faith insist that patriarchy and its wayward children: heteronormativity, racism, nationalism, and misogyny cease to be elevated to the position of religious values. It is time that we speak out more passionately than ever before when we see people being punished for their class, gender identity, sexuality, or procreative choices.

Yours in the spirit of justice-love,

  

Rev Dr Durrell Watkins

Senior Minister, Sunshine Cathedral

PS ~ Below are some powerful statement by other faith leaders:

Rev Dr Nancy Wilson, Presiding Elder & Moderator of Metropolitan Community Churches: 

"The high court of the United States put all of our freedoms at risk today. Conservatives will now seek to deny a range of civil liberties and religion will be an excuse to discriminate."

A statement from The Religious Institute, led by Unitarian Universalist minister Rev Debra Haffner:

"The Religious Institute decries today's U.S. Supreme Court decision undermining true religious freedom--the right of individuals to make their own moral choices."

Unitarian Universalist president, Rev Peter Morales:

"I am deeply concerned by the growing rights granted to corporations by this decision and others of this Court and our Congress. I am also deeply concerned by the growing use of the religious freedom argument as a tool of discrimination and oppression."

Rev Harry Knox of The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice:

"The Religious Coalition for Reproductive Choice is dismayed by the Supreme Court's decision...which perverts our nation's historic understanding of religious liberty. As a coalition of denominations and religious organizations, RCRC is gravely concerned about the Court's notion that a for-profit corporation is able to exercise religion."

Dr Serene Jones, president of Union Theological Seminary in the City of New York:

"As a Christian, I believe that God creates human beings individually, and that the mark of our individual blessedness before God is our souls. It is this soul that allows us to be bearers of rights and obligations and rational agents capable of holding religious beliefs. Hobby Lobby would have us believe that corporations, too, have souls. This is not the case. I am horrified by the thought that the owners of Hobby Lobby as Christians think their corporation has a soul, and I'm even more appalled that the Supreme Court agrees."

Bishop Gene Robinson (The Episcopal Church):
"The Jesus I follow always stood with the poor and powerless - and trust me, this struggle is about power. Whether the issue touches women or gays and lesbians, our religion should be about more love, not less; more dignity, not less."

Sharing a Colleague's Wise Words (about Privilege)

“Talking about privilege is difficult, if it makes you uncomfortable that's probably a good thing. Growth is uncomfortable. Let's all examine the places we have privilege. Are you white? Are you able-bodied? Are you not trans? Are you a man? Are you straight? Are you financially comfortable? Are you well educated? These aren't things that should make you feel shame! But if you are in these categories (especially if you are in most of these categories) please have some awareness about those whose lives are complicated simply by not being you.” Rev Jakob Hero (MCC minister/hospital chaplain)