Every president has, in some way or another, used religion to get elected. Up until the 1950s, it was a given that candidates were white Christian men who held the same values everyone else did. At least, every voter. Eisenhower wasn’t a church member – he wasn’t even baptized – but was counseled on the wisdom of being both, so he found Jesus. Nixon instituted the first regular Bible Study and had Rev. Billy Graham as a regular guest. Trump used the very conservative branch of the faith to get what he wanted, but he fooled nobody. Like the American public, our presidents have varied in their levels of faithfulness, from zero to 11; all ignoring what the Constitution said about not having a religious test to hold office. Those founders of our nation were smart and optimistic, even though they probably knew nobody would pay attention to the parts of our foundational documents that they found inconvenient.
Enter Ron DeSantis, who believes he can become president solely based on an anti-woke agenda. I was asked recently what I believed woke meant, and my answer was simple: it is recognizing oppression, both systemic and individual and working to bring justice into the world. It is about equality and diversity and inclusion and, yes, sometimes equity. Mr. DeSantis believes that Drag Queen Story Time and gay people and immigration and teaching about racism in America are threats to democracy, part of the woke agenda. I disagree. And I think Jesus would disagree as well. Jesus was, by my definition, about as woke as anyone could be. He was hated and eventually murdered for His wokeness. It’s in the Bible if you don’t believe me.
If you want to hate people or fear difference or believe in conspiracy theories, that’s your pity party. Just stop blaming Jesus. Stop telling everyone that your candidate is God’s choice and that God is in control of everything. If this is the level of God’s work, we are all in big trouble. Stop telling us that the things that disturb you are in the Bible – they aren’t. Your mistreatment of the poor? The Bible condemns it. Your hatred of your enemies? Same. Believing women are not equal in every way, both legally and biblically? Jesus needs to see you after church. Stop twisting God into your deviant understanding of right and wrong; God is about wokeness – God is about justice. The Year of Jubilee? Woke. Blessed are the poor and the peacemakers. Woke. The parables of the widow’s coin and the prodigal family and the Samaritan that did the right thing? Woke – woke – woke.
Stop using my faith as an excuse for your hate. If you believe in God, just tell the truth. If you are a follower of Jesus, compare your stance on things to the teachings of Jesus. If you are honest, you will find that most of what passes for politics is just bigotry in a pretty package. Jesus lived and breathed and taught justice, and His followers lost sight of that pretty quickly. We can’t. The world needs us to wake up and bring justice. That’s God’s work.
Prayer – Holy God, You have woken us to our misguided ways and challenged us to do justice. Thank You. Amen.
Today’s art is a sculpture created by artist Aaron Bell, tying the history of current racial discrimination to the historical roots of black oppression. The bold work features a noose-like head on a muscular body with a captivating windmill-like part in the heart of the piece. The base of the work reads, “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about the things that matter,” quoting Martin Luther King Jr.