In the usually quiet and bucolic state of Maine, controversy has been stirring over the Democratic senator hopeful, Graham Platner. While his supporters are hoping that the ideas he supports will help turn the Senate blue, controversy has clouded the process. Of particular concern is a tattoo on his chest – which he has since covered up – that, it was discovered, is connected the Nazi Secret SS. He says that he got it in 2007 while he was in Croatia – as a Marine – after a long night of heavy drinking. In the worst-case scenario, he may have been told what it was and said, “cool”; in the best-case scenario, he was so drunk that he just liked the design. Even if he was unaware of its meaning, this shows an adult, serving in our military, behaving like an idiot. If I were to put something like that on my body, I would want to know what it meant. Stories are also coming out about Platner’s sexting and toxic behavior towards women. More on that in the future.
The other side of the coin is Pete Hegseth, the Secretary of Defense. He has multiple tattoos sporting anti-Islamic phrases, and he continues to defend them. One is connected with the Crusades, an evil part of the Church’s past that most Christians have repudiated. The other is a sword based on the Gospel of Matthew with the word “kafir”, meaning infidel. He is a Christian Dominionist. He has also admitted to multiple episodes of infidelity during his first marriage and has been accused of the same by his two other wives. Hegseth has been accused of misogyny and racism in the way he has handled promotions in the military and is a member of a church that promotes taking the vote away from women. This is not inuendo – this is fact.
I don’t expect everyone to have the same moral standards I do, and I don’t want my moral standards to be turned into law. What I do want is a consensus – or, at least, a conversation – about what is and isn’t appropriate in elected and appointed leaders. I grew up believing that Nazis and inequality were wrong. I grew up believing that people should be allowed to practice their religion freely, as long as they didn’t hurt anyone. I grew up hoping that the people making decisions for all of us should be mostly good. Both parties have lost credibility – both parties haven’t lowered the bar; they’ve thrown the bar away. I don’t expect Hegseth or Platner – who are two sides of the same coin – to be Sunday School teachers, but I do expect them to be true to their vows. If they can’t do that, how can they uphold and defend the Constitution? We should be able to do and be better.
Prayer – Merciful God, none of us is perfect, but that’s no excuse for abusive immorality. Heal us, we pray. Amen.
Today’s image is a Sonnenrad, literally “Sun Wheel,” the ancient Indo-European symbol was appropriated by Nazi Germany and later by neo-Nazis. White Supremacists also us a lot of Viking mythology symbols in their repertoire.