I grew up with two ideas about equality. 1 – God made us all in God’s image, so we are all the same inside, and 2 – ever since America was an idea, equality was not at the center of it. Most Christians I know agree with the first idea, but too many people of all faiths find the second one hard to handle. We were taught that the American Revolution was fought for a number of reasons, one of them being equality. Just read the history and ask women and descendants of enslaved people what they think. If they feel free to disagree, you might hear a story like the one I learned. As a child, I watched the Civil Rights Movement, already in progress for centuries, unfold; the objective learner would admit that it continues to this day to become what the Dream said it should be. We still do not have equality in America.
The Trump administration is doing all it can to remove transmen and women from the armed forces. Why? It isn’t because they can’t fight as well as Cisgendered people – that has disproven many times over. It isn’t that they aren’t smart enough – their brain is the same now as it was before. No – this is being done purely out of cruelty based in religious bigotry, fear, and self-loathing. One of the arguments used is that transpeople make others uncomfortable in the locker room. Really? I don’t know about these perverts, but when I am in a common locker room, the last thing I’m doing is checking out people’s equipment. Crude? Sure; but sometimes you have to tell it clearly, so it makes sense. This is all about embedding inequality into America.
Then I have to ask, who is next? What group will they go after once they’ve done this? There are already a number of moves taking place to keep women down: taking away bodily autonomy, controlling birth control, removing women from the frontlines, and having one vote per household in elections. Immigrants with green cards are being deported, and high-level administration officials like Stephen Miller don’t believe that rights exist for non-citizens. The movement towards white, straight, christian (conservative/evangelical), male hegemony is moving back to a time when they were the only ones who had equality. Please take note of this, my non-Christian Trump supporters. This isn’t just unethical – it is immoral and unchristian. We are not, and never have been, a place of equality. And it is getting worse.
Prayer – Holy God, speak to those who would subvert Your way of equality and teach them the righteous path You have offered. Amen.
Today’s art is “Art and Equality” by Aria Foster.