Thursday, August 27, 2020

Pandemic Politics: Takeaways from Night Three of the RNC: Ignorance, Fear, Lies, and Idolatry

 Convention season is winding down and night three of the Republican National Convention is in the books. One of the advantages of the technology age is virtually everything gets recorded and archived for posterity. We don't have to wonder if people actually said something or claim they said something. Instead, we can simply pull up the video and gasp in horror as they say it. At least that was my reaction to watching some of the videos from the RNC. Four things I noticed by watching and listening to the speakers during the convention are the sheer level of ignorance they espouse, the fear-mongering about what will happen if they lose power, the blatant falsehoods told about their political opponents, and, sadly, idolatry from America's supposedly evangelical vice-president, Mike Pence. As Christians, it is our obligation to speak truthfully in love at all times. Perhaps someone should send Mr. Pence a Bible with some highlighted passages for him to study. I wonder if he will regret having sold his soul when his political career is over, hopefully in four and a half months. 

Let's begin with ignorance: The Republican Party likes to proclaim its fondness for America's history and frequently cites actions and words by our founding fathers and other historical statesmen from the past. In many cases, they get it wrong so they just make up something that sounds like a historical figure might have said it. Here's Lara Trump supposedly quoting Abraham Lincoln:

Trump declared that Abraham Lincoln "once famously said, 'America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.'"

Only, he never said that. Ever. Lincoln did, however, condemn mob violence in an 1838 speech to young men. Perhaps that was the sentiment that Ms. Trump wished to convey. It is a common theme at the RNC this year, which I will get to in a moment. 

Another attempt at rewriting history came from Madison Cawthorn (R-NC) when he claimed that James Madison signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776. Sorry, Madison, wishful thinking won't make it so. Altogether, there were seven signatories from Virginia but Madison was not among them, including its author, and future president, Thomas Jefferson. History is not hard folks. Get it right.

Let's move on to fear, which seems to be the primary theme of the RNC. Lots and lots of well-off white people are trotted out to give speeches about all that we have to fear in 'Joe Biden's America.' There will be riots, looting, protests, massive hurricanes (okay, I made that one up but he must have something to do with them, right?). If Joe Biden is elected president, America will be in flames, socialism will be everywhere, your kids won't get taxpayer-funded religious education, and low-income apartments will be built in the suburbs. Gasp! 

Let's think about what all these rich white people are actually saying. America will be in flames with riots and protests. That is happening now but not because of Joe Biden. It is happening because of the failure of the Trump Administration to speak out against police brutality against people of color. It is happening because young, unarmed black men keep getting shot by police officers. It is happening because most Americans have had enough of the systemic racism in our institutions. Far from enabling more of that, Joe Biden will adopt policies that will end those things. 

Socialism will be everywhere if Joe Biden wins? Really? Has he announced a plan to take state ownership of the means of production? If so, I haven't heard of it yet. Do these people even know what socialism actually consists of? I don't think so. They conflate shared responsibility with socialism all the time. I suggest they stop buying auto insurance, homeowner's insurance, and any other form of shared responsibility insurance if they're worried about socialism. Let them put up a surety bond to pay all their own expenses out of pocket if a catastrophe occurs. 

Low-income apartments are coming soon to a wealthy suburban neighborhood near you if Joe Biden wins. So what? Don't the poor deserve to live in safe, clean neighborhoods? Are these rich white people insinuating that poor people don't deserve to enjoy the American dream? I don't get what they fear about poor people. I guess if you can isolate them to low-income neighborhoods you never have to drive through you can forget they even exist. That makes it easier to believe that Donald Trump cares about people like you. 

Then, there are the blatant lies told by every speaker at the convention. Donald Trump cares about you. He is a compassionate man who loves all Americans and works hard every day on their behalf. He does so on Air Force One as he flies to Mar-a-Lago, he does so as he plays golf, he does so as he sleeps because he is so smart he absorbs things. After all, his uncle was a doctor. 

Oh wait, you want me to be specific about the lies. Okay, buckle up Buttercup because it is going to be a bumpy ride. Burgess Owens claimed that we fought against socialism in WWII. Uh, what? The communists (socialists) actually fought on our side against the Nazis (fascism). Look it up some time Burgess. 

The night ended with Mike Pence claiming the Trump Administration has made America great again. Let's see, over 180,000 dead as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the highest total in the world. Yep, that's greatness. At least we are number one in something. Millions of Americans are jobless, neighborhoods are burning, secret police forces are arresting citizens, and only 30% of Americans approve of the job the president is doing. That sounds like greatness to me. 

One of my political heroes, Ronald Reagan, ran for re-election in 1984 based on the idea of whether we were better off in 1984 than we were four years earlier. The overwhelming answer given by a majority of Americans was 'YES.' This administration can't ask that question because the vast majority of Americans would have to say no. Sure, some rich white people would say yes. But what has the administration actually done for working Americans? 


Mike Pence has made a point to claim he is an evangelical Christian. I'm not here to cast doubt on the veracity of that claim as only God knows the true state of a man's heart. It does, however, seem hypocritical (at the very least) to make such a claim and then publicly lie about your political opponent. 

Historian John Fea put it this way (parentheses are mine):

Pence’s speech was filled with misleading statements, half-truths, and blatant lies. He claimed that Joe Biden wants to defund the police (Biden specifically denied this here). 

He said that Biden “opposed the operation” that killed Osama bin Laden.” 

He said that Donald Trump has “achieved energy independence for the United States.” (This actually happened in 2013 under President Obama) 

He said Joe Biden wants to “end school choice.” 

He said Joe Biden wants to scrap tariffs on Chinese goods. 

He said that “no one who required a ventilator was ever denied a ventilator in the United States.” 

He said that Trump suspended “all travel from China” before the coronavirus spread. 

He said that Biden did not condemn the violence in American cities. 

He said that Biden supports open borders. 

All of these statements are either false or misleading.

Pence should know better and be held to a higher standard since he claims to be a man of faith. How he lives with himself, I have no idea. I know I could not do it, which is why I teach politics and will never run for office. 

Finally, Fea discusses the open idolatry Pence spoke about at the convention. He says it better than I ever could so I'll let his explanation suffice.

Finally, Pence has proven to be a master at fusing the Bible with American ideals. Again, this is not new. The patriotic ministers of the American Revolution did this all the time. It was heretical then. It is heretical now. Such a rhetorical strategy manipulates the Bible for political gain.

For example, Pence said, “Where the spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom, and that means freedom always wins.” Pence is referencing 2 Corinthians 3:17: “now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” This passage has NOTHING to do with the political or “American” freedom Pence was touting in his speech. St. Paul spoke these words to encourage the Corinthian church to live Spirit-filled lives that would free them from the bondage sin, death, and guilt. Pence has taken a deeply spiritual message and bastardized it to serve partisan politics and this corrupt president.

In the same paragraph, Pence says, “So let’s run the race marked out for us. Let’s fix our eyes on Old Glory and all she represents, fix our eyes on this land of heroes and let their courage inspire. Let’s fix our eyes on the author and perfecter of our faith and freedom.”
Here Pence is referencing Hebrews 12: 1-2. That passage says: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.”

Again, see what Pence is doing here. Instead of fixing our eyes on Jesus, we should fix our eyes on “Old Glory,” a symbol of American nationalism. The “heroes” he speaks of are not the men and women of faith discussed in the previous chapter of Hebrews (Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Issac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets), they are the “heroes” (as he interprets them) of American history. Jesus is the “author and perfecter” of our faith and [American] freedom.”

The use of the Bible in this way is a form of idolatry. My friend and history teacher Matt Lakemacher gets it right:

Christians beware...the GOP is using you to achieve their political purposes. It is time to stand up and say enough is enough. 




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