What follows is a draft of the letter I intend to send to Speaker of the House, Mike John, in response to the re-election of Donald Trump and the continued slim majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and now a slight senate majority. The American voters have spoken, but not by the landslide they need to claim a mandate.
Dear Speaker Mike Johnson,
As a citizen of this beloved country, I feel it is my patriotic duty to write you this letter, imploring you to take your oath to protect and defend our Constitution seriously as well as your pledge of allegiance to the flag of our great country. Since becoming a member of Congress and now Speaker, your allegiance seems to be misplaced. You seem to have forgotten that our Founders established three co-equal branches of government and explicitly did not want power to reside with one fallible and corruptible human being for good reason. We do not have a king!!!! Your allegiance and deference to Donald Trump presents a real danger to this country, to common decency, and to the rule of law. As Russia celebrates his re-election and his cabinet picks as a road to “dismantle our nation brick by brick”, I cannot help but wonder if there is a plot at work within your Party to not only undermine our Constitution but to destroy the very fabric of our democracy and the institutions, including the press that the citizens rely on to make good decisions.
None of the plans to deport millions of immigrant laborers and to impose tariffs on our closest trading partners make economic sense. The attack on women’s reproductive rights and on the very few transgender individuals among us do not make Constitutional sense. We are a nation that professes liberty and justice for all, but where is the liberty and justice in the policies your Party is putting forth? I don’t believe abortion is murder according to my faith. I am a female without internal conflict, so I don’t understand the transgender experience, but who am I to judge the life and needs of others? I leave these things to God who says He is the judge. In fact, Jesus warned us not to judge others, not to serve money, not to be hypocrites, and not to bear false witness against others. His is the way of love, compassion, and grace. So, what are you doing? And who are you serving? And for what purpose?
I am a Christian. I follow the teachings of Jesus Christ. I also believe in the separation of church and state as provided in the Establishment Clause of our Constitution. The push to teach the Bible in public schools is not only a violation of the Constitution but a bad idea in general. Whose version and interpretations will be taught? Yours? Mine? The Catholic’s? The Mormon’s? The Jehovah Witness’s? The Pentecostal’s? The Lutheran’s? There are many Christian denominations. But the greater point is that there are many other religions practiced by Americans in this country. What about their religious texts? There are many who do not believe in God at all. They have the right not to believe and to not be indoctrinated. Our Founders fled the kind of religious persecution your Party seeks to inflict upon the people of this nation. You will be no different than the Taliban. History has shown that state forced religious laws always leads to horrific oppression, a blood bath and wars. It certainly is not how Jesus taught us to live! I implore Republicans to leave religious teachings to parents and houses of worship. Public school children should only be taught to recognize and respect the diversity of how people view God and how they may or may not practice religion. No one is stopping school children from praying or reading their Bibles or referencing their religious beliefs at school. Those freedoms are and should remain intact.
When it comes to lawmaking, I urge you to defer to our Constitution and its stated purpose of government to “establish justice”, “ensure domestic tranquility”, “provide for the common defense”, “promote the general welfare” and to “ensure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity”. Anything beyond that is self-serving and contrary to the welfare of this nation and its people. Your job is not to serve the profit interests of corporations at the expense of citizens. It is also not to force your religious beliefs down our throats!
More importantly, you and members of your Party seem to require a reminder that you were elected to serve the citizens of this nation and not the president. We expect you to uphold the Constitution, the rule of law, and to work on behalf of the citizens to keep us safe from deadly viruses, environmental pollutants, gun violence, sexual predators, medical malpractice, unsafe infrastructure, suppression of information, and unchecked police brutality. Your laws should be designed to improve lives, not to endanger them or to remove our individual freedom to live our best lives according to our individual religious and moral beliefs. The citizens of this country rely on you to use the available scientific evidence, technology and expert knowledge to make the best laws in favor of citizens and not just corporations and especially not in the interest of one man or a few billionaires. It is a balancing act that you have been entrusted with and thus far your Party is failing us.
Leaving women like my daughter to miscarry in a parking lot outside the hospital is not providing the best health care available to young women. Removing gender affirming care from parents who love their transgender child who is suicidal without it, is not the best we can offer. Rounding up immigrants seeking safety or fleeing poverty is not in the best interest of a nation that has always depended on immigrant labor. Fix the immigration laws to meet the actual needs of this country. Fix our medical system to provide affordable world class healthcare. Make laws that protect our environment from pollutants that cause diseases and destroy our climate. Ensure a safety net for those in poverty because of physical and mental disability. Ensure access to a world class education for American children so they can compete in the world. Ensure that the elderly among us retire with dignity. Guarantee freedom of the press to provide accurate information, not government propaganda . And finally, hold the president and the Supreme Court accountable to obey the laws and defend our Constitution. Your willingness to overlook corruption and excuse despicable behavior is a gross disservice to the youth of this nation. Nothing good will come of it ignoring lawlessness, cruelty, and bullying. As the saying goes, “one rotten apple spoils the barrel.”
Some say that you are a Christian Nationalist who believes in white supremacy and white male domination. I hope that isn’t true. Any reasonable person can look around and see that intelligence, talent, creativity, and drive are not limited to white men, but spread broadly across the human race. We are all precious in the sight of God and I pray that you believe, understand and govern that way. Please do better and do right by the American people.
Sincerely,
Juanita A. Hall
Citizen of the United States