Author: tonihall805@outlook.com

This week I wrote a letter to Speaker of the House, Mike Johnson, who has publicly stated that he will seek legislation that is in alignment with the Bible. This is a clear violation of our freedom of religion if we allow representatives to pass laws that violate the liberties and rights guaranteed by our Constitution. As citizens, it is up to us to insist upon our rights and not to assume that others will not infringe upon them. Join me in exercising our Constitutional right to petition our government while this right remains in place.

March 9, 2024

Dear Speaker Mike Johnson,

This is the first of several letters I plan to write to you regarding good public policy that fully honors the establishment clause of our Constitution and does not strip away the rights of citizens who live religious lives or secular lives, devoid of religion.

As a citizen of this country, I must exercise my civic duty to express my thoughts and ideas about how our nation is governed.  I’m thankful that we have a Constitution that helps guide our public policy and laws in service all the people.  As a Christian, I’m thankful for the establishment clause that clearly prohibits the establishment of a state religion and protects the free exercise of religion.

This means that I am free to practice my Christianity and to make personal decisions based on my religious beliefs and that no other religion has the right to impose their religious decisions on me. It also means that Christians do not have the right to impose our religion on others just because we take over state houses.  My greatest fear is that you and Christian nationalists are trying to do just that. 

With you as one of the leaders, I see Christians in our state and federal government trying to enact laws and public policy in accordance with their interpretation of the Bible as opposed to the actual Constitution that leads us toward equal rights and equal justice.  The topic for this letter is abortion.

Although I have never had an abortion; I would not deny any woman the right to obtain one.

Religion should not have a say in this public policy or legal issue because people and religions disagree on when a human life begins.  I happen to be a Christian mother and grandmother that believes that the Bible teaches that life begins at breath, not conception. I believe that a fetus capable of breath outside the womb is a life worth saving whenever possible.  We can argue the Bible but ultimately you should be allowed to follow your belief as to whether or not your wife or your underage daughter can have an abortion, but not everyone else’s.  No law should prohibit abortion for those who have different beliefs on the issue because of the establishment clause.

The reality is that 40-60% of fertilized eggs are naturally aborted through miscarriage.   Some Christians must think heaven is full of non-viable fertilized eggs, unborn embryos, and fetuses. I don’t.  I had a friend who gave birth to a baby with a beating heart and no brain. It never took a breath.  Not every fertilized egg will result in a live birth because they are not all viable and some have the misfortune to implant in the Fallopian tube where they are destined to perish and will kill the mother if she doesn’t get medical care.

The issue is women’s healthcare as good public policy.  It is good public policy to ensure that women have access to medical care that ensures safe and appropriate reproductive care.  It is good public policy to ensure that women who give birth are emotionally ready to, are physically able to, and have the mental and financial ability to provide adequate care for those babies once they are born.  It is good public policy to encourage adoption for women strong enough to give birth, but unable to care for the child.  Being able to make the personal decision regarding abortion based on our own religious beliefs is good public policy and is in keeping with the establishment clause of the Constitution.

Despite feelings of anxiety, I secured a pencil and paper to take notes and then tuned in to C-Span (which is free of commentary) to watch the State of the Union. I observed with interest the upbeat demeaner of the people milling about the chamber chatting. I watched the formal entry of the Supreme Court, absent three conservative members. I watched the Cabinet members making their way down the aisle, greeting representatives from both sides of the aisle. And then, I nervously watched the President’s entry and slow progress toward the podium as he stopped to greet multiple representatives. And not surprisingly, I was disgusted by the red MAGA hat-wearing Margorie Taylor’s Greene’s rule-breaking and her tasteless taunting of the President.

First, and most importantly, I was relieved to observe the undeniable vitality and strong mental acuity of the president. Even with signs of his lifelong speech impediment, his speech was coherent and full of substance. In fact, I counted 32 specific public policy topics that he covered in his speech. Of course, some received a lot of attention. Some he simply mentioned as topics for congress to address, such as artificial intelligence, a ban on assault weapons and reasonable gun regulations, the Voting Rights Act, the banning of books and history, funding for education at all levels, raising the minimum wage, and the Violence Against Women Act.

He spent more time on what he considered the most pressing topics of the day, including the existential attack on our freedom and democracy, not just abroad, but at home. He called out Trump’s acquiescence to Putin and the war in Ukraine as well as Trump’s lack of support for NATO followed by the announcement of Finland and Sweden to the NATO ranks. He then messaged Putin that we will not walk away, nor will we bow down. Without skipping a beat, he called out the lies leading to January 6th and how some seek to bury the truth. His strong statement, “You can’t love your country only when you win” resonated with many, including me.

He moved on to address the necessity of protecting reproductive rights, including IVF and codifying Roe v. Wade. I was surprised when he called out the Supreme Court to acknowledge how women can continue to exercise their political and electoral power to safeguard abortion rights.

He briefly highlighted his accomplishments including the economic comeback from Covid-19, the expansion of health insurance, narrowing of the racial wealth gap, the Pact Act for veterans, the expansion of manufacturing, the 46,000 new infrastructure projects, the Chips Act, getting inflation under control, cutting student loan debt for millions of public service workers, the price cut to $35 for insulin for seniors, and having corporations pay a 15% minimum tax. He called upon congress to do something about “shrinkflation” that affects us all. And he made a point of calling upon congress to make the wealthy pay their fair share of taxes, again promising that no one making less than $400,000 a year would have to pay more.

There were promises made should he be re-elected and have a democratic congress to work with. He would lower the cost of insulin for all Americans to the current Medicare low of $35 and he would cap all prescription out-of-pocket cost to $2000 per year. He would make healthcare insurance savings permanent for the 100 million Americans on Obamacare. He would restore the Child Tax Credit that lifted 50% of children out of poverty.

There were a few new initiatives he announced such as appointing his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, to oversee a new women’s health research project, providing first time homebuyers with a $400/month tax credit for 2 years and eliminating title insurance, cutting red tape for home builders and helping them renovate 2 million homes to bring rent costs down, the new Climate Corp to employ young people to deal directly with the climate crisis, and reducing the credit card late fees from $35 to $8 and requiring junk fees related to purchasing tickets to be stated up front.

On everyone’s mind, including mine, were border security and the Israel and Hamas War. I was glad that he exposed how Trump squashed the bi-partisan bill that would have dealt with border security. He spelled out everything that was in the bill, including more border patrol, more judges, and the technological equipment to help detect and confiscate fentanyl. And I was glad that he expressed his empathetic condolences to the parents of the young nursing student who was murdered by an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela and then turned it around to remind congress to pass the border security bill.

Regarding aid to the Palestinians, he announced the building of a temporary pier to provide more humanitarian aid beyond the air drops and the few trucks Israel permits to enter. While desiring a ceasefire, he continues to support Israel’s effort to eliminate Hamas and the safe return of the hostages. In my opinion, this is a no-win situation between the leadership of two sides who are hell-bent on destroying each other. There is no position the president can take that will satisfy everyone.

There were many other highlights in his speech, but the one that stands out the most is when he addressed the age issue head on. He made the issue about whether the ideas were forward looking or backward looking. He made it about whether we would forge forward in pursuit of our aspiration for equality for all or return to the past.

I’m wholeheartedly voting for Biden, not only because my reservations about his age and fitness were dispelled, but because his values and his aspirations for this country most closely mirror my own. If the same is true for you, I hope you will join me in donating to his campaign. And if you are able to do more, I hope you lend your time and energy to supporting him as well. We absolutely have a vested interest in the direction our country moves in this year.

In part one, I explained the nature of tribal membership and how it emerged as a human survival mechanism in an environment full of threats and challenges. I explained how white evangelical Christian tribes began to feel threatened by an increasingly secular society against which they could no longer compete nor fully retreat. As I mentioned in part one, I left the black Christian church to attend a predominately white evangelical church during my teens in the 1970’s before politics was introduced. As a black person, I felt comfortable in a setting that fully embraced the notion of “colorblindness” and therefore accepted me so long as I complied with the unstated, but crystal clear, normative standards of whiteness while avoiding any public acknowledgment of historic wrongs and ongoing discrimination I faced outside the church.

However, life in a bubble like this can’t possibly last and it didn’t. The outside world creeped in at every turn around issues of pre-marital sex (and abortion), feminism, and LGBTQ rights. These became unavoidable threats to the tribal order as women steadily gained independence and gays slowly emerged from their closets. I recounted how political power was introduced to the white evangelical church, first as a means of self-preservation and then as a vehicle to bend society to its conservative will. Sadly, the Gospel of Jesus Christ was gradually replaced by a growing greed for political power and a desire to force society into submission. White evangelical Christians, along with the few people of color in their ranks who subscribe to a white hegemonic standard, joined hands with white nationalists to form a tribe hell bent on elevating white supremacy and “Christianity” through a campaign to “Make America Great Again” lead by Donald Trump. Standing in their way is democracy itself and a humanistic moral conviction that resonates with millions. It is the ideology of diversity, equity, and inclusion.

I began doing diversity work in 1997 through a community organization loosely affiliated with the Anti-Defamation League, a Jewish organization formed to prevent another genocide by building human tolerance for differences. The Anti-Defamation League provided our community group of volunteers with three full days of training in how to facilitate conversations to help build an understanding, tolerance, acceptance, and hopefully an appreciation for diversity in any setting that would have us. Over the years, our initiative grew to encompass inclusion efforts and most recently, a call for equity.

Briefly stated, diversity recognizes that humanity, in all its many ways of being, are all deserving of rights, dignity and respect. Diversity embraces the variety of human languages, skin colors, traditions, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, and histories that shape tribal membership. Diversity asks us to at least tolerate differences by not killing, shaming, and discriminating against those who are different. At best, it asks us to appreciate the contributions to humanity that come from people of every background. It seeks to replace the idea of one hegemonic standard of “normal” and “good” with multiple perspectives of what is normal and what is good. However, exploitation and harm to others in the name of “culture” or “tradition” was not acceptable.

Inclusion asks for a seat at the decision-making table for individuals and tribal groups that were previously excluded because they were not considered part of the “normal” or “good” ideal which was built into a standard called whiteness. Inclusion seeks to enter spaces and take on roles that the dominate tribe historically excluded them from entering. Inclusion stands at the door of whiteness offering new ideas, creativity, broader perspectives, and energy that could improve the whole of society if embraced.

And finally, equity is basic fairness. It acknowledges that intentional efforts are required to ensure that everyone in the society has the basic tools required to at least survive, if not thrive. Equity seeks to repair the damage of historical wrongs that limited access and opportunities for people and groups outside the previously “normal” and “good”. For most of American history, male whiteness was the access ticket to opportunity, justice, capital investment, and even government welfare. Equity seeks to ensure that future generations have equal access to foundational necessities like health, education, and non-discriminatory practices in the public sector.

I began my work at the university in Multicultural and International Programs, doing diversity workshops for students, faculty, and staff. I was among the first chief diversity officers in the nation in 2008 when I was appointed to that post. Although challenging, I loved having the opportunity to help shape the future by advocating for diversity, inclusion, and equity (DEI) at both the interpersonal and institutional levels until my retirement in 2021.

Over the years, I encountered many people, particularly young professionals and students from underrepresented backgrounds, who thought the DEI efforts were far too slow and others, particularly older professionals, usually white males, who thought the efforts were moving far too fast. It was always satisfying to observe white folks begin to understand the gross disparity in resources and environmental considerations that flowed to communities based on race and economics. They wanted desperately to believe in a meritocracy that did not exist. They despaired over a color-blindness that was only a myth. It was a tough balancing act trying to engender patience in those who demanded immediate change while building enough empathy in those with the actual power to change things. I always knew that a moral imperative alone would never be adequate motivation for those who benefit from privilege and power to willingly relinquish it.

But more difficult than the balancing act or delivering a convincing moral imperative was figuring out how to avoid my own prediction of an inevitable backlash. I never did. In conversations with colleagues, I would often remind them that DEI efforts can easily be perceived as a threat to those who have directly or indirectly benefitted from a system that privileges whiteness as normal and good. Who would willingly relinquish a system that gives them the advantages they need to succeed in society, even if it is at the expense of others? The current system, though unfair, is working for them and we are asking them to change it simply because it is the morally right thing to do. As researchers and educators, we tried to present the growing body of empirical evidence to support the benefits of diversity, inclusion, and equity that accrued to students, institutions, businesses, and society as a whole, but it never gained the momentum needed at the personal level to convince white men nor to overcome youthful impatience.

I observed with trepidation the swiftly emerging problem presented by young professionals and students who were tired of asking for change. They started demanding it. I distinctly recall when the term “wokeness” became a way to distinguish between those who were for DEI (“the woke”) and those who dragged their feet (racist, homophobic, xenophobic, and misogynistic). Young professionals and students exacted a price on those who were not perceived as being “woke” enough. They were publicly shamed, boycotted, or “cancelled”.

Some straight Christian white men on campus, young and old, expressed their dislike of the DEI efforts, characterizing them as outright attacks on them. They were considered the bad guy if they didn’t outright acknowledge and renounce their “white privilege”. They expressed feelings of reverse discrimination. They felt like everyone was blaming them for a system they didn’t create. They felt like their hard work was being discounted. And they feared being “replaced” by losing future opportunities to less qualified women or people of color. Their sense of entitlement and their underlying belief that their whiteness automatically made them more worthy and more “qualified” was difficult to explain to them in a way they could hear because emotions ran way too high, and they felt very threatened. So, I wasn’t too surprised when one of the leaders at that Charlottesville march was a student from our university. I also was surprised that white males began disappearing from college campuses.

I tried to explain to colleagues how many white people intellectually embrace the idea of diversity, inclusion, and equity. It makes perfect sense on an intellectual and moral level, however, emotionally they are experiencing a visceral sense of threat and loss. And it was all coming out. The surprise 2016 election of Donald Trump was a result of white people voting on these emotions. They needed to preserve whiteness and Christianity as the cultural norm with its all its advantages, but they could not openly express it prior to the election. As we have seen, that has changed. Anti-wokeness is loud and clear among conservatives and DEI efforts are under attack, even being dismantled and outlawed in some states.

What we are experiencing today is a backlash to female, non-white, and LGBTQ faces taking up spaces in previously all-white male heterosexual domains. Diversity and inclusion efforts empowered people of different religions, sexual orientations, and gender identities to essentially come out of the closet to openly express themselves in ways previously unacceptable to a white Christian normative society. And those white Christians don’t like it. They feel pushed aside by people who are louder than them, more audacious, and possibly more interesting than the vanilla lifestyle previously in place. And the white Christian evangelical church joined by white nationalists with guns in hand are leading the way toward governmental control. We find MAGA members on the Supreme Court and within the Senate and House of Representatives, with Mich Johnson an unapologetic white Christian nationalist assuming the role as House Speaker.

So, here we are. Tribal warfare wherein one side wants to return to white Christian norms as the standard for good and the ticket to access opportunities and full inclusion in society. You can be included if you are like Justice Clarence Thomas or Senator Tim Scott or Congressman Byron Donalds. It is not lost on me that each of these men are dark-skinned and Christian and that they likely enjoy the comfort of color-blindness while fully embracing white cultural hegemony as they ignore history and minimize their own navigation of discrimination without addressing either. At CPAC, the annual conservative convention, the White Christian Nationalists finally admitted that democracy is no longer working and should be replaced. Democracy gives everyone a voice and they no longer desire to hear certain voices.

The rest of us want to preserve democracy while pushing forward with a diversity that is determined to include everyone in society and within the halls of power in a fair or equitable way. It won’t happen without a fight. This coming election will determine our trajectory as a nation. Will we return to legal discrimination, or will we move forward with democracy? It’s not time to be a spectator, but an active participant while we have the chance.

I’ve always been a student of human nature. I was that kid always engaged in people watching, trying desperately to figure out what it meant to be human. I sought answers through relationships, books, and screen media. I sometimes concluded that people were inherently good only to be later convinced of the opposite. I learned the hard way that not everyone can be trusted, even those who claim to care about you. I learned that given the right circumstances, otherwise good people could do terribly bad things, including me. My lifelong observations of human nature have been a source of both fascination and frustration, admiration and disgust, and hopefulness followed by utter disappointment.

I’ve discovered that central to our humanity is the need to be part of a tribe. A tribe is simply a group of people who share common values, worldviews, and aspirations. Under adverse circumstances, a tribe is created because of a common skin color, heritage, or experience that binds folks together. Tribes are created by humans as a means to survive in a world filled with threats and challenges. Unfortunately, some tribes seek to dominate or even eliminate other tribes in their quest for security, survival or greed. What disappointments me the most is that tribal warfare appears to be a deadly fixture among humans that we just can’t escape.

Each of us is born into a particular tribe, but as we mature, we may choose to join a different tribe. Our tribal memberships may change multiple times throughout our lives. I know mine have. I was born into a black Christian tribe in the 1950’s in Detroit, Michigan to parents who were on the verge of changing their tribal affiliation by moving to Southern California, away from church, family, and friends. My earliest recollection of this new tribe was the variety of skin colors, foods, and languages sharing the same spaces. Aside from annual visits to Detroit to see family, black faces like mine were rare except on the Sundays when we made it to church. I was eleven when my mother once again joined a new tribe. She left the Missionary Baptist Church of her youth to join the more restrictive Pentecostals.

And boy were they strict! First, they believed that they were the only true Christians. The salvation that had been freely given as a Baptist, now had behavioral strings attached. I could no longer dance, wear pants, listen to secular music, or go to the movies. Cussing was strictly forbitten. Women were to be submissive to men and children obedient. Secular education was viewed with suspicion. We were in church all day on Sundays and most of the evening on Wednesdays. I soon learned that humans aren’t cut out for living under such strict rules and that folks who put on a good show of piety were secretly “sinning” all over the place. Some of the worse were gossips, thieves, adulterers, child abusers, and child molesters. I was happy when we finally left that tribe after a few years. My mother and I ended up joining a less restrictive white Pentecostal church where I spent my teenage years. However, because the previous experience was so bad, my brothers refused to attend any church for many years afterward. My eldest brother never did. They found tribal membership in athletics.

From high school, throughout college, and while raising my children, I maintained an evangelical Christian tribal membership. This was a comfortable tribe where skin color didn’t matter and where a wholesome lifestyle that included education, hard work, fairness, and compassion for others was central. In that tribe, American history didn’t matter much and society’s discrimination against women, black and brown skinned people, and LGBTQ issues were dealt with outside the church doors as aspects of a fallen world.

We saw ourselves as living in the world but not really being of the world. We worked to make enough money to take care of ourselves and to support the church and the needy. We weren’t greedy for the temporary riches of the world such as money, power, or fame. Humility was a virtue and God deserved the glory for our successes in this life. Our creativity, work, and moral ethics often lead to recognition from others which we used to point to our faith. We concerned ourselves with following Jesus’ teachings about how to treat each other and how to treat people outside the church so that they too would be receptive to the Good News of how God gave His only Son, Jesus, for our freedom from bondage in this life and for eternal life with Him.

I loved being a part of that tribe. The fellowship was entertaining, wholesome, and fulfilling. It was a wonderful mindset (which I mostly maintain) and a great tribe in which to raise children. There were plenty of moral failings over the years of epic proportions, but those involved simply disappeared from the tribe and no one talked about it because gossip was frowned upon. In some cases, it was the pastor who was caught up in adultery or theft and had to be replaced. Forgiveness was always extended but the actors always seemed to leave, perhaps from shame or embarrassment. At its core, the tribe was about loving God and loving others with compassion.

But the tribe slowly began to change in response to a rapidly changing society that was difficult to ignore and impossible to compete with. As we became overwhelmed by the temptations presented in the media, the music, and at schools, intolerance slowly crept in, gradually replacing compassion and the gospel itself. I would eventually join a new tribe that was more tolerant.

As I mentioned in previous posts, I recall when the church was first infiltrated by political actors. The tribe I belonged to that loved God, each other, and cared about saving souls from the bondage of sin and eternal damnation was now concerning itself with gaining political power in order to save a country from the wrath of a vengeful angry God because of the sinners running the show. The hot button issues that the politicians used were feminism, abortion, and homosexuality. They were able to convince the tribe that already felt vulnerable to temptations that feminists were destroying the natural order, abortion was murder, and that homosexuals were all pedophiles intent on recruiting our children. In short, we were in danger and political power was the only way to protect our country and ourselves.

The warmth, compassion, and teachings of Jesus were soon replaced by a paranoia and a fear of anything that wasn’t produced by Christian conservatives. Offering alternatives, like Christian schools and homeschooling, and then seeking shelter from the many temptations by turning off the television and radios was the start, but it soon wasn’t enough. They tried offering their own versions of contemporary Christian music and movies as alternatives. But it wasn’t enough either. They soon decided to eliminate the temptations altogether. And the politicians convinced the tribe that they could do it through legislation by gaining political power.

The political evangelicals today are no different from the Taliban in Afghanistan. They are pursuing political power in order to create a theocracy where they can be comfortable role playing a version of Christianity that they themselves abandoned years ago. Look at the person they embraced as their leader: Donald Trump, the most hateful, un-Christ-like human being. They have joined hands with white supremacists to boost their power. They are a tribe that is ready and willing to wage warfare with actual guns, not prayer, to gain supremacy over everyone in the nation even if it means throwing out the Constitution and starting over.

Standing against them are the actual teachings of Christ, but that no longer has sway with them. It is not surprising that they are now attacking the secular moral authority that embraces diversity, equity, and inclusion. To say that I am disappointed in what that tribe has become is an understatement. They call themselves “Christian”, but they are not following the teachings of Christ, but the allure of power.

In my next post, I address how the political aspiration of Christian nationalism is in fact a backlash to the strides made in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

My heart sank when I heard the news that Fani Willis had a romantic relationship with the person she hired as chief counsel, Nathan Wade. She should have known that any suspicious action would be highly scrutinized and weaponized against her in order to squash the prosecution of Trump. And of course, it was. I’m sure she is kicking herself in hindsight.

I watched the various testimonies this past week and concluded that she did nothing wrong. But I also saw how well Fani Willis represents both the evolution and the plight of black American females. Although she is intelligent, accomplished, courageous, fiercely independent, and fully human, she is not respected as such by the majority.

On the witness stand, Fani seemed to throw caution to the wind even though she clearly understood that her every word, action, and jester would be scrutinized and judged through the prism of whiteness. In the face of lies and false accusations, she chose “in your face” combat, boldness, defiance, and unwavering truth sprinkled with long explanations to provide cultural context to her actions. My personal favorites were her convictions about the role of a man and the need to keep a stash of cash at all times.

I’m glad that the audience was the American public and not just those few in the courtroom because this spectacle exposed the racism so many want to deny. Her father’s testimony was especially rich in explaining the need to keep cash as well as the onslaught of violent threats they faced. The distain for strong black women was apparent by the comments on C-Span and on social media. It is clear that the majority of white men and women hated her demeanor, calling her unprofessional, combative, promiscuous, and unlikable. However, black women like me, praised her demeanor as righteous indignation, bold, and truthful. We recognized ourselves and how we, too, have had to deal with unfair and untruthful accusations hurled at us in a society that neither values, trusts, nor appreciates us.

What I saw in Fani was a lonely black woman who desires companionship on terms that will not diminish her. I saw a woman who values friendships and the people in her life to the point of blindly trusting them to be truthful with her. I also saw a highly educated, accomplished and courageous woman who isn’t very good with money. I agree with the wisdom in keeping emergency cash in a safe. But I find it unsophisticated and naive to carry around lots of cash. And I especially would never advise anyone to pay bills or reimburse folks with cash. There are far too many unscrupulous people in the world eager to separate you from your money.

Wise dealings with money require record keeping and a paper trail. In the era of debit cards, credit cards and payment apps, there is little need to carry around large amounts of cash. Using protective measures to secure personal finances is easy to accomplish these days. In truth, a simple paper trail created by using her payment app would have served her well in this trial. Her testimony made her look unsophisticated and a bit foolish. Personally, I’m always suspicious when a business or a person demands cash and frankly, I don’t like being reimbursed with cash either. I feel vulnerable and can’t get to the bank fast enough to deposit it. As an attorney, she should know that having things documented is the best insurance against false accusations.

After watching the hearing, I’m somewhat confident that she will not be disqualified and that the case will not be dropped as Trump and his co-defendants desire. But Fani, please recognize the seriousness of the position you are in and for God’s sake, enough with the cash. Start using your payment app, credit or debit card.

I won’t ever run for government office. My personality won’t allow it. I don’t thrive in the limelight; I quickly tire of constant human interaction; I’m not driven to continuously expand my connections, forge alliances, fundraise, negotiate, or be the center of attention. I’m the first, never the last, to leave a party. I don’t need to exercise power over the lives of others. I prefer reasoned persuasion over coercive mandates. And my ego doesn’t depend on the attention nor the adoration of others.

People who survive on attributes opposite to mine, quickly climb corporate ladders, occupy many pulpits, or become politicians. They are rarely the most informed or the most analytical, but they project a high level of energy and care for others. It’s called charisma. They understand human nature in a way that makes them able to connect, gain trust, and ultimately secure power by promising to use their people skills to benefit their constituents. This is the contract every corporate executive, pastor, or politician makes when seeking power.

However, history and present-day reality have shown that charismatic leaders can easily ruin a company, a church, and a nation if they are ill-informed, self-serving, and lack good moral character. There are some who lack the self-confidence, diligence, or the discipline to listen carefully to knowledgeable advisors and so their incompetence quickly becomes apparent. Wise charismatic leaders who genuinely care about the company, church, or country will proactively surround themselves with knowledgeable advisors to maintain their power through admirable performance. Others will soon resign or be removed.

But then there is the rare self-serving individual who thoroughly lacks good moral character, is entirely undisciplined and lacks diligence, but stubbornly clings to power through deceit, manipulation, blackmail, vengeance, and violence. We saw these attributes in Hitler. We see it in Putin. And now, in this nation, we are witnessing this power-grabbing dynamic in Donald Trump. And should he be re-elected as president, we should believe his promise to be a dictator, to deport millions of immigrants, to require absolute loyalty, to punish his opponents, to ignore climate change, and to hand over Ukraine and any other European nations to Putin.

He says the words his followers want to hear, making them continue to believe he cares about them, however, his actual actions over his four years in office prove that he was never really interested in benefiting anyone but himself. Anyone paying close attention could clearly see that he broke the contract to use his charisma to benefit the people. The problem is that many people aren’t paying attention, have short memories, are in denial, are too pre-occupied to fact check, or actually agree with his policies and methods.

I think it is evident that the majority of Americans are keenly aware of Trump’s incompetence, immorality, and law breaking. The problem is that his public shaming touches a sympathetic nerve with people who believe he genuinely cares about them. And so, they care about him. Others who followed him passionately from the start are triggered by the human need to preserve their dignity. Anyone following social media can see Trump supporters being publicly humiliated for their ignorance, their blatant hypocrisy, their denial of facts, their cult-like devotion, and their fervent support of Trump. It is true that they have become mean-spirited, taking on the personality of their leader who insults women, veterans, immigrants, the disabled and anyone who holds him legally accountable.

In response, Trump is doing what charismatic people who lack competency do. Having lost reasonable people, he appeals to the emotions of uneducated people who are filled with fears and grudges. He promises simple solutions to complex problems that will only make matters worse. He promises vengeance on his enemies which includes any American who publicizes his incompetence, his lawlessness, his self-dealing, and his broken promises. He promises retribution for his embarrassed followers who suffer ridicule for their ignorance and passion. And worse, he promises revenge on his political enemies, attempting to secure all criminal immunity for the presidency in advance. This is terrifying stuff and not an exaggeration.

As Americans, we’ve made the mistake of allowing a charismatic people who lack both competency and good moral character to lead us. On every metric that really matters, Donald Trump has failed the test of responsible leadership and must never be allowed to ascend to the White House again. Our nation’s other leaders know this is true, but have lacked the courage in two impeachments to stop him.

And now, the Supreme Court, like the U.S. Senate, has been given a legitimate opportunity through Section 3 of the 14th Amendment to prevent Trump from becoming president. Will they take it? I doubt it. Listening to the oral arguments last week, it sounds like they too, might not have the guts to rid us of this man. So, it may be up to us.

Let’s not elect him again because this time he only promises vengeance, retribution, and harm to the most vulnerable among us, including the environment.

Last week I lamented the two choices we have for president. Neither Biden nor Trump represent the best America has to offer and we’re stuck because wealthy old white men are using their checkbooks to dictate the viable choices. I said they were fighting a proxy war over their vision for the future of the nation. I laid out how Trump represents an agenda that covets the simplicity and efficiency of authoritarianism, enshrining wealthy white “Christian” men in leadership. This week, I lay out the agenda that Biden represents.

It is no secret that I don’t want Biden to run again because of his advanced age. I think he and the wealthy old white men supporting him are driven by their egos. They are the “establishment” and their collective egos, arrogance, and need for continued relevance is behind their financial support for their longtime friend and political ally, Biden. It drives me crazy to see how they have essentially locked out any other potential democratic nominees.

That said, Biden represents a continuation of our progress towards the ideals upon which our nation was founded wherein all men are created equal and endowed by the Creator with the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is a continued progress toward relying on the Constitution and it’s guarantees for individual freedoms and equal protection under the law. It is the continuation of the constitutionally established role of government to provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity. And it is the continuation of the ideals found in our Pledge of Allegiance and on the welcoming words engraved on the Statue of Liberty.

It is true that America has never fully lived up to it ideals. However, the backers of Biden embrace the ever-increasing diversity of the United States that are the result of evolving social morays, scientific discovery, and immigration. Biden represents a move toward equity which simply acknowledges the history wherein many were born with fewer advantages and less access to the tools of success, particularly education, capital, job opportunities, and healthcare. Equity means that it is only “fair” and moral to level the playing field so that the circumstances of someone’s birth no longer determine the limits of anyone’s progress. Biden also represents a movement to make the country more inclusive. This simply means that no one is excluded from participating in the nation’s success. I hear folks complain about our nation’s continued shortcomings as though no progress has been made. Some mistakenly think that Trump will actually make things better for them in the area of diversity, equity and inclusion. But his record and the record of those who support him, says otherwise. Examine their policies on education, science, immigration, and healthcare and their rhetoric around job opportunities. Remember the birther movement to discredit Obama. Remember the Muslim ban, the separation of children from their parents at the southern border, the support for white suprematists marching in Charlottesville, and the encouragement of police brutality.

Education and healthcare have always been key factors for upward mobility in this country. They are the great equalizers. Biden supporters recognize and support education and access to healthcare as a means to drive economic and social progress. Even the loan forgiveness effort was a response to a disadvantage that specifically plagued low-income young adults. The right, however, sees education and universal healthcare as a threat to authoritarianism. Trump admits that he “loves the uneducated”. Educated and healthy people ask questions and demand answers, a true inconvenience to any authoritarian.

Education is also a key component to maintaining a democracy. Only an educated electorate who are able to read and understand the Constitution and analyze the issues using history and reliable data can contribute to wise decision making. Although the process is slower, it is a good thing because the outcomes are always much better. Our right to vote and to petition our government are based on the assumption that people are adequately educated. Our founders recognized the strength of many good minds working together versus the arrogance of a flawed single mind making all the decisions.

So, if the Republicans successfully destroy public education, once again access to education will be limited to the wealthy. Eventually only sons of the middle class will be sufficiently capable of exercising any decision-making power in the country and the uneducated, particularly women and the poor will be again become their servants. Remember that the first universities in this country were privately established for the wealthy sons of the ruling class to raise up the next generation of religious and political leaders to take their place. The backers of the Biden vision for America democratized education so that it is possible for people of color, immigrants, the physically challenged, and even the poorest among us to obtain an education. Republicans want to roll that back. They openly call for the elimination of the Department of Education and the funding deprivation of public schools by channeling public funds to private schools through school vouchers.

These are the choices we are being offered in the 2025 election. The names Trump and Biden may appear on the ballot, but we are actually voting for the kind of nation we want our children and grandchildren to live in. In the future, will there be opportunity and access to wealth and power for the capable and ambitious or only for the well-connected few who are white males?

I’m just as frustrated as 70% of Americans over our limited choices for president in 2024. Let’s be honest about how our current choices were decided by a few wealthy old white men with oversized egos who are fighting proxy wars over the future of the United States using their checkbooks. We’re screwed because we allowed them to dictate our choices. And we’re even more screwed because they aren’t looking for talented, forward-looking ethical leaders with wit and intelligence and creative problem-solving skills. There are plenty of younger Americans who fit that bill, but they’re not on the presidential ballot. Long shot, independent candidates, threaten to push us into the arms of the candidate we least desire. If these rich old men were trying to do the best for this nation, they wouldn’t force us to choose between two old men with oversized egos who can hardly produce a coherent sentence nor offer this nation the kind of unifying leadership that cuts through manufactured culture wars and inspires the best in people.

But we can’t sit this election out. In 2024, we must choose the lessor of two evils. Those who are deciding to ignore the election or to vote for the independent candidate because they feel betrayed by the monied selection process must be convinced to vote for one of the two major candidates. Despite the unfair way they were forced upon us, these two men, however flawed and unworthy, represent two different visions for the nation’s future. So, we absolutely must choose.

Trump represents the efficiency and simplicity of having a single ruler (with the help of his loyal advisors) who makes all the social, economic, and security decisions for the nation. With the military at his command and the absolute immunity he demands, he can easily and quickly “fix” everything on behalf of the nation, no matter how ruthless, violent, and inhumane his methods. The Trumpian way promises loyal subjects the freedom to live unthinking, unchallenged, uneducated, simple lives of endless work and play in their imagined 1950’s utopia, absent inconvenient truths like climate change and human rights violations. Trump followers gladly accept that their contract depends on their adherence to the religious, social, and economic dictates of the leader, despite his personal corruption and immoral behavior.

It’s easy to accept dictatorship when the leader looks like you and professes a commitment to protect and impose your religious and social values on those you dislike. For the sake of unity and peace, Trump supporters are okay with the idea of punishing anyone who falls outside the narrow confines of social acceptability, or anyone who questions, fails, or worse, rebels against the ruler’s dictates. What Trump and his wealthy backers are offering appeals to white Christian nationalists because they see this as a simple way to rid society of homosexuals, feminists, the disabled, and the economic competition that comes from immigrants and people of color.

They are clearly employing the very effective method of gaining their power by soothing the bruised egos of the underclass. For those who have failed to realize the American dream through their own lack of wit and effort, it is comforting to hear that their lack of progress is because of immigrants, feminism, gay rights, and anti-discrimination policies that “unfairly” help “undeserving” black and brown people. They promise to roll back of any policy that encourages, empowers and enables immigrants, women, gays, and people of color to get ahead so that righteous Americans can succeed.

Those who are funding and advising Trump relish the opportunity to maintain and increase their generational wealth and power through an endless supply of poorly educated workers. It should come as no surprise that Trump openly shows contempt for the media, for the educated, for science, and the courts. As authoritarians do, he promises retribution on anyone who opposes him and on those who try to hold him accountable for breaking numerous laws. His is the way of dictatorship that depends on an undereducated, apathetic, and a sufficiently frightened population to seize and remain in power.

History tells us that while authoritarians project power and control through brutality, the people are eventually crushed by their lack of freedom, stifled by an eventual lack of creativity and vibrancy required to fuel economic growth, and depressed by the absence of self-determination needed to pursue personal happiness. This is the vision Trump and his wealthy backers are offering. The only winners in this scenario are the wealthy, well-connected and powerful.

Next week, I unpack the hard work, messiness, and continued struggle the other side is offering in President Biden.

I am a Christian in the sense that I have accepted Jesus as my savior, and I try to follow His teachings. I am also a person who believes in the freedom that comes with the separation of church and state, a key component upon which our nation was founded. As a citizen, I exercise both my right and my patriotic obligation to petition our government. And so, I again wrote to Speaker Mike Johnson. I share this letter, hoping to inspire my readers to write letters to him and to other lawmakers on issues of concern.

Dear Speaker Mike Johnson,

Yet again, I find myself writing to you based on something you said that I find deeply disturbing.  I see you and I hear you and I know you are coming from a place of sincerity.  However, I believe that you are sincerely wrong in your assessment of God and His judgement of our nation.  Jesus made it clear to us that God isn’t in the human government business anymore, but in the personal relationship business.  The religious leaders of the Jesus’ day were obsessed with this world and Jesus tried to turn their eyes to His Kingdom in the heavens, not made with human hands.  He told them in Matthew 22:21 “render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.”  God is interested in the eternal salvation of souls through belief in the sacrifice of Jesus who took the sins of the world upon Himself on the cross.  So, why are you so obsessed with other people’s “sins”?  You should be a minister, preaching the Good News, not a politician trying to do what God already determined was not possible because the heart of men must be reborn, not coerced into morality.

What’s even more upsetting is that you chose the most immoral and despicable human being among us as your representative, Donald Trump.  The form of idolatry around guns and Trump worship is mindboggling.  I would think that the Almighty could find a more articulate, more competent, and certainly more decent human being to bring about the return to God you so desperately think is needed. Your weapon of choice is a gun, not love.  You chose a person who insults our military, sexually assaults women, dodges the draft, evades taxes, defrauds people in business, and hates immigrants who are not white, as your nominee?  Make that make sense to any thinking human on the planet.  I think Jesus is shaking His head in dismay.  You’ve forgotten that Jesus told Peter to put down his weapon when he tried to defend Jesus against the state.

As an older person who grew up in the evangelical church, I recall when this new theology you espouse entered the church through politically minded Republicans.  They lifted scriptures like 2 Chronicles 7:14: “If my people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray, and seek My face, and turn from their wicked way, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Someone even turned it into a nice song.  They took on the issue of abortion as a national sin that would bring God’s judgment upon us all.  They used the example of Sodom and Gomorrah to stir up anti-gay sentiments and fears that our nation would be judged if we allowed it. 

The problem is that God changed His strategy when it comes to the wicked ways of men.  Your theology elevates temporary political power above the actual teaching of Jesus to love God, to love thy neighbor, and to preach the gospel so that souls can be saved and escape the eternal judgement of God in the end. God has preserved a day of judgment for those who reject the salvation offered to them.   According to 2 Peter 3:9, “The Lord is not slack concerning His promise, as some count slackness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance.”  This world and everything on, is temporary.  Jesus left us with the mission to preach the “Good News” of the gospel, not the “bad news” that our government on earth will condemn you, imprison you, and harm you if you don’t adhere to our Christian beliefs. 

As an educated person, I assume you know that history has repeatedly showed us that changing the heart of people to believe in Jesus can’t be accomplished through war, torture, murder, re-education, nor laws.  It is the kindness of God that leads man to repentance.  Jesus is our example.  His kindness, mercy, healing, generosity, and love drew followers to Him.  He shows compassion to the sinner, the sick, the hungry, and the immigrant.  Your party does the exact opposite.  It’s no wonder fewer people are going to church and that the saying, “there is no love, like Christian hate” is so prevalent.

You and your backward Old Testament “mean and murderous” God theology is causing real harm to our country and to the Christian message.  There was never a time when this nation was a shining example of Christian values.  It was a nation that began with the murder of native Americans to steal their lands.  It was a nation that brutally exploited the labor of black slaves, raped the women, and separated families.  It has always been a nation that discriminated, exploited, oppressed, and harmed the weak, including women. 

So, if God was going to execute the judgement you so fear, it would have already happened over the genocide of the native Americans, over the exploitation and mistreatment of slaves, and over the oppression of women.  The beauty of this nation is that it was founded by people seeking freedom from religious tyranny and who espoused a novel aspiration that all men are created equal and endowed by the Creator with certain inalienable rights, among them being life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  That is the beauty of this nation that made us a city set on a hill in the realm of mankind. Our freedom and our diversity with an eye towards equity and equal opportunity is our strength and appeal.   

You and your Party do not get to prescribe happiness for others. Your job is to make laws that provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and secure the blessing of liberty for ourselves and our posterity.  Your job is to follow the Constitution and to ensure equal rights under the laws.  Let God be the judge of individual choices as He has already told us that He is the final judge of men’s hearts and actions.    

Sincerely,

Dr. Juanita Hall

Follower of Christ, Voting Citizen of the U.S.

Women in industrialized nations are no longer delivering the average of 2.1 babies needed to replace their current population. At the same time, people in these countries are living much longer. As explained last week, the situation is a crisis in the making because these countries will soon lack an adequate supply of youthful laborers to fuel their economies and support their elderly if nothing changes.

The reality is that maintaining a country’s infrastructure, supporting the elderly, and creating demand for new goods and services requires the ingenuity, strength, and energy of a youthful labor force. Leaders of these industrialized countries know that the status quo is unsustainable. They face a dilemma. Either they somehow convince or force desirable women to have more babies, they allow their population and economies to dwindle into eventual oblivion, or they welcome immigrants from foreign countries and foreign cultures to prop up their economies and support their elderly.

Until recently, the consensus was that our government’s policy of welcoming the wealthy as well as the most talented and the highly motivated from every nation, has served us well. But as these immigrants have become increasingly people of color, white nationalists have grown wary of the demographic shift. The unspoken reality is that our country has long benefited from the brain-drain of poor developing nations, making it more difficult for them to make economic progress. But individuals will do what they believe is best for themselves if given the chance and migrating to countries that offer greater freedoms and more economic opportunities is a temptation too difficult to resist. The U.S. university system was a preferred destination and great immigration opportunity for the privileged few for many years. Only recently have other countries enhanced their universities and begun to recruit international students as well. This includes China.

It is not surprising that many people seeking safety, freedom, and economic opportunity find Europe, Canada, and the United States an attractive destination. With the exception of native Americans, certain Mexican Americans, and the descendants of slaves, every American or their descendants arrived at the U.S. border for one of these reasons. The words inscribed on the Statue of Liberty are an invitation unique to the United States: “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free.”

But there are those who would erase those words if they could. I’m referring to Donald Trump, his advisors, and his followers who would close the doors particularly on those who are risking everything to come here because they are largely people of color from what Trump calls, “shit hole” countries. He is correct to say that these countries aren’t sending us their best and brightest because we poach their best and brightest every chance we get. However, they are sending us able bodies willing to work.

It is time that we acknowledge that our foreign policies, including brain drain, and our demand for cheap labor as well as illegal drugs have caused economic hardships, dangerous conditions, and political instability in those “shit hole” countries, making them poorer and more dangerous. What nation wouldn’t allow highly motivated uneducated laborers to migrate to the U.S. where they can work and send money back home to help boost their economy? Both individual humans and desperate countries are just trying to survive.

As a person who spent a career dealing with the U.S. immigration system in a higher education setting, I know that the immigration system in the United States has been broken and underfunded for many years. There is a relatively easy and fast path to citizenship for the wealthy, talented, and well-educated. And each October or November, high school graduates and those with work experience from countries with low immigration to the U.S. can apply for one of 50,000 green cards in a lottery system run by Homeland Security. There is also a path through family connection. Depending on the actual relationship, the annual cap limits, and a crazy backlog of cases, the wait for family unification can be 6 months to 20 years.

Everyone else is out of luck. The pathway for people outside these categories who are willing and able to work involves too few temporary worker visas to meet the demands of both industry and would-be migrant workers. And so, the failure of Congress to pass adequate legislation has created a situation where desperate people from unstable countries cross our border and claim asylum while others sneak in illegally. The Republican House purposefully fails to adequately fund our border patrol and immigration processing systems to meet the demand while simultaneously broadcasting to the world that our border is completely open. Of course, the system is completely overwhelmed. Republicans want Americans to experience the crisis they perpetuate in order to blame Biden for it and re-elect Trump or some other Republican.

The reality is that we need these workers. We need people with expertise in IT, healthcare, and the sciences. We need labor for jobs that few Americans are willing to do. The problem for white Christian Nationalists is that the workers who want to come here are people of color from “shit hole” countries with cultures and religions they fear will reshape the country. It’s not enough that their policies have stifled the fertility rates of minority women to a degree that absent immigration, the nation will become whiter. But White women simply aren’t having enough children either.

So, they stoke fears. Fears that immigrants are stealing jobs that black people should be doing (wow!). Fears that immigrants are bringing drugs. Fears that immigrants are committing violent crimes. Fears that immigrants are bringing diseases. Fears that immigrants are draining our healthcare, welfare, and education systems. And worst of all, Trump repeated the hateful words of Adolf Hitler by saying they are “poisoning the blood” of our people.

Contrary to conservative political rhetoric, illegal immigrants do not vote. They are less likely to commit crimes and have a positive net contribution to our economy. Their labor and spending contribute to the bottom line of Social Security and to local economies. In particular, the undocumented are doing jobs for lower wages and sub-standard working conditions that no American would bother to do. Their cheap labor contributes to lower prices for the goods and services we all enjoy.

The problem for white “Christian” nationalists who fear being replaced by people of color from “shit hole” countries is that the white people from other industrialized countries, whom they wish to attract, don’t find the United States particularly attractive beyond our interesting wealth of diversity and the creativity that it brings. They love our food, our music, our movies, our sports, and our parks. We’re good for the occasional vacation. But our healthcare system, our education, our childcare policies, our gun violence, and our politics are less attractive than their own. And so, Republicans can’t escape the changing demographics that immigration will bring.

So, in preparation for the coming demographic shifts, they must attack the equal rights and democratic powers granted to every American citizen under the law by our current Constitution. They are willing to throw out the Constitution and start over if it will allow them to retain their political power, wealth, and cultural status as the standard bearers of the nation despite their diminished numbers. They wish for a return to a boss to subordinate relationship with people of color. The question is whether we will fall for it.

Not surprisingly, it makes white nationalists feel better to hear their candidates promise to round up and deport all illegal immigrants. Imagine the chaos and labor crisis that policy will bring. It also makes white nationalists feel better to hear their leaders claim that this is a “Christian” nation and that all the laws should be made in accordance with their beliefs. The push to force births isn’t really a moral issue, but one of survival for people who look and think like them. It is not lost on the Republicans leaders that women of color are having fewer children and that when they do, they and their babies are more likely to die in childbirth than white women and their babies.

The solution is an acceptance of the reality that more people of color are being born into this world, particularly in poor nations and to accept the fact that every rich industrialized nation will depend on their labor to survive. We must also acknowledge and mitigate the damage our demand for drugs, our brain-drain policies, our wars, and our climate destroying activities have inflicted on countries so as to drive mass migration. The solution is not to have more babies as the planet cannot support more people, but to redistribute the people we already have and provide them with the dignity, rights, and respect their humanity deserves. Keep the words on the Statue of Liberty!

It is time for we as citizens to pressure our lawmakers to build and fully fund a new immigration system that meets the demand for labor and processes people for entry in a timely way that also ensures our border security.