WEBVTT - 011324 How the Right Co-Opts Christ (Part 1) 0:00:00.440 --> 0:00:02.480 Broadcasting from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. 0:00:02.480 --> 0:00:04.560 I'd like to welcome you to another episode of Civic Cipher, 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:07.840 where our mission is to foster allyship empathy and understanding. 0:00:07.880 --> 0:00:09.119 I am your host, Ramsey's Jah. 0:00:09.160 --> 0:00:12.200 He is Ramsy's Jah, I am q Ward. You are 0:00:12.200 --> 0:00:13.160 listening to Cilic Cipher. 0:00:13.200 --> 0:00:14.800 Indeed you are, And there's a lot to stick around 0:00:14.800 --> 0:00:17.599 for today, especially because today we're going to be talking 0:00:17.640 --> 0:00:24.040 about the intersection of faith and faith, baith based traditions 0:00:24.079 --> 0:00:27.320 of stuff to say, the intersection of that in politics, 0:00:27.640 --> 0:00:30.159 and a lot of times what we're seeing is and 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:32.640 what we've seen throughout the history of this country, is 0:00:32.640 --> 0:00:40.320 that people will use religion Christianity specifically to justify their politics, 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:48.919 and in doing so, they completely change the intention that 0:00:49.880 --> 0:00:54.040 most Biblical scholars would assign to texts and narratives that 0:00:54.400 --> 0:00:57.480 they would assign to those those passages. And so we 0:00:57.600 --> 0:01:00.639 need you to know about that and how to identify 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:04.120 it and how to push back against it. And for 0:01:04.160 --> 0:01:05.520 the second part of the show, we're going to spend 0:01:05.520 --> 0:01:11.360 some time discussing in online exchange that was had where 0:01:11.440 --> 0:01:17.800 an individual effectively said that we should go back to Africa. 0:01:18.120 --> 0:01:20.040 There's more to the story. But you know, we'll break 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:24.160 it down when we get there. But you know, there 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:24.800 are people out. 0:01:24.720 --> 0:01:25.920 There who really feel that way. 0:01:26.040 --> 0:01:29.840 They sincerely think that, you know, if you're not happy 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:31.640 in this country, should just go back to Africa. It's 0:01:31.640 --> 0:01:34.560 also simple to them. And maybe they're good people, maybe 0:01:34.560 --> 0:01:37.480 they're well intentioned, but the fact of the matter is 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:40.560 that these people exist and it's up to us to 0:01:40.600 --> 0:01:43.000 have these conversations for your benefits, so that if you 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:46.039 encounter folks like this, you know how to approach them, 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:48.520 and you know, if you have a degree of empathy 0:01:48.520 --> 0:01:51.080 and they're willing to have a conversation, I think that 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.120 bridges can be built in that space as well. So 0:01:53.160 --> 0:01:56.960 stay tuned for that and so much more on today's show. 0:01:57.040 --> 0:01:59.880 But first and foremost, like we always do at this time, 0:02:00.240 --> 0:02:03.680 let's discuss some ebony excellent, shall we we shall? 0:02:04.120 --> 0:02:07.720 This week's ebony Excellence is brought to you by Actively Black. 0:02:08.560 --> 0:02:11.480 Visit actively black dot com. There is Greatness in our 0:02:11.600 --> 0:02:17.320 DNA facts from Humble Texas. Viakp RC, a six year 0:02:17.320 --> 0:02:19.440 old boy in Texas, may be one of the smartest 0:02:19.520 --> 0:02:22.240 kids in the state. In fact, he may be one 0:02:22.240 --> 0:02:24.880 of the smartest kids in the country. Chandler Hughes has 0:02:24.960 --> 0:02:29.359 joined MENSA, a society for people with high IQs. It's 0:02:29.400 --> 0:02:33.400 a special fraternity of people who are essentially geniuses. Chandler 0:02:33.440 --> 0:02:36.440 started reading before he was two years old and wants 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:40.480 to be a doctor someday. Quote a medical doctor because 0:02:40.520 --> 0:02:42.200 I want to help people when they are sick. 0:02:42.400 --> 0:02:43.400 Chandler clarified. 0:02:44.040 --> 0:02:46.640 When he was in pre k, Chandler's dad said his 0:02:46.680 --> 0:02:49.680 son finished on a second grade reading and math level. 0:02:50.639 --> 0:02:53.480 He went straight to first grade. He completely skipped kindergarten. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.600 Bes Chandler may be. 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:57.880 Book smart, but his dad said the next step is 0:02:57.919 --> 0:03:01.280 to work on his socialization to help him continue to 0:03:01.360 --> 0:03:05.560 succeed in life. Young Chandler, you are not just ahead 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:10.320 of where I was head of your class, freak, but 0:03:10.440 --> 0:03:12.120 I think you are ahead of most of us who 0:03:12.120 --> 0:03:13.680 it's seeming to have this what I. 0:03:13.639 --> 0:03:15.919 Want to be when I grow up then figured out already. 0:03:16.000 --> 0:03:19.720 Yeah, man, so shouts the Chandler and his father for 0:03:19.840 --> 0:03:21.880 providing us with such an inspirational story. 0:03:22.440 --> 0:03:23.959 I think I want to be like Chandler when I 0:03:24.000 --> 0:03:25.240 grow up. Sure, sure you know. 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:29.600 We do get an opportunity to cite an example of 0:03:30.240 --> 0:03:32.520 black excellence. We call it ebony excellence on the show here, 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.000 of course, but we do get to cite an example 0:03:35.520 --> 0:03:38.480 every week, just because our stories are not all doom 0:03:38.520 --> 0:03:41.400 and gloom and police killing us and everything bad happened 0:03:41.400 --> 0:03:46.120 and or politically disenfranchised. There is excellence from our communities 0:03:46.120 --> 0:03:51.800 as well, and so today's example certainly feels like something 0:03:51.840 --> 0:03:55.600 that is more than worthy of that. And you know, 0:03:55.680 --> 0:03:59.760 a little black genius child is never a bad thing, 0:04:00.320 --> 0:04:03.440 especially when you're trying to change the narrative. Right, speaking 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:12.200 of changing the narrative, Christ in politics, why don't you 0:04:12.280 --> 0:04:12.880 start us off? Q? 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:15.560 Should I start with the video or do you want 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:17.280 to just hear how I feel about this thing? 0:04:17.360 --> 0:04:19.760 Let's start with how you feel. You know you have 0:04:19.800 --> 0:04:21.000 a unique perspective here. 0:04:21.120 --> 0:04:25.080 Well, you know I spent six days a week in 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:30.840 church as a child, and then when school was out, 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:34.960 I spent mornings, afternoons and evenings in church. On those 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:40.719 six days provided this thing called vacation, Bible school, revivals 0:04:40.760 --> 0:04:45.480 with other churches, doctors, training, unit teachers, meetings, usher's meetings, 0:04:45.960 --> 0:04:46.760 fire rehearsal. 0:04:48.600 --> 0:04:49.640 I could go on and on. 0:04:49.920 --> 0:04:52.800 My mother was not just associated pastor, but you know, 0:04:53.120 --> 0:04:55.919 before that of deaconess and at the same time a trustee. 0:04:55.960 --> 0:04:59.880 So there was some function happening at our church every day, 0:05:00.400 --> 0:05:02.960 but on average six days a week I was there, 0:05:03.000 --> 0:05:05.640 And you know, I know a lot about the Word 0:05:05.680 --> 0:05:12.599 of God, the King James Bible most specifically, and Ram 0:05:12.720 --> 0:05:16.720 just said in our in our open that a lot 0:05:16.720 --> 0:05:20.919 of conservative right wing politicians use the Bible to justify 0:05:20.960 --> 0:05:24.520 their politics. I think they can use it more as 0:05:24.560 --> 0:05:29.320 a way to manipulate their constituents, right, because you have 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:32.279 people like our former president, who we know is not 0:05:32.400 --> 0:05:38.760 a particularly decent human being, campaign on things that he 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:43.000 knows will get a response from Christian evangelicals whether or 0:05:43.040 --> 0:05:46.440 not he believes it or not. You know, you see 0:05:46.480 --> 0:05:49.400 a lot of a lot of claiming to be pro 0:05:49.480 --> 0:05:54.920 life politicians that are actually just anti abortion politicians because 0:05:54.960 --> 0:06:00.400 they know that there's a particular section of our population, 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:08.960 Christian evangelicals most specifically, that are very very strong and 0:06:09.120 --> 0:06:12.120 very very locked in on their position on that topic. 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:15.839 So even if they don't believe it themselves, and most 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:20.880 of their actions show that they are not indeed Christians 0:06:20.880 --> 0:06:23.240 by example, even if they belong to a church, even 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.760 if they were baptized, even if they do tote Bible. 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:30.520 Their actions show that the words and teachings of Christ 0:06:30.839 --> 0:06:34.039 are not something they subscribe to. They just understand by 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:38.880 using certain points and certain speaking points and really certain 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:44.760 political positions, that they can get the right response at 0:06:44.800 --> 0:06:49.880 the polls from their constituency. It's not about holding up 0:06:49.920 --> 0:06:53.480 the tent poles of Christ and his teachings at all. 0:06:55.360 --> 0:06:59.719 I remember hearing a quote, it might be from Gandhi. 0:06:59.760 --> 0:07:04.920 Maybe he says, you know, I like your christ Gandhi 0:07:05.040 --> 0:07:06.960 is not a Christian, of course, was not a Christian 0:07:07.960 --> 0:07:11.680 from a whole different faith. But it says, I like 0:07:11.720 --> 0:07:15.880 your christ I don't like your Christians. They are so 0:07:16.200 --> 0:07:22.160 unlike your CHRISTO. And that wasn't specifically speaking to politics 0:07:22.320 --> 0:07:27.040 per se. But I think that there. 0:07:26.560 --> 0:07:27.480 Are a lot of. 0:07:29.760 --> 0:07:31.520 I don't want to say there's a lot of Christians 0:07:31.560 --> 0:07:36.120 that identify as conservative, but there are a lot of 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:40.480 Conservatives that identify as Christian indeed right. And I think 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:45.680 that that particular facet based on how they vote and 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:49.360 the values that they espouse and the values that they 0:07:49.480 --> 0:07:50.880 choose to expouse. 0:07:51.400 --> 0:07:56.000 Because the fact is that. 0:07:59.200 --> 0:08:03.160 You can cherry different things from the Bible uh and 0:08:03.240 --> 0:08:08.000 make yourself look like a decent person. But I think 0:08:08.040 --> 0:08:13.160 that really it's what you ignore, what you cast aside, 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:17.720 that really shows your level of commitment. You know, again, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:23.080 the things you espouse can be sort of manipulated, The 0:08:23.080 --> 0:08:25.440 optics can be manipulated. And so I don't want to 0:08:26.400 --> 0:08:29.680 I don't want to cast a negative light on you know, 0:08:29.720 --> 0:08:31.920 people trying to do their best. But what I think 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.760 I want to do is illuminate the fact that not 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:39.880 everybody really talks the talk and a lot of people's. 0:08:39.520 --> 0:08:41.480 Well, a lot of people talk to talk. Well, not 0:08:41.520 --> 0:08:44.720 everybody walks walk the walk that seems to be missing 0:08:44.840 --> 0:08:46.280 right nowadays. 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.400 And there and there's a breakdown there. So what brought 0:08:49.400 --> 0:08:53.480 this to our consciousness for this week is the video 0:08:53.520 --> 0:08:54.200 that you mentioned. 0:08:54.200 --> 0:08:55.560 So let's let's play this video. 0:08:55.679 --> 0:08:59.560 This comes from a gentleman by the name of John 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:05.000 Google Sang and this was on MSNBC recently. 0:09:05.040 --> 0:09:10.960 So ahead and right wing fundamentalists and Christian nationalists who 0:09:11.120 --> 0:09:14.800 use Jesus, whose birth we celebrate, as a prop while 0:09:14.920 --> 0:09:18.960 legislating and fighting against his actual teachings. There's a lot 0:09:19.000 --> 0:09:21.199 of right wing brothers and sisters in this country who 0:09:21.240 --> 0:09:23.840 identify as Christian and they care about the major and 0:09:23.880 --> 0:09:27.040 the crucifix, and they ignore the thirty years of teaching, 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:30.280 well actually three years of teaching he did in between. 0:09:31.160 --> 0:09:35.839 Jesus is not an ally of the Republican Party. There 0:09:35.880 --> 0:09:38.680 is no overlap between Jesus and the policies of Donald Trump. 0:09:38.720 --> 0:09:40.840 A South Carolina, they try to have a bill this 0:09:40.920 --> 0:09:43.600 year calling for the death penalty for abortion. 0:09:43.840 --> 0:09:46.640 Where so pro life will kill you. That's where we're 0:09:46.679 --> 0:09:47.160 at right now. 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:52.040 I would kill for a nobelpe this week. Enrage these 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.880 right wing Christians so much because he acted like Jesus 0:09:54.880 --> 0:09:58.360 in blessing gay unions. Jesus is not anti immigrant. He 0:09:58.400 --> 0:10:01.200 commands people to welcome the stranger. He never mentions abortion. 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:04.800 The Bible never condemns abortion. We've had two generations of 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:07.880 Christians in this country who have been gloomed to believe 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:12.360 criminalizing abortion is something to do with what Jesus talked about. 0:10:12.559 --> 0:10:16.480 Christ was a peaceful, radical, non violent revolutionary. Never mentioned 0:10:16.520 --> 0:10:19.440 gay people. He commanded you to pay your taxes to 0:10:19.480 --> 0:10:22.400 welcome the stranger. Individuals and nations must care for the 0:10:22.400 --> 0:10:25.040 poor and sick. In Matthew twenty five, he who lives 0:10:25.040 --> 0:10:27.520 by the sword must die by the sword. Loops twenty two. 0:10:27.840 --> 0:10:30.320 There's a reason why these right wingers never try to 0:10:30.320 --> 0:10:33.960 put the sermon on the Mount on walls and classrooms 0:10:34.280 --> 0:10:38.600 read the Bible. Wow, yeah, he says, birthday, you're delivered. 0:10:38.640 --> 0:10:40.000 I said, I'm a child of a next noun in 0:10:40.000 --> 0:10:43.040 a next Francisco if you are. If you want to 0:10:43.040 --> 0:10:45.960 criminalize abortion and put people in jail because you're so 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:49.280 Christian when Jesus never mentioned abortion, but you support the 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:52.440 death penalty, which Christ actually opposed. The rest of us 0:10:52.960 --> 0:10:55.280 wrote the books. Yeah, if you support those things that 0:10:55.320 --> 0:10:56.800 the rest of us are the lives to take your 0:10:56.840 --> 0:11:00.199 claims of Christian piety seriously anymore. And the media it's 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:02.160 the blame because the media loves the bad guy and 0:11:02.240 --> 0:11:04.920 has made the Ballwells and the Robertson's asked for what 0:11:05.000 --> 0:11:08.120 Christianity is for a generation. It's time to take the 0:11:08.120 --> 0:11:10.080 Bible back from the hypocrites and thoughts. 0:11:12.000 --> 0:11:12.240 Wow. 0:11:14.400 --> 0:11:17.800 So you know you heard it, You heard it yourself, 0:11:17.840 --> 0:11:22.000 And I think that that really stands up to. 0:11:24.120 --> 0:11:28.960 What a lot of people have been pointing to. 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:31.200 You know, on our social media, we've pointed to a 0:11:31.200 --> 0:11:37.400 lot in a way of Republican hypocrisy, and we've identified 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:44.600 and delineated lots of examples. You know, Republicans legislators voting 0:11:44.840 --> 0:11:50.559 to not fund school lunches but to give themselves free lunches, 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.120 you know what I mean. I believe that might have 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:54.440 been in like Montana or Wyoming or someplace like that, 0:11:54.520 --> 0:11:59.440 maybe Idaho. Obviously we've talked about abortion, We've talked about 0:11:59.520 --> 0:12:00.920 you know, all these other sorts of things, and there 0:12:00.960 --> 0:12:05.440 are people who can make arguments for, oh, this was 0:12:05.480 --> 0:12:08.240 in the Old Testament, you know whatever, but Jesus was 0:12:08.280 --> 0:12:10.760 not in the Old Testament. Jesus was in the New Testament. 0:12:10.920 --> 0:12:13.880 So anything that people make arguments about, like homosexuality, those 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:17.599 sorts of things, that's old Testaments. So in theory, the 0:12:17.679 --> 0:12:21.600 way that Christianity works is you have the Old Testament 0:12:21.800 --> 0:12:24.640 and that serves as the Old Covenant, the old set 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:27.560 of promises, the old set of rules, and then there's 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:30.960 the New Testament, and the Old Testament informs the New Testament. 0:12:31.000 --> 0:12:32.800 But the New Testament is the one that you should 0:12:32.840 --> 0:12:35.120 go by. That is why you are a Christian. If 0:12:35.120 --> 0:12:37.280 you were just going by the Old Testament, you would 0:12:37.280 --> 0:12:45.000 be Jewish. And people try to use different parts of 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:49.000 the Bible that conflict with other parts of the Bible, 0:12:49.240 --> 0:12:51.720 but they'll only take this one vantage point because it 0:12:51.920 --> 0:12:56.439 serves an agenda for them. It helps prop up their worldview, 0:12:57.160 --> 0:13:03.920 It creates value in their immediate universe, their their frame 0:13:03.960 --> 0:13:04.560 of reference. 0:13:04.600 --> 0:13:04.920 And so. 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.800 As you mentioned, or as as the video mentioned, you know, 0:13:09.880 --> 0:13:13.640 there's a lot of shortcomings there. There's there's some more 0:13:13.679 --> 0:13:17.440 that I want to take some time, and you know 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:18.920 this first one I'm going to say, and I just 0:13:18.960 --> 0:13:25.120 want you to kind of figure out where this fits politically. Okay, Uh, 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.120 there's a verse from Luke ten to nine. Funnily enough, 0:13:29.120 --> 0:13:31.480 we're reading from the Bible on this radio, so on 0:13:31.559 --> 0:13:34.720 these radio stations, because not all stations, you know. Anyway, 0:13:35.040 --> 0:13:38.000 this verse says, heal the sick who are there, and 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.400 tell them the Kingdom of God has come near to you. 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:48.960 So this is this goes against people who call universal 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:50.720 health care socialism. 0:13:50.840 --> 0:13:54.439 Like so like that make socialism a pejorative term. 0:13:54.480 --> 0:13:58.040 Yeah, like it's a bad word, right, But I'm reading 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:02.920 from often enough those same people Bible, right, and then 0:14:02.960 --> 0:14:07.080 they have to shift their argument somehow to say that 0:14:07.120 --> 0:14:09.320 it's not affordable, it's not sustainable, so farth so on, 0:14:09.400 --> 0:14:10.760 And the truth is we know that it is. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:12.440 We know that it is. 0:14:12.720 --> 0:14:15.719 This is the only country that is this developed that 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:18.559 charges like you can go bankrupt for getting sick. If 0:14:18.559 --> 0:14:20.960 the government is going to do anything, it's going to 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:23.200 make sure that the health of the population is okay. 0:14:23.320 --> 0:14:27.680 You know, deborders from being sick or die from being poor. 0:14:27.760 --> 0:14:29.720 There you go, there you go. Excellent. 0:14:30.200 --> 0:14:33.040 So again this is from the same people's Bible and 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:37.320 asking them to reconcile that against their beliefs. They'll often 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:43.240 have this kind of tactic where they kind of dodge 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:47.800 the question or change the approach to the question. They'll 0:14:47.840 --> 0:14:50.160 they'll shift it around. But you know, if you are 0:14:50.200 --> 0:14:52.520 a Christian, as you profess to be, you know these 0:14:52.760 --> 0:14:56.920 people as they profess to be, you would imagine that 0:14:57.320 --> 0:15:00.560 these truths would be central to their moral compass. Not 0:15:00.880 --> 0:15:01.840 how much money is it? 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:02.160 Right? 0:15:02.440 --> 0:15:04.320 We already know in this country we have plenty of money. 0:15:04.320 --> 0:15:06.800 Everyone knows that we're giving billions of dollars to fight wars. 0:15:06.840 --> 0:15:11.440 We don't even have nothing to do it. Right, let's 0:15:11.520 --> 0:15:15.200 move on this time. I'm going to read from Deuteronomy 0:15:15.240 --> 0:15:18.080 fifteen seven. If I'm not mistaken Deuteronomy as Old Testament. 0:15:18.120 --> 0:15:19.480 But you know, there are people who use the Old 0:15:19.480 --> 0:15:22.800 Testament too, right, So I'll do the same. If among 0:15:22.840 --> 0:15:26.360 you one of your brothers should become poor in any 0:15:26.400 --> 0:15:30.320 of your towns within your land that the Lord God 0:15:30.400 --> 0:15:33.680 has given you, you shall not harden your heart or 0:15:33.720 --> 0:15:35.760 shut your hand against your poor brother. 0:15:39.320 --> 0:15:39.680 All right. 0:15:39.760 --> 0:15:42.720 So remember we had this conversation, maybe it might have 0:15:42.760 --> 0:15:44.960 been two weeks ago, Q, where we were talking about 0:15:45.200 --> 0:15:46.920 how there was a war on drugs and not a 0:15:46.960 --> 0:15:50.960 war on poverty. Do you think that if Jesus was around, 0:15:50.960 --> 0:15:52.720 he would have supported a war on drugs or a 0:15:52.720 --> 0:15:54.240 war on poverty. 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:58.080 I think in the times of Christ it would not 0:15:58.120 --> 0:16:00.360 have been faring that way. In the first it wouldn't 0:16:00.400 --> 0:16:04.000 even right. He healed the sick there and would have 0:16:04.120 --> 0:16:08.440 treated a drug addict to someone who could not get 0:16:08.440 --> 0:16:10.680 off of their dependency on a drug to a point 0:16:10.680 --> 0:16:13.360 where the drug itself that was maybe designed to heal 0:16:13.480 --> 0:16:16.280 or help with some ailment, was killing them. He would 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:18.480 have treated that person like a sick person and wanted 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:21.360 to help them, sure, not criminalize them or other them 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.680 and put them in a position where they're they're suffering 0:16:25.160 --> 0:16:28.080 at the hands of an addiction, made them a horrible person. 0:16:28.320 --> 0:16:32.160 Thank you. So there is my opinion. I think I 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:33.000 think you're absolutely right. 0:16:33.040 --> 0:16:35.640 I think it's it's consistent with the person that we 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.640 all know to be there, you know, to be this 0:16:39.640 --> 0:16:44.640 this figure. It's it's kind of the same as when 0:16:44.920 --> 0:16:48.000 you know, when Martin Luther King Junior Day rolls around 0:16:48.040 --> 0:16:54.120 every year and you'll see Republicans sharing quotes from doctor King, 0:16:55.160 --> 0:16:57.640 and the rest of us know exactly what Doctor King 0:16:57.720 --> 0:17:01.880 stood for, but they're co opting that image and selling it, 0:17:02.400 --> 0:17:06.800 rebranding it as some form of conservative values or whatever 0:17:06.840 --> 0:17:11.280 it is, and rebranding it to their followers and their supporters. 0:17:12.080 --> 0:17:15.560 And again, it's like rewriting the narrative. And this is 0:17:15.600 --> 0:17:20.439 something that's happened for black people consistently. You know, Elvis 0:17:20.480 --> 0:17:23.399 Presley is not the founder of rock and roll, you know, 0:17:23.480 --> 0:17:26.840 and you know this is a story that tells oldest 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.280 time in this country. But you know, the powers would 0:17:29.320 --> 0:17:32.520 be the folks that are in a position to rewrite 0:17:32.520 --> 0:17:36.360 the narrative and chronicle it in such a way that 0:17:36.520 --> 0:17:41.360 it supports an agenda that does not reflect a shared reality. 0:17:41.520 --> 0:17:43.479 That's something that happens and we all need to know 0:17:43.520 --> 0:17:46.880 about this. Hints our discussion about how the Bible has 0:17:46.960 --> 0:17:50.199 historically been used, even going all the way back. You know, 0:17:50.280 --> 0:17:54.399 democrats are not exempt from condemnation. 0:17:54.520 --> 0:17:54.720 Here. 0:17:56.320 --> 0:17:59.040 The Bible, as many people may or may not know, 0:18:00.320 --> 0:18:05.760 was used to justify the atrocities of slavery against black people, and. 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:12.320 Long before the institution of chattel slavery brought itself to 0:18:12.400 --> 0:18:16.760 this continent. Religion in general, not just the King James Bible, 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.200 has been used as a way to control and oppress 0:18:20.640 --> 0:18:25.520 those with less powerless resources, and less in the way 0:18:25.600 --> 0:18:31.359 to keep themselves from being manipulated by very often logical fallacies. 0:18:31.480 --> 0:18:34.600 You mentioned the red herring or the you know, the 0:18:34.640 --> 0:18:37.160 idea of just kind of changing the subject when brought 0:18:37.200 --> 0:18:39.800 to question on some of these very very straightforward verses 0:18:39.800 --> 0:18:44.040 from the Bible, you know, the straw man arguments that 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.840 are used oftentimes in the debates that we let kind 0:18:47.880 --> 0:18:51.320 of open lies go even when they happen in front 0:18:51.359 --> 0:18:53.880 of us on television with the Mino saw it. Yeah, 0:18:53.960 --> 0:18:57.120 So it's you know, it's not just the Bible, it's 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:01.399 not just Republicans, it's not just politicians, but speaking to 0:19:01.480 --> 0:19:05.840 Republicans in general, because they have kind of positioned themselves 0:19:06.359 --> 0:19:09.919 as the party of Evangelical Christians in this country. So 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.199 that's the reason why they're kind of being called to 0:19:12.240 --> 0:19:16.920 the carpet, is because at the time they are using 0:19:16.960 --> 0:19:21.320 the Bible as a catapult to their political platform, even 0:19:21.320 --> 0:19:25.359 when its excuse me, has very little to do with 0:19:25.480 --> 0:19:26.439 the teachings of Christ. 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.080 You know, there's something else here too, you know, just 0:19:30.200 --> 0:19:35.879 like these folks are kind of reworking the angles of 0:19:36.480 --> 0:19:40.720 the Bible to suit an agenda. If I'm not mistaken, 0:19:40.760 --> 0:19:42.800 I believe this is true. The reason that the King 0:19:42.880 --> 0:19:50.760 James Bible exists in the first place is because the 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:54.199 original or the Bible that was widely used prior to 0:19:54.240 --> 0:20:00.520 the King James version, prohibited divorce. And it might have 0:20:00.560 --> 0:20:02.880 been King James or another king or something like that. 0:20:02.880 --> 0:20:05.400 They wanted to get a divorce, and so they commissioned 0:20:05.400 --> 0:20:09.040 a new Bible to be written or translated and to 0:20:09.160 --> 0:20:13.440 have that language massaged from the original. I think it 0:20:13.520 --> 0:20:16.159 might have been Hebrew text or something like that, to 0:20:16.240 --> 0:20:21.000 where it allowed for an interpretation that gave an access 0:20:21.040 --> 0:20:26.399 point for divorce. And this isn't I'm not just making 0:20:26.400 --> 0:20:28.560 that up. This is something that is that is factual. 0:20:28.600 --> 0:20:31.080 This is the basis of that version of the Bible, 0:20:31.160 --> 0:20:34.800 but the details might not be there, but the overarching 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.440 kind of storyline that is factual. 0:20:37.440 --> 0:20:37.760 And so. 0:20:40.000 --> 0:20:43.719 Just know that when people try to use these things 0:20:43.800 --> 0:20:47.960 kind of to stand on to kind of example their 0:20:48.000 --> 0:20:52.000 moral compass, even people that are really true to it, 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:55.040 and they use the text word for word, they're simply 0:20:55.119 --> 0:20:59.200 using a different person's interpretation of the original text. One 0:20:59.280 --> 0:21:04.439 person that I on TikTok, his name might be like 0:21:04.560 --> 0:21:06.800 Dan McClellan or something like that. If you follow me 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:08.800 on TikTok, he's one of the people I follow. So 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:10.439 that's the best I can give you right now. But 0:21:10.520 --> 0:21:13.159 check him out. He is a biblical scholar, just like 0:21:13.640 --> 0:21:18.159 the person we just listened to, John Fugelsang. He's a 0:21:18.160 --> 0:21:23.760 biblical scholar, and he interprets the Bible from the original 0:21:23.840 --> 0:21:27.239 text and he gives historical context to what it is 0:21:27.240 --> 0:21:30.480 that people were doing and thinking and saying at the time. 0:21:30.840 --> 0:21:34.600 So he's a historian and a scholar and a person 0:21:34.640 --> 0:21:39.000 that has the original text information. And he is a 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:45.800 fantastic TikToker to follow because he blows so much wide open, 0:21:47.800 --> 0:21:51.760 wide open, Because people only have an idea of what 0:21:51.840 --> 0:21:54.119 they think is happening, and this guy, as close as 0:21:54.160 --> 0:21:57.360 I've ever seen any human come to it. This guy 0:21:57.480 --> 0:22:00.200 actually knows full well because again he has content text. 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:04.159 He knows what these symbols represented, and why these people 0:22:05.040 --> 0:22:07.600 talked about this certain type of bread in the body, you. 0:22:07.520 --> 0:22:08.679 Know, all this sort of stuff. 0:22:09.320 --> 0:22:13.640 So one of the things that I want for us 0:22:13.680 --> 0:22:16.600 all to take away from this is that it is 0:22:16.640 --> 0:22:21.639 important to maintain what the founding fathers wanted in this country, 0:22:21.640 --> 0:22:24.080 which is a separation of church and state. But with 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.359 that said, it is okay to have personal beliefs and 0:22:27.800 --> 0:22:31.240 for those personal beliefs to be reflected in your politics. 0:22:31.520 --> 0:22:35.159 But in theory, religion is something that brings out the 0:22:35.200 --> 0:22:38.439 best of us, causes us to fellowship more and to 0:22:38.560 --> 0:22:42.160 be more charitable and more empathetic and understanding. And what 0:22:42.200 --> 0:22:44.960 we've seen in recent years is that one party in 0:22:45.000 --> 0:22:48.400 particular in this country is actually using religion to drive 0:22:48.440 --> 0:22:52.720 an even further wedge between who we are to each 0:22:52.720 --> 0:22:54.440 other and how we relate to each other. And they're 0:22:54.440 --> 0:22:57.080 doing it in the name of Christ, and that feels 0:22:57.200 --> 0:22:57.880 very unfair.