A Christian Response: The Hamilton County Commission Is A Den of Vipers

I am a Christian and the tradition of Christianity is very important to me. I find my Christian identity to be more important and more of value than any other. When I explain to other people why I call Jesus Christ "my Lord" I say this:

Jesus was a child born out of wedlock to a single, unemployed mother. He was a person of color with an "alien" religion living under the violent imperial rule of the Roman empire. His people were oppressed and subjugated to a government, economy, and religion not of their own. His religious leaders were sell-outs and made a mockery of their people by cozying up to the imperial rulers and the economic elites. Jesus fought back. He brought a radical vision to the world and he shared it with everyone he came across. He told the rich they must give up everything they owned to follow him. He told the poor the Beloved Community was for them and he told the peacemakers and meek that they would inherit the Earth. He would visit the most marginalized people in society, those that others forced to live segregated from the rest because their very existence inspired fear and loathing: the lepers. Jesus broke every socially accepted norm by going to the lepers, holding them and telling them that he loved them and would care for them. Jesus denied he had a family, if it meant that everyone was not his family. He said that his message was not for the rich and powerful, the politicians and religious leaders, but it was for the imprisoned convict, the widow, the orphan, the disabled, the poor, the marginalized and the oppressed. His message was a vision of a radical community built on a radical love. But this message was delivered in a world structured on principles of war, competition, profit, and individualism - and so the rich and the powerful conspired and, like so many people of color in our history who have fought for justice and taught a message of love, Jesus Christ was lynched by the imperial state.

To be a Christian, or "Christ-like", is very demanding. It requires that we live uncomfortable lives. It requires that we do more than pray, or go to church, or have a bumper sticker in the shape of a fish. It requires that we act on that radical love to build a radical community. It requires that we open ourselves up to the dangers of holding the leper. That we push ourselves to love the convict and act in ways that show we care for them. To be "Christ-like" requires that we re-make the world on principles of Justice, because a world with more Justice is a world that requires less charity.

So as a Christian and someone who attends County Commission meetings regularly, I am deeply disgusted by the public hand-wringing by the rich and the powerful - by the politicians and the religious leaders of today - over the unconstitutional endorsement of Jesus Christ at the opening of meetings by the Hamilton County Commission. 

Their actions are the ultimate in hypocrisy: the Hamilton County Commission is taking a firm stand on using the name of "Jesus Christ" to open their proceedings, but in the last two years has cut all funding for the local orphanage, for social services to the poor, marginalized, oppressed and disabled. I don't remember seeing the churches then, when budgets, which are moral documents that reflect our collective priorities, were making a mockery of Christian values and principles. I don't remember seeing the Commission fighting when they drove a nail through the arm of Christ with tax-breaks. They didn't say a word when they murdered my Lord with budget cuts.

There are names for people like that: white-washed sepulchers, a den of vipers. At least, that's what Christ called them.

"What you do unto the least of these, you do unto me." - Jesus Christ

A Brief Critical Review of the Hunger Games Trilogy (no spoiler)

Finished the Hunger Games Trilogy today. Here are some thoughts:

Moral Nihilism
The Hunger Games Series, by Suzanne Collins, is thoroughly nihilistic. What do I mean by "nihilistic"? I mean that life, death and labor in The Hunger Games trilogy are largely devoid of any deep significance or meaning. The protagonists are largely driven by the shallowest and most petty of motivations in their actions.The main character, Katniss Everdeen, proves herself to be a stone cold killer driven largely by revenge. The ending of the series resigns itself to life for life's sake, to the natural inevitability of things simply continuing. No deeper or more pronounced meaning is discovered or entertained outside the one-dimensional worldview of the main character, who seems to only be capable of understanding her life in terms of her most immediate relationships and her drive for survival and revenge.

Political Self-Censorship
At the heart of the Hunger Games Trilogy is the story of empire. Even the name of the triology itself invokes universal themes of how empires through out history have operated: how poor children are sent by rich profiteers to fight to the death against other poor children who live elsewhere, all for the sake of control. In the book, the ruling class that lives in the Capitol live decadent consumer lifestyles marked by extreme consumerism and obsession with the superficial. This lifestyle is made possible through The Capitol's strict control over the allocation, production and distribution of goods as well as complete control over the lives of workers and the conditions of their worksites and communities. All of this is to the benefit of the ruling class. This is a very powerful metaphor for how the United States uses its military and police to control communities and workers all over the world for the benefit of the global ruling class and their corporate bottom-line. But the book series, in my opinion, never goes far enough in examining how individual relationships and experiences are always embedded within empire. So the main character, rather than struggling for a better world where workers control their own communities and labor, is simply motivated to seek revenge against the autocrats who have hurt her family and friends. Murder and revenge are substituted for truth and resolution. Hate and violence for love and constructive alternatives.

This is made evidently clear in Katniss' home district of Appalachia where their entire way of life is centered around the mining of coal. Katniss's father dies as a result of a mining explosion and her entire community is constantly on the brink of mass starvation, yet she never makes the leap of connecting how the struggles of her family and community exist as a direct result of their institutional relationship to The Capitol. What is deeply ironic about her motivation to revolt against The Capitol is that she never seems to ask what kind of future would be worthy of her family and community and therefore worthy of fighting - and dying - for. Instead, Katniss seems blind to any larger questions, any larger vision, any deeper meaning to life than the sheer push for survival and revenge.

This very real picture from a very real internet poll performed by the very real "GoBankingRates.Com" proves that contradiction is a useful principle in understanding Imperial America

The Revolution
Another disappointing feature of the triology is the fallback to the lessons of the Cold War. The Left in the United States underwent a very real and very deep winter of guilt for its uncritical defense and support of Stalinist Russia. This theme has already played itself out over and over again in our movies and books. Rather than providing a new, deeper, healthier vision of what a post-capitalist, post-imperial world might look like, the Hunger Games veers into pure reaction, making the replacement of one totalitarian government with another totalitarian government at the end of the revolution an inevitability. Given the shallow emotional motivations of the characters there is little surprise that no time is raised to examine questions surrounding means and ends in a time of war, how we work collectively to create a better future society, justifications for the existence and use of nuclear weapons, or how folks from different communities with different cultures, resources and vocations should relate to one another on a larger and in a more holistic manner. Even more disappointing, the theme that hope is the greatest possible weapon against empire is completely smashed under the weight of hopelessness in light of the sheer inevitability of ever accomplishing anything through revolution than the installation of a new ruling class.

The Lowest and the Deepest
One of the most interesting aspects of the trilogy is the fact that the revolution largely begins in Appalachia and the Black Belt south. It is the agricultural south that shows the first unified and organized act of dissent against The Capitol in response to the public actions of Katniss. The poorest and most oppressed districts are the first to begin fighting back. This fact simply exists in the books, with no further depth or examination. While characters in the Hunger Games trilogy readily prove that they are completely capable of standing and acting in solidarity with one another and turning against their common oppressor, there is again no real examination of what life looks like beyond a fight against The Capitol.

Recall Showdown In Wisconsin Today

The recall election of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker is the 3rd gubernatorial recall election in the history of our country. Today it all ends.

According to the Center for Public Integrity, this recall election is the most expensive in the history of the state of Wisconsin:  "More than $63.5 million has been spent by candidates and independent groups, the overwhelming majority underwritten by out-of-state sources." That is an extraordinary amount of spending. Of course, the faucet didn't just open over night, it was pried lose by a toxic mix of the United States Supreme Court and Wisconsin state law. According to the Center for Public Integrity, this record level spending was made possible by the Supreme Court's Citizens United decision which "had the effect of invalidating Wisconsin’s century-old ban on independent expenditures by corporations and unions - and a state law that allows unlimited contributions to the incumbent in recall elections."

While Gov. Walker has depicted his campaign as an epic battle pitted against "powerful special interests" - like our country's anemic unions - he has raised over 2/3 of his $30.5 million in contributions from outside of the state of Wisconsin. He has also out-raised his competition in the election by 7.5 to 1 since late 2011, according to the Wisconsin Democracy Campaign.

Of course, labor unions and progressive groups could never compete financially with capital. It is foolhardy to every think they could. What this really boils down to is whether or not enough grassroots organizing has been taking place in the lead up to today's election. It's people power vs. money power. The power of the organized left vs. the power of the propertied class.

While the latest polls taken over the last few weeks show that Gov. Scott Walker has a lead of a few points over his challenger, Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett, no one really knows what will happen today. There has never been an election like this in the history of the state of Wisconsin. It might be possible for the left to pull an upset victory. Maybe. If they can turn out the numbers. If they can overcome the dizzying and nauseating stew of trash being projectile vomited at voters from every television and radio.

According to one high school organizer, it's been a hard road:

Elena Barham is a West Madison High School senior who helped form the Students for Wisconsin PAC. So far, the group has raised about $30 from T-shirt sales. 

“Our goal is not money-based,” said Barham, whose group has focused on voter registration among young voters. “It’s about showing that a grassroots effort could have an impact.” 

Barham’s PAC produced a Web ad critical of Walker’s cuts to education and is canvassing in pivotal Dane County — where Barrett needs to win big to have a chance. 

At school, Barham has the difficult task of rallying enthusiasm. 

“High school kids see all this big money and say, ‘I don’t have a million dollars,’” she said. “It’s hard to convince people of their political efficacy — it’s discouraging.”