Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Incipient Racism of Southern Baptists

Richard Land needs to be very careful. The incipient racism that flows so easily just beneath the surface of many southern baptists tries to rear its ugly head in his recent statement concerning the nomination of Sonia Sotomayor to the U.S. Supreme Court.  See Justice Sotomayor?—More for some, less for others?

He begins with a statement questioning the President's statement about most middle-class Americans not feeling particularly privileged.  Yet it does not take very much listening to black Americans living in the Bible-Belt or Asian Americans, Hispanic Americans, Native Americans living many places in this country to realize that racial discrimination is alive and well. And any time or place there is this kind of discrimination, more often than not, it is white middle-class Americans who benefit from it.

Next he parrots one of the major talking point of the right wing media about the president's pre-selection statements about wanting a judge with empathy and assumes quite erroneously that a judge cannot be both empathetic and impartial. Just for the record, a definition of empathy-the capability to share your feelings and understand another's emotion and feelings. It is often characterized as the ability to "put oneself into another's shoes," or in some way experience what the other person is feeling.  I can state from personal experience that you are much more likely to get justice from a judge who has some understanding of where you are coming from than one who doesn't have a clue about what goes on in your neighborhood.
Next he talks about the Ricci case as if she is solely responsible for it. When in fact, she was one of a three judge panel which unanimously upheld the decision of the district court and in the majority of a 7-6 decision that the case did not merit further review at the circuit court level. He also does not mention that the plaintiffs in the case were not all white, but white and Hispanic. If she is guilty of letting her "race" influence her decision, why did should rule against the Hispanics in this case. Maybe one should look at the Cabranes dissent as the one that was racially motivated.

And finally he continues to parrot the right wing talking points by taking her comments about "a wise Latina woman" totally out of the context. In fact he violates one of the clearest standards of interpretation by stringing quotes together to make his point. I have always given him credit for his bible study skills but wonder if maybe he also treats the biblical text so unfairly. For a brief discussion of what she meant in her 2001 speech, see Charles Savage's NY Times column, A Judge’s View of Judging Is on the Record.

I am not suggesting that Richard Land's objection to her nomination is racially motivated.  It is obvious that his objection comes from being in bed far too long with the radical right wing of the republican party. But the arguments he uses are certainly tainted by the underlying racism of the southern baptist convention. It began as a racist organization and, in spite of its proclamations to the contrary, continues to demonstrate that racism in the way it and some of its members relate to American society.

Far from being solid analysis as one reader commented, this is a hatchet job on an extremely well qualified judge.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Which Part of "NO LAW" Does He Not Understand?

Georgia does it again!

It never ceases to amaze me that people are smart enough to get elected to congress but not smart enough to read and interpret things like the Bill of Rights.  The First Amendment clearly states 

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion . . .

And just for those who have to be hit over the head with it. Here it is set in stone-



But over and over both nationally and locally well-meaning government officials keep ignoring what it says.  The newest attempt is from Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga.), a medical doctor and member of Prince Avenue Baptist Church in Athens, Ga.  (Why do these kinds of things come so often from Georgia and Alabama?)  As if to justify what he clearly knows to be "bs" the good doctor said in an interview with the Washington Post, "This doesn't have anything to do with Christianity . . ."  Just how stupid does he think the American people are?

If you are now feeling superior to the buffoons in Georgia who keep electing people like this here are the bill's co-sponsors:

Rep Gingrey, Phil -GA

Rep Westmoreland, Lynn A. -GA

Rep Carter, John R. -TX

Rep Gohmert, Louie -TX

Rep Marchant, Kenny -TX

Rep Forbes, J. Randy -VA

Rep Goodlatte, Bob -VA

Rep Akin, W. Todd- MO

 Rep Bachmann, Michele -MN

Rep Franks, Trent -AZ

Rep Jordan, Jim -OH

 Rep Lamborn, Doug -CO

Rep McCotter, Thaddeus G. -MI

 Rep Pence, Mike -IN

 Rep Wamp, Zach -TN

That's three from Georgia, three from Texas, and two from Virginia.  Just so you can be well-informed, Rep. Westmoreland is the same one that made of fool of himself on the Colber(t) Repor(t) when, after sponsoring a bill to post the ten commandments in public buildings, could only name three of them and got one of them wrong. No matter how you grade it, 2 out of 10 is failing.

To read more on this story go to:

'Year of the Bible' resolution roils Congress

or

Lawmaker wants to make 2010 'Year of the Bible'

Tuesday, May 05, 2009

The Totaled Woman Is Alive and Well at SWBTS

The latest edition of the Latest News from Southwestern is just full of fun(dy) stuff.  It may take me awhile to comment on all of it, so check back for updates.

First, an update on the happy homemaker program at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. My first post on this subject came back in 2007 when the program was announced.


Now the seminary is proudly showcasing the new home on seminary hill for the happy homemaker home.  You can see the proud parents in the press release,
 "Southwestern Seminary dedicates Horner Homemaking House"

Acccording to the press release, the building, named the Sarah Horner Homemaking House, will serve as an educational building but will look more like a house than a classroom, complete with kitchen and textile lab, as well as a large library, full of resources for classroom lectures. Upstairs, two rooms will house students in the homemaking concentration and another room will be available for guest housing.

Next, just in case you are wondering if they do still allow women to teach about children's ministry at Fort Fundamentalist, "Trustees elected Karen Kennemur as assistant professor of children’s ministry in the School of Educational Ministries."  I do wonder how they justify having a wife and mother of three children work outside the home like this.  What kind of example is that setting for all of the future happy homemakers?