Hallway to Nowhere

Tag: Alabama

  • Report on Doug Jones’ Win In Alabama

    A Democrat won in Alabama. Freakin’ ALABAMA! But before we go getting all warm and fuzzy toward the denizens of that benighted state, let me point out WHO exactly  elected Doug Jones: the African American residents, most specifically THE WOMEN! They turned out to vote for him in greater numbers than even for Barack Obama. Now, younger white voters did vote for Jones,esp. in the urban counties, but most of the older white males in Alabama voted for Moore and the majority of white women, even those who were college grads, STILL voted for Moore!

    It’s time for another Transit Report. My ever-faithful Trump-supporting transit driver had this to say: he won’t last (referring to Jones). He went on to explain himself, asking those of us captive, You DO know who voted for him, right? It was the blacks and the  women! When they settle down, everything will go back to normal.

    Alrighty, then. Let’s examine this. Implicit in this is the unstated belief that the white residents of Alabama, most particularly the MEN, are the true citizens and the ones that really matter. And that what is the natural state of affairs is for African Americans and women to KNOW THEIR PLACE and let the white folks-the white MEN- decide things.

    He is a white older evangelical, btw. So not unlike those who turned in support of Roy Moore in Alabama. Like them, he is willing to embrace anyone who claims to speak for (white) Christian values wrapped in a red, white, and blue flag. No matter their character, actions, or words. If they use the right symbols and code words, basically give the correct “not-so-secret handshake and password,” then they are IN. And this seems to be a club that you join for for life. I don’t think you get thrown out. Maybe if you do something like, Idk, become an EXTREME apostate and reject Jesus in a public manner, convert to another religion or something. But there’s ALWAYS the possibility of forgiveness, b/c these people like nothing better than a repentant sinner. After all, Roy Moore came back to the Alabama Supreme Court after being removed once. I don’t think we’ve seen the last of Moore. He turns up like a bad penny.

    But good for the people of Alabama. And regardless of what my transit driver believes, the African Americans ARE residents of Alabama; the younger voters ARE residents of Alabama; and angry women EVERYWHERE who are voting, running for office, and WINNING are legitimate citizens of the United States. No-one is going anywhere.

  • Roy Moore Has A Great Big (Christian) Credibility Problem

    Roy Moore Has A Great Big (Christian) Credibility Problem

    Roy Moore has based his career as a politician on his self-righteous Christianity. He installed a marble statue of the 10 Commandments in his courtroom as Alabama’s Chief Justice and was removed from office when he refused to remove it. He was elected again to head the court and again removed after he directed probate judges to continue to enforce the state’s ban on same-sex marriages. He resigned and is now running for the seat vacated by Jeff Sessions. He is known for his anti-LGBTQ views, anti-Muslim and immigrant sentiments, and past ties to neo-Confederate and white nationalist groups, in addition to his loudly and oft-expressed notions about Christianity.

    He really ought to have heeded the saying about glass houses and stones. His house is shattering all about him. What remains to be seen is whether this will make any difference to his constituency: the largely evangelical Republicans in Alabama. An Alabama state official has already defended Moore from the allegations that have been made in the Washington Post stating that he engaged in what is legally sexual abuse of a minor. Around 86% of Alabama residents identify as Christians, and almost half of those say they are evangelical. According to the Pew Research Center, 70% of white evangelicals now say that a person who commits “an immoral act” can behave ethically in the public sphere (unless, of course, you are Hillary Clinton). I suppose this is part and parcel of the whole “forget everything except your personal relationship with Jesus” thing? I USED to hear  that my Christian friends  expected their politicians to live up to a certain moral standard IN ALL RESPECTS….that their personal lives should reflect their public lives.

    Now? Not so much. I hear increasingly that the ends justify the means, and if that means embracing a foul-mouthed hypocrite like DJT, then so be it. After all, god can use anyone he wants, right? But to those of us who are looking on, this smacks less of faith than of desperation at best and of venality at worst. They are throwing away their standards in pursuit of goals that will most likely never materialize. To use a reference from their own bible, DJT definitely has feet of clay! And as we are now finding out, so does Roy Moore, god’s own self-chosen one in Alabama!

  • Gay?Not Okay! Anti-LGBTQ Legislation Continues To Be Passed

    Gay?Not Okay! Anti-LGBTQ Legislation Continues To Be Passed

    Remember DJT promising to be a great friend to “the gays” and brandishing a rainbow flag at his rallies (well, at at least one rally that was photoghaphed)? So much for that! The rollback of protection for LGBTQ indviduals and couples coninues apace, as states pass laws that place “religious liberty” above the rights of LGBTQ citizens and deny  the protection of law from those who are most often targeted.  The courts in one state, Mississippi, even went so far as to pass an entirely redundant law to PROTECT those engaged in anti-LGBTQ discrimination.

    And lest you think this is purely a Southern state phenomenon, the courts of South Dakota, North Dakota, AND Michigan joined Virginia, Alabama, Texas, West Virginia, and as mentioned, Mississippi, to pass laws that either allow institutions to discriminate against LGBTQ persons in the name of religion or deny LGBTQ persons protect from hate-crimes.  Apparently, along with no longer being counted in the Census, we can no longer do things like adopt children, GET BURIED (Mississippi-why am I not surprised?), or oh, I don’t know….JUST EXIST without being an affront to right-thinking people everywhere.

    This is not to be taken lightly. We need to treat this seriously. Just because OBergefell became law doesn’t mean a f…. thing anymore. We need to get out and put people into office who will stand up for HUMAN RIGHTS. Not tomorrow. Not next week. NOW. Stand up; speak out; RESIST and VOTE!

  • Alabama Church May Get Own Police Force

    Alabama Church May Get Own Police Force

    The Alabama senate passed a bill on Tuesday that will allow Briarwood Presbyterian Church in Birmingham, Alabama the right to create its own police force to patrol its grounds and schools.  These officers have to remain on the church property but will be “invested with all the power of law enforcement officers” in Alabama, according to the bill that won by a 24-4 vote in the state Senate. A version of the bill failed last year, after passing both houses but the governor at the time, Gov. Robert Bentley, refused to sign it into law. Concerns over the creation of private security forces were cited by the administration. But apparently that concern has been muted for the new governor, and so the bill might actually get signed into law.

    The orignators of this bill cite the fact that religious educational institutions of higher learning, such as BYU and other universities, have their own police forces. They claim to want to “mirror” a code of Alabama law that allows for the employment of one or more law enforcement officers at a college or private educational institution. They cite practical reasons, reaching back to the tragedy at Sandy Hook for their justification as a need to have first responders on hand for their members and to coordinate with the local community.

    Let’s look at this. First of all, I want to ask, WHY does a church, specifically a predominantly WHITE mainstream-denomination church need a police force of its very own? Historically, the churches that have been the scenes of violence have been the BLACK churches, particularly in the South. Just ask any member of the Emanuel African Episcopal Church in Charleston, SC. This sounds suspiciously like a case of Christian paranoia running rampant.

    Secondly, I want to know what oversight there will be for this police force? Quis custodiet ipsos custodes? Will there be transparency, or will there be the usual religious exemption from scutiny? Alabama has already encountered a problem here, with its religious day schools. They have been the subject of a number of articles detailing abuse and neglect. But, due to the fact that they are run by RELIGIOUS organizations, and that means CHRISTIAN, in case you were wondering, the State Department of Human Resouces has no way to even investigate these stories. I imagine that, should Briarwood be allowed to establish its police force, a similar religious exemption from accountability will most likely be part of the bargain. Just one of those little believer’s perks….

    Third, I’m wondering if Alabama (and other states to follow) will grant similar privileges to NON-CHRISTIAN places that might want their own police force? I’m willing to bet that mosques and synagogues need police officers (for the congregants’ protection) WAY more than churches do! (Unless you are an African American Christian. Then you DO need your own police force. Plus, a police force to protect you FROM the first police force.) And Hindu temples need them, too. Ignorant people now think Indians are Muslim terrorists and want to kill them. And let’s not forget the Pastafarians! The Church of The Flying Spaghetti Monster deserves a police force! Seriously, can you imagine Trump’s America giving a MOSQUE, even one with a madrassa, permission to have its own police force? Or even a synagogue? Snort! I don’t see it happening. (Though let me just say, that as a Jew, the idea of a bunch of goyishe policemen surrounding me at shul would NOT make me feel safer….my bubbe would be whispering from her grave, “Run, kindele, run!”)

    I’m going to keep an eye on this story. Alabama…sigh. Doing its best to make Mississippi look “not so bad”. But, hey, at least no-one from the state made any Hitler references yet (publicly, that is).