Tag: politics

Project 1956

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

I was born in 1956. Yes, I turn 70 this fall. (According to age groupings, I’m ‘young-old,’ so don’t call me ‘old’ quite yet.) But this post isn’t about my age. It’s about my father’s relationship with the Republican Party that year.

My father, who served in the Pacific in World War II, was a staunch Republican. He believed in the principals of limited government, fiscal responsibility (ie balanced budget), and personal integrity. He held civil servants and political candidates to high moral and ethical standards. For him, the Republican Party embodied those principals, and he voted in every election–straight ticket for Republican candidates.

In 1956, the Republican Party officially turned 100 years old. The Grand Old Party of Abraham Lincoln had experienced a resurgence following the end of World War II. In 1952, General Dwight D. Eisenhower had been elected to the Presidency in a landslide victory, and, by 1956, the nation was in the midst of its post-war boom. Eisenhower had negotiated a truce with North Korea, had embarked on the “Atoms for Peace” initiative to prevent an arms race, continued the New Deal programs (including expansion of Social Security), raised the minimum wage, and ended racial segregation in the District of Columbia, the Federal government and the military. My father liked ‘Ike.’

Because he liked ‘Ike’, my father supported the Republican Party Platform of 1956–a document adopted at the Republican Convention that outlined the successes of Eisenhower’s first term and the proposals for a second term–think of it as Project 1956. In its “Opening Declaration,” the platform affirmed the very things my father believed in.

  On its Centennial, the Republican Party again calls to the minds of all Americans the great truth first spoken by Abraham Lincoln: “The legitimate object of Government is to do for a community of people whatever they need to have done but cannot do at all, or cannot so well do, for themselves in their separate and individual capacities. But in all that people can individually do as well for themselves, Government ought not to interfere.” Our great President Dwights D. Eisenhower has counseled us further: “In all those things which deal with people, be liberal, be human. In all those things which deal with people’s money, or their economy or their form of government, be conservative.  

 ….We believe that basic to governmental integrity are unimpeachable ethical standards and irreproachable personal conduct by all people in government. We shall continue to root out corruption whenever and wherever it appears. We are proud of and shall continue our far-reaching and sound advances in matters of basic human needs—expansion of social security—broadened coverage in unemployment insurance —improved housing—and better health protection for all our people. 

The document then went into detail on the party’s commitments to the following topics:

  • TAXES: The party committed to reducing taxes “with particular consideration for low and middle income families.” Under Eisenhower, the tax bracket for individuals making more than $200,000 [$2.45 million in today’s dollars] was 91%! Today’s top tax bracket is 37% with so many loopholes that millionaires and billionaires pay little in taxes.)
  • LABOR: President Eisenhower said: “Labor is the United States. The men and women, who with their minds, their hearts and hands, create the wealth that is shared in this country—they are America.” The platform went on to commit the party to 1) equal pay for equal work regardless of sex, 2) protections for the right of workers to organize and collective bargaining, 3) elimination of discrimination in employment because of race, creed, color, national origin, ancestry or sex, 4) protection of benefit plans (such as pensions and healthcare) so that workers are assured access.
  • CIVIL SERVICE: The GOP committed to promote a non-political career service under the merit system which will attract and retain able servants of the people.
  • EQUAL RIGHTS AND CIVIL RIGHTS: “We recommend to Congress the submission of a constitutional amendment providing equal rights for men and women.” and “We concur in the conclusion of the Supreme Court that its decision directing school desegregation should be accomplished with “all deliberate speed” locally through Federal District Courts.” (In 1957, Eisenhower sent National Guard troops to Little Rock, Arkansas, to ensure desegregation of its public schools per “Brown vs. Board of Education”.)
  • IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP: “All native-born and naturalized citizens not only [have] citizenship in the State where the individual resides but citizenship of the United States as well. This is an unqualified right, regardless of race, creed or color.” The document also affirmed support for “an immigration policy which is in keeping with the traditions of America in providing a haven for oppressed peoples, and which is based on equality of treatment, freedom from implications of discrimination between racial, nationality and religious groups.” and “extension of the Refugee Relief Act of 1953” which protected the right of migrants to seek asylum in the United States.
  • FOREIGN POLICY: “We shall continue vigorously to support the United Nations.” and “We reaffirm the principle of freedom for all peoples, and look forward to the eventual end of colonialism.”

Much of the 70-year-old platform sounds almost — almost, but not quite — progressive! The 1956 Republican Party that my father supported is NOT the same Republican Party we have today. Seventy years later, the Grand Old Party is unrecognizable, and it doesn’t even pretend to be “human” with respect to people or “considerate” of low-income families.

I don’t believe my father would support today’s Republican Party, nor do I do believe my father (who did not vote for John F. Kennedy because of his sexual promiscuity and ties to the mob or Bill Clinton because of his dalliances) would have voted for Donald Trump or his MAGA sycophants. I believe he would be horrified by the Religious Right’s unequivocal support of a serial liar, sexual predator and power-monger. If people roll over in their graves, I believe he would be face-down after the passage of the “One Big [Ugly] Bill”, the expansion of ICE detentions and deportations, the decisions of the Supreme Court that end Temporary Protective Status and deny migrants access to asylum, the erosion of voting rights and civil rights, and the systematic destruction of programs and policies that protect people and planet.

I wish he were here so I could “pick his brain.” If he were, I’m sure he would long for the ‘good old days’ of Project 1956 and reject Project 2025 and the “Christian Nationalism” and “White Supremacy” that resides at its heart. He might even say, “I’m a Democrat,” or at least, “I’m a 1956 Republican.” Maybe some current Republicans could consider that shift too.

I want to acknowledge Heather Cox Richardson’s inspiration for this post. She referenced the 1956 Republican Platform on her Substack. Without her, I wouldn’t have known how “liberal” Republicans were the year I was born.

“Invasion”

~ Bruce Ray ~ 2 Comments

October 3 was my birthday, but my celebration was overshadowed by terrible events in Chicago neighborhoods–including incidents just blocks from our church property.. Some of you have reached out to see if we are OK, and I appreciate your concern. Honestly, I would prefer that you reach out to your representatives and senators and demand an end to the lawless and provocative tactics of ICE in Chicago, Chicago suburbs and beyond.

We have experienced nothing less than an invasion of militarized ICE agents. For the past 3 weeks, ICE has been detaining dozens of people–most of them who have no criminal record. But on my birthday, ICE agents deployed teargas in our streets, ransacked an apartment building in the middle of the night, separated children from their parents and placed them in zip-ties, and shot rubber bullets at peaceful protesters. Happy birthday to me! I would have preferred a spray of flowers over pepper spray.

Even US citizens have been caught in their indiscriminate dragnets. Agents handcuffed Alderperson Jessie Fuentes in a hospital emergency room simply for asking agents if they had a judicial warrant for a man who was being treated. Of course, they did not. Jessie is a friend. It broke my heart watching her be mistreated for exercising her constitutional rights and protecting her constituents from unlawful detention.

Since the beginning of “Operation Midway Blitz”, Latin@ parents are afraid to walk their children to school, Latin@ workers are afraid to go to their jobs. Latin@ citizens are carrying passports and REAL IDs out of fear that they will be stopped simply because they are brown.

All of these unlawful and immoral acts have been verified as factual, The stories are not “fake news.” Let me be clear: these acts do not increase safety and security in my neighborhood. Instead, they increase fear, sow mistrust, create chaos and escalate violence. The Administration would convince you that Chicago (and other cities with Democratic mayors of color) are riddled with criminal activity, and that only solution for restoring “law and order” to the streets is use of military power. It is deception used to justify taking control of the city. Our streets were just fine until ICE showed up.

Today, the Federal government further escalated the tension in our city. Four hundred National Guard arrived from the state of Texas to “protect ICE agents and federal buildings” in Chicago and the state of Illinois. Governor J.B. Pritzker–who has never requested federal help or deployment of the National Guard–called it “Trump’s Invasion.”

Do not listen to Karoline Leavitt. She quotes statistics to reinforce racist tropes and urban criminality. Listen to the people on the ground. Right now, the only lawless criminals I see are the ones who wear street clothing and cover their faces, openly carry weapons, and terrorize our neighborhoods looking for anyone who doesn’t look like Chip.*

But Chip better watch out too. ICE doesn’t like journalists or people who protect their neighbors (aka “the enemy within”)..

Please pray for Chicago–and every other city threatened by ICE–cities like Portland, Memphis, New Orleans, Baltimore, Philadelphia and more to be named. And please do more than pray. Stand up for basic human rights and human dignity. Our faith demands it.

*This is a reference to an interview of US Border Patrol Commander Gregory Bovino by NPR reporter Chip Mitchell, who asked, “How can you tell [if someone is an ‘illegal alien’] by appearance?” Bovino then asked the reporter his name and responded, “How do they appear in relation to what you or other people look like?” Governor Pritzker accused Bovino’s agents of “harassing people for not being white.” You can read the entire transcript of Chip Mitchell’s interview HERE. BTW, Chip is white.

Political Violence Is Not Blue or Red

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

Fear begets mistrust. Mistrust begets divisiveness. Divisiveness begets tribalism. Tribalism begets hatred. Hatred begets violence. Violence begets more violence until we are completely destroyed. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, spoke frequently about the cycles of violence, but the quote that most resonated with me today in the wake of Wednesday’s assassination of Charlie Kirk was this:

Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction.” – MLK, Jr.

Wednesday’s horrific event is not the first act of political violence this year; it is a continuation of the ongoing “descending spiral” of violent self-destruction that can be traced back centuries. South Carolina Senator David Ramsay was killed by an assassin on May 6, 1815. Every decade since, Presidents, members of congress, governors, state legislators, judges, and political leaders have been killed. The years leading up to and the decade after the Civil War were particularly violent. The 1960s were also extremely violent including the assassinations of President Kennedy, Robert Kennedy, Medgar Evers and Martin Luther King. The past 15 years, we have seen a similar uptick in violence. Over the years, victims of violence have been Republicans AND Democrats and the perpetrators of violence have also represented the full spectrum of political parties and ideologies. Analysis of the data suggests that political polarization increases political violence. We are living in polarizing and dangerous times. And political violence will plunge us into what Martin Luther King called “the dark abyss of annihilation” unless…

  • . …unless, we move the needle the opposite direction through honest self-reflection, deep contrition and real repentance.
  • …unless we set our feet on the path of mutual confession and mutual healing.
  • …unless we shift toward humility and away from arrogant certainty, finger-pointing, and speculation that leads to escalation.
  • …unless we recognize our shared humanity and choose mercy and love over pursuit of power.
  • …unless we who claim to “love God” and “love our neighbor” (including our perceived and real ‘enemies’) actually model it through acts of justice, solidarity, compassion and service.

The climb up from the descending spiral begins today with unified outrage that a 31-year-old husband and father was killed while exercising his right to free speech. This should be a time for all of us to grieve with those who grieve–especially with his widow and children–and express our rejection of violent acts and vitriolic speech and our commitment to civil discourse and common decency.

We stand at a precipice. We must turn away from violence or we will destroy one another. Choose love today.

I Call “Waste, Fraud and Abuse.”

~ Bruce Ray ~ 1 Comment

By design, we have been inundated with executive orders, tweets, Truth Social posts, and off-the-rails rants to the point of exhaustion. It is too much for my limited bandwidth. Though my tongue is on fire and I want to write a response, I don’t know where to begin. I now realize that I have fallen for the strategy: Overwhelm everyone with daily manufactured crises and overload the newsfeed until everyone just gives up and shuts down.

I was close to shutting down myself…until Friday (yesterday.). In an Oval Office news conference, the President announced that he was going to send National Guard troops to other cities to make them very, very safe–like he had done in Washington, DC. The city to be targeted next got my full attention. “Chicago is a mess” with an “incompetent mayor–grossly incompetent,” . And then he turned to JD Vance and said, “And the people in Chicago, Mr. Vice-President, are screaming for us to come.”

Trump is correct. WE ARE SCREAMING, but it’s not for the deployment of the National Guard. We’re screaming because the President’s ongoing narrative about Chicago is a fabrication, a distortion, a lie–just like his racist narrative about other cities with African-American mayors (like LA, NYC, DC). AARGH!!! Chicago’s crime rate is at a 10-year low. Homicides have been falling since 2021 and are down 30% from 2024. Shootings are down 40% and robberies are down 35%. Through August 22, 2025, there have been 275 homicides–compared to 553 in August 2021. If the trend continues, Chicago may see its lowest homicide rate in over 35 years!

What really gets my tongue on fire though is the duplicity of Trump’s narratives. He is constantly talking about eliminating the massive amounts of “waste, fraud, and abuse” in government programs and initiatives. To that end, the Department of Justice announced in April that it was cancelling $820 million in grants for “community violence prevention strategies” which address root causes of violence–strategies that have proven to be effective and financially efficient. (Source: Brennan Center for Justice)

At the same time, the president sends the National Guard to “make our cities safe.” Deployment isn’t free. The government paid $134 million–using our tax dollars–for the deployment of 4,700 National Guardsmen, Marines, and other military personnel in Los Angeles for 60 days. The cost for deployment of 800 National Guardsmen in Washington D.C. is approximately $300,000 per day. This does not include costs for equipment, transport, or command overhead. If the deployment lasts 30 days, the total cost is estimated to be over $2.5 million! (Source: The Pricer)

So I ask the question: Which taxpayer funding is more wasteful, fraudulent and abusive? #1. The cost of programs and strategies that work to prevent violence and address root causes of crime? Or #2. The cost of unnecessary (wasteful) deployment of the National Guard and the military founded upon the fabricated (fraudulent) narrative of rampant crime and violence in cities led by Democratic men and women of color (abusive)?

If you still selected #1, all I can say is, “AARGH!”

Rescind Congress

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“Do not refuse to help those people who need help. If you are able to help them, do it!  (Proverbs 3:27 – Easy English Bible)

Early yesterday morning, while it was still dark, the Senate voted to rescind billions of dollars in funding that had already been approved. While much of the debate (and news coverage) focused on rescinding $1.1 billion in funds for National Public Radio and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, $8.3 billion in funding was originally earmarked for foreign food aid, global health initiatives and global disaster relief.

The rescission package was then sent back to the House, which passed the package late last night 216-213, sending it to the president’s desk for his signature. Mission accomplished.

Supposedly, all of the programs that will lose their funding have been rife with “waste, fraud and abuse” for decades. But let’s be clear: $9.4 billion dollars may sound like a lot of money, but it represents only 1/10 of 1% of all government spending. And that’s less than $28 per person in the US.

Meanwhile, there seems to be plenty of money for other things.. By the end of July, there will be 60 new detention centers opening or expanding across the county and Cuba to process and deport migrants–costing $45 billion dollars. Operating the new detention centers will cost taxpayers even more. According to the Associated Press, the new detention center in the Everglades will cost taxpayers at least $450,000,000 per year.

Where is all that money coming from? Obviously, not from the “savings” from the rescission package. According to Kristi Noem, Florida will be reimbursed for the costs of operations through FEMA. That’s right. FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees FEMA, will use funds from FEMA’s Shelter and Services Program–a significant shift from the program’s original purpose.

Once again, our leaders are revealing their priorities. And their priorities are skewed. They have shifted from helping people who need it (both at home and abroad) to detaining and removing people who no longer fit our definition of “American.” These shifted priorities run counter to the mandate of Scripture and the model of Jesus.

Every “Christian” in Congress needs to ask themselves, “What would Jesus fund?” and “What would Jesus cut?” I don’t believe Jesus would support cutting funds that prevent starvation and disease and promote education in order to fund incarceration and mass deportation. And if they think differently, those Senators and Representatives should be rescinded as soon as possible.

If You Say You are Pro-Life…

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

On Saturday, June 28, as part of the National Celebrate Life Day in Washington, DC, the organizations Students for Life of America (SFLA) and Students for Life Action distributed 392,715 “EveryLife” diapers, which symbolized the number of abortions performed by Planned Parenthood in 2022-2023. Kristan Hawkins, President of SFLA, used the diaper collection and distribution to counter the narrative that pro-life advocates don’t care about children once they leave the womb. She said, “Our ambitious diaper goal…tells the real story: when we say we’re pro-life AND pro-family, we mean it.”

I’m not convinced. The same group issued a statement celebrating the passage of the Big Beautiful Bill Act by the Senate on Tuesday, saying that the redirection of healthcare funds away from Planned Parenthood for 1 year is a step in the right direction toward their goal of an “abortion-free America” and praised GOP legislators for acting to protect the unborn.

However, there was no mention of the Bill’s cuts in funding for SNAP benefits for low income families; no mention of the $1.1 TRILLION cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years; no mention of the changes in eligibility requirements for receiving federal benefits; no mention of cuts to the Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (aka WIC); no mention of the cuts to funding for school lunches for poor children; no mention of the increased spending for border security, ICE, detainment centers, and deportation that separates children from their parents; no mention of the $1+ TRILLION budget to fund war and weapons that kill and displace families; no mention of the $3.4 trillion that will be added to the deficit–a deficit that will be shouldered by our grandchildren and great-grandchildren. And there was no mention of the estimated 16,642 preventable deaths that will occur annually if the Bill is passed by the House in its current form.

If you say you are pro-life and if you say you are pro-family, you cannot also be pro-Big Beautiful Bill. The two are antithetical.

In the Cover of Night

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

In the gospels, disturbing things happen in the middle of the night. This is especially seen in the events surrounding Jesus’s arrest and trials. It begins ominously with Judas’s departure in the middle of Jesus’s last meal with his disciples. John’s gospel makes the observation:“And it was night.” (John 13:30). Later that night, Judas–with the temple police–approaches Jesus on the Mount of Olives and seals Jesus’s arrest with a kiss. Jesus is arrested and whisked away to the Sanhedrin which has gathered in the middle of the night for a sham trial. “Very early in the morning” (Mark 15:1), the Sanhedrin puts their plan in motion, binding Jesus and taking him to Pilate to demand that Jesus be executed. By noon, Jesus is hanging on the cross, and he’s dead by 3:00 pm.

The arrest, the sham trial, the decision to pursue execution–they all happen in the cover of darkness. Why? Why do most disturbing things happen at night? It’s because very few people are around to witness the crimes and expose the corruption. John writes, “Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed.” (John 3:20)

.Why am I writing about this? I write because political bodies continue to use the cover of night to make it easier to carry out their plans without the public’s knowledge.

Why did the House Budget Committee schedule a vote on the “One Big Beautiful [budget] Bill Act” on Sunday, May 19, at 10:00 pm? (By the way, it passed.) Why did the House Rules Committee schedule its vote to advance the Bill to the full House at 1:00 am tomorrow, Wednesday, May 21? That’s right: 1:00 o’clock AM! Obviously, it is to ensure passage of the bill without the watchful eyes of the Press or the scrutiny of the public.

And it’s no wonder they want to keep this budget hidden. It will do harm to almost every aspect of public life. It will remove protections from our air and water and release public land to private corporations to drill, mine and deforest. It will reduce funding for healthcare for children and seniors (Medicaid) and housing vouchers for low-income families while increasing funding for the military, border security and ICE detention and deportation. It will add trillions of dollars to the national debt while reducing the taxes for billionaires and corporations.

But there were witnesses to the unlawful acts of Caiaphas–the Rome-appointed High Priest–and the Sanhedrin. They wanted it kept hidden in the dark of the night, but their deeds were exposed and their actions were made public. All four gospels provide a record thanks to Peter and John who follow Jesus to the Sanhedrin, and thanks to Nicodemus who was a member of the Sanhedrin and had objected to the ongoing harassment and condemnation of Jesus (John 7:50-51) and who became a public follower of Jesus when he helped Joseph of Arimathea bury Jesus’s crucified body.

There will be witnesses to the vote on the budget. There will be a public record of the names of every representative who voted for death and destruction. There will be Representatives who will expose the bill and its damaging propositions. There will be brave independent journalists who will tell the truth.

Those with a vested interest in this budget will vilify and denounce those who would expose their underhanded tactics. But we must not listen to their spin and twisted narratives. Remember, it’s all taking place in the middle of the night–and that should tells us all we need to know about their motives, intentions and goals. They want power to rob widows and orphans and aliens and the needy. And they want us to be asleep while they do it.

“The Diabolical Distraction”

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

I’m glad I wasn’t the only pastor offended by the “Pope Trump” photo. For a while, I thought everyone else had dismissed it as just more Trump bombast and buffoonery.

Roman Catholic Bishop Thomas Paprocki of Springfield, IL, posted on X, “This is deeply offensive to Catholics especially during this sacred time that we are still mourning the death of Pope Francis and praying for the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the election of our new Pope. He owes an apology.” Rev. Cameron Trimble wrote on her “Piloting Faith” substack: “It [the photo] shows us what he wants to be: the single, unquestioned authority, not only the most powerful political leader on earth, but a spiritual one, cloaked in divine right. It’s not a joke. It’s a confession.” Atlanta pastor and Grammy award winner Jamal Bryant wrote on Threads, “This is disrespectful and dishonorable. I challenge evangelical leaders to have it removed at once …. Now he wants to be king and pope?” So far, I haven’t found any evangelical leaders who have taken up his challenge.

But it was Rev. William Barber III, who was arrested last Monday in the Capital Rotunda for leading a prayer service, that put the photo into a bigger context, calling it “a diabolical intentional distraction.” He appealed to religious leaders to “pivot back to how his budget will be deadly, destructive, & disastrous to the very people Jesus cared about and will undermine the very hope of America to be a just nation.”

It’s a good point. If everyone is talking the offensiveness of the “Pope Trump” photo, no one will be talking about his “one big, beautiful bill” (ie the budget). Trust me, #47 does NOT want you to know about, think about, talk about or do anything about the budget–and neither does House Speaker, Mike Johnson. That’s because the budget is indeed deadly to the most vulnerable–the very ones we are to care for according to James 1:27.

What makes it so deadly? If the budget proposed by the Office of Budget and Management is approved, every department and agency will experience significant cuts that will impact Medicaid, FEMA, Headstart, Section-8 housing vouchers, SNAP, the environment and more. While many program funds are cut, the budget proposal also includes significant increases for Defense whose total budget will exceed $1 TRILLION for the first time and for Homeland Security whose total budget will top $175 Billion to “finally secure the southern border,” (ie finish the Wall), expand detention facilities for whoever ICE arrests, and increase mass deportations.

In a letter sent on May 2, 2025, to the Senate Committee on Appropriations, OMB Director Russell T. Vought explained the cuts (and increases) in the following way: “The recommended funding levels result from a rigorous, line-by-line review of FY 2025 spending, which was found to be laden with spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical gender and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life.”

Spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans? This budget calls for a $4 billion cut to the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance program (LIHEAP). The logic? These funds won’t be necessary in 2026 since–according to the budget summary–the President is “unleashing energy production” that will drive down prices and everyone–no matter what their income–will be able to afford to heat and cool their homes without government assistance.

All government budgets are moral documents that identify the values and priorities of the administration. This budget is an immoral document that reflects this administration’s priority to reshape the nation to conform to the vision of Project 2025. That’s not surprising since Russell Vought was also the principal architect of that equally immoral document.

Burying Dissent; Sprouting Hope

~ Bruce Ray ~ Leave a comment

“They tried to bury us, they didn’t know we were seeds.” *

We really wanted to be back in Chicago on Saturday, April 5, to participate in the “Hands Off!” rally at the Daley Center. Instead, we were on a flight back to the US–a flight that finally landed in Boston just shy of Sunday, April 6. When we arrived at our hotel, we were exhausted (travel depletes me), but we were so curious about the rallies that had been held across the country that we turned on the television hoping to find some news. To our disappointment, we saw and heard nothing.

On Sunday, April 6, we got our digital copy of the Chicago Sun-Times, expecting to see coverage of the rally on the front page. Nothing. We scrolled through the pages and finally found a photo and brief story on page 22. Page 22!! We later learned that an estimated 5 million people across the country took to the streets in over 1400 “Hands Off!” rallies across the nation to oppose the Trump/Musk dismantling of the government. Despite the numbers, the media across the country minimized the dissent. The New York Times placed the story on page 18! CNN’s story began with the sentence: “Scores of people took part in protests…” Fox News reported that “Thousands of people gathered across the US.”

Scores? A score is 20 people! Thousands? That was just in Traverse City, Michigan, where 4,000 attended. Why was the media burying the story and minimizing the numbers? Maybe the answer is that peaceful protest doesn’t sell papers or attract viewers. Maybe the answer is that corporate media has been sued by the administration for defamation and threatened with loss of broadcasting licenses and they are running scared. But most likely, the answer is that the owners of the media are part of the oligarchy (such as Jeff Bezos of the Washington Post) who don’t want to fan the flames of discontent. Minimize the dissent, don’t draw attention to the protests, and maybe–hopefully–it will die out.

But the dissent isn’t dying. The resistance is rising and hope for a different future is growing.

On Monday, April 7, Anthony Joel Quezada was sworn in as the newly appointed Alderperson of the 35th Ward in Chicago. That evening, he held a “People’s Inauguration” to celebrate with his supporters. We were privileged to join hundreds (not scores) of our neighbors to congratulate Anthony on his new position.

Anthony Quezada is 29 years old. He is a child of immigrant parents. He has been involved in community organizing and political action since he graduated from Lane Tech High School. He is a bright, articulate, passionate man who is committed to a new kind of governance–a politic rooted in community empowerment and collaborative decision-making. When Anthony took the microphone on Monday night, he didn’t speak about what he was going to accomplish or his legislative agenda. He spoke about what we could–and would–do together to ensure that all voices were heard, all people were treated with dignity, all residents were protected, and all those so frequently excluded were included.

We walked away from the evening full–full of hope as we watched a new generation of visionary leaders take their place. And I heard Mary’s Song welling up in my heart anew: “The Mighty One has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble. [The Mighty One] has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.” (Luke 1:52-53)

Amen! Amen! Amen!

The quote at the beginning of this post is often referred to as a Mexican Proverb. However, the origin of the phrase is from Nicaraguan poet, Catholic priest and theologian, Ernesto Cardenal.

Should Schools Post the Ten Commandments?

~ Bruce Ray ~ 3 Comments

On January 1, 2025, a new Louisiana law went into effect that requires all public schools to display a poster of the Ten Commandments in every classroom. Five school districts challenged the new law in U.S. District Court last Fall after Governor Jeff Landry signed the bill. The judge ruled that the law was unconstitutional, but the State of Louisiana has appealed the decision to a higher court. In the meantime, the State has said that the lower court’s ruling only applies to the 5 districts that brought the suit and that the other 67 districts in the State must comply with the law. According to the Associated Press, there is no evidence that any public school has put up the posters to date due to all the confusion.

Back in 1980, the Supreme Court heard the case of “Stone vs. Graham.” The State of Kentucky had passed a law similar to the new Louisiana law that required every school post the Ten Commandments. The justices ruled that the Kentucky law violated the “establishment clause” of the U.S. Constitution, which says Congress can “make no law respecting an establishment of religion.” The justices did not see any reason for posting the Ten Commandments other than for religious purposes. We’ll have to wait and see if Louisiana’s version will end up in the Supreme Court and how this Court will rule.

Posting the Ten Commandments in schools seems to have become the new front in the culture wars. According to the conservative Christianity Report newsletter, Republican lawmakers in at least 14 other states have introduced legislation to require the display of the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms.

So is posting the Ten Commandments in schools a good idea? Will hanging a poster result in students with better reading scores and math skills? Ok, that’s a little facetious. But seriously, what IS the goal–besides putting a reference to God on the wall? Do we think the poster will turn students into law-abiding citizens? Do we think the poster will create a better learning environment. Honestly, a poster isn’t the answer.

My wife is a public school teacher and administrator. She has dealt with students from a variety of religious backgrounds and no religious background. She never hung a poster of the Ten Commandments in her classroom, yet every student knew that they were expected to behave in a manner that preserved the dignity of their classmates and created a healthy classroom community. She didn’t need a poster to remind her students not to take things that didn’t belong to them, or to not to make false accusations or slander their classmates, or not to intentionally harm one another physically or emotionally. And she didn’t need to post a Bible verse to encourage her students to treat one another the way they would want to be treated. Thankfully, the 10 commandments weren’t posted in her classroom. What teacher would want to answer when an inquisitive 2nd grader innocently asks, “Mrs. Ray, what does it mean to ‘commit adultery?'”

There are other reasons why posting the Ten Commandments in schools is a bad idea.

First, every sample poster developed for Louisiana classrooms (including the one with a photo of House Speaker Mike Johnson) uses the King James translation of the Bible. English language learners (including children born in the US to English-speaking parents) have enough trouble with the crazy rules of the language (like the silent ‘B’ in the words ‘comb’ and ‘tomb’–which don’t rhyme though they look like they should). All the Old English ‘Thee’s’ and ‘Thou’s’ and ‘Thy’s’ and ‘Shalt’s’ in the text will only make a difficult language even harder to learn.

Second, posting the Ten Commandments will not serve the political agenda of those who passed the law. Do we really want students to learn the Ten Commandments and then use those standards to evaluate the behavior of their representatives, senators and president? No other Gods? No adultery? No graven images? No false testimony or rumor-mongering? What students will REALLY learn is the meaning of the word ‘hypocrite.’ Rather than creating better-behaved, more moral citizens, the poster will create a generation of cynics who watch adults in power break the very rules posted on the wall for their own agendas.

Come to think of it, maybe posting the Ten Commandments in every Louisiana classroom IS a good idea. Every student could memorize them, then attend a Town Hall meeting with their Louisiana Representatives. There, they could recite all ten, then ask their Representative the question: “Do you think that someone who has broken one or more of these commands should be elected to public office?”

I would love to hear the answer from one particular Representative from Louisiana’s 4th District.