Weekly Roundup: Frederick Douglass on a Divided Nation, Whose Faith Counts as Really American?, and American Exceptionalism in Religious Terms
Brad and Dan begin by drawing on a famous speech by Frederick Douglass in order to put the nail in the coffin on the idea that it is the Democrats' job to reach across the aisle. They then explain why Republicans think it is okay to attack the faith--including the sermons--of Raphael Warnock, but would not allow one utterance of criticism related to Amy Coney Barrett's religious belief and practice. They finish by looking at stats that tell the real story of American Exceptionalism--the presence of almost equal numbers of highly religious people (85 million people) and non-religious people (100 million). No other developed country has this kind of religious/non-religious make up. It has important consequences for our politics and culture.
We finish this episode with a new segment, "He's No James Madison".
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Welcome to Straight White American Jesus, hosted in partnership with the Kapp Center at the University of California, Santa Barbara.
My name is Brad Onishi, Associate Professor, Religious Studies, Skidmore College, and I'm here today with my co-host.
I'm Dan Miller, Associate Professor of Religion and Social Thought at Landmark College.
So, it's been a week, Dan.
We both have had some stuff this week, and we won't get into it, but I think like everybody, we're just feeling tired and frustrated and Etc.
I'll just leave it there.
We've had some technical issues today.
Anyway, it's been a morning, but we're gonna we're gonna push through all that and we're gonna talk about I think what are a lot of important things.
So I've divided our show here into three sections.
One is a divided nation, two is religious freedom, three is COVID, and then we have a bonus section of And it's going to be called, He's No James Madison.
And I'm going to just wait to surprise you with what that is, Dan.
I think everybody's on the edge of their seats now that they heard that.
They're like, oh wait, jump to the third one.
Let's start with this.
Let's start with a divided nation.
I don't think we're going to spend today just going into all the details of how Trump is trying to sway votes, influence electors, that kind of stuff.
I think we've all seen that on the news.
We're all following it.
But I really think that Dan, the last week has put up a real nice point on the untenability of the, hey, let's all reconcile and Democrats need to reach across the aisle kind of talk.
Like, how can you have that kind of discourse when Donald Trump is doing everything he can to steal an election, right?
When he is trying to influence electors in Michigan, when his personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani is saying that Michigan goes for Trump if you take out Detroit, or Wayne County.
Detroit is the blackest city in the nation.
Anyway, Dan, I don't want to spend our time necessarily on all of that.
What I want to spend time on is Just some historical and analytical context for this idea of we should, you know, reconcile, that that's just easy, right?
And so if we go back to, I want to go back to someone that I think we've definitely mentioned on the show, but I want to just quote Frederick Douglass here.
This is Frederick Douglass on Memorial Day 1871.
And talking about, you know, reconciliation and peace in the wake of the Civil War, okay?
He says this, when the dark and vengeful spirit of slavery, always ambitious, preferring to rule in hell than to serve in heaven, fired the southern heart and stirred all the malign elements of discord, when our great republic, the hope of freedom and self-government throughout the world, had reached the point of supreme peril, when the union of these states was torn and rent asunder at the center, And the armies of a gigantic rebellion came forth with broad blades and bloody hands to destroy the very foundations of American society.
The unknown braves who flung themselves into the yawning chasm where cannon roared and bullets whistled fought and fell.
They died for their country.
We are sometimes asked in the name of patriotism to forget the merits of this fearful struggle and to remember with equal admiration those who struck the nation's life and those who struck to save it, those who fought for slavery and those who fought for liberty and justice.
I am no minister of malice.
I would not strike the fallen.
I would not repel the repentant.
But may my right hand forget her cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I forget the difference between the parties to hat terrible, protracted, and bloody conflict.
If we ought to forget a war which has filled our land with widows and orphans, which has made stumps of men of the very flower of our youth, which has sent them on the journey of life, armless, legless, maimed, and mutilated, which has piled up a debt heavier than a mountain of gold, swept uncounted thousands of men into bloody graves, and planted agony to a million hearthstones.
I say, if this war is to be forgotten, I ask in the name of all things sacred, what shall men remember?
Dan, I want to argue that if we forget the tragedies and absolute viciousness of the Trump presidency, that we will do ourselves a grave disservice as a country, and we will make the same mistakes that were made after the Civil and we will make the same mistakes that were made after To simply forgive and forget here is, in my view, not an option.
We've had a president who has tried to strip the State Department, has used the DOJ as his own personal law firm, Put kids in cages, separated families, forced hysterectomies, instituted a Muslim ban, has been accused of sexual assault by dozens of women.
So on and so forth, Dan.
He has ruined our relationships with allies.
He has courted the favor of authoritarians.
He has done nothing in the face of Putin's putting bounties on the heads of our soldiers.
He's called our soldiers losers.
He has So, I mean, I could go on for the next three hours if you'd like.
I think that the last week of what Trump has done should just be a clear and vivid reminder that forgiving and forgetting is not the way forward.
What do you think?
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