In this episode, we talk about the role of religion at the Democratic National Convention, and how it contrasted with the Republican National Convention.
I want to share a little about myself before I comment on how listening to this post made me feel. I am an 83 year old white female who was born and raised in Montgomery, AL. I attended the Church of Christ with my parents. When I was in high school, I started reading about other faiths mostly because I had studied 5 years of Latin. In my senior year we had a male teacher who became very upset with me when I talked about an interesting discussion we had had in our my Virgil class. He went on a rampage about humanism in the public schools. I was very embarrassed and decided at that moment that I would leave the Church of Christ when I left home to go to college. As fate would have it, the guy I fell in love with had also been raised in the Church of Christ and he wanted to leave it too. Finally we both joined the Episcopal church. We were both very interested in politics and were lifelong Democrats during the time that other whites in Alabama were leaving the Democratic Party to become Republicans thanks to the Supreme Court Court’s decision in 1954 about school integration. I considered
myself a moderate but in Alabama I was considered by my Republican friends to be a liberal. I have been a Christian all of my life and I am sick and tired of hearing Republicans say that you can’t be a Christian and a Democrat. I have always loved history. I was extremely upset and depressed by Trump’s election because it reminded me of what happened in Germany when Hitler rose to power. I felt like a blue dot in a sea of red in Alabama.
continued— after I retired I moved to Tallahassee to live next door to my daughter who is a professor at FSU. I was shocked to find out that Florida is worse than Alabama, but I have more friends here who are Democrats than I did in Alabama. We are still in the minority, however. I watched every night of the Democratic Convention. It was like a breath of fresh air and hope for the future. I supported Biden and would have voted for him. I am proud of him for putting the country ahead of the party and I would have voted for whoever the nominee was because this is such an important election. I want to preserve our democracy. I am proud to support the Harris/ Waltz ticket and I will work to support it. I am proud to be a Christian and an American 💙
I appreciated the episode & comments. I cried watching a woman of color accept the nomination of candidate for pres. thinking of much misogyny in conservative Christian circles--mentioned by Dr. Kristin Du Mez. Where did I recently see something about "A well-trained wife?" Has anyone read the new book?
Also, I learn much from Int'l Human Rights Attorney Jonathan Kuttab who wrote his perspective sharing his incorporation of faith too. I appreciate live & recorded webinars hearing Jonathan Kuttab & various leaders speak about the importance of human rights for Palestinian people too:
Thanks again for a great episode. I am curious to see more in the media—Christian and otherwise—about Christian faith leaders who are shepherding the effort to include Palestinian voices at the table …seems so crucial
It's significant that the DNC outright denied the request to grant a speaking slot to a Palestinian American. We are facilitating a war grounded in religious nationalism that led the DNC to expressly discriminate and further marginalize a vulnerable ethnic, religious minority population.
The sense that the differences on this matter were chalked up to "we have bigger issues to deal with and need to be united (not dissenting) --- how is this different from, say, a Southern Baptist complaining that a focus on abuse within the church is distracting from the mission or hurting their broader goals as a denomination?
I want to share a little about myself before I comment on how listening to this post made me feel. I am an 83 year old white female who was born and raised in Montgomery, AL. I attended the Church of Christ with my parents. When I was in high school, I started reading about other faiths mostly because I had studied 5 years of Latin. In my senior year we had a male teacher who became very upset with me when I talked about an interesting discussion we had had in our my Virgil class. He went on a rampage about humanism in the public schools. I was very embarrassed and decided at that moment that I would leave the Church of Christ when I left home to go to college. As fate would have it, the guy I fell in love with had also been raised in the Church of Christ and he wanted to leave it too. Finally we both joined the Episcopal church. We were both very interested in politics and were lifelong Democrats during the time that other whites in Alabama were leaving the Democratic Party to become Republicans thanks to the Supreme Court Court’s decision in 1954 about school integration. I considered
myself a moderate but in Alabama I was considered by my Republican friends to be a liberal. I have been a Christian all of my life and I am sick and tired of hearing Republicans say that you can’t be a Christian and a Democrat. I have always loved history. I was extremely upset and depressed by Trump’s election because it reminded me of what happened in Germany when Hitler rose to power. I felt like a blue dot in a sea of red in Alabama.
continued— after I retired I moved to Tallahassee to live next door to my daughter who is a professor at FSU. I was shocked to find out that Florida is worse than Alabama, but I have more friends here who are Democrats than I did in Alabama. We are still in the minority, however. I watched every night of the Democratic Convention. It was like a breath of fresh air and hope for the future. I supported Biden and would have voted for him. I am proud of him for putting the country ahead of the party and I would have voted for whoever the nominee was because this is such an important election. I want to preserve our democracy. I am proud to support the Harris/ Waltz ticket and I will work to support it. I am proud to be a Christian and an American 💙
I appreciated the episode & comments. I cried watching a woman of color accept the nomination of candidate for pres. thinking of much misogyny in conservative Christian circles--mentioned by Dr. Kristin Du Mez. Where did I recently see something about "A well-trained wife?" Has anyone read the new book?
Thank you for the mentions of Palestinians in Gaza (and I add, the West Bank). Personally, I also learn a lot from Dr. James Zogby's writings & perspectives; I share the most recent response to the DNC: "Palestine Won at the Democratic Convention ," 8/26/24 https://www.aaiusa.org/library/palestine-won-at-the-democratic-convention?emci=b5f1eea4-9b63-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&emdi=c1c3327b-b363-ef11-991a-6045bddbfc4b&ceid=3647185
Also, I learn much from Int'l Human Rights Attorney Jonathan Kuttab who wrote his perspective sharing his incorporation of faith too. I appreciate live & recorded webinars hearing Jonathan Kuttab & various leaders speak about the importance of human rights for Palestinian people too:
"A Distressing DNC," Friends of Sabeel North American (FOSNA), 8/29/24, https://www.fosna.org/the-fosna-blog/a-distressing-dnc
Thanks again for a great episode. I am curious to see more in the media—Christian and otherwise—about Christian faith leaders who are shepherding the effort to include Palestinian voices at the table …seems so crucial
Great discussion. It's been interesting to see what so many old church folks are gonna do with Trump showing his colors.
It's significant that the DNC outright denied the request to grant a speaking slot to a Palestinian American. We are facilitating a war grounded in religious nationalism that led the DNC to expressly discriminate and further marginalize a vulnerable ethnic, religious minority population.
The sense that the differences on this matter were chalked up to "we have bigger issues to deal with and need to be united (not dissenting) --- how is this different from, say, a Southern Baptist complaining that a focus on abuse within the church is distracting from the mission or hurting their broader goals as a denomination?