A White Woman's Facepalm

Big racist facepalm goes to Michele Bachman this week.  The first bullet point in the marriage vow she signed for The Family Leader stated that “a child born into slavery in 1860 was more likely to be raised by his mother and father in a two-parent household than was an African American baby born after the election of the USA’s first African-American President.”  Mrs. Bachman readily acknowledged that she had no knowledge of this statement.

This reminds me of the trips to Big Star Grocery with my grandmother as a child.  Each time an unsuspecting African American walked by I prayed my grandmother would behave herself.   There was never any such luck.  Inevitably some poor black woman would walk into that one spot my grandmother needed to be in and the ugly N- word came spilling out.  My heart would sink to my gut as I covered my face with both hands, begging God to strike me dead.

I’m starting to understand why WhitePeopleStink trended for so long on Twitter this year.   Slavery is a difficult thing to live down as it is, but to actually use it as a selling point makes white people look like an evil that just won’t stop.  First of all, families on a slavery auction block were usually broken up, never to see one another again.  Secondly, these African women were often used as sex slaves for their owners.   Thirdly, who in the name of all that is holy would feel it necessary to include the tragedy of slavery in a Marriage Vow?  How do you work that in?

There should be more outrage in this article, but the statements that Michele Bachman makes on a daily bases are in the end worse than the slavery statement she signed.  Take a look at this funny video and please don’t stop it until you hear her say, “We’re running out of rich people!” 

    

Don't Use God On Your Résumé

Why does God only talk to people who want to be President?   Did he ever make demands on a Nobel Prize-winning economist?  Has there ever been a call from the Lord saying, “Go and fix the economy in America, Ishmael”?  Why doesn’t God stick to the original plan and tell Michele Bachmann to go and give everything she has to the poor and follow him?  Are we just short on poor people nowadays?  At the very least, he might ask her to stop soaking up so much lobbyist money that is unaccounted for.

I’m not at all skeptical about people receiving a call from God.  Mother Teresa was most definitely one such incredible person.  I once read a passage on Mother Teresa where she recalled the moment she felt her calling from God.  While she was riding in a train from Calcutta to Darjeeling to engage in 8 days of spiritual preparation, she received a divine calling from God "to serve Him amongst the poorest of the poor."  For 51 years, Mother Teresa fulfilled her vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience, and service to the poor.  As a result, over 5000 sisters, brothers, and volunteers run approximately 500 centers worldwide, feeding 500,000 families and helping 90,000 lepers every year.

Why would God’s call to Michele Bachmann include millions of dollars in campaign contributions and a big white house?  Did she have to take a vow of steak dinners and colorfully polished suits?  The Almighty must have really taken a shine to Michele.  After all, her lunch is surf and turf while Mother Teresa had to eat a cup of rice each day for 51 years on the days she wasn’t fasting.      

Nothing pisses me off more than a politician using God to win a political seat.  It reeks of deception and is a personal attack on the Lord’s good taste in prophets.  When he made David the King of Israel, God simply said, “Rise and anoint him; he is the one.”  There were no backroom deals or lobbyists involved.  David didn’t have to raise money or kiss babies.  God commanded it and it was a done deal.  If the Lord wants something done, he does it.  A true prophet goes and accomplishes Gods word.  At least that’s what I’ve always heard.  That’s how I know it’s real. 

I can’t imagine God is happy with people who stick him on their résumé every time they want something.  He wants you to spread the word, not use it to pry the hinges open to the White House.  I guess the GOP has not gotten the word on that since every four years a new Republican Candidate declares they’ve heard their calling from God.  Here’s my final question: if you wouldn’t use your children to get what you want, shouldn’t you think twice about using your God?