Before I begin my rant about Mike Pence, let me offer a truth to my fellow Americans. It’s long past time for our nation to grow up. Prejudice of any type is ignorant. Hating another human being because of the color of their skin, their race, their religion, their sex, or for their sexual orientation is moronic and unforgivable.
When Trump selected Mike Pence as his running mate in 2016, I believed it was a sufficient reason to vote against the Republican ticket. Even if voters ignored Trump’s many evils which should have prevented him from the presidency, Pence should have been more than enough to prove they were totally unfit. They would never represent all Americans. That remains a fact today.
Pence embraces his homophobia with a zeal I find almost laughable. He is a fake-Christian who rejects the teachings of Jesus Christ. As the governor of Indiana, he was the first to support and sign an anti-gay law. He agreed that anyone who claimed to be a Christian could refuse service to same-sex couples. Really; I can’t make this shit up.
Real Christians reject Pence, and recently he was rebuked by thousands after it was announced that he was asked to give the commencement speech at their alma mater.
Taylor University is an Evangelical college in Upland, Indiana. More than 5,000 students and former students have signed a petition to uninvite the bigot. Alex Hoekstra, a 2007 Taylor alumnus who started the petition, told NBC News that the “Trump-Pence administration’s policies don’t represent Christianity, Jesus or the Bible.” To this I offer a huge “amen.”
“The Jesus that I read about in the Bible said, ‘Let the little children come to me,’ yet this administration is locking children up along the border, and Pence’s discrimination against the LGBT community is disgraceful,” Hoekstra said.
It is no surprise to anyone that University President Paul Lowell Haines disagrees with the petition. Old, white men who live in the past must stick together. Their numbers are dwindling as they lose their earthly bonds. Hooray for America!
“Mr. Pence has been a good friend to the University over many years, and is a Christian brother whose life and values have exemplified what we strive to instill in our graduates,” Haines said in a statement last week announcing Pence as the commencement speaker.
Once again, “Pence is not a Christian.” If you do not believe and obey the teachings of Jesus Christ you are not allowed to claim that you are a follower of the Son of God.
I suggest the students boycott their commencement; it means nothing for them. It is simply an opportunity for the faculty to brag about their own accomplishments and justify their employment. Protesting is the most patriotic and honest action an individual can take against oppression.
Let’s make sure Trump, Pence, and his hypocritical and cowardly party are thrown out of Washington on November 3, 2020. Time for America to mature and join every other developed nation as we move bravely forward into the 21st century. No more regressive politicians.
Tell your friends; “The Truth Lives Here.”
Op-ed by James Turnage
Image courtesy of DonkeyHotey
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