The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024 Little Rock, Arkansas   We should be offended, but not surprised, that Donald Trump recently visited Arlington National Cemetery for political posturing ( https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/aug/28/trump-arlington-cemetery-visit-altercation?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other ). We have seen Trump use the Holy Bible for political posturing, personal branding, and private profiteering. He uses women in his family, notably Melania Trump (his wife) and Ivanka Trump (his daughter) as sex objects. He used classified material stolen from the White House as personal swagger material. He wanted to stage a Fourth of July military parade using military personnel and armored tracked vehicles on Washington streets to show his personal power. Trump referred to flag officers of the U.S. military as "my generals."   Long before Trump stomped onto the hallowed grounds of Arlington National Cemetery to exploit family members of fallen veterans of the

  © Wendell Griffen, 2024 Little Rock, Arkansas   Vice President Kamala Harris had a brilliant week during the Democratic National Convention. She and her running mate, Minnesota Governor Tim Walz, were nominated and celebrated with enthusiastic fanfare. Even right-wing media outlets such as Fox News acknowledged as much. However, Harris and Democratic leaders committed an unforced error by refusing pleas from Palestinian-American delegates to the Convention to speak briefly – five minutes – concerning the ongoing genocide Israel is committing against Palestinians in Gaza, with U.S. funding, weapons, and diplomatic support. I’m not alone in holding that view. Prominent national newspaper columnists friendly to Harris - Jamelle Bouie and E. J. Dionne come to mind - said so as well. That unforced error pained Palestinian-Americans who grieve the Biden Administration’s full-throated support for Israel as Israeli Defense Forces slaughtered more than 40,000 people in Gaza – includ

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024 Little Rock, Arkansas Like millions of other people in the United States and across the world, I watched Vice President Kamala Harris accept the Democratic Party nomination for President of the United States in the November 2024 general election.  Harris delivered a stirring speech that described her personal and professional history. She forcefully expressed her commitment to civil liberty. She extolled the role of working people. And Harris was blunt about her resolve to correct the wrongs done to women and girls concerning reproductive freedom by the right-wing super-majority that former U.S. President Donald Trump nominated and had confirmed on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn the landmark decision of Roe v. Wade. On those and other issues, Harris clearly showed that she will be a different kind of leader from Donald Trump if she is elected President. However, Harris failed to do the one thing that mattered most to people who watched all week for th

  © Wendell Griffen, 2024 August 15, 2024 Little Rock, Arkansas There have been countless  – meaning too many to count – articles, interviews, speeches, and sermons about the toxic content and character of Trump-MAGA policies that are widely viewed as supported by people who identify themselves as “religious conservatives,” “evangelical Christians,” “values voters,” and “Christian nationalists.” Vice President Kamala Harris presented the antidote to what I have termed “Hateful Faithful” politics on Tuesday, August 6, by her selection of Minnesota Governor Tim Walz as her running mate.   Tim Walz is a 60-year-old white man. He was born in rural Nebraska, joined the Army National Guard at age 17, served 24 years, attended state college on the GI Bill, became a public-school social studies teacher, and is married to a public-school teacher, Gwen Walz, They are joyful parents to adult children (a daughter named Hope, and a son named Gus) who were born thanks in vitro fertilization (I

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2024 August 6, 2024   By the time you read these words Vice President Kamala Harris probably will have chosen her running mate for the Democratic presidential nomination. The leading candidates appear to be Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz. Governor Shapiro is popular in Pennsylvania. With its 19 Electoral College ballots, Pennsylvania is an obvious battleground state for getting 270 Electoral College votes. Pennsylvania neighbors to Ohio, with 10 Electoral College ballots. But because Ohio is home to Republican Senator and VP nominee J.D. Vance, Shapiro’s impact on Ohio voters is questionable. Governor Walz is popular in Minnesota, an upper Midwest state with a sizeable rural population along with the Minneapolis-Saint Paul urban community. His roots as a public educator in Nebraska and Minnesota and his ties to rural and urban working people are strengths that serve Walz well in his work as governor and on the campaign