The Fierce Urgency of Prophetic Hope

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022   There is a popular saying – “Be careful what you pray for, you might get it” – that Donald Trump and his minions are about to see take effect. A federal judge in Florida has ordered the US Justice Department to release a redacted version of the sworn affidavit on which the judge issued a warrant authorizing search of Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence in Florida. The redacted affidavit was released at noon on Friday, August 26. Trump hoped that the affidavit would be released without redactions. Perhaps he thought the judge would deny his motion seeking its disclosure and release. Then Trump could have continued complaining that he was treated unfairly when the FBI executed the search warrant, searched his residence, found government records, artifacts, and classified material, and removed what it found. However, US Magistrate Judge Bruce Reinhart’s order that a redacted version of the affidavit be released shows why the FBI sought the search warra...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     In view of Donald Trump’s mounting legal issues – and especially the prospect that he may be charged with criminal conduct – we should ponder his continued popularity with people who call themselves “evangelical” followers of Jesus, or to be more specific, white “evangelical Christian” followers of Jesus. According to news media accounts, agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized (that is the appropriate legal term) 11 sets of documents – including some marked as “classified/TS/SCI” – during a search (that is the appropriate legal term) of Trump’s West Palm Beach, Florida residence known as Mar-a-Lago on August 5.   TS/SCI is abbreviation for “top secret/sensitive compartmented information.” The FBI is a criminal investigative agency of the US Department of Justice. What FBI agents did on August 5 at Mar-a-Lago was a search conducted pursuant to a warrant issued by a federal magistrate judge who reviewed sworn...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022       How many times have you heard Black religious leaders preach, teach, and advocate about reparation for racial injustice? I have pondered that question a lot, especially since the murder of George Floyd. I have wondered why Black religious leaders are not talking about reparation to their congregations. Why do Black religious leaders engage in conversations with white religious people about racial “reconciliation” that do not include reparation for 250 years of forced labor without pay, another century of legalized apartheid, continuing homicidal and abusive conduct by government agents operating under the guise of “law enforcement,” and other aspects of the systemic racial injustice that pervades US society? How can Black religious leaders avoid talking among themselves about reparation? How can Black denominations hold education conferences without conducting serious study, including Bible study, about reparation? A...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     In case you missed it, the Guardian newspaper published an article on July 28 that you should read, ponder, and share widely. Here is a link to that article. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/28/hunted-one-in-three-people-killed-by-us-police-were-fleeing-data-reveals?utm_term=62e2733a7c69229b547988913bccd13b&utm_campaign=GuardianTodayUS&utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&CMP=GTUS_email Your eyes are not deceiving you. The article reports that one out of every three people killed by police in the United States were fleeing the police. They were in moving in the opposite direction – as opposed to approaching or attacking – the people that killed them. They were not threatening the police. They were not charging the police. They were not attacking the police. They were not chasing the police. They were trying to get away from people who were armed and licensed to kill. If that does not get your atte...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022 Now that the House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack on the US Capitol has made its eighth televised presentation some things are abundantly clear. The attack on the US Capitol that occurred January 6, 2021, and was viewed live by people across the world, was committed by followers of Donald John Trump. The perpetrators were not antifascists. They were not masquerading as Trump supporters. They were diehard Trump followers. Trump’s supporters gathered in Washington, DC on January 6 because he summoned them. They did not gather spontaneously. They did not gather because people other than Trump invited them. Trump summoned his followers to Washington on January 6 knowing that was the day Congress would certify the Electoral College tally from the November 2020 presidential election that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris won, and that he and Mike Pence lost. Trump summoned his followers to Washington by falsely alleging that he won the 2020 presid...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022     I earned a degree in political science, was an officer in the US Army, earned a law degree, practiced and taught law, chaired a state agency, have been a state appellate and trial judge, and have been actively involved in congregational and inter-faith religious efforts. Those experiences allowed me to meet and evaluate more than a few business, civic, and religious leaders and learn a hard truth. Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, women, LGBTQI, immigrant, and working people who experience systemic abuse, bigotry, discrimination, and mistreatment are often disappointed when we look to business, civic, and religious leaders for help in our fight against injustice. Business, civic, and religious leaders supported the system of invading and robbing Indigenous people. Business, civic, and religious leaders supported the system of enslaving African people, stealing their labor, and denying their human dignity and freedom. Business, civi...

  ©Wendell Griffen, 2022       In recent days, the Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) has issued several landmark decisions. ·        In Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization , six of the nine justices decided to overrule the Court’s 1973 landmark decision in Roe v. Wade which held that a woman has a fundamental right under the US Constitution to terminate her pregnancy, and its 1992 decision in Planned Parenthood v. Casey which upheld the Roe ruling . Justice Samuel Alito, author of the majority opinion, wrote, “ We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.” ·          In New York State Rifle & Pistol Association v. Bru...