Scar On The Soul of America - Began With The War on Drugs? Together With Mass Incarceration?

 

Jon Osoff was the second senator who was elected at the same time that Raphael Warnoff, both from Georgia, came to Washington to work for the United States Citizens... Jon speaks from a Jewish background, yet still speaks of God--the God of Truth... Both men choose to look at both the moral background as well as what is happening right now, today... I had learned from Reverend Warnock in earlier chapters, that when our Black brothers and sisters preach, they expect to be answered by those who listen. Did Osoff know this before he came to Beulah Baptist? I don't know, but, surely, Osoff is speaking to all those who are very concerned about what the past and present governmental elected representatives are doing to our country... BTW, you know, most times I don't go out and find suitable videos... These two appeared as a result of what I heard in the first video. I like to think that is God's hand in pointing the way to say what needs to be said, for surely I'm more a reactive individual as opposed to a creative writer... 

And, when I read the chapter, entitled Scar On the Soul of America, I truly was shocked. I was angry, embarrassed, even hurt, that such information had not been known to the average person who lived daily in the United States, without full awareness and understanding of what has been happening by government officials at every level. How dare this be allowed, I thought! And yet, I knew that even when this all began I was busy learning to work within a new job, meeting new people, and trying to establish what I might call a professional career. I was like most individuals who sang songs like The Ivory Palaces and believed that, in Heaven, there would be riches untold and there we would live... You may remember, though, that it was I who wanted to have God right here beside me--I wasn't really concerned about the hereafter even then... And I was to have that type of relationship from early in my life... So, when Osoff talked about the riches that was being thrown about by government officials--the jets that were given (requested) by a foreign country, or the jets that were purchased, with large bedrooms and lavish spaces, for those high officials under this administration, I again thought about the fact that I've never believed that God required nor wanted lavish surroundings...

How could he? He was always concerned about meeting the needs of his creation--His children.

I had a choice of sharing this song by, say, Whitney Houston or an older version song by his wonderful woman, Ethel Waters, I wanted to place your thoughts back to a time when we listened to people like Billy Graham and felt like we were listening to the words of God, Himself. That's when I learned most of my music--the words that come to me so easily now as I read a book or see a movie that reveals both what God's message is... But, often, at the same time, opens our eyes to the reality of what is actually going on...

Because, I know exactly when I became "aware" of what was happening... But, only this week, I learned from Senator Warnock exactly what had begun and evolved to the point that even the news was beginning to share the disgrace of it all... Or, rather, the invention of cell phones has allowed these moments to be captured and placed where they could be viewed and talked about! By the way, I happened to find an online discussion that explores the "recent" final legal judgment of "not guilty." I decided not to listen given my concern about how the legal system is failing... Instead, I'm using the following which highlights what I saw as well as a discussion. Ok, I admit that I've not seen much violence in my life. Seeing this man trying to deal with police circling him and finally taking him down was bad enough for me, only to watch as he started to talk about not being able to breathe... It was then I knew this was wrong! No man, who supposedly was "selling cigarettes" deserves to die by cop...

It was later when I started to form a very strong opinion of about police abuse--when Trump got involved...

Many of the news coverage videos will be familiar to many of you... It dealt with "Taking a knee" in protest during the national anthem... Yes, this could be debated... but by then I was fanatically watching every move of Trump and I could see how he was inciting the issue for nothing more than publicity--to divide us... And, it did... at least in my mind...

Because I had to attend a funeral within my family during that time period. A beloved relative of mine had died, by suicide... As I saw in the funeral home as people came and went, I began to listen to a new relative, by marriage, talking about this issue. A close relative was willing to participate and agreed... First, of all, I felt that this type of discussion was totally inappropriate within a group of grieving people. Second? I knew these people were republican supporting the president. It was clear by the tone of the individuals that they were also racist... I had made my opinion about the issue firmly... What was happening regarding the treatment of black people deserved to be protested in any way that felt appropriate... Including taking a knee...

So, what I was to begin to read in this book, just confirmed what my position would always be regarding how Blacks are treated in the United States... BTW, I'm not a sports fan, so my opinions had little to do with those individuals who were actually being named by politicians as they tried to create chaos for the sake of votes... or from personal prejudice.

Mass incarceration is one of the highest issues that Warnock spotlights for our attention. If you care about basic concern for your neighbors... If you care about poverty, the absence of fathers--family life, then you need to realize, perhaps for the first time, like me, that black men are being pulled out of those families by the privatized, mostly, prison industrial complex... Black bodies have been sucked out of communities for the last 40 years! But before, I go further into Warnock's info, I want to set the stage that is, right now, in our headlines...

Consider that all of the videos relate to immigrants as defined by this administration...That means anybody they can catch and easily detain, it seems... But, they are not white... mostly brown or black if refugees, for instance who live in Minnesota... Let's look at the facts... right now the government led by the republican party is working to relocate or detain in prisons all non-white immigrants...

Consider this, now... Most Black men are already imprisoned... Check out the stats! Our country has spent billions warehousing young people instead of educating them! It can easily be shown that those who are not in school are prone to end up behind bars... So what is the basis of this problem? Are you aware that the United States has the largest complex of prisons in the world?! And, in or let out of these facilities results in a stigma which prevents any hope to return to or achieve a life free of pain or fear... to be able to just "live..."

Warnock confirms what I had learned from an individual who was trying to share his life through a book that, even though he was released, he was not even allowed to vote! I don't know about you, but if all such individuals who may be placed in prison were convicted of major crimes, which is not the case, the courts have punished them forever, just by being unable to participate in working to change what has become a corrupt system at this time. We all can see it... But those who have been incarcerated actually are penalized for life in big or small ways... Getting decent jobs to create a life is one of those problems... That is, if you are able to escaped the long penalties that are administered...

 When an individual has "paid their debt to society," then don't you think they should be able to actually return to that society and work to positively move forward? "They are citizens effectively without citizenship!" Just reading that makes you stop and question how this is possible... And, yet, the evolution has gotten worse in time, as we now  know... God requires us in Micah 6:8 (NIV) to act justly and to love mercy... But our criminal system is often, if not always, "brutal, unforgiving, and sometimes vicious..."

Our nation includes less than 5% of the world's population... Yet houses 20% of the world's prisoners! I am aware that statistics are sometimes misleading. However, this statement alone places an awareness of how the U.S. deals with those who are often acting criminally just to steal food or other needs to be able to live... Further, of that 20%, 41% are Black... Think about it, if Blacks are held in prison through biased actions, yet there is still much crime happening, you should quickly realize that incarcerating individuals is not a solution if not tied into some other type of rehabilitating programs... Those have gone by the wayside once profiteering became the basic goal for imprisonment. Community safety is not part of the programs that were once part of the law enforcement and rehabilitation systems.

Warnock points out that the prison system has been developed bit by bit and will not easily be improved... Mentioning one book that talks about dismantling what now exists. In many ways, this is closely tied to the issue of slavery where many were used to providing absolutely no rights to who they claimed to own. Human Beings... It is not surprising, therefore, as we again see and experience the ever-growing gap between the two dominant political parties. And how they perceive what a federal government should be doing to support their citizens... Warnock refers back to the 1600s when four members of the Quaker religion initiated the first formal complaint against the act of slavery... They based that statement on the basis of The Golden Rule... It was interesting to read Warnock's inclusion of the various forms in other countries or religions which have supported this concept for their own... Thus, we know that the moral code for all is, basically, that of Loving Others...

And when we fail to act to support those in need, then, we are adding a level of responsibility toward those who have chosen a crime only because they were hungry, thirsty, or needed support for their daily needs... And it was the Quakers a century later who forbid that Black people could be enslaved... Indeed, it was the beginning where white men began to speak out against the treatment of our brothers, who happened to be Black. And so it was that, even as now, it is the southern states, the republicans who see no problem in, instead of loving others, actually moving against those people, using the Bible to justify a racist ideology and practices. Worse, then and now, were those who watched the degradation - and said nothing...

Warnock was personally aware of this problem and was among those who began to meet to deal with the mass incarceration activities that seemed glued to the Jim Crow era...

Michelle Alexander was one of those involved in the 2019 mass incarceration conference for faith leaders. By pointing out, that mass incarceration was the new system for subjugating Black people. As Warnock, agreed, he moved on to say that he believed that this may be the most significant moral issue of our time... What has happened has clearly proven this assumption. The only major difference, is that the government is now looking toward brown people and other non-white races... From the 1960s, incarceration increased 600%... By 2014, more Blacks were under control via incarceration than were enslaved in 1850! It can easily support a belief that male white supremacists are at work in trying to break up the United States of America...

This troubling change did not come about accidentally... It started with the War on Drugs which was initiated by Richard Nixon, a failed republican president... And, in essence, implemented by various offices until Ronald Reagan declared his "War..."

Perhaps like me you thought this was an action which should be commended... But, like many things where we lose track of what is actually happening, we do know that as of 2016 Donald J. Trump was using drugs as the primary reason for voting republican... So, me, with my questioning mind, began to wonder... just how long does it take to win this war on drugs? And why are there still drugs available for ongoing use? And, really, if our legal agencies in the government were so good, why did we continue to be told that drugs are entering the United States and causing significant problems for all of us?  Just Say No was the call when it began... So why so many years later on, do we continue to claim drug issues must be fought by the federal government?

Warnock reports that nothing significant happened until about 3 years later, even though major activities by the Reagan administration were immediately implemented by the republicans... News and PR events were developed, often using black images in their graphic development... 

In the meantime, laws were created and passed into implementation which were not only began immediately but also had harsher penalties based upon type of drugs involved. Money flowed in for increase law enforcement for this "war" situation... The big war (WWII) had grown cold as a money-making activity so it was easy to switch over to a new war on drugs where money could be spent on new for-profit penal institutions and associated businesses...

While the poor people's needs were ignored for more profitable methods of using government's tax dollars, prisons were being built, cops were arresting users, or sellers, off the streets and into the new prisons...

I don't know about you, but I'm feeling like this administration is redoing the exact same money game that was used by Reagan and other republican presidents who've used "War" as a fear tactic as well as, more importantly a cash-making business...

So instead of getting over WWII, the republicans named a new war. This immediately stopped our nation's need and ability to move more efficiently and effectively into the technological age, instead of allowing private ventures which have been, for the most part, profitable for big money groups, but also negatively impacting the children of the nation. So much so that two countries, so far, have had to legally stop the use of computers by young teens because of the devastating impact on them...

Personally I don't know enough to talk about the various drugs that are brought in, made in the states, or purchased by the rich people for their own use and excluded from any stats... Yes, there are many news videos about the use of drugs at the very rich level of our nation, aren't there? Some have been notifications of tragic deaths due to drugs... Worse, others have included sexual assault attacks based upon the use of drugs for business or even dating (date-rape drugs).

Here's another sad statistic: More black men are in jail than in all of our higher education institutions. Raphael Warnock shares his personal interest and active involvement with the drug/educational issue. He shares how he was able to be funded through government programs such as Head Start, and was ultimately able to earn multiple higher education degrees. His choices led him to a keen awareness of what he was able to achieve with help, versus, what had been created to ensure that programs to help support the poor were being displaced with programs used to penalize the poor by, preferably, incarceration!

And like many leaders, Warnock soon was on to preaching and then working at the congressional level to act with social gospel in which he greatly believed and had worked toward. You know, the kind of work that goes beyond teaching the Word of God and working to react to the responsibility that we are to work also for the Good of Man...

For Warnock took responsibility and is personally involved when he learned that a close relative had been confined to prison for life, without a chance for parole... for a nonviolent crime by a military veteran with no prior criminal experience. And if you, like me, know that was an extremely prejudicial sentence, even for a Black man, you will know exactly how we got to where we are today in relation to how our government has been treating ALL of God's children...

If you don't see this type of abuse against members of our poor communities as a Scar upon the Soul of our Country, we can at least and understand just how America has been brought to the point of destruction that we are now facing...

Get this Book as your first non-fiction book covering what is happening in the United States...

Watch for Guns Everywhere Next...

Gabby

 

Ten Thousand Verses - Ten Thousand Angels!!! - This, Then, is a God Incident!

 

Reverend Warnock's young daughter once asked him why people had to sleep outside... It was during one of the many trips between their home and the Ebenezer Baptist Church that she had often seen men and women sleeping on those streets. He knew it obviously bothered her or she wouldn't have asked... He began to explain that they were some of the many who needed our help... I wondered as I read whether the little girl would understand...

Mainly because they were still out there on the streets...

A memory popped up into my mind and since it seems God has control of this post today--I was still debating on whether to write one this morning. I remembered when I was a young girl, this time I was coming out of the New Geneva Baptist Church, and I heard sirens--fire or police--it was the same response... I would briefly close my eyes and tap my fingers together 3 times seeking God's involvement with whoever needed help...As I think about that process, I can only assume that the three taps meant I was calling on the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit... As a child, I did a lot of thinking about meaning of words and how they were used... I remember I questioned the fact that "the Holy Catholic Church" was part of a statement that we had recited in church and I asked why that was included since we were Baptist... Be aware that children are not silently playing or thinking their own thoughts, they are listening and wondering... My most important question was "Why?"

And so when I next read that in 2023, 37 million Americans, about 11 percent of our population was living in poverty, I immediately heard "Why?" come to mind... Even though at least for the last decade I have been learning more and more how this could be happening in what is supposedly one of the greatest countries in the world...

The statistic that followed that number was meaningless since the numbers were so low... They were reporting those who were billionaires... millionaires... until I reached the final stat: 1% of Americans controlled 31%--nearly a third of our country's wealth!

Thinking in the larger numbers is almost an impossibility to me... Maybe for most of you as well. How do people accumulate this amount of money? And, how are they spending all that money? Most of us have never reached a point when the need for money was not a part of our lives... Now we see, for example, one man's rocket to outer space blows up and the only comment was that he would keep trying... We have another who is supposedly to be the first trillionaire... Yeah, the same guy that immediately closed and looted the USAID group which provided assistance to those in need...

Is this how somebody becomes very, very rich? By ignoring those who are living at the poverty level. Right now?

 

"WEALTH INEQUALITY IS UNSUSTAINABLE"

"IT IS A DRAG ON WORKER MORALE"

AMERICAN ECONOMY IS FUELED LARGELY BY EVERYDAY PEOPLE

IF AMERICA IS TO SECURE ITS FUTURE

"THOSE WHO SIT LOW MUST BE LIFTED TO HEIGHTS THAT HONOR THEIR HUMANITY"

"THOSE WHO OCCUPY LOFTY PLACES MUST GIVE SOME GROUND TO THE LOW"

WE ALL HAVE A MORAL OBLIGATION TO EACH OTHER

WE SHARE A TIED DESTINY

REPEATING:

AND IF YOU SPEND YOURSELVES IN BEHALF OF THE HUNGRY AND SATISFY THE NEEDS OF THE OPPRESSED

THEN YOUR LIGHT WILL RISE IN THE DARKNESS AND YOUR NIGHT WILL BECOME LIKE THE NOONDAY - Isaiah 58:10

There are around two thousands verses of scripture in the old and new testament about the poor and how we should treat them... Right now, we know that some who speak as Christians are on the wrong side of how we care for those who need just basic needs of living: food, water, shelter... This is true in all countries of the world. Specifically, those who don't claim to be a christian nation also treat their people with disdain or, worse, continue to turn away from their great need. So, what does that say, now, when some who speak against social programs, are still willing to fund billions of dollars to bomb other people, other countries... Or, spend millions of dollars grabbing people off the streets of the United States, and using violence against those who speak out and place them in detention centers even if not guilty of any crimes.

Knowledge makes a man unfit to be a slave. Where justice is denied, where poverty is enforced, where ignorance prevails, and where any one class is made to feel that society is an organized conspiracy to oppress, rob and degrade them, neither persons nor property will be safe.

--Frederick Douglas, Writer

None of this is to assert that Americans or most people in other countries are slaves. To do so would be to make too little of the plight of slaves past and present. What I wish to point out is this: The writings of Frederick Douglass, one of our country’s most brilliant abolitionists, are not to be looked at solely through the lens of American history. Nearly any of the social reformer’s insights may be applied on a far grander scale as you ask yourself what it actually means to be free, and how the actions of your government can subject you to slavery – with your total complacency. --Frederick Douglas

https://reparationscomm.org/

Warnock shares the words of abolitionist Frederick Douglas who has written about the sins of slavery and Douglas is quite open to point out that he has learned about many slave owners and have found that those who are religious (christian) are the worst slaveowners. Adding, that they are the meanest, the basest, the most cruel and cowardly of all...

I remembered about the discussion of Thomas Jeffeerson writing about the rights of men in early years as the United States was being formed. That is, that he continued to own slaves and is even known to have had children by his slave(s)... In the context of talking about ten thousand verses to confirm how we are to love our neighbors, we can be very sure that keeping them as slaves and sexual activities would not have been supported morally...

“Freedom is a road seldom traveled by the multitude.”  Frederick Douglass

And, Martin Luther King pointed out the injustice of the white christian churches... Including the christians who are quick to say that they blame black people for being poor! They speak out against immigrants, refugees, or strangers as the Bible calls them... 

Of course, now we know that there are today those who claim christianity while supporting all the bigotry, prejudice, and destruction of our freedoms, right now, within and out of our government... Included in this section is a reference for Mike Johnson stating that he'd been praying about the Big Beauty Bill and then proceeds to list all those this administration has claimed to have prayed for and received "blessings" that were made... Especially all those elements that provide support to those in need, including public education, children's support, Medicaid, and so much more... that were deleted in order to provide higher ways for the rich to own even more of America...

Too many of America's poor are children...

~~~

The following reveals HOPE for our children

Yes, there is more to watch of this new Center...

Music provided to keep us singing today!

~~~

Isaiah 30: 20-21 And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it, ” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left. 21 Your own ears will hear him. Right behind you a voice will say, “This is the way you should go,” whether to the right or to the left.

This is the Way; Walk in It!

The following video, re Footprints in the Sand, is restricted because of content pics I think ... It certainly fits in with what is being shared here, so I hope you take a quick hop over and back on this one...

As mentioned above, I wasn't quite sure that I would post today... But I had a song come to mind - This little light of mine... I was feeling overwhelmed with, having read two chapters last night, I was disturbed with the next chapter... But the song, This little light of mine, convinced me that I was to share what I was feeling... Especially when I listened to the above video! So, most of the videos are based upon what came before me as I went to YouTube (except the last one and I decided to use the Footprints poetry...) I believe God led me in creating today's discussion about having Ten Thousand Verses which talks to us about caring for the poor and all others...

May you listen to what God is asking of You...

Gabby

Chapter 2 - Squeezing Out the Least of These - Who really owns our democracy? Is it secretly for sale to the Highest Bidder?

 

Who are the Least of These?

Matthew 25:40 New Living Translation

 

40 “And the King will say, ‘I tell you the truth, when you did it to one of the least of these my brothers and sisters, you were doing it to me!’

Many years ago when I was failing to understand the King James Version of the Bible which had been presented to me when I was baptized, I learned about a different, newer translation called The Living Bible. It was then that I began to easily understand what Jesus was saying... In this case, "the least of these," was those like me... My mother was a recent widow when I was born. She had three other children for which she received a minimum amount of government support. What I remember most of all was that my Mom seemed to be working all the time... to ensure there was money to feed, clothe, and shelter us. We were considered poor for many years. It was only when each of the children were old enough to begin work to be able to contribute to the household that our lives became a little easier. For me, the youngest, my memory was of hand-me-down clothes as a major part of my younger years... Yet, we had family to help us through those times. Were we the least of these?

Today, my mind immediately goes to those in Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq, Iran, and so many other countries which have been bombed/attacked by others who destroy the homes of those who had nothing to do with the actions of those in charge and with money to seek vengeance or retribution... Those women, children, old people who I see walking on the roads moving away from a crumbled land where once they had lived. They have nothing except what they can carry on their backs or carts. They depend upon anybody who has the heart to give them, at least, food to eat... These, then, are the least of these...

And those who have destroyed their lives? They are those who squeeze out many for some obscure reason, decide to attack one or more people... No matter in what part of the world we live in, this goes on daily... But right now, we look at what was once the United States of America. Land of the Free...  Right???

It was before I was born when a new song was presented:

At that time, we were a country who sang of praising God for our new land of freedom... But even then, the world was at war, either in the past, or in the future... WWI, WWII, et.al. There has always been somewhere where some men had chosen to raise arms against another group of people... 

In the meantime, nearly all of those people also believed that it was "their" god that was the real god and that they were working to bless them through battle... For many, however, it was even worse. They believed that their god had sent his son to die for us--to save us from all anger, pain and fear... Somewhere along the line called those people were called christians. But then those individuals started breaking off from each other, even going to war to force their religion, their christianity on others--whether they wanted it or not... And so, thousands of years went by...some living in peace with their god; some fighting to have their god higher...Who really owns the democracy that is now called the United States? It is OUR TIME to ask the right questions...

You know folks, I'm opposed to having AI being used uncontrolled, for surely it will be used to create videos such as the one above, which clearly is not real... Yet it tells the story, doesn't it? We know from his own actions that this president is striving to be king over as much of the world as he can get. We also know that while during that, religion is being used as a tool in that process, to attempt to gain support from people in a religion which he can barely speak of... This, then, is where America is right now... Wondering, is it secretly being stolen from we who believe it is our country, land of the free?

Senator Warnock takes readers exactly where we need to be. Pointing out how the evolution of the government has been slowly moving toward where power and money is the most important part of the United States.

If you didn't know about the following, know that I didn't know either. I've revealed that before 2015, I was mostly involved in daily living--at work and at church. As long as things were moving forward, I wasn't paying much attention. Even in 2010, the highest court acted on a case: Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission, which upended campaign finance reforms that restricted the amount of money that corporations and other outside groups could spend on political campaigns! It was a 5-4 decision which reveals that at that time, there was not a majority of one party on the Supreme Court. As we now know that has changed, to the detriment of the country. Soon money was flooding into campaigns for any party who was supporting candidates. And various groups were formed so that the amounts of moneys and the sources were kept secret... But there are always those watching and soon what was happening was revealed in the first book.

You know folks, my family background was with the republican party. When they talked about conservative, the first thing they mentioned was not believing in abortion. When you begin to really pay attention, you begin to see that even with this subject, there is a contradictory point of view... That is, how can you support pro-life, when at the same time you, as a party, oppose social programs for food, schools, the poor... Get the idea that conservative may well mean that those who are in that party want the government out of their businesses and money-making? Because that is exactly what was approved in 2010 by a conservative-leaning Supreme Court... And it's gotten worse since then! And it is the republican party that has led the conservative manner in which money has come to control political planning... Rather than the other way around...

This has dramatically altered the political and legal landscape to suit the self-serving conservative agenda.  "As the prophet Isaiah warned during Israel's dark days long ago, when a nation's leaders are corrupt, society's most vulnerable suffer. Your rules are rebels, partners with thieves; they all love bribes and chase after gifts. They do not defend the cause of the fatherless; the widow's case does not come before them. (Isaiah 1:23, NIV)."

The question then becomes: Who will defend those who are called the Least of These? Who will help those without power and influence? You know, those of us who our God gave His Son so that we in turn would Love and Care for our neighbors??? 

Reverend Warnock shares the work of his church Ebenezer Baptist in these efforts... As a young girl who also joined a Baptist church, I am aware of all that can be done through the efforts of church members. But Warnock points out that both the church AND the political part of our lives are called upon to respond to the needs of all those within the sphere of our reach. In the political world, that means the entire nation is responsible for all those who dwell within our land...

And we have responded to that call until the changes that began and are now being implemented against those who are the least! And, let's face it, we are now in a position where we can only be divided between the Have's and the Have Not's... That has become especially true during the years in which the republican party had a majority control. We have seen the devastation. We have seen people pulled out of their homes to be placed into detention facilities who, without any type of legal support, are left to those who can profiteer from the least of these, while at the same time, those individuals suffer from poor food, sickness, and loss of freedom for no reason other than that those in the government want to punish, to lord over those who are different in some way, and, especially, with the fact that they are poor... Or in need of sanctuary...

Warnock shares how a federal program, Head Start, was the first support his family was given so that he could have the chance to move forward... We now see that, as one who received, he is now working to ensure that that gift is passed on to others who also need a start to a life, that can only be found by the support of those who are able...and willing...to pass on support that was once given to them...

So, how did we get to this point in America where only those with so much money that they could feed the entire nation, still want to keep those in need from any type of support... A few claim it is about race and some not being "like them..." How do YOU justify not helping as you are able?

And, yet, that is just what is happening. The rich who have gotten into the political world now work to ensure that the rich get more and better tax breaks. That the rich can gain power through donating large amounts in order to gain favor from those in politics.  Instead of We the People, Of the People, and For the People... We must ask! Who really owns our democracy? And...if it really a democracy as it is now being run by the rich? Certainly with there being no longer a congressional separation, that there is no longer a separation of the Justice area of government... And that lies are being used to create a reality that serves only those who are already rich and who do not want for anything.  A specific example was used as it relates to the DeVoe family, one of whom became Secretary of Education in the 2016 term of office. We watched as an individual who gave major contributions to the candidate was then given a position for which she was not qualified, and who strived to create public funded private schools for the rich while never even being willing to visit public schools and support them financially...

Matthew 19:23-26 KJV (King James Version)Then said Jesus unto his disciples, Verily I say unto you, That a rich man shall hardly enter into the kingdom of heaven. And again I say unto you, It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.

Raphael Warnock reports that his life in public service is a testament to what is possible when the government lifts up hardworking Americans whose incomes fall short of meeting the substantive needs of their families. 

That, unfortunately is no longer the case...

He notes that, increasingly, "I’ve seen our government tilt away from caring for society’s most vulnerable and toward the interests of the financiers who have leveraged their wealth to tear down the protections put in place over time to level the playing field, to give every child a fighting chance. The legal restrictions on campaign finance were aimed at keeping those with money from gaining outsize influence over our elected officials." We now know the tragedy of that case won by the republican party.

But with the Project 2025 and so much more, things have gotten even worse as the government's historical advancements are being torn down and destroyed, while the people who need some level of income to even keep going is being squeezed out... They are being fired from their jobs. They are losing family benefits that were awarded through previous non-partisan congressional actions... And the country has surely been taken over by white male supremacists who are working to squeeze out and even remove individuals they believe are inferior if they, too, are not of the rich-and-famous top level of America's citizens.

One of the highlights noted of the impact on tossing out the limits of campaign money was a movie regarding Hillary Clinton... These days, we see this type of activity by both parties; however, the amount of money being spent by the republicans clearly reveal where the real money is being provided to thwart unwanted candidates... My guess, since I have little desire to research the past, is to merely suppose that it was Hillary's being a woman which really threw the republicans into an emergency situation since a woman president had yet to be accomplished. Some of you may remember that there was a Women's March on the day of the inauguration of the 2016 election... Clearly women had a different opinion about just how Hillary would be as the president...

It should be noted that the founder of Citizens United, Floyd Brown, was well-known in right-wing circles as a political consultant—some might call him a campaign hit man—who specializes in digging up dirt on political opponents, or at least exploiting a sensitive issue in hopes of destroying the opposition’s election chances. So I have to ask just why the republican party would choose this type of man to pull together a group called Citizens United... As we have seen since 2016, this type of dirt flinging was to be a main method of campaign destruction for that party and is now so bad that even some republicans are beginning to speak out against this president's actions.

The Tillman Act in 1907 was the first recognition that there was a problem in having money become a major issue during campaigns. That Act lasted for about 100 years. And we are surely feeling the difference in so many, many ways! Corporations are not part of We The People!

Nor are lobbyists, and any other methodology that places finances above the will of the people... If a hundred years could pass without this type of meddling, then, don't you think it is time to stop the evolution that has occurred so much that the needs of our own country are not now being fulfilled?!

This book names names of those who are pushing for more and more methods by which money can be used for corrupting our election system. They are in The Crooked Places needing to be straightened.

Reverend Warnock met with his church members as he felt led to run for the Senate... One woman after another stood to support him and ultimately the members sang this song... For surely, since God is being used as a tool by one of our political parties, we must ensure that God our Father is guiding our actions at this important time in history... May God continue to touch those who are finally seeing God's Truth and Love. Knowing that He seeks our participation in Providing for the Least of These, no matter who that may be at any given time...

Watch for

Chapter 3    Two Thousands Verses

Gabby

Chapter 1 - A Spark of the Divine - The Crooked Places Made Straight

 

When we consider having a Spark of the Divine within each human, it boggles the imagination, doesn't it? And yet, I believe this is true. This morning when I began to wonder how to open this post, I was, of course, thinking of a song. One came to mind and almost immediately it was replaced with the one that you've now listened to. A God Incident? Yes, I think so, because this song is so old that it comes way back from my childhood days of singing in church and I don't think I've used it before... and yet once it came into my mind, I was able to sing the words of the first stanza as I got up and began my morning tasks... Over and over...

Breathe on me Breath of God... Fill me with life anew... Crossing my mind was the issue of my having a heart procedure next week, but I'd already decided that God will decide when my life here on earth will end, and I'm alright with that plan of action... Still, having God Breathe on me surely is a blessing that we would all cherish, right? Or would we? If we say yes, then we surely must go on to the next phrase... That I may live as Thou Wouldst Live... And Do What Thou Wouldst Do...

One God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all...

 That's from the pledge of allegiance that, hopefully, is still used in our schools across the land... At least I hope it is? Because it includes very important words and phrases which don't seem to be acceptable in our divided country at this time... But how did it become so divided?

Certainly I still believe in one country, under God... And, to me, that means one country with all of its citizens. Yes, All... My life has been a fairly simple one... Living in a small community in a small rural area. Attending school with those who lived in the surrounding areas... Then graduating and looking to the nearest employment available, which happened to be West Virginia University within driving distance of my home... Although I never moved from this area, on that land-grant campus I met people from all over the world. I met them as they were hired and began working, or I met them as students as they came and went to classes or events with which I was involved... Not once did I think those individuals didn't belong here in the United States...

I had memorized the first words of a symbol of liberty that another country, France, had recognized about the United States. "Give me your tired, your poor, your hungry masses yearning to be free..." And I knew that I was a member of that mass of people who had either been born here or had come from somewhere else to find the freedom that everybody yearns for...

Bible Hub

When I started reading this chapter again, I discovered that I'd already referred to some issues yesterday. I'm not quite sure, but it seemed to me that I was to spend more time on the Spark of the Divine than on the politics of all that's happening... Some of you may remember as I do what occurred in Georgia when the Black Pastor Raphael Warnock decided to and was running for the Senate. Thankfully for our country, he won... For the majority of we who live in the United States, never could have anticipated exactly what began as this term of office for the president started. Many are still disbelieving that this could have happened in America. Yet it has... 

And, sadly, religion has become a major factor in the center of it all...

Raphael Warnock, himself, could not have planned on facing the attack on the Black History--and, indeed, the attack on anything that was to be selected by one party with the aim for elimination--for destruction... Having the first major attack be on USAID as a main source of support from America to the world was immediately catastrophic as children and people began to die from not having the stability of food and medicines that were in storage but were burned instead.

Where was the words from those in the government who spouted scripture but didn't remember those that Jesus had clearly stated

World Relief

The New Senator, one of the two new Georgia representatives was excited as he began his new activities, being invited to speak on news programs and even to talk with Whoopie and others on the View! But his new life was drastically changed when, on January 6th, he watched as the attack began on the Capitol and the people there to certify the election were held captive... Warnock refers to those there as the "other sides of our complicated American Family's story which was being presented to the world... He then notes that it was being "goaded" by the president, and that it resulted in the death of nine people... More importantly, he notes that, afterward, he would hear statements like, "That's not who we are as a country..." And, as both a pastor and a new senator who had been a witness, Warnock promptly proclaimed, "but I disagree. If we’re honest, January 6 is exactly who we are, and who we have always been. Here’s the thing. Like all families, our America is complicated. Our beloved country is both the hope of January 5 and the horror of January 6. Both the miracle of democracy and the oppression that runs counter to democracy are right there in our charter documents. Our Declaration of Independence, our Constitution, and our Bill of Rights are all evidence of the enormous possibilities we represent, as well as of our brutal human flaws and failures. Both days are at the very core of who we are, and who we might yet become.

For me, and perhaps many who read this, we have not experienced the reality of the United States in toto. Our relationship with others has been within a certain area of the country and our experience does not include the type of heartbreaking episodes for those who are the least bit different from who our neighbors think we are... It is only through my reading that I have learned of the reality of those who are...not... white... Many of you may have learned of discrimination on the job, as I have, or even in our religious environment... But nothing prepared us for what is now taking place... Warnock, as well as those of his race, had been prepared. I've talked with Jewish people and they have written or shared how they've had to be prepared... But, no matter how we've lived, I don't think any of us were prepared to see the United States return to the time of the feudal period when the rich did whatever they wanted...

Know your history? You may not want to listen to the entire video above, but the first few minutes will ensure you begin to feel that what it speaks of is, more or less, exactly what is going on right now as the U.S. government attempts to work within this exact framework of identification of classes of people by income! And, even worse, to continue to fire people or place non-white people in illegal prisons where owners care nothing about their care, including babies who are dying in these facilities...

Warnock points out that the line is clear--that we allow this country to be controlled by the rich who, like recently, create wars so that they can seek power and recognition while resulting in further loss of use of OUR taxes for what is really needed by our citizens... And he is willing to point out to us that, if we are honest and do our research, that our government is working against us, pulling control further and further into the hands of those who are not only incompetent, but who do not care, as long as their pockets are enriched further!

"The very idea of diversity, equity, and inclusion" is being cruelly advertised as radical, controversial, and in some cases illegal. We the people must wake up from the illogic pretense that on one day we were fine and the next a high number of our citizens are worthy of being fired, imprisoned, sent to other countries, or denied food, health care and more that were previously approved by Congressional action. Let's face it, when Congress is being bypassed, when actions are being approved by the Supreme Court by those who are working for one party, claiming to be conservative, while knowingly accepting financial payments which are against the law, we must stop and question what is going on!

Warnock as a pastor has shared that he feels we each have a spark of the divine which is being used through a democracy that gives us a right to vote and a voice to work toward our future. I say to you, that, in my opinion, that spark has been diverted, on purpose, and is being used to manipulate many of us as we hear lies and the use of religion to speak against people who were once just members of another political party, but who are now being used to spread unspeakable statements for the sake of hoping you believe their lies...

I just stopped for a little breakfast and listened to what was being done to a man running for election in Texas... His opponent hits darkly on this man's religion, using AI to run ads so ridiculous that it's not even worth talking about it... Yet, millions are being spent by groups who are funded by rich billionaires... So why have they chosen to call democrats demons? Why have they used religion to attack their opponents? And why has an entire new group, Christian Nationalism, use violence as a main way to ensure compliance and support for their beliefs. Surely this is not the God of Truth and Love who created such a "spark" within some U.S. political activists?

Senator Warnock points out that "The rank authoritarianism that created so much repression, destruction, and devastation in the twentieth century has come raging back like a mutant strain of a deadly virus in the twenty-first. The story of that fight is being written in real time, ironically as our nation celebrates the 250th anniversary of this grand experiment. The outcome cannot be taken for granted."

And, we cannot overlook the fact that during those 250 years, much has been changed to the original document that some claim to be the only one to pay attention to... Americans had saw what was needed and worked to keep on moving forward. Warnock points out that those who pray will often also be those who use their feet to keep walking to add daily, if necessary, to what needs to occur... Right now, we have already lost much from actions implemented illegally through the executive branch as opposed to Congress. 

Civil Rights, Women's right to vote, and so much more have been added to the specifics of what rights we are to be afforded as members of a democracy. And, may, our feet keep moving forward on the day, July 5th, 2026, to ensure that we never allow a few people to manipulate the system to the degree that has been happening since the beginning of this presidential term.

Violence against those who walk to move forward in successfully winning our rights has often been quickly ignored. Or as mentioned yesterday, had been "disappeared" by illegal actions, such as was tried at the Smithsonian within the last two years...  You can be sure that this type of interference in attempting to hide truth is based upon a drive for power, rather than a walk to move freedom forward...

It was the legendary Ruth Bader Ginsberg who wrote a strong vote of dissent when actions by the Supreme Court began to move to restrain voting rights... And These Fights are Even Worse Right Now with Gerrymandering being permitted... And more, happening...

...opened the floodgates for a torrent of voter suppression measures. Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg wrote in a powerful dissent that “throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work to stop discriminatory changes is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

The book covers a case in Quitman, Georgia, that gives us another example of just how ridiculous--but scary--life can be... The results of a group of Black women who saw that things weren't getting done at the local level, chose to act. The end result was not only preventing what they tried, but placing these women in jail! They were facing 120 felon counts, for simply having the audacity to question what the all-white group was doing to meet the needs of their children...

Readers, when you reach the point in a supposed democracy that anybody and everybody can be charged with a crime and have it acted on by politically appointed individuals... That's when we all should know that we are in a mess of Trouble... Let's fight back with Good Trouble!

So we leave this chapter with a message from Senator Warnock when he quotes Ben Franklin, when asked about the Constitution that had just been signed. He responded:

I’m reminded of Ben Franklin’s warning about the fragility of our democracy. If you can keep it.

Can the United States recover from all the damage that has been done during the last decade? I include the full decade because of all that was accomplished by President Biden has been mostly been cancelled, or the credit of accomplishment has been usurped by today's president... Who has done so very much worse... Will we survive? Will we keep on praying but ensure our feet, and fingers, keep on working to move past what has once again been destroyed? Do we have the courage and strength to do so? I believe we do... We have seen the millions of protestors out ensuring that what they know is wrong, is declared as wrong... We have also seen young politicians that are working to speak truth across the room and work together rather than obeying the demand that only one individual can make final decisions... Especially when the entire world has seen what has happened to the United States at this politically charged time.

One final point... When more of the voting shenanigans occurred in George related to his being elected to the Senate, Raphael Warnock chose to sue through the courts and won... What does that tell us? That this administration has cut off all methods by which the average person can find support for their concerns in the United States. Most of us don't have the funds to sue through the courts. I found that out when I attempted to find support for what was happening to me on my job. My lawyer admitted that I probably couldn't afford her to be able to learn all of the history of what had happened to me and be able to represent me in a professional fashion...

In the meantime, we are watching every single action that should be routinely addressed by government action, being held up in court case after course case. Often just in order to stall any kind of progress from occurring on the people's behalf... When we lose control of our legal system, we lose control of what makes America what we once were...

Every vote matters. Voting is such a sacred, noble right. One person. One vote.

...we must not allow it to discourage us or dissuade us from the fight. That fight is sacred. So I have continued to fight, introducing the bill again in July 2025. I refuse to give up. The stakes are too high. The vote is the call-and-response of citizens gathered together in the grand cathedral of our democracy. It is a kind of prayer for the world we desire for ourselves and our children. We must continue praying with our lips and our legs, our hands and our feet, because progress is hard-fought, and in America it has always come in fits and starts. There are times when democracy’s promise of “justice for all” expands and times when it contracts. Contractions are painful, but they create the conditions for new birth. May we learn the lessons of the last few years and find the strength to dig deep and push toward a brighter and more inclusive America. In our movement is a spark of the divine. May we find it, and may it strengthen us to push and press on...

 

 

Watch for Chapter 2

Squeezing Out the Least of These

Gabby