Elizabeth Madeira, an organizer for the Southern Christian Coalition, discusses recent Tennessee legislation and her views on the intersections between Christian morality and public policy.
FULL PODCAST available on Apple Podcasts here, and wherever else you like to listen here.
"It’s not only heresy, but it’s also hypocritical to make the Bible the state book while passing policy that doesn’t care for the least of these."@ElizabethforTN of @FaithAdvocates joined @Whataboutuspod1 to talk about Christianity and TN politics.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/NewLogo-1.png14001400Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2021-04-09 15:33:182021-04-09 15:33:18What Would Jesus Do? with Elizabeth Madeira
My name is Steven Puckett. I am a citizen of Hendersonville, TN. I speak for myself and myself alone. First off, I want to say that I think the sponsor is well-intentioned in bringing this legislation. With that said, I am testifying in opposition to HJR150 on three grounds.
The first is that this resolution desecrates the Holy Bible. The second is that this resolution calls into question the truth of the Christian faith. The third is that this resolution steals from the Holy Bible the witness power of being mistaken for the state book.
For many Christians in Tennessee, this resolution desecrates the Holy Bible by reducing it in status from a sacred venerated object to just another political prop. Further, this resolution suggests that the Christian faith will not last the test of time as it seeks to memorialize an aspect of the Christian faith in government. In the eyes of Christians that believe that Christianity is the “one true faith”, this bill calls into question the “truth” of the Christian faith by suggesting a need to memorialize aspects of the faith as the “one true faith” needs no such memorialization for posterity.
Furthermore, this resolution steals from the Holy Bible the powerful witness opportunity that comes from people mistaking the Holy Bible for the state book as it allows Christians the opportunity to explain that the Holy Bible is much more special than just some ole state book. The very fact it gets mistaken for the state book, when it is not, gives the ultimate testament to the truth of the Holy Bible. Without the fact that the Holy Bible is not the state book, the powerful witness opportunity is lost.
Also, I understand that many mistake the removal of past societal idols as the removal of God from our society, but yet the reality is that God is actively creating opportunities for people to “to be still and listen”. In a world where nearly everyone speaks for God, God is clearly sending a message for us to be silent and listen throughout the elements in our society whether it be by replacing prayer over the loudspeaker with the moment of silence, required Bible study with silent reading, or conservative majority courts handing down liberal rulings on social issues. It is time for us to stop speaking for God and listen for God to speak to us. If do not, then we risk repeating the same folly that leads to people walking away from God forever during my dad’s school years, because they saw God and Christ as nothing more than agencies of the government.
Finally, understand that we have a whole generation that is watching us and asking “Is there anything left that is sacred? Is there anything that is beyond being tainted by the dirty hands of politics?” I ask that you answer this generation by demonstrating that there is so by voting down this resolution in a decisive fashion.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/Jerry-Sexton1.jpg12001200Justin Kanewhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngJustin Kanew2021-03-23 12:44:452021-03-23 12:44:45OP-ED: DESECRATING THE BIBLE
Supporters of the vouchers say they will help some kids in failing schools escape to a better education.
Opponents say we shouldn’t be steering public money away from already struggling public schools to do that, that it amounts to the privatization of education, and that the private schools in receipt of the money wouldn’t be subject to the same kind of accountability, and would be able to discriminate against certain kids using public funds.
(Watch our highlights of the Education Committee debate HERE.)
The TEA says Vouchers have been a “disaster” where implemented and remains against them, as are a number of other organizations.
Many of the schools on the list of Tennessee schools which would accept the vouchers are small Christian schools. This is noteworthy because of an interview Devos and her husband gave in 2001 in which they answered the question of why she wasn’t just focused on funding private Christian schools on her own by saying they were looking for a greater opportunity to “advance God’s kingdom”.
Listen to 90 seconds of the interview:
The audio clip, which was exclusively obtained by Politico, reveals how the religion of the Devos family fuels their drive to reform public education. It comes from the 2001 edition of a conference known as The Gathering, an annual meeting of some of the nation’s most wealthy Christians.
The interviewer asks:
“Wouldn’t it have been easier to simply fund Christian private schools and be done with it?”
Betsy Devos answers:
“There are not enough philanthropic dollars in America to fund what is currently the need in education.”
The couple goes on to describe school choice as leading to “greater kingdom gain” explaining how public education has “displaced” the church as the center of communities, and said providing parents with school choice is one way to undo that displacement.
They say their work is an effort to remain active in the “Shephelah”, a region they learned about on a trip to Israel, which is supposedly where David and Goliath fought, which represents a public forum where the influence of the church is needed, rather than fleeing to the hills to live comfortably. Congregations looking to support their church’s activities may want to read more about mobile giving apps and how they can be used to make financial donations to their place of worship. Churches with lofty aspirations often need additional monetary aid in order to see their plans through to fruition.
Betsy Devos:
“Our desire is to be in that Shephelah, and to confront the culture in which we all live today in ways that will continue to help advance God’s Kingdom, but not to stay in our own faith territory.”
Her husband Dick then adds:
“We could run away and just go back up in the hills and live very safely and very comfortably – or are we going to exist in the Shephelah and try to impact the view of the community around us with the ideas we believe are more powerful ideas of a better way to live one’s life and a more meaningful and a more rewarding way to live one’s life as a Christian?”
(Their talk does not touch on LGBT issues, but Politico points out that “Other members of the DeVos family have contributed to anti-LGBT causes; there have been conflicting reports about the work by Betsy DeVos and her husband in this arena.”)
Governor Lee, who is a driving force behind this legislation, makes no secret about his religious beliefs, often bringing up his faith in ads and campaign stops during his race.
Tennessee is a largely Christian state, as is America on the whole, and everyone should be free to practice their own faith, but a valid question remains: Should government money help finance religious education?
Religion is central to the school choice debate. There’s concern about the effects of blurring the line of church-state separation, something which we see plenty of in the state legislature these days as the anti-LGBT “slate of hate” snakes it’s way through the process.
The courts have been mixed on the issue of sending public money to private schools, but in 2006 the Florida Supreme Court did strike down a school voucher plan in the state, saying that the program was unconstitutional and that it channeled tax dollars into “separate private systems parallel to and in competition with the free public schools.”
Tennessee is 45th in spending per pupil.
The vouchers bill is heading towards a floor vote in the house, and it is likely to have support in the senate, where Senate Majority Leader Jack Johnson has already said he supports them “1000%” but made it clear he intends to keep them far away from Williamson County, where he, Speaker Casada, and Governor Lee all live.
Devos will have company today. If you want to join Indivisible to *welcome* her to Tennessee, holler at them HERE. And holler at Governor Lee HERE.
https://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/vouchers-devos-header.jpg552998Staffhttps://tnholler.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/TN-Hollerv5-300x172.pngStaff2019-04-01 14:50:452019-04-01 14:50:45Betsy Devos In Nashville TODAY To Help "Advance God's Kingdom" With Lee's School Vouchers
