Religious Bigotry of Whitmer, Nessel, and Benson
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The religious bigotry from Gretchen Whitmer, Dana Nessel, and Jocelyn Benson has gone too far, and it’s rarely addressed.
We saw a blatant example during the second gubernatorial debate. While criticizing Tudor Dixon on gun violence, Governor Whitmer urged voters to support her over someone who has “thoughts and prayers.” To mock the power of prayer might be a sound strategy in the elitist, blue checkmark sphere of Twitter, but billions of people pray. I don’t know how many tragedies Whitmer has personally suffered in her life, but when my father was dying from Covid-19—unable to see and hold his wife and 7 children—he found the strength to fight on and live when we told him the people he had ministered to in Pakistan, Mexico, Kenya, and many other countries, were now praying for him.
When Dixon mentioned parental concerns about pornographic books in school libraries, Whitmer refused to address it and accused Dixon of trying to distract voters. One of the books Dearborn's parents were protesting was This Book is Gay. It has a section titled “How to Argue with Muslims,” graphically teaches different forms of sex, and encourages readers to go on hook-up apps (it’s for ages 14-17). Whitmer clumsily tried to sidestep this issue by asking Dixon, “Do you really think books are more dangerous than guns?” It entirely depends on who means the children harm.
Under Gretchen Whitmer, Attorney General Dana Nessel was slammed by a judge for her “targeted attack” on St. Vincent Catholic Charities. In Whitmer’s Michigan, they would rather have an adoption agency go out of business than be true to their religious convictions.
But it’s not shocking. When Secretary of State candidate, Kristina Karamo was sitting in the audience at an event last month, Nessel said candidates who run for office and believe America is a “Christian nation,” is a “big threat.”
The most attacks I’ve seen from Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson's supporters are mocking Karamo’s religious beliefs. Karamo has made plenty of comments regarding elections and the services provided at branch offices, yet I’m receiving mailers mocking Christian podcasts from years ago. Karamo is a single mom from Oak Park with two degrees, one of them in Christian Apologetics. She attends church in Metro Detroit. Her beliefs are not very different from thousands of Michigan voters, and they are irrelevant to the SOS job. It begs the question of whether Benson—who refused to debate Karamo on the issues—simply believes Christians have no place to serve in public office, which wouldn’t be too far-fetched with Benson’s history at the Southern Poverty Law Center. They often attacked Christians and placed them on “hate maps,” which made them targets of violence. Floyd Lee Corkin, for example, tried to kill every person at the Family Research Council because of them.
As Yale law professor Stephen Carter pointed out years ago, “if you find Christian traditionalism creepy, it’s black people you’re talking about.” Black Americans are more likely to be Christian than Caucasian Americans, more likely to be certain of God’s existence, and more likely to attend church. Hispanic Americans are also very religious, and it’s one of the contributing factors to why Democrats are losing their vote. Economics plays a big role, but so does culture. If white progressives continue their blatant bigotry, Black Democrats will wake up as well.
The rhetoric of mainstream media and Democrats is that “Christian Nationalism is bad,” but they don’t mean that. They don’t mind when Senator Warnock preaches politics from the pulpit or Stacey Abrams and Governor Gavin Newsom twist scriptures to fit their politics. They only mean Republican Christians who vote with their convictions are dangerous. But guess what? No matter what color you are or your political affiliation, the Bible is still the Bible. You can’t mock Karamo for believing in it and not mock every other Christian, Jew, and Muslim because of all members of the Abrahamic faiths touch.
There’s a chance Whitmer, Benson, and Nessel may lose on November 8, but there’s a chance they’ll win. So, it’s troubling these women in leadership make me feel so despised. Whitmer didn’t denounce that pornographic book because she was walking on eggshells trying not to offend the LGBTQ+ community, but I’m amazed at the little consideration she, Nessel, and Benson grant to people of faith. And mind you, it would have been very possible to promote inclusion and denounce access to pornographic materials to minors.
These people don’t believe in mutual respect; they believe in ideological submission. Therefore, they are not capable of serving the diverse people—and believers—of Michigan.
