Whenever there's a national tragedy, a natural disaster or something that affects a lot of white people, right-wing zealots always cite one particular bible
2 Chronicles 7:14
To them, it is a warning from God. But throughout history, it's become a weapon of hate.
A thread
If you are an evangelical Christian, a Republican or attend a church where the drummer doesn't use a sweatrag, you've DEFINITELY heard this 2 Chronicles 7:14
They literally believe its a biblical directive for us to Make America Great Again
If you recall, news outlets made a big deal when Mike Pence took the oath of office on Ronald Reagan's old Bible during the Trump inauguration.
Pence insisted on putting his hand on the same PAGE and the SAME scripture as Reagan did when he was inaugurated.
Guess which one:
It's so important that one scholar called it "The John 3:16 of American civil religion"
To be fair, it's just white evangelicals' version of a similar scripture in Galatians that Black people love:
"He that shall fucketh around shalt also find out."*
*Real Negus Translation
And this is not a new thing. It's been used throughout history.
Dr. Samuel Cartwright used 2 Chronicle 7:14 when he coined the phrase "Drapetomania" to describe the mental illness that made Black people want to be free. It explained why Black people were "eternal knee benders"
It has been used to explain everything from pandemics was good to why God was a Confederate.
No, seriously:
In 1793, a yellow fever broke out in Philadelphia. Some blamed the pandemic on abolitionists & free Black people
In 1780, Pennsylvania passed a gradual emancipation act
Then in 1790, Philly became the US capitol.
Then in 1793, Black Haitians organized the largest slave revolt in the history of the world. Many of those French slave owners brought their slaves to Philly. Plus, the free African society, who joined with Quakers to build schools
When the pandemic broke out, white preachers blamed it on the heinous act of abolition.
One slave-owning Virginian refused to leave his slaves home when he moved to Philly to work for the government. He used 2 Chronicles 7:14 to explain why God visited his wrath on the city.
Some high-level government employee named George Washington
If you think that was bad, 2 Chronicles 7:14, is what happened toAbraham Lincoln and the evil Union army after the Civil War.
As soon as the Confederate Army surrendered on April 9, 1865, Confederate Jesus went OFF
A week later Abraham Lincoln was dead. Now, we know a white supremacist killed him. But to Southerners, it was 2 Chronicles payback.
To send Union prisoners of war home, Confederates loaded 1,800 POWs on a steamship on April 27.
The Sultana disaster is STILL the deadliest maritime disaster in US history, worse than the Titanic. It is one of the deadliest FIRES in history.
Today, we know it was caused by faulty boilers. But back then, it was proof that the Confederates were right.
2 Chronicles.
2 Chronicles is STILL used to open civil war reenactments and explain disasters and mass shootings. It is literally what they mean by "thoughts and prayers"
Segregationists used it.
The pro-life movement cites it ALL the time
So do anti-Trans and anti-LGBTQ groups.
And most of all, Conservative Evangelical Republicans use it to explain why a civil war is coming.
My favorite use of 2 Chronicles is when a preacher who apparently never read a history book in his life explained by BLM is satanic
And of course, it explains why God cursed America with Joe Biden
It has been weaponized for centuries and will be weaponized more in the upcoming election.
And since it is a Bible verse and "America is a Christian nation," many people think there's nothing wrong with it.
But what if one state REALLY leaned in on 2 Chronicles 2:14?
How?
How could conservatives use a bible verse to swing an election?
Well, what if the entire election hinged on 1 swing state? And what if conservatives were in charge of that state? And what if they used local governments & a familiar Bible verse to create an army of MAGA voters?
Anyway, this Saturday, every county courthouse in the entire state of Georgia will be open to welcome Jesus-loving Christian citizens in to read the Bible
Why?
According to an article I came across in a local paper today...
2 Chronicles 7:14 explains it all
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From now until the general election, my weekly “Downballot” series will explore lesser-known races on the 2024 ballot
This first 1 might be the greatest story in politics. It has everything:
A Klandaughter, a civil rights hero, white history, Black history & a map
A thread:
First, we must understand that this race takes place in one of the Blackest, poorest, most disenfranchised congressional districts in the country —Alabama’s 2nd district
It is a perfect example of the MOST COMMON voter suppression strategy:
Racial gerrymandering
This is the OLD Alabama 2nd congressional district. The boundaries do not follow geographic or political boundaries. It was SPECIFICALLY drawn to reduce Black voting power.
But because of population changes, the AL legislature had redraw its congressional districts
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.” -
Some guy who wrote the Declaration of Independence
Donald Trump:
“The liberty of the press is essential to the security of freedom in a state: it ought not, therefore, to be restrained in this Commonwealth.” the oldest functioning constitution in the world
It’s not about how easy it was for people to believe a —someone has to say it —batshit crazy lady who, INSTEAD OF LOOK EVERYWHERE for her missing pet, with zero evidence, immediately jumped to:
“Well, the Haitians must’ve eaten it.”
It’s not about how many people automatically took the word of a BATSHIT CRAZY WHITE LADY with zero evidence over common sense, hundreds of Haitians and the ACTUAL EVIDENCE of city officials
First of all, Black barbershops have been in America as long as America existed. While we like to think that race-based chattel slavery only benefitted slaveowners, many white businessmen built fortunes from the slave trade, even though they didn't own slaves.
For instance, there was an entire industry around appraising, examining & "cleaning up" enslaved people to fetch the highest price at auctions. White barbers didn't own slaves, but they would essentially rent "barber boys" & girls from slave owners to cut hair in their shops.
Let me start off by saying that I won't cop out by saying that what I wrote has been "misconstrued" or "misinterpreted."
I wrote this. It's MY FAULT if anyone took a different meaning from what I wrote than I intended. There ARE some things I got wrong or didn't clarify
Specifically, I should have made it differentiated between the actual UNCOMMITTED movement's legitimate aim to have a voice at the DNC by organizing people committed to stopping a genocide vs people who chastise Black people for their political choices