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.
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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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This program is based on the "white genocide" conspiracy that Black South Africans are planning to rise up and kill white property owners
It's impossible to explain how infuriating this story is without telling 1 of the greatest stories in all of Black history.
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In 1819, 17-year-old Ben Montgomery was shipped to a forced labor camp in Miss owned by 1 of the richest human traffickers in the state
Joe Davis was a lawyer who essentially owned a slave island. He was called a "planter" even though he didn't plant shit. He just owned slaves
One thing ppl get wrong about history is that they think slaveowners got rich off of slave labor. Some did. But many got land, title & wealth BECAUSE THEY OWNED SLAVES. Thomas Jefferson enslaved 600 people on 10,000 acres. He inherited the ppl and the land. So how'd he get rich?
Now, the first thing we have to acknowledge the inherent whiteness of your question.
You don't get to define the idea of freedom. For instance, there is a reason why most countries don't allow everyone to own guns carte blanche; it's stupid.
Had it not been for slavery, 2nd Amendment wouldn't exist in the federal constitution. Only 4 of the original 13 state constitutions contained a "right to bear arms'
According to @Grok, Apartheid Elon is literally the biggest spreader of misinformation on Twitter. But I'm willing to give the literal Grammar Nazi a pass on this one because he doesn't know much about HIS OWN history.
It began before America existed, when the Favres, a white family (Yes, an ancestor of Brett) moved to the Mississippi Valley to start a family business. They initially worked for France. Then, Spain. They eventually secured a lucrative contract with the US government.
The scam was simple. They would move near a indigenous people to trade guns in exchange for allowing white people to live in peace.
Now, EVERY CULTURE fought over territory, including the Choctaw & other natives. So having more guns than a rivals meant more territory.
In the days before WebMD, an enterprising scammer could make a fortune promoting ANYTHING as a health product. If you wanted to stay healthy, you needed to include gin, a few cigarettes and some tonic to your health routine
But if a scammer REALLY wanted people to trust a product, they would sell it straight to a pharmacy. Like the dude who couldn't sell his tonic named after Dr. Joseph Lister (who had nothing to do with it). He made a deal pharmacist, & the pharmacist sold it as a health drink