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Demotivations With Anne
The Politics of Defeat

The Politics of Defeat

Taking Down the Cross and Apologizing about ever having mentioned Jesus

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Anne Kennedy
Aug 13, 2024
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Demotivations With Anne
The Politics of Defeat
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We have one last day here in the glorious sunshine. We’ve been to the Riverwalk and the Pearl and the Gristmill in the Hill Country. It’s been so charming. I am not quite ready to trot home again, but that is what is in store for me. On Wednesday four of us will start the 26-hour drive to Bing, two will fly United, and two will have another afternoon to swim before catching a Delta flight home on Thursday. With luck, or rather Providence, the four of us driving will arrive home at roughly the same time as the last two flying. I’m trying to pretend that I’m totally chill and not completely stressed that not everyone’s school paperwork is in, that the flying children are, like me, the sort of forgetful creatures that leave their keys in foreign climes or their IDs lying around. But maybe God is God and I am not him. Maybe it will all be ok. If you want to pray, I’m totally cool with that.

an old building with a bunch of benches in it
Photo by Maureen Eijpe on Unsplash

Also, not lying, I am exasperated and stressed by the contours of this current election season. I have discovered about myself that though I am fascinated by politics, it is in the abstract way of reading an exciting novel, or getting caught up in a trashy soap opera. Voting is not one of those sacred rights that presses upon my spiritual imagination. I don’t really care who is the president as long as I can get on with the narrow anxieties of my own sphere. In this, I am like literally every other American who has interests and concerns that should exist apart from one political party or another. Except that, in the last few years, I have become one of those radicals who accept that basically there is only one political “party” and that it’s chief characteristic it is that it is unpardonably lame.

But political apathy is not an acceptable posture any longer. We are all being forced to care. Christians like me, who honestly don’t care who you vote for, are being pulled into the morass. Do you actually think that Jesus is the Lord of Heaven and Earth? Careful! You could be a Christian Nationalist or a Fundamentalist or a Bad Person.

It is in this spirit yesterday that, though I had no desire at all, I read Mr. French’s Sunday column, and then listened to him talk about how he was canceled from the PCA, and then I read this thing by JD Greear, and then, to top it off, I read this thing about Sweden. Quoting Christian Today, not to be confused with Christianity Today:

The world's first lesbian bishop of a major Christian denomination, Eva Brunne of the Lutheran Church of Sweden is calling for the removal of the crosses and other Christian symbols at the Seamen's Church in Freeport so that visiting foreign sailors practicing other religions like Islam "would not be offended." According to the Stockholm-based news outlet SVT.se, Brunne not only intends to remove the Christian symbols but also set up a prayer room inside the church that would cater to people of other religions, particularly Muslim visitors. She explained that by doing so, Muslim refugees entering Sweden will be more at ease.

Here’s a picture of the Lady:

Such a large pectoral cross for such a teeny amount of Christian faith.

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