Ms. Bachmann, I think
you are attempting to somehow justify the flying of this flag NOW, by showing (on your Facebook page) a
Feb. 16, 1972 picture of Jimmy Carter standing next to the flag - you've captioned it with this snarky sentence: "Apparently "someone" didn't take the flag down...."
(https://www.facebook.com/michelebachmann/photos/a.10150251638202361.323973.162625492360/10152942681712361/?type=1&theater)
Here is why you are so
wrong (these are MY thoughts):
Jimmy Carter is a
product of the white South. As he grew up, matured, and became a thinking man
(honest, reflective thought - you should perhaps try it sometimes), he noticed
things around him that he felt were not right. One thing he noticed was that the
Southern Baptist Convention did not align with his Christian beliefs (I'm not picking on the Southern Baptist Convention, by the way - this is an illustration of what Mr. Carter did as he examined his beliefs), so, in
2000, he severed ties with it. Mr. Carter has evolved into a first class
Christian, putting his faith into action - his global human rights involvement
is legendary, and his commitment to equal rights for women, and racial equality
is well documented. This is what thinking people do - they examine their
thoughts, their perceptions, their beliefs, and when they find them wanting,
they make changes.
The flag that flies on
the lawn in front of the state capitol in Columbia South Carolina has always
been a divisive flag. It has always been seen as a symbol of hatred by black folks – it is billed as a symbol of “heritage” by a
lot of us white folks – except that the flag wasn’t flown over the Capitol
until the early 1960’s, as a thumb in the eye of the Federal Government over
the civil rights movement: http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2015/06/21/the_confederate_flag_and_south_carolina_127062.html.
Ms. Bachmann: Your Wikipedia page says that you attend
Eagle Brook Church, which is a Christian Evangelical Church, and that prior to
this church you were a member of Salem Lutheran Church. The Wikipedia page also mentions that you and
your husband own a “Christian Counseling practice” – Having listened to your
rhetoric since about 2011, I can tell you that I don’t recognize a Christian message
in much of what you say. I was just on your Facebook page scrolling through
your posts to make sure that your words match my opinion of what I think you
say – and they do. I find you to be a
hateful person, and, in a way, a poster child for what is wrong with both
politics in America, and a portion of Christianity in America.
As a Christian, I want
to make sure that non-Christians understand that you are not representative of
Christians, at least not the vast majority of Christians – just like radical,
murderous Muslims are not reflective of Islam as a whole, and Dylann Roof is not
representative of white people as a whole.
God gave me a brain (and put it into this enormous, round head) for a reason - He wants us all to think. I hope to evolve
throughout my life, and hope that at the end of my life, I will have changed my
mind about all of the wrong thinking I’ve done previously. I sincerely hope that you will
try to do the same.
