Alabama’s Experimental Execution, Cancel Culture Panic, How to End the War in Gaza
KTF Weekly Newsletter
Hi everybody,
This week, our highlights include:
- A GoFundMe for Dr. Lamar Hardwick as he fights cancer
- Black pastors organizing for a cease-fire in Gaza
- The exaggerated Panic over cancel culture
- How, realistically, the war in Gaza will end
- NYC bans solitary confinement, and requires reporting on investigatory stops
- Alabama’s nitrogen gas execution
Sy’s Recommendations
Donate to Help Dr. Hardwick
As some of you may already know, Dr. Lamar Hardwick, autistic pastor and former guest on our podcast, recently had to retire early from his church because his cancer returned and spread to the point where surgical intervention is no longer an option. Because his disability benefits will take a while to kick in, he set up a GoFundMe to help his family get through this transitional period. I would really love support in any amount our readers could give both as an act of kindness to someone we appreciate who is going through a hard time, and as thanks for all his incredible work benefitting the church in the areas of disability and racial justice.
Black Churches calling for a Cease-Fire in Gaza
Over a thousand Black pastors have organized to lobby president Biden to call for a cease-fire in Gaza through many different public and private channels. They warn that his administration’s position on Israel’s violence jeopardizes his support from their parishioners and Black voters in general in an election cycle when he needs all the votes he can possibly get. Because of the unprecedented amount of progressive opposition to the war, and the particular solidarity Black Americans have had with Palestinians over the decades, this warning could feel like a significant threat to the president. But regardless of what results the campaign gets, we should thank God for people in his church willing to stand up for what is right, and we should support their efforts however we can.
- Read about the cease-fire campaign
Free Speech is Actually Doing Pretty Well
The president and a fellow of the conservative Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) have written a book claiming that cancel culture in the last decade is similar or even worse than that of the McCarthy era. A measured and incisive book review by David Cole acknowledges the many examples FIRE has collected of firings, speaker disinvitations, and the like which demonstrate institutional opposition to some notions of free inquiry. But it explains the ways in which legal speech protections are stronger than they’ve ever been in America, and that comparisons to the McCarthy Era are wild exaggeration. Probably my favorite point is that the authors claim previous eras of university life were more tolerant without at all acknowledging those universities created homogeneity on campus through discrimination. As Cole writes, “The conformity of consensus is not the same thing as tolerance. You might even call this ‘structural cancellation.’” (Note: you will need to sign up for a free New York Review of Books account to read this one).
Jonathan’s Recommendations
How Israel’s Genocide Will End
A recent episode of Vox’s Today, Explained tells us how the genocide in Gaza will stop based on historical precedent. It will end, like every other Israeli offensive, not when Israel’s stated aims are met, but when more powerful nations decide enough is enough. The episode’s guest is Ian Lustick, a political scientist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Pennsylvania, who has studied Israel for 55 years. An article by Lustick in Time gives even more background and context about how previous Israeli military campaigns ended. This is why we who hold political power in the United States must engage our elected leaders on this issue. Our willingness or unwillingness to pray, vote, and act has serious implications for our neighbors around the world.
NYC Bans Solitary Confinement, Requires Police Reporting on Investigative Stops
Over Mayor Eric Adam’s veto, The New York City Counsel passed two bills, one banning the torturous practice of solitary confinement in city jails and one requiring NYPD officers to report information like demographic details of people they stop to question and the reasons for the stop. For years, the NYPD has had a federal monitor overseeing its “stop and frisk” policy, ruled unconstitutionally racist almost a decade ago. The monitor believes roughly a quarter of the stops today are still unconstitutional. And the people stopped are still well over 90% Black and brown. Followers of Jesus are called to stand on the side of the most vulnerable, who at every stage of the criminal legal system are BIPOC.
- Read about the political battle over the bills
Alabama’s Execution with Nitrogen Gas
(content warning for a discussion and description of an execution) Last Friday, I woke up to the news that Alabama executed another person made in the image of God, Kenneth Smith. Running out of methods to kill prisoners that are both available and constitutional, Alabama experimented on Smith, making him the first prisoner executed using Nitrogen hypoxia. So little is known about what happens to mammals when they die this way—essentially replacing all the oxygen in the air with nitrogen— that veterinarians do not consider it an acceptable way to put down a dog. After they administered the gas mask, Smith was conscious for several minutes, writhing for about two minutes until he became still and slowly stopped breathing. It is impossible to love our neighbors and be in favor of killing them. So, we grieve, pray, and press on for reforms until we are no longer a society that, in complete opposition to Jesus, judges people by the worst things that they have done.
- Read about the political and legal fight for Smith’s life
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy