Redefining Genocide, Patriarchy & Palestinian Men, A Transformation in Prison
Plus, America Helps Illegally Detains 30K Children
Hi everyone,
Remember to please sign up as a paid subscriber if you want KTF’s work to continue. We need many more subscribers this year, and if you missed it, hear or read us talk about why in our podcast’s season 4 intro. So sign up to support us (or upgrade if you already pay), get our bonus episodes, and participate in our monthly conversations (the first one this week went really well!).
Our highlights this week include:
- How Countries Escape Accountability for Genocide
- The Average Black Christian Voter vs. The Average Democrat
- America’s illegal detention of 30,000 children
- How patriarchy dehumanizes Palestinian men
- Sy keeps us grounded with a prisoner’s story of transformation
- And a preview of tomorrow’s Shake the Dust with Brandi Miller
Sy’s Recommendations
How Countries Escape Accountability for Genocide
Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish lawyer, coined the term “genocide” in 1941. He defined it based on historical precedent and said genocide wasn’t only about killing. “More often it refers to a coordinated plan aimed at destruction of the essential foundations of the life of national groups.” But, as the linked article notes, when his new concept became an illegal act under international law following WWII, countries immediately started narrowing the definition so they wouldn’t be in violation of it. Today, international courts fixate on wide-spread murder and the intent behind it to define genocide. So most of the time, outside of Rwanda, no country’s actions fit the definition. As the article notes, most genocidal leaders are more subtle than Hitler. Israel only recently lost in international court because of how careless its leaders have been about expressing their intent regarding the Palestinian people, and the absurd disproportionality of the violence in Gaza compared to the violence on October 7 of last year. The story is a lesson in how powerful institutions often laud accountability for rival institutions until the same standards are held up to their own behavior. Then, they quickly reign in the scope and severity of the accountability.
The Average Black Christian voter vs. the Average Democrat
I have previously recommended an article from the Substack of
, political scientist and Baptist pastor. But I wanted to share another one from April on polling data about the voting patterns and political beliefs of the average Black churchgoer versus the average overall Democrat. There is a ton of data in this article, but some highlights include that the former is much more moderate than the latter on several key issues, like abortion, immigration, and policing. Black Christians even put themselves ideologically closer to the Republican party as a whole. But they consistently vote overwhelmingly blue. Also, on a spectrum of liberal to conservative, they see no difference at all between the Republican party of 2022 and that of 2012 when the standard-bearer was Mitt Romney. So all of this is great data to remind everyone that the way White people think about politics and vote absolutely does not apply to everyone. And you can hear Jonathan and I talk about these numbers and others like them on tomorrow’s episode of Shake the Dust.Jonathan’s Recommendations
America’s Illegal Detention of 30,000 Children
The United States and its allies are funding and running the largest illegal detention of children in the world. We’re incarcerating approximately 30,000 men and boys who were imprisoned as minors solely for being the children of real or suspected ISIS operatives. Amnesty International says they have spent years living in 29 detention centers and camps funded by US tax dollars. In one of the centers CNN was recently allowed to visit, Tuberculosis is rampant, and the people imprisoned there allege routine abuse. The general in charge of the US Military’s Central Command called one of the camps a “breeding ground for the next generation of ISIS.” I pray for these children who are indefinitely in detention and vulnerable to all sorts of violence. And they are at the mercy of a government a world away, but the soldiers representing it are right outside their cells. I long for them to be free to play, learn, and grow, just like my kids. And I lament and weep because they cannot, and I don’t know when they will.
- Read about the children of ISIS fighters
How Patriarchy Dehumanizes Palestinian Men
Last week, as my family celebrated Father’s Day, I read an article by best-selling author
. He writes powerfully about the western media’s erasure of Palestinian men (content warning for discussion of physical and sexual violence), which reflects the patriarchy’s reduction of men to those who dominate and violate. As Joseph writes so poignantly, “there is very little mention of the men also laid low and clamoring for hope.” The men of Palestine are fathers, brothers, sons, and uncles who deserve our love, attention, and prayerful advocacy. To offer them this is to love our neighbors, mourn with those who mourn, and resist the dehumanization of Arab men that persists throughout the Western world. May we make time and space in our hearts and schedules to intercede for these men.Staying Grounded with Sy
I’ve previously recommended the work of Christopher Blackwell, a journalist who writes about policing and criminal courts while serving a 45-year sentence for a murder he committed during a robbery. In a recent newsletter, he reflected on his personal transformation from being unrepentant about killing to someone who feels remorse, seeks accountability, and tries to make restitution for his wrongs. There’s a lot to like in the piece, but I want to emphasize his point that our economy, police, and prisons actually encouraged him to be violent and dismissive of the pain he caused other people. He had to figure out how to change in spite of those systems. You’ll have to read to find out why exactly that was the case. But Blackwell does a great job of taking responsibility for his own actions while freeing himself from the judgment of those who do not recognize that systems of oppression brutally punish behavior that they also incentivize. His clear-eyed repentance should be a model for those of us seeking to be both innocent and shrewd, as Jesus taught. And it also gives me some measure of peace to see people who have done the incredibly difficult work of honestly and authentically coming to terms with both their own actions and the unfairness of the way society shaped and reacted to their choices.
Shake the Dust Preview
Tomorrow, we speak with Brandi Miller from Reclaiming My Theology. We talk about her experience pastoring people around political engagement, what the rightward shift in politics does to our Christian beliefs and communities, what disaffected Christians still want from Jesus, and a lot more. Then Sy and Jonathan discuss the above article about the political beliefs and voting patterns of the average Black churchgoer versus the average overall Democrat. There’s a lot here. Don’t mis it!
Thanks for reading, and see you next week!
Jonathan and Sy