When Politics Trumps Science Which Endangers Lives

Last updated on: December 16, 2022 at 3:26 pm by Julie Nichols

When Politics Trumps Science Which Endangers Lives 2022-12-16T15:26:06-06:00 Julie Nichols

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I have to comment on these articles from Microsoft Newsweek and from the Human Rights Campaign. Lies, misinformation, and especially politically-motivated hatred have reaped unspeakable damage to disabled, Neurodiverse, and LGBTQIA+ youth and their families, the populations I serve in my profession. When every major medical association in the world comes to a consensus about a topic in any medical field, bucking science and medicine of the collective, especially with extremist rogue ideology through political enforcement, endangers the lives of vulnerable populations. This is exactly what Trump did with his anti-science brigade during COVID, and this is exactly what he plans to do again if he is re-elected, continuously buck science through hatred of “the other.” Our country cannot afford his re-election, and I will explain why within the area I serve in professionally and others.

The first article speaks of what Trump will do to lift censorship of “free speech.” I think his right-winged definition of lifting “free speech” is to allow only a right-winged fascist perspective and those who stroke his arrogant ego to speak. He used his power to bully the vulnerable who opposed him using the “free speech” approach, like against Dr. Anthoy Fauci, for example. If Trump did this before, he will do it again.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/trump-just-announced-what-he-plans-to-do-if-he-wins-2024-election/

The second article from the Human Rights Campaign is about Trump’s Timeline of Hatred. In the article, it mentions specific groups of people and attempts to actually attack the basic human rights and right-to-life of these groups, including medical care and the denial of science to justify hatred. Among the groups and areas targeted are LGBTQIA+ People, Immigrants, the Elderly, Healthcare organizations and research institutes, the rights of workers through unions, protections and care for victims of sexual abuse, allowing doctors to not provide life-saving care based on the “religious conscience” of the doctor who is vowed to save lives, to discriminate against certain groups who wish to adopt children or seek housing, efforts to ban HIV/AIDS treatment and development, efforts to overtly increase racism, and efforts to spread lies and conspiracy theories which would endanger lives and the human dignity of people.

Those who think that we can afford to re-elect Trump, let me ask you this. What if one of these people were one of your own family members or you own child? What if by re-electing Trump, it would destroy the lives of people you might know and love.

If we claim to act in Christ’s name, we need to follow his command to love our neighbor as ourselves. This would mean loving minority and vulnerable groups of people unconditionally, including wanting for them what we would want for ourselves and our own families. The church must move to reconcile with the groups legislated against rather than supporting the oppression of them.

It amazes me that even when I share the life and death consequences above of not reconciling with these vulnerable populations and their families, even some ministers will still not listen and even become hostile. I do believe that the hard political right is so deeply ingrained that some think other peoples’ lives are up for debate, that the lives and human dignity of these populations are just a matter of disagreement rather than a non-negotiable matters of life, death, and human dignity.

This is why the Bible says,

37 Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ 40 All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” Romans 13:8-10

As the Civil Rights Activist James Baldwin said, “We can disagree and still love each other unless your disagreement is rooted in my oppression and denial of my humanity and my right to exist.

Trump’s Timeline of Hate – Human Rights Campaign (hrc.org)

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