Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

suspended in her jar

Home
Catholic
On Selective Outrage: Kathy Griffin, Trump, Obama, and the Right

On Selective Outrage: Kathy Griffin, Trump, Obama, and the Right

Last updated on: June 4, 2017 at 11:29 pm by Rebecca Bratten Weiss

On Selective Outrage: Kathy Griffin, Trump, Obama, and the Right 2017-06-04T23:29:13-04:00 Rebecca Bratten Weiss

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Kathy Griffin posed with an image of Trump’s severed, bloodied head, and the public was not amused. She has since apologized for the stunt, but to no avail: she’s still been fired from CNN. Such apologies never quite have the ring of truth. It’s more like “now that I realize that people didn’t like it, I wish I hadn’t done it.” Schrödinger’s penitent is both sorry and not sorry, until she sees how her public opinion responds.

I thought her display disturbing, and her apology insincere.

Still, as a Leftist conservative, and ardent anti-Trumper, I have enough common ground with liberals to feel, with them, some degree of hypocrisy in the right-wing demand that we universally denounce her actions. Yes, I denounce her actions, but I also don’t think they are as important as the acts of real violence that are perpetrated by our regime, and others, on an hourly basis. I am more offended by refugee children left to drown than I am by a second-rate actor’s publicity shenanigans – however tasteless. I am more offended at the idea that unborn humans are being threatened by abortion because women are shamed for their pregnancies or denied health care.

And where, might I ask, were all these outraged souls on the many occasions when right-wingers burned Obama in effigy? Where the demands for an apology?

Where the outrage when Ted Nugent promoted actual violence against Obama? And when Trump invited Nugent to the White House?

I never voted for Obama, by the way, though I always respected his intelligence and decorum in spite of sharp political differences – but, even were I a dyed-in-the wool Republican, I would consider such displays to go beyond mere bad taste. The spectacle of gangs of white men gathered around the burning effigy of a black man looks disturbingly like an invitation to re-enact our terrorist past with regard to Black Americans. Beheading is not funny, especially with what is going on right now with ISIS. And lynching and burning are not funny, either, especially with our own recent history.

Republicans are appalled that Trump’s eleven-year-old son apparently caught a glimpse of the image. So are Democrats. So am I. Whatever anyone may think about Trump, Barron is a child, and deserves to enjoy the innocence and safety of childhood.

I am also appalled that Sasha and Malia were repeatedly subjected to images of their father being gruesomely tortured (unless the Obamas kept their daughters off of social media at that young an age, which would be wise). I am appalled at the horrible racist commentary to which those young women were subjected on social media.

Many liberals and leftists have stood up to denounce Griffin’s stunt, along with political independents, and I am glad to see it. Unfortunately, it’s hard to be impressed with the moral outrage of right-wingers who are declaiming “thus all democrats!” – when they were collectively, conspicuously silent about the treatment of the Obama family.

But, of course, when white Republicans do these things it’s playful. It’s free speech. It’s just a joke. At worst, it’s drunken teenagers. But imagine the outrage if, say, Black Lives Matter were to burn Trump in effigy?

Griffin apologized because she realized people were not pleased. If those who burned Obama in effigy have not apologized, perhaps it is because they had no reason to believe those on their political team were not pleased by their behavior?

We need to have higher moral standards for our public behavior, and we need to be consistent in these standards, no matter what our political sympathies of affiliations.

Previous Post

May 29, 2017

When the Right Supports the Burning of the Flag

Next Post

June 1, 2017 With the Paris Accord, Listen to our Popes - Not Trump

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category abortion anti-semitism art Atwood Betrothed church clergy abuse coronavirus culture economics education environmentalism ethics faith family feminism gardening gun violence immigration Judaism literature MaddAddam New Pro Life Movement news pandemic personalism poem politics politics blue Pope Francis racism religion salvation sexuality social justice spirituality Station eleven Stephen King The Stand Trump Uncategorized war World Health Organization

Select a Month March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 October 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

True or False: According to Hebrews, faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen.

Select your answer to see how you score.

FALSE TRUE

Support this
Column