The politics of nothing and the enabling church

There’s a politics loose in our democracy that is all about nothing.

The evangelical church serves as the incubator and enabler of the politics of nothing. This is not a sermon, but it suggests a biblical text: “The grass withers, the flower fades; but the word of our God will stand forever.”

Isaiah speaks here of humanity, but his dreary truthful tropes can apply to what I call “the politics of nothing.” While the politics of nothing has its chimera of glory, it will wither and fade like flowers and grass.

The politics of nothing sells the public a bill of goods, empty bags, inflated promises, and so much rage. The politics of nothing is riding humanity hard now, and they think it will last forever, but the grass withers, the flower fades.

The politics of nothing is not the future of our democracy, but unless we see it for its uselessness, it may be the end. The politics of nothing is like a frontier medicine man peddling bottles of liquor dressed up as miraculous healing medicine but in reality worthless except for a temporary moment of feeling high.

Emotional speech with no policies

What is the politics of nothing? It is emotionally laden speech that has no policies attached. It is a rage against how bodies act and interact in culture, with no goods offered to bodies in return.

The politics of nothing has allergic reactions to policies — substantive policies designed to empower, enable, protect and assist humans. Our current outbreak of the politics of nothing has no place for policy.

“The politics of nothing has allergic reactions to policies.”

The politics of nothing uses pathos to induce feelings of freedom and goodness in the audience. Ironically, the “feel good, feel free” theme of the politics of nothing relies on the rhetoric of demonization, evidence-flouting and repudiation of institutions.

Somehow the politics of nothing manages to be entertaining and terrifying at the same time. The pathos is that of a stand-up comedian getting people to laugh nervously at the destruction of others who can safely be made fun of and put down in nefarious and hurtful ways. The politics of nothing churns out shame on the bodies of those who are different. It channels anxiety, narcissism and alienation to attract supporters who are now given the signal that it is OK to rage against the dreaded others.

Religion and moralism

The church has not always promoted a politics of nothing. The Reformation was a religious/political struggle as Catholics and Protestants battled over sacraments, polity, theology. At least the age produced an amazing number of theologians: Luther, Calvin and Wesley, for example.

Now, evangelicals are spewing out populist, affluent preachers who are all hand-tamed by Republican politics — “successful blessers of a successful culture,” as Carlyle Marney said. In the 19th century, churches fought to abolish slavery. In the late 19th century, evangelicals promoted the rights of workers, women’s rights and care for the poor. In the 20th century, churches fought to end segregation, promote civil rights and protest war. These all were serious issues with both theological and political ramifications.

Now, politicians perform rituals of “feeling good, feeling free” — a nothing dance to win votes rather than help persons. It promises people a land of promise flowing with milk and honey, but it produces a land of fear and violence. It promises a well of fresh water but produces only brackish, bad-tasting water from the sewer. It promises a feast of fine wine and platters of meat but gives only sour wine like vinegar and a valley of dry bones.

“It promises people a land of promise flowing with milk and honey, but it produces a land of fear and violence.”

The politics of nothing attempts to impose a strict moralism on the nation. Actual issues that impact the political life of the democracy are ignored as evangelicals pour forth emotional appeals dealing with issues that don’t have anything to do with food, water, clothing, housing, health care.

The politics of nothing has now degraded to a class of politicians eager to smear, denigrate and defame. Now, the evangelicals line up to promote spurious revisions of history, the undoing of scientific knowledge and a hyper-patriotism that smacks of idolatry.

Obsessing over sex and gender

The politics of nothing obsesses about sex. For example, Newt Gingrich’s take on Judge Ketanji Brown Jackson’s judicial hearing for a Supreme Court slot was that she disqualified herself because she “could not” define a woman. Nothing about the Constitution, the law, being a qualified judge, but a slap from Gingrich about sexuality — transgender persons. This is the politics of nothing.

In the mighty house of democracy, a house built on the rock of freedom, the politics of nothing concentrates all its attention on the closet and the bathroom.

For decades, evangelicals struggled to keep gays in the closet. I always have been puzzled by the evangelical attachment to the closet as a negative trope where gays were to be housed. After all, evangelicals know that Jesus elevated the closet to a room of prominence in his teaching: “Whenever you pray, go into your closet and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you” (Matthew 6:6).

“The politics of nothing concentrates all its attention on the closet and the bathroom.”

The closet was to be a room of prayer, not a prison where you locked away those you deemed unworthy. Now that the closet doors have been thrown wide open, evangelicals switched to obsessing about the bathroom. From homophobia they transitioned to fear of transgender persons. Legislation about bathrooms and transgender persons in sports pile up in state legislators like a late April snow in upstate New York.

The Parental Rights in Education bill, more commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, has been signed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis. The bill prohibits teachers and school staff from discussing gender identity and sexual orientation in kindergarten through third-grade classrooms and limits such discussion among older students to an undefined “age-appropriate” standard.

The Idaho House of Representatives passed a bill that makes it a crime punishable by life in prison for parents to seek out gender-affirming care for their child. If made law, it also would make it a crime for parents to leave the state with their transgender teen to get gender-affirming care. A guilty verdict would mean life in prison.

In Alabama, lawmakers are pushing a bill that makes it a felony for a doctor to provide gender-affirming care, namely puberty blockers, hormones or surgeries to children 18 years old or younger. The offense is punishable by up to 10 years in prison.

At least 29 states have introduced bills that would exclude transgender children and teens from sports. In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott has called gender-affirming procedures “child abuse.” There must be something in the water in Texas because it is also the home of the Southern Baptist pastor Robert Jeffress who has claimed that the Democratic Party is now the party of atheism.

Waving hands and calling on God

The politics of nothing is a gathering of politicians who come out, call on the name of God, freedom and patriotism, wave their hands in the air and declare that people are free from everything — truth, responsibility, empathy, mutualism.

An image of Naaman the leper, in his snit fit over the preacher not coming to greet him in person, fits the politics of nothing attitude: “I thought that for me he would surely come out, and stand and call on the name of the Lord his God, and would wave his hand over the spot, and cure the leprosy!” (2 Kings 5:11).

“The politics of nothing is performative rhetoric, not policy-making legislation.”

The politics of nothing is performative rhetoric, not policy-making legislation. Lights, action, cameras roll — the performance begins. In the 1990s, the situation comedy The Seinfeld Show was dubbed the “show about nothing.” Closer examination determined that the show actually was about quite a lot.

There is, however, a show that really is about nothing: The Republican Congress starring Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, Lauren Boebert of Colorado, John Kennedy of Louisiana, Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Louie Gohmert of Texas, et al.

Sen. Cotton attempts to deny federal funding for the New York Times 1619 Project. He rails about the “loss of civilizational confidence” among white people.

Gov. DeSantis of Florida presents a bill designed to make sure no history teacher teaches Critical Race Theory or anything that might make white people uncomfortable. Somehow, he managed to have the word “freedom” in his bill. How odd that the people of Florida would need a law that gave them the freedom to be comfortable. One would think that the land of sunshine, gated condos, lounge chairs, flip-flops, ill-colored shirts, margaritas, eye-popping bikinis, orange juice and beaches would be basking in comfort.

The politics of nothing turns out to be a labeling company that spends all its time and energy on ginning up protests — an entire list of emotional issues that amount to nothing. These efforts are more than quips, slogans or tweets. They are determined propaganda efforts to sway the nation’s voters. The labeling factory at the Politics of Nothing has churned out political correctness, CRT, wokeness, “Don’t Say Gay,” anti-LGBTQA legislation, and “All Democrats are communists.” The purpose is to engender rage at, well, nothing.

The New “Do Nothing” Party

The new “Do Nothing” Party in D.C. does have some activity, but like the business end of a bee it’s got a lot of stings and no value. Greene and Boebert between them have filed five bills to impeach President Joe Biden. Here the revenge motive glares back at us as if we were watching reruns of The Godfather.

Greene has introduced 17 bills in Congress — four to impeach Biden, one to present the Congressional Medal of Honor to Kyle Rittenhouse, one to eliminate the ATF, one to remove Maxine Waters from the Committee on Financial Services, one to fire Anthony Fauci, two to give Americans more freedom with guns, and one to congratulate the University of Georgia on winning the national championship in football. There’s nothing in any of those bills of benefit to American citizens.

“There’s nothing in any of those bills of benefit to American citizens.”

Boebert has introduced bills such as “Stop AOC Act,” “Protect our Kids from Harmful Research,” (but don’t provide free hot breakfast at school), “We’re not paying you to break our laws” act, impeach President Biden for high crimes and misdemeanors, impeach Vice President Kamala Harris for the same reasons, Stop the Biden Caravan Now Act, and the No Mask Mandate Act.

Sen. Cotton has introduced a bill to defund Critical Race Theory called the “Stop CRT Act.” He also has introduced the Saving American History Act, which would prohibit federal funds from being used to teach the 1619 Project curriculum.

Media coverage of the politics of nothing has inspired people to run for Congress on a “Do Nothing” platform. South Carolina Republican candidate for the House Katie Arrington has said her top priorities include dismantling the Department of Education, impeaching President Joe Biden and completing Trump’s border wall.

Like loud geese leaving a mess for others

The politics of nothing wantonly imposes poverty, lack of education, fear of public education, ill-health and a truncated social safety net. Dragging its collective feet on the COVID pandemic, the ranting anti-maskers, “Fire Dr. Fauci” wingnuts, the anti-vaxxers, and the “we can’t shut down the nation” railers, we have managed to kill almost one million of our fellow Americans in the name of something called “freedom.”

Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick of Texas, a politics of nothing poster boy, famously suggested that senior citizens should volunteer to die from COVID in order to keep the economy running, because, God knows, money is more important than senior citizens. And that rolled off the backs of Americans like water off a duck even though it is crazy.

The politicians of nothing are a gaggle of geese — loud, obnoxious creatures who leave a mess for others to clean and add nothing to the well-being of our democracy.

The politics of nothing offends all human compassion. When the politicians of nothing entice us, we should resist. If they say, “Come with us, let us lay an ambush for transgenders, the poor, the immigrants, the women, the children, let us waylay the oppressed, let us swallow them as sheol swallows life. Let us undermine the teaching of biology and the life-saving research of science, let us revise American history to make light of our nation’s flaws,” ignore them. When they say, “We shall enrich ourselves and fill our houses with spoil. Throw in your lot with us,” resist.

“The wise woman of Proverbs eviscerates the politics of nothing as twisted speech.”

The wise woman of Proverbs eviscerates the politics of nothing as twisted speech, as politicians who forsake straight paths, who take pleasure in evildoing, who journey on ways of darkness. Their tracks are labyrinthine and tortuous. Smooth speech, empty rhetoric, promises without policies — this is the way of the politics of nothing. The wise woman uses straightforward speech, plain utterances and her mouth speaks truth, her sayings are honest: “I, Wisdom, am neighbor to shrewdness, I find out right procedures. … I possess policy and competence, insight and power. By me kings reign, and rulers enact what is right. … I walk in the path of righteousness, in the tracks of justice” (Proverbs 8:12 – 16, 20).

Not putting food on the table

Bottom line fact: The politics of nothing does nothing to improve people’s lives. The politics of nothing doesn’t advocate for the poor or pass legislation that would feed the poor. Being anti-science, anti-history, anti-mask, anti-vaccine, or anti-CRT doesn’t put food on anyone’s table. The politics of nothing has nothing to say about the comfort of persons of color, persons of precarious economic standing, and persons who are living in fear and want. Hungry people can’t eat the ideas floating around in the cesspool of the politics of nothing.

Universal health care would improve all lives, but the politics of nothing rails against it. The parable of the Good Samaritan needs to expand from one wealthy man helping one poor beaten man to a government that provides health care for everyone. The politics of nothing doesn’t provide doctors in poor rural areas. The politics of nothing doesn’t make prescription drugs available for the poor because the profits of big pharma matter more than persons in need of medical care.

Our most sustained effort at providing health care for everyone is the Affordable Care Act passed during the administration of President Barack Obama. The politics of nothing called universal health care a “government takeover” and said the program provided for “death panels.” Misinformation and lies. The politics of nothing thought it was good political strategy to refuse to use the name of the act: Affordable Health Care. Instead, they labeled it Obamacare. The name of the bill was about so much that most Americans support and believe in: Affordable. Health. Care.

Church leaders working to influence politics would be better served to promote issues that improve and empower humans rather than emotions laced with fear, rage and a bunch of nothing. Instead of restrictive rules about bodies, why can’t church leaders promote an incarnational, embodied concern for all bodies? Christian faith is fleshly, material, physical.

Politics turns out to be too fleshly, too material, too bodily to succumb to the politics of nothing. A church known as the “body of Christ” should at least be prepared to make politics more about the “least of these” rather than about nothing.

Rodney W. Kennedy currently serves as interim pastor of Emmanuel Freiden Federated Church in Schenectady, N.Y., and as preaching instructor at Palmer Theological Seminary. He is the author of nine books, including the newly released The Immaculate Mistake, about how evangelical Christians gave birth to Donald Trump.

 

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