TODAY’S BIBLE VERSE
Whoever brings ruin on their family will inherit only wind, and the fool will be servant to the wise. Proverbs 9:29
Those are some of the ways our state Republican leaders chose to describe Jordan, who also happens to be the wife of a military pilot, a mother of four and a grandmother.
One direct-mail attack ad, funded by the Tennessee Republican Party, showed a photo taken without permission from Jordan’s Facebook page.
In the photo, Jordan is standing between two men whose wedding she presided over last year. The mailer warns: Liberal Gayle Jordan will “destroy the fabric of American society.” Take her word for it.”
The quote was lifted from her comment on the Facebook post: “Doing my part to destroy the fabric of American society. Congratulations, Shane and Landon.”
Jordan clearly has a sense of humor. Republican Party leaders who paid for and defended the attack ad clearly have neither a sense of humor or decency.
It’s one thing to distort a comment made in jest into a diabolical plot to destroy America. Democrats in power do it, too. It’s another thing entirely to engage in character assassination, religious or otherwise.
Jordan’s religious views are irrelevant under our federal and state constitutions that require “no religious test” for public office.
But Jordan, an attorney and former Southern Baptist turned atheist, has never tried to hide her secular humanist beliefs.
She is executive director of a support group called Recovering from Religion. She calls her family home “Freethought Farm.” She has called herself a “hippie, liberal, atheist activist.”
That wasn’t enough for fearful Republican leaders. Lt. Gov. Randy McNally called Jordan “dangerous“and “out of step on matters of values and faith.” U.S. Rep. Diane Black called her a “radical liberal .. who spits in the face of our Tennessee values.”
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Scott Golden said Jordan “flat out attacks and rejects the fundamental social, moral, and religious beliefs of millions of Tennesseans.”
Call it politics as usual if you want. Democrats do it, too. But don’t those tactics spit in the face of our fundamental beliefs in freedom of speech and religion, not to mention our values of common courtesy, decency and civility?
We should expect and demand better of our candidates, their political parties and donors. We can start by holding them accountable for namecalling attack ads they create, support and defend.
When those attack ads start showing up in your mailbox, don’t just throw them away. Analyze them carefully.
What are the sources of the disparaging photos or quotes or comments? Do they fairly represent the candidate’s character, record or views? Are they taken or twisted out of context? Who paid for the ad and why?
Take photos of the most egregious campaign ads and email them to me. I’ll try to find out.
If we expect more honesty and civility from our candidates, maybe we’ll get more honest and civil political discourse.