The Christian side of the cake is flawed.

By Richard Mellor
Afscme Local 444, retired

The only problem is that Mrs. Betty Bowers is wrong. The woman that climbed that pole and removed that flag is a Christian. She came down there citing Christian passages. She embraced all, no matter what religion race color. She attacked white supremacy where it originates, at the top. At the bottom she thanked those white skinned people that have defended their black brothers and sisters over time.

I am an atheist, I don't believe in their books or their explanation of the natural world and organic life. I don't pray because there's nothing there. However, I believe in and will fight alongside her for that right to be exercised freely by her without discrimination or coercion. And as far as I am concerned, if your praying gives you the strength to act, to take action against that which oppresses you and all oppressed peoples, what harm is that praying?

It got her up and down that pole. I wish I'd have been so fortunate to be the white dude chosen to help her at the bottom there, and there's no small number of whites that feel the same way. Believe me, the politicians and officials would not be supporting all this if the general mood in society did not reflect it in one way or another. They are phonies just like the faces behind Wal Mart and other corporations.

The huge struggles of the black population against the killings of black people as well as the disgusting economic crisis in their communities, has forced the state to make some minor alterations though it hasn’t changed the 1%’s overall goal, further attacks on all of us. There are movements throughout the country against the increasing invasion of the so-called free market and its government in our everyday lives through economic or political oppression, the strategists of the 1% are aware of this and are reacting to it.

The 1% will always play the race, gender, Xenophobic, homophobic or any other divisive card, but they have to be selective on place and time and level of it.

Most people want the same things in life, shelter, education, food, an atmosphere where we develop our full potential, freedom from violence. We are productive and gregarious creatures, we die without production. It is in our genes  this collective and cooperative struggle in our interaction with nature. Capitalism robs us of that. So we have to put some clean water in.

And in my workplace where I fought alongside other union activists for more control over our work lives, two of the strongest and committed activists were Christians. They fought for anyone no matter what their religion, color or even if they personally disagreed with their beliefs or lifestyle.

As in any religious group, there are some in the Christian side of the cake that fit the description that is the intent of the image, but there are millions that don't. And as the struggle against austerity heats up and the tendency to unite along class lines become more apparent, people will find in their religious beliefs the correct interpretations. It's not guaranteed, but the success is dependent on waging a conscious war against any ideology that threatens it.

So the section of Mrs. Betty Bowers’ cake on the left in purple is inaccurate at best and at worst just plain wrong. It needs more compartments in it.