It is perhaps for the first time that a sermon given at the royal wedding will go down in history. Trump’s latest targets are low-income women and Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro continues his draconian reign.
The historical sermon at the royal wedding
The first African-American leader of the US Episcopal church, Michael Curry made history with his sermon at the royal wedding yesterday.
“It was one of three moments during the royal wedding when I felt moved. I had not expected to be moved. I had expected to remain full of cold indignation at the pomp and aristocratic indulgence of the day. The first of these moments was Ragland arriving at the chapel, a black woman, being assisted from her car by a representative of an institution that had partaken in her oppression and was now required to respect her. The other was the Kingdom Choir’s beautiful rendition of Stand By Me, in part because it followed the sermon,” writes Diana Evans for The Guardian.
Curry was in complete contrast to the solemn and stationary ecclesiastical address that preceded his. A descendant of slaves himself, he is an ardent campaigner for social justice, particularly issues of immigration and same-sex marriage. He preached in a full-throated uninhibited, theatrical and emotive style of the traditional African-American church.
“It was a sermon that will go down in history as a moment when the enduring seat of colonialism was brought before the Lord, and questioned in its own house. In the mention of slavery was the inherent accusation of white silver-spoon complicity, and that this union should not go forth without acknowledging it.”
Trump’s next move targets low income women
The Trump administration is as loyal to the pro-life evangelical Christians as they are, to him. And as a sign of this loyalty, his administration has decided to partially reinstate Reagan administration regulations regulations that restrict the use of federal family planning money by organizations, such as Planned Parenthood.
“At issue is $286 million in federal spending under the Title X program, which funds clinics for low-income women seeking contraception, prenatal care, disease screenings and the like.”
But, anything that makes life harder for Planned Parenthood and threatens its funding also makes life harder for its clients. These women tend to be lower-income people with few readily available alternatives. If they cannot get access to contraception, they will be more likely to have unwanted pregnancies. And unwanted pregnancies often end in abortion, editorialises The Washington Post.
Nicolás Maduro won’t go down easily
The Venezuelan President, Nicolás Maduro’s 19 year long reign over the citizens of his country has made life all but intolerable for them. His regime has brought with it massive food scarcity, an unprecedented economic downturn— the biggest in the history of Latin America— and naturally, large-scale emigration.
“Yet almost nobody thinks the president, who looks as well fed as ever, will lose the one-round election, which took place yesterday. At rallies, Maduro talks of getting 12m votes, even more than Hugo Chávez, the charismatic founder of Venezuela’s Bolivarian revolution, writes The Economist.
This is because the “independent” electoral commission is a mere puppet in the regime’s hands and prominent opposition leads have either been banned from politics or arrested. “Little is left of the hope and fury that animated protests against the regime last year, in which at least 163 people died.”
“Maduro has surprised people who wrote him off as a bumbling heir to the clever, charismatic Hugo Chávez. His vivisection of the opposition and ruthless exercise of power have put him in position to win re-election, despite a record of governance that would destroy most presidents. But he cannot defy for ever the laws of economics or the international coalition ranged against him. His victory on May 20th may be not only fake, but fleeting.”
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