Georgia

Walker, Warnock offer clashing religious messages in Georgia

Published

2 years ago

November 7, 2022

Walker, Warnock offer clashing religious messages in Georgia

One candidate in Georgia’s Senate contest warns that “non secular warfare” has entangled America and provides himself to voters as a “warrior for God.” Nevertheless it is not the ordained Baptist minister who leads the church the place Martin Luther King Jr. as soon as preached.

It is Republican Herschel Walker, the sports activities icon who brazenly questions the spiritual practices of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who calls himself “a pastor within the Senate” and declares voting the civil equal of prayer.

Each males function religion as a part of their public identities in a state the place faith has at all times been a dominant cultural affect. However they do it in distinct methods, jousting in ethical phrases on issues from abortion, race and legal justice to one another’s private lives and conduct.

Their approaches supply a putting distinction between political opponents who had been raised within the Black church within the Deep South within the wake of the civil rights motion.

“It is two utterly completely different visions of the world and what our greatest issues truly are,” mentioned the Rev. Ray Waters, a white evangelical pastor in metro Atlanta who backs Warnock in Tuesday’s election.

How spiritual voters align may assist resolve what polls recommend is a slender race that can assist settle which social gathering controls the Senate the subsequent two years. In response to Pew Analysis, about 2 out of three adults in Georgia contemplate themselves “extremely spiritual.”

Warnock, 53, preaches a type of social justice Christianity that echoes King, the slain civil rights chief who additionally led Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta.

The senator embraces the Black church’s roots in chattel slavery and Jim Crow segregation. From the pulpit, he acknowledges institutional racism and requires collective authorities motion that addresses inequities and different social ills. He usually notes his arrests as a citizen protester advocating for medical health insurance growth in the identical Capitol the place he now works as a senator.

“I rise up for well being care as a result of it is a human proper,” Warnock mentioned. “Dr. King mentioned that of all of the injustices, well being care inequality is essentially the most surprising and essentially the most inhumane.”

Walker talks, too, of society’s shortcomings, however the 60-year-old factors to the growth of LGBTQ rights, renewed concentrate on racism and “weak” politicians, who, he says, “do not love this nation.” He has known as for a nationwide ban on abortions however has confronted accusations from two former girlfriends who mentioned he pressured them into terminating pregnancies and paid for his or her procedures. He has mentioned the claims are lies.

It is a culturally conservative pitch tied to particular person morals relatively than collective duty and successfully holds that the USA is a Christian nation.

That aligns Walker with the largely white evangelical motion that has formed the trendy Republican Celebration.

These approaches, various in substance and magnificence, are traced by the 2 rivals’ biographies.

Warnock, the son of Pentecostal ministers, pursued the same academic path as King. Each attended Morehouse School, a traditionally Black campus in Atlanta. Warnock adopted that with Union Theological Seminary in New York, a middle of progressive Christian theology. Now with greater than a decade in one of many nation’s most well-known pulpits, he typically quotes Scripture at size and peppers his arguments with Latin references.

“I imagine a vote is a type of prayer for the world we need … and that democracy is the political enactment of the non secular thought that every of us was created, because the scriptures inform us, within the ‘Imago Dei’ — the picture of God,” Warnock informed a gaggle of Jewish supporters final month.

On the identical occasion, throughout observances of the Jewish New Yr, Warnock famous a passage usually used as a part of Rosh Hashanah fasting. “Is that this the quick that the Lord is on the lookout for,” he mentioned, “that you’d free the chains of injustice and you’ll set the oppressed free, that you’d feed the hungry, dress the bare, welcome the stranger.” Providing the quotation — Isaiah 58:6 — he known as it “a favourite of mine.”

Walker is also a Pentecostal pastor’s son and now attends nondenominational Bible church buildings. A star highschool athlete in rural Georgia, his soccer prowess took him in 1980 to the College of Georgia, a secular public campus that was then overwhelmingly white. Walker by no means graduated, although he claims in any other case.

He talks usually of Jesus, usually as a determine of “redemption” relatively than a information for public coverage.

“Let me acknowledge my Lord and savior Jesus Christ, as a result of it is mentioned if you happen to do not acknowledge him, he will not acknowledge you,” Walker mentioned at his lone debate with Warnock. “Once I come knocking, I need him to let me in.”

Many Walker occasions open with prayers, some led by different Black conservative evangelicals. But Walker’s scriptural and theological references are scattershot, normally nonspecific allusions as a part of broadsides towards Warnock and “wokeness.”

On transgender rights, Walker has mentioned: “I can not imagine we’re discussing what’s a girl. That is written within the Bible. … We bought to not allow them to idiot us with all these lies.”

At a “Ladies for Herschel” occasion in August, Walker recommended Warnock is anti-American, and he alluded to the biblical story of the Hebrew God expelling dissident angels from heaven. “It is time for us to kick these individuals who do not like America, kick ’em out of workplace,” he mentioned, concluding to his largely white viewers: “Do not let anybody let you know you are racist.”

On abortion, he mentioned on to Warnock on the controversy stage: “As an alternative of aborting these infants, why are you not baptizing these infants?”

It is a compelling argument for voters similar to Wylene Hayes, a 76-year-old retired schoolteacher in Cumming. “You’ll be able to simply inform Herschel is a person of robust religion, and simply humble,” she mentioned. “I haven’t got something towards Sen. Warnock, however I do query how he generally is a pastor and assist abortion.”

Warnock counters that he helps abortion entry as a result of “even God provides us a alternative,” whereas Walker’s place would grant “to politicians extra energy than God has.”

Waters mentioned Walker’s collective argument is focused squarely at white suburban Christians like these he led for many years earlier than transferring nearer to the Atlanta metropolis heart, the place he noticed extra issues to repair and other people to assist. “It appears to me the central points in wokeness are … compassionate habits which are quite a lot of what Jesus mentioned to do,” Waters mentioned.

Warnock largely sidesteps Walker’s assaults. He has just lately begun framing Walker as “not match” for the Senate due to Walker’s “lies” about his enterprise file and allegations of violence towards his ex-wife. The closest Warnock involves questioning Walker’s religion is to say redemption requires that an individual “confess … and be sincere about the issue.”

“I’ll let him converse for himself,” Warnock mentioned. “I’m engaged within the work I have been doing my complete life.”

The Rev. Charles Goodman, an Augusta pastor and buddy of Warnock, mentioned it isn’t new for outspoken Black pastors, particularly these with a extra liberal theology, to be tarred as harmful and anti-American.

“They known as Dr. King a ‘communist,’ and now it is ‘radical’ and ‘socialist,’” Goodman mentioned. “Dr. Warnock loves this nation. There’ll at all times be tensions between our aspirational views of the nation versus our wrestle attempting to get to that place. He is a really hopeful minister, and he is at all times going to talk reality to energy and dwell in that stress.”

Source link

Click to comment

Georgia

Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores

Published

3 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Jimmy Carter Christmas ornament now available at Georgia stores

ATLANTA – The White House is honoring former President Jimmy Carter this Christmas with his own ornament, and Georgians can get their own for their tree.

The ornament is in the shape of an anchor, a symbol of hope that also represents Carter’s service in the U.S. Navy.

It also features historic moments from Carter’s life and presidency and comes with a keepsake box and illustrated booklet on Carter’s presidency.

“It is a great honor to offer the Official 2024 White House Christmas Ornament at Home Depot stores for the first time in Georgia,” said Stewart McLaurin, president of the White House Historical Association. “This year we pay tribute to President Jimmy Carter’s remarkable life and enduring legacy as he continues to be a fixture in our country’s ongoing history.”

The White House Historical Association, Jimmy Carter Presidential Library and Museum/NARA)

Shoppers can find the ornament at around 60 Home Depot stores across Georgia and in the Washington, D.C. area.

You can also buy the ornament on The Home Depot’s website.

Source link

Georgia

Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder

Published

11 hours ago

November 22, 2024

Press Room

Georgia Senate study panel considers restrictions on trans women’s college sports participation • Georgia Recorder

A Georgia Senate study committee that bills itself as tasked with protecting women’s sports met Thursday for the last time before it is set to release recommendations before next year’s legislative session, and transgender Georgians are bracing themselves.

At Thursday’s hearing, transgender women and allies argued that vanishingly few transgender women participate in school sports, and those who do are largely not at the top of the competitive heap. Many said the national focus is making life difficult.

“It’s so hard to face this kind of opposition,” said Aaron Baker, a transgender woman and activist. “It’s so hard to be at a hearing like this and hear the language. It’s so hard for you to hear people describe me as a biological man because it’s not

Aaron Baker. Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

true. I am hormonally female, I’m phenotypically female, I’m psychologically female, and that is a gross oversimplification of who I am and my identity, and it hurts.”

Committee Chair Greg Dolezal, a Cumming Republican, told members he would spend the next week or so reviewing testimony from the committee’s three hearings and plans to announce the date for presenting recommendations shortly after. Study committee recommendations could take the form of proposed legislation in time for the 2025 General Assembly, which is set to begin Jan. 13.

Dolezal indicated he is interested in considering regulations for college sports. A previous hearing featured testimony from cisgender women college swimmers who said they were placed at an unfair disadvantage when they had to compete against a transgender woman at a competition at Georgia Tech.

“A few years ago, I believe it was three years ago, the General Assembly passed a bill essentially prescribing the control to make decisions around transgender participation in sports to the Georgia High School Association, they passed a resolution that stated that participation in sports, high school sports, in the state of Georgia was based on the sex prescribed on a birth certificate. The law is currently silent on the collegiate competition level. So right now, we just have a law as it relates to high school associations,” he said.

Other Republicans on the committee suggested they would like to see legislation in K-12 schools, especially surrounding restrooms and locker rooms.

“As a father of two young daughters, we’ve got to protect women,” said Gwinnett Republican Sen. Clint Dixon. “We’ve got to protect their sports, we’ve got to protect them in changing rooms from what we heard from many of those athletes who testified, four or five of them who testified in the first committee hearing, having to change, which took 20, 30 minutes at a time, in front of a transgender female, but still had the genitalia of a male, which was horrific for them to witness that, some of them ended up changing in a storage closet, some of them waited until that athlete left the room, having to miss some of their competition, and that’s just at the college level, we’re not even talking about minors in K-12.”

Some activists indicated that they would oppose any kind of restriction on transgender participation, while speakers like Lambda Legal attorney Sasha Buchert urged the lawmakers to take a nuanced approach over a blanket ban, which could mean a committee including medical experts to consider safety or competitive concerns on a case-by-case basis. Others said such decisions should be left to athletic associations and leagues rather than politicians or political appointees.

Delfina Booth Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder

“Sports are already managed by expert organizations like the NCAA, the International Olympics Committee, and professional leagues,” said Delfina Booth, a former Georgia Tech student and high school athlete who said she has lost transgender friends to police violence and suicide.

“These governing bodies have developed policies over decades that analyze fairness based on unique needs of each sport,” she added. “Contact sports have different rules than non-contact sports, children’s sports focus more on teamwork and development than adult sports, et cetera. These nuances cannot be addressed through broad government legislation. Additionally, decisions about athletic ability involve multiple complex factors, including the signs of physical development and the specific demands of each sport. These aren’t matters that lend themselves directly or easily to blanket rules.”

YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.

Source link

Georgia

NC State football vs Georgia Tech score: Live updates, highlights from ACC game

Published

21 hours ago

November 21, 2024

Press Room

NC State football vs Georgia Tech score: Live updates, highlights from ACC game

The N.C. State Wolfpack and the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets play in primetime on Thursday (7:30 p.m., ESPN) at Bobby Dodd Stadium in Week 13 of the college football season.

Coming off an idle week, the Wolfpack (5-5, 2-4 ACC) needs to win one of its final two games to become bowl eligible for the fifth straight season. But it won’t be an easy task taking on the Yellow Jackets (6-4, 4-3) in Atlanta, where N.C. State has lost 11 of 15 games in the series.

The Wolfpack hasn’t won at Georgia Tech since 2010.

NC State vs GT preview, prediction

Keep this page refreshed and bookmarked for live updates for N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech.

NC State vs Georgia Tech score

Live scoreboard:

What channel is NC State vs Georgia Tech today?

TV Channel: ESPN

Livestream: Fubo (free trial), ESPN+

Watch NCSU vs. GT on Fubo

N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech will be broadcast nationally on ESPN in Week 13 of the 2024 college football season. Matt Barrie and Dan Mullen will call the game from the booth at Bobby Dodd Stadium, with Harry Lyles Jr. reporting from the sidelines. Streaming options for the game include FUBO, which offers a free trial to new subscribers. Matt Chazanow, Johnny Evans and Tony Haynes will have the radio call on the Wolfpack Sports Network.

NC State vs Georgia Tech start time

Date: Thursday, Nov. 21

Start time: 7:30 p.m.

Buy NCSU vs GT tickets here

The N.C. State vs. Georgia Tech game starts at 7:30 p.m. from Bobby Dodd Stadium in Atlanta, Georgia.

NC State vs Georgia Tech history

Series record: Georgia Tech 20-11

NC State’s last win: 2020 (23-13)

Georgia Tech’s last win: 2019 (28-26)

NC State vs Georgia Tech prediction

Georgia Tech 30, N.C. State 23: The Yellow Jackets will remain undefeated at home behind a big effort from quarterback Haynes King. The Wolfpack will head to Chapel Hill for the regular-season finale, needing a win to play in the postseason.

NC State vs Georgia Tech spread, betting odds

Game lines and odds from BetMGM will be posted as they become available.

Spread: Georgia Tech is an 8.5-point favorite

Over/under: 52.5 points

Moneyline: N.C. State (+270), Georgia Tech (-350)

NC State vs Georgia Tech weather

Temperatures for kickoff will be around 44 degrees under clear skies in Atlanta, Georgia. Winds will be between 8-16 mph, with gusts up to 38 mph.

NC State vs Georgia Tech injury updates

This section will updated in the pregame.

NC State schedule 2024

Aug. 29: Western Carolina (W, 38-21)
Sept. 7: Tennessee (L, 51-10)
Sept. 14: Louisiana Tech (W, 30-20)
Sept. 21: at Clemson (L, 59-35)
Sept. 28: Northern Illinois (W, 24-17)
Oct. 5: Wake Forest (L, 34-30)
Oct. 12: Syracuse (L, 24-17)
Oct. 19: at Cal (W, 24-23)
Oct. 26: OPEN
Nov. 2: Stanford (W, 59-28)
Nov. 9: Duke (L, 29-19)
Nov. 16: OPEN
Nov. 21: at Georgia Tech (Thursday)
Nov. 30: at UNC

Georgia Tech schedule 2024

Aug. 24: Florida State (W, 24-21)
Aug. 31: Georgia State (W, 35-12)
Sept. 7: at Syracuse (L, 31-28)
Sept. 14: VMI (W, 59-7)
Sept. 21: at Louisville (L, 31-19)
Sept. 28: OFF
Oct. 5: Duke (W, 24-14)
Oct. 12: at UNC (W, 41-34)
Oct. 19: Notre Dame (L, 31-13)
Oct. 26: at Virginia Tech (L, 21-6)
Nov. 2: OFF
Nov. 9: Miami (W, 28-23)
Nov. 16: OFF
Nov. 21: NC State (Thursday)
Nov. 29: at Georgia

Rodd Baxley covers Duke, North Carolina and N.C. State for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding those teams? Send them to rbaxley@fayobserver.com.

We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.

Source link