This November: Part 6
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send you a password reset link.
Give me Liberty
Rodger Williamson
Again, picking up from where I left off last week, I continue with my thoughts regarding the candidates for governor of Alabama.
Our second Democratic candidate for governor of Alabama is Yolanda Rochelle Flowers. Ms. Flowers is from Birmingham, and she studied at the University of Tennessee.
Flowers has made her Christian faith and public prayer the centerpiece of her campaign, which includes quite a few Biblical quotes. Again, I support the unalienable right of every individual citizen to practice their religion, or faith, however they deem appropriate, regardless of whether in their home, their church, synagogue, mosque, (or other named house of their theology), or in their personal business, but when someone is running for public office, they need to be able to separate their spiritual beliefs from the temporal duties of a public servant.
I am a firm proponent of what has come to be referred to as the “establishment clause.” In 1802, Mr. Thomas Jefferson, the author of our Declaration of Independence and our third president of the United States, wrote in response to a letter from the Danbury Baptist Association in the state of Connecticut: “Believing with you that religion is a matter which lies solely between Man and his God, that he owes account to none other for his faith or his worship, that the legitimate powers of government reach actions only, and not opinions, I contemplate with sovereign reverence that act of the whole American people which declared that their legislature should make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof, thus building a wall of separation between Church and State.”
In Flowers’ obvious disdain for the guidance of arguably the most influential founder of our nation, Flowers actually wrote on social media, “…This reality I have is that my citizenship is not of this earth, but is in heaven and that changes the whole trajectory of my travels. But, while I’m traveling through this land called Alabama, I will fight, stand, speak, show forth HIS praises, and run the gubernatorial race with hope, courage, and equity. This blessed hope is fortified by knowing that with every passing day, I am/we are one day closer to Jesus’ return indeed.”
Flowers then went on to ask for prayer for the state and for her and other candidates running for governor, and she urged Alabamians to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
Flowers went on, showing that her interests are completely partisan, stating: “… this is year three of this virus, and 48% of Americans still are not convinced that they should get the vaccine; even Trump’s supporters booed him when he admitted he was vaccinated and how important it is to get vaccinated,” Flowers said. “Seeing how there are so many Americans who are against President Biden, one would think that Trump’s partisan clan would be all for getting vaccinated since he said he received his vaccination.”
While I do not know about you, I will publicly declare that Donald Trump does not speak for me and that Joseph Biden does not speak for me. They are two individuals who managed to win an election to high office. Their opinion is theirs alone. Their sole job is to simply preside over the business of the federal government, and neither of them have the authority to dictate to anyone how they should live their personal lives.
Another public statement by Flowers included, “So, Jesus, it’s up to you to do what you do best!” … “Without you we won’t be able to build back better our country. There are so many people kicking against the pricks, and (Senator) Joe Manchin (D-WV) is one of them.”
On the flip side of Flowers’ partisan political opinion, and her inseparable religious opinion, Flowers has actually made a few statements with which I can agree:
Flowers once said that she had heard candidates discuss SEL (Social Emotional Learning) and Common Core during their campaigns but said, “All children do not learn the same” and she hopes schools can focus on the needs of each child appropriately.
Flowers also said that she opposed gambling, but noted she was able to attend college in Tennessee because of the Hope Scholarship there. She expressed support for a lottery and said that “we already have gambling in Alabama,” so we should open gambling to the free market and let the public vote on the issue.
I leave it to the people of Alabama to vote their conscience in the upcoming primaries, but as for me, Yolanda Rochelle Flowers gets a “no.”
Again, because of the limitations of space available for a weekly opinion column, I must stop here, and I will continue to sort through the Democratic Party candidates for the position of governor of Alabama in next week’s “Coosa County News.”
