President Biden, Jefferson’s Jesus, and Palestine
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A commentary some local papers won’t publish
Over the past ten years, almost every commentary I’ve submitted to a local newspaper has been published. But a December 2024 piece about leaders who avow Christian values, like President Biden, and their role in the deaths of children in Palestine has been declined by two local papers.
The first version of the commentary began with a personal story, recalling when my children where toddlers, before they knew how to swim, how I would sometimes have nightmares of their drowning. I would always jolt awake, though, before seeing my dead child in the water. It’s not a dream, I wrote, but these days I often go to bed seeing dead children, images from the murdering in Gaza.
The commentary was declined, the editor said, because it wasn’t specific enough to issues in Vermont, the state where I live. I revised and resubmitted it to that paper, but they didn’t publish it. I submitted to another, which didn’t acknowledge receipt. A third paper published it: The Values Our Leaders Profess.
The Values Our Leaders Profess
In 2020, Vermont voters supported Joe Biden for president at a higher rate than any other state: sixty-six percent. In 2024, sixty-four percent of Vermont voters cast ballots for Kamala Harris. As a Vermonter living among Vermonters who hugely support this administration, I wonder how we feel about how these leaders have used their power. In particular, I wonder what Vermonters think of the administration’s support for the perpetration of catastrophe upon the people of Palestine, especially the children.
There is no justification for the deaths of these children in domestic law or international law, but perhaps President Biden and Vice President Harris have other values that guide them. Both of them identify as Christian; some Christians have religious reasons for supporting the state of Israel. I wonder if Christianity and the teachings of Jesus influence how they make and evaluate their decisions.
They are almost out of office, but I’m asking this question now for three reasons. First, as NY Times columnists noted recently, this administration still has power to wield. Second, it is Christmas time, when many Christians consider the teachings of Jesus. Third, it’s always a good time to consider the values our leaders profess and whether they practice what they preach. A separation of church and state is important — but if a public leader invokes religious convictions, it is reasonable to consider those values when reflecting on their choices.
President Biden often refers to his faith. He has said it shapes everything that he does. I imagine that he knows more about the teachings of Jesus than I do. I was baptized as a baby, but I haven’t gone to church often. However, I’ve recently been reading The Jefferson Bible, Thomas Jefferson’s compilation of New Testament passages that convey the ethical teachings of Jesus. I see this text as a good resource for reflecting on the decisions of people who are both Christian and powerful leaders of our nation.
What teaching does Jesus offer on violence and punishment? Many of us know about his directives to forgive, but he also talks about punishment, including punishment for hypocrisy and not following commandments. Such punishments are generally not endured in this life, but are foretold as suffering to come “in the end of this world.” For instance, in one story, Jesus sends his followers out to evangelize, instructing them that if they are not welcomed in a home to “go your ways out into the streets” and continue teaching. He says consequences will come to that city some day, but he doesn’t tell his disciples to punish the non-believers or to destroy their homes or kill their children.
There is, however, at least one story about the punishment of people in this life for their wrongdoing. It is about a father who owns a vineyard. He has gone away and lent his vineyard to other “husbandmen” to manage it. He sends his son back to visit, and the husbandmen kill the son. In response, Jesus says that the owner of the vineyard “will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others.” This is the only teaching I can find about a man destroying other men for the harm they’ve done to him. But still, this story doesn’t say anything about killing the children of the wrongdoers.
In the teachings of Jesus, is it ever justified to kill the children of wrongdoers or an enemy? What should I do, for instance, if a man from a neighboring town comes to my home, kills my kids and then goes back to his town and hides among schoolchildren? Would it be justified for me to bomb the school and kill many children in order to punish the man hiding among them? I don’t find anything in the teachings of Jesus that would say yes.
Most Vermonters I interact with are not focused on the violence in Palestine, but are thinking about the next presidential administration and potential impacts here at home, including some big concerns that I share. But I have an account on X (Twitter) and various podcast feeds so that I can stay connected to stories and voices that most local and national news sources do not carry — so I see images of sick, mangled or dead Palestinian children every day. These images are hard to see, but not hard to find. I will see broken and bleeding children later this evening when I log on. I will see them tomorrow and the next day.
President Biden and Vice President Harris call out in churches about “hope, love, and truth” and the “rights of the poor and needy” — and yet they enable the slaughter of poor and needy children. As they visit churches this Christmastime, I hope they hear reminders that the baby whose birth they celebrate grew up to condemn the hypocrisy of the powerful. You “indeed appear beautiful,” he says to people he deems hypocrites, “but are within full of dead men’s bones, and of all uncleanness.”
And yes, we will soon be back under the leadership of President Trump. Many fewer Vermonters voted for him than for Biden and Harris. Yet it will be to all of us to hold him accountable to any worthy value he espouses — and to do the same for our other representatives in Washington: Congresswoman Balint and Senators Sanders and Welch. How Democrats and Progressives practice what they preach will help pave the way for whatever comes around in 2028, just as it did in November, 2024.
Contact: www.ElijahHawkes.com
