POLITICAL SALSA Y MÁS with SALOMON BALDENEGRO 04.17.25 FAKE VS. TRUE RIGHTEOUSNESS

Fake vs. true righteousness…

Let us preach righteousness, and practice it.  Brigham Young, American religious leader and politician.

Last month, in this space, I commented on the hypocrisy of Donald Trump and his cultists and apologists, including, to its everlasting shame, the Republican Party. Trump says he plans to establish a White House Faith Office, led by associates of the New Apostolic Reformation. These are people who subscribe to Christian nationalism, whose ideology is anchored by the notion that the U. S. should declare itself to be a Christian nation and that only Christians are real Americans. This would exclude Jews and members of other faiths and non-believers.

There are racial aspects to Christian nationalism, viz.: Mexican Americans and Latinos tend to be very religious people. But Trump and his cultists and apologists consider Mexicans and Latinos to be part of the “Others” whom they hate and want to get rid of and/or marginalize. Ditto, re: Blacks, who are also religious people.

Actions count more than words. Donald Trump and his (non-elected) co-president Elan Musk – with the full backing of the Trump cultists and apologists and the Republican Party – are taking actions that:

* are causing thousands of deaths by depriving food and life-saving medicine to starving and sick people in Africa and elsewhere …

* are defunding Veteran Affairs and the Center for Disease Control, which experts predict will result in thousands of preventable deaths …

* depriving hungry American children free or reduced-fee lunches …

Where is the Christianity in that? Jesus Christ was about feeding hungry people, not starving them! (See, for example, Matthew 14:14-21; Mark 6:30-44; Luke 9:10-17; John 6:5-14) …

And Jesus Christ was about healing people, not killing them! (See, for example, Matthew 19:2) …

And Jesus Christ mandated that we take care of the children (See, for example, Luke 9:47-48 … also Luke 18:15-17; Mark 9:36-37; Mark 10:13-16; Matthew 18:2-5; Matthew 18:10; Matthew 18:14; Matthew 19:13-14)

NOTE: Although I discuss Catholics and Christians herein, the fact is that Americans of other denominations (Mormons, Presbyterians, Methodists, Baptists, etc.) and other faiths (Jews, Buddhists, Muslims, etc.) are doing God’s work by helping people rather than hurting them. Even people who are not Christian, or even religious, can and do subscribe to and practice the Christian principles cited herein.

Contrast the actions of Trump and his minions with the actions of true Christians, viz.:

The Southern Christian Leadership Conference

The Civil Rights Movement in the U.S., led by Baptist minister Martin Luther King Jr., was based on Christian principles and operated out of the Black churches of various denominations. King and other ministers organized the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), which set out to move the national conscience and push the federal government to support civil rights initiatives.

One of the SCLC’s many actions was the 1968 Poor People’s March on Washington, D.C., under the leadership of Baptist minister Ralph Abernathy. In May of 1968 – one month after the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. – 3,000 poor people converged on Washington, D.C. and set up a camp – known as “Resurrection City” – on the National Mall, which existed for six weeks. Its purpose was to bring the issue of economic justice to the country’s and the law makers’ attention.

The Poor People’s March was a multi-racial, multi-ethnic event. On March 14, 1968, delegates from all over the country attended a “Minority Group Conference” to help plan and lend their support to the Poor People’s March. The Chicano Movement was represented at this conference by Reies López Tijerina, José Angel Gutiérrez, Elizabeth “Betita” Martínez, Rodolfo “Corky” Gonzales, and Bert Corona. López Tijerina and “Betita” Martínez led a New Mexico delegation, and “Corky” Gonzales led a Colorado delegation, to “Resurrection City.”

César Chávez

César Chávez organized farmworkers—mostly Mexicans and Filipinos—and achieved historic labor contracts with the big growers of California’s San Joaquin Valley. But his influence went way beyond California and farmworkers. Chávez inspired and encouraged the Chicano Movement’s civil rights struggles throughout the Southwest and Midwest

A devout Catholic, Chávez was driven by a deep religiosity and spirituality to do good for others. He often pointed out that the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew: 5-7) summarized what true Christians must do: clothe the naked, feed the hungry and give water to the thirsty. Chávez also practiced what Christ taught: when you give to the needy, don’t announce it to the world, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do that they may be praised by others … (Matthew 6:2)

Católicos Por La Raza

During the halcyon days of the Chicano Movement, the organization Católicos Por La Raza (Catholics For The People, CPLR), fought to get the Catholic Church to be more responsive to the Chicano community. CPLR maintained that the Catholic Church should invest a good chunk of its wealth in the Chicano community, a very large and loyal Catholic Church constituency. Like the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Católicos Por La Raza believed that the social conditions of people cannot be disassociated from their religious life.

First organized in Southern California, CPLR quickly spread to other parts of the southwest and the country. [I helped organize a CPLR chapter in my hometown, Tucson, AZ.]

CPLR pointed out that in the U.S. Catholic Church there was not a single Chicano Bishop and that there were very few Chicano priests in proportion to the great number of Chicano-dominant parishes. CPLR also contended that because the Catholic Church was very wealthy and encompassed large political constituencies such as Mexican Americans/Chicanos, it was politically very powerful but did not use that power in behalf of the Chicano community.

A couple of examples of CPLR actions:

* San Diego: On November 30, 1969, in Descanso, California (just outside of San Diego), under the auspices of CPLR, 150 Chicano/a activists from all over the Southwest went to Descanso to demand that the Catholic Church donate Camp Oliver, a rarely‑used Catholic retreat center, to the Chicano community to establish a Centro Cultural de La Raza. The activists did not “request” the camp, they simply took it over. [A contingent from the Centro Chicano in Tucson, including myself, participated in this action.]

Taking over that retreat center was more symbolic than practical. The retreat center is far removed from San Diego, where the majority of Chicanos in that area reside. Thus, the Chicano community would not be able to readily avail itself of the Centro (although CPLR was serious about converting the Retreat Center to a Raza Cultural Center). The camp “liberation” provided a platform from which to issue other demands, and to make the Church aware that no longer would it be exempt from challenge by the movement.

* Los Angeles: In Los Angeles, after several fruitless meetings with Cardinal McIntyre, CPLR decided to take action. The rallying issue was the erection of a multi‑million‑dollar Cathedral in a well‑to‑do Anglo section of the city. To build such an expensive church in the white, rich section of Los Angeles while in the barrios of East Los Angeles Chicano children went hungry to school was, to CPLR, inexcusable.

So, on Christmas Eve, 1969, approximately 250 Chicano activists demonstrated and tried to go to Mass at this extravagant symbol of hypocrisy. The activists were greeted at the Church by policemen in full riot gear, who proceeded to beat and crack heads in the aisles and vestibule of the Church.

The activists did not intend to take over the church. The action was used as a platform to serve notice on the Church and to issue demands.

Cardinal McIntyre resigned shortly after the CPLR action at the cathedral.

P.A.D.R.E.S.

In 1970 Chicano priests organized themselves into P.A.D.R.E.S. (Padres Asociados para los Derechos Religiosos, Educacionales, y Sociales …Priests United for the development of Religious, Educational, and Social Rights). P.A.D.R.E.S. was very supportive of the Chicano Movement and was activist‑oriented.

P.A.D.R.E.S. held its first annual convention in Tucson, Arizona, in the early 1970s and approved several demands to present later that year to the North American Bishops at their national meeting.

The demands of P.A.D.R.E.S. were very much attuned to CPLR’s demands discussed above. One resolution passed at the convention endorsed the Chicano Youth Movement and its work to improve the condition of La Raza. The convention also expressed its willingness to work with the Chicano Movement youth groups.

At the 1971 national conference in Los Angeles, (Tucson-based) Fr. Alberto Carrillo delivered an address that articulated a social theory of discrimination within the Church. It analyzed the Church within the framework of majority-minority relations and provided PADRES with an intellectual basis for their challenge to the Church and held the Church to the same standards as secular organizations in regards to issues of social and political inclusion.

At the conference, PADRES members identified three goals: The eradication of lack of education, an increase in the religious consciousness, and improvement of the social conditions of Mexican Americans.

As a result of the pressure brought on by the above groups and others, on May 5, 1970, Patrick Flores was named Archbishop of the San Antonio (Texas) Diocese, starting a trend of increasing the number of Mexican American / Chicano / Latino bishops and recruiting Mexican American / Chicano priests and assigning them to Chicano-dominant parishes.

Sanctuary Movement” of the early 1980s

Faith communities launched the modern incarnation of the concept of sanctuary in Tucson in 1982. Symbolically, this movement reflected and mimicked the ancient practice of churches providing shelter to people who were being persecuted or in danger of being unjustly prosecuted.

At the time, violence and civil war, and death squads forced waves of people to flee north from Central American countries. Appalled that the U.S. government turned away those migrants once they reached the border rather than take them in and give them asylum, religious leaders – clergy and laypeople – decided to intervene.

John Fife, pastor of Tucson’s Southside Presbyterian Church, was the first to challenge federal laws in favor of what to him was a moral obligation: to offer shelter to the vulnerable. Southside Presbyterian was the first church in the country to declare itself a sanctuary. Fife and other faith leaders—including Catholic Redemptorist priest Ricardo Elford, Quaker Jim Corbett, and Rabbi Joseph Weizenbaum —established a network – known as the “Sanctuary Movement” – to help refugees. [Rabbi Weizenbaum traveled throughout the country, establishing a network of Jewish Sanctuary Movement supporters.]

They took the concept of “taking sanctuary” literally. Refugees, including entire families, were given shelter in the physical sanctuary of the church.

The sanctuary tradition prevented the U.S. government from invading the church and arresting the refugees, but in 1985 Fife and 10 others were indicted and tried, on a total of 71 counts, ranging from harboring “illegal aliens” to conspiracy. [Eight were convicted and received probation.] These charges had a stimulating rather than a chilling effect. Over 200 religious orders (Christian and non-Christian) and congregations nationwide, and more than 600 religious organizations, including the National Federation of Priests’ Councils (representing more than 25,000 Catholic priests), signed onto the movement.

The Catholic Worker Movement

The Catholic Worker Movement, founded by Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin in 1933, is active in over 200 communities. Its aim is to practice the teachings of Jesus Christ, to serve and advocate in behalf of those on the margins of society, i.e., those Christ referred to as “the least of my brethren.” In urban communities, a staple of the movement is the establishment of houses of hospitality for the immediate relief of those who are in need.

Tucson’s Catholic Worker House

The Casa María Catholic Worker House, located in South Tucson, a one-square-mile city within the city of Tucson, Arizona, was founded in 1981 as an independent ministry operating under the auspices of the Tucson Roman Catholic Diocese. Demographically, South Tucson is overwhelmingly Mexican American (72%), and per the 2020 census, 66% of South Tucson households are renters and 35% of the population lives below the federal poverty line.

Casa María is committed to nonviolence, voluntary poverty, prayer, and hospitality for the homeless, exiled, hungry, and forsaken. Its mission is to manifest, through action, the love and compassion of Jesus Christ and to implement his teachings and the social doctrine of the church.

Via its “Soup Kitchen,” Casa María serves a bag lunch to as many as 500 people every day. In addition, Casa María distributes approximately 80 family food bags daily to local families in need.

But it’s more than food

Casa María goes beyond providing free lunches and family food bags. It is a voice, a fierce advocate, for the poor, for those ignored by the powers-that-be. Some examples:

* In 2013, the City of Tucson was contemplating raising bus fares and eliminating some bus routes. Mobilizing hundreds of people to attend City Council meetings, press conferences, and other events, Casa María workers waged a successful campaign to convince the City Council to not implement the proposed changes.

* Casa María lobbies for decent affordable housing in South Tucson and fights gentrification whereby outside investors and real-estate speculators buy up and renovate local properties, driving up home prices as well as rents. This prices out vulnerable residents and leaves many homeless. To combat this, Casa María formed the Barrios Unidos Land Trust and embarked on a strategic plan to purchase residential properties, removing them from the speculative real estate market.

Casa María also fights gentrification by working with the “Mi Barrio No Se Vende” (My barrio is not for sale) campaign of the Barrio Neighborhood Coalition. This campaign is aimed at “flippers,” outsiders who get homeowners to sell their properties and then renovate them and sell them at much higher prices to gentrifiers. Casa María got people throughout South Tucson to put up “Mi Casa No Se Vende” (My house is not for sale) signs in their front yards.

Indeed, the true Christians described above could school the Trump cultists as to what constitutes Christian behavior. c/s

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Copyright 2025 by Salomon Baldenegro. Photo of Casa Maria and PADRES book cover used under Fair Use proviso of the copyright law. Photo of Richard Cruz and Cesar Chavez copyright by Barrio Dog Productions, Inc.  All other images are in the public domain.  To contact Sal write: salomonrb@msn.com