Corruption and religious cover-up is bipartisan

Michigan Rep. John Conyers’ wife, Monica, a member of the Detroit City Council who is close to a federal corruption indictment, has this whitewash to say:

“If you aren't praying for me, then you are just adding to the problem. First and foremost, I am a child of God,” Conyers said. “All these things going on right now, I believe in my heart, God will deliver me from.”

What, gOd will magically becloud the minds of federal jurors? Good luck with that one.

Oh, and given the ethical slap on the hand the hubby got from the House Ethics Committee two years ago, this must run in the family.

And, schadenfreude alert: This is what African-Americans of this mindset (edited) get for being the most religious sector of America.

Update, June 26: Less than two weeks after swearing and swearing and swearing she would not plead out to federal criminal charges, City Councilwoman Conyers has pled guilty to conspiracy to commit bribery.

Whose your god now, Monica?

Update No. 2, June 29: A poster, via Carnival of the Godless, I assume, says my schadenfreude comments are racist.

I reject that.

I may, or may not be overgeneralizing too much, but, unlike Charles Murray’s claims about IQ or something, fact is that, by racial groups, African-Americans are by percentage the nation’s most religious people, the most regular church-goers, etc.

And, the holiness tradition, complete with miracles for today’s world, etc. is stronger within African-American Christianity than among other ethnic groups. To put it directly, COGIC is a bigger part of black Christianity than Foursquare is of white Christianity. (John Ensign aside.)

Well, Monica Conyers didn’t get her miracle; she didn’t get her deliverance. And, all too many African-Americans in these churches don’t. Especially among poorer elements of black society.

Now, it’s arguable that my schadenfreude might be harsh, or it might be too generalizing. I’ll buy that it’s too generalizing, and, as one can see, I’ve edited it.

But, that’s as far as we go.

Instead of another antitheist wanting to cyber-duke it with me, he ought to recognize that African-American Christians, on average, are likely to be the most deluded of any ethnic group’s believers. Including those like Monica Conyers educated enough to know better.

That then said, as for “deliverance,” given that, IMO, certain strands of black Christianity can be exploitive of the mindset of their members, deliverance is needed. But not the deliverance preached from these pulpits. Rather, deliverance from that “deliverance.”

Update 3, also June 29:This, in turn, leads me to say that, like other liberals of similar mindset, while I still favor some sort of affirmative action, I am quite ready for future affirmative action to be moved beyond a specifically race-based focus to looking at socio-economic class.

That’s not directly related to race or ethnicity and religious life, but it is reasonably tangential to the idea of whether its any worse to feel schadenfreude based on a racial group’s strong religiosity or a socioeconomic group’s strong religiosity.