It’s crazy uncle time. You know, the one who keeps showing up every year for Thanksgiving dinner. Uninvited. He’s that exhausting individual who knows exactly how to offend your sensibilities. How to assault your life and question your values. Only this year he showed up early.
Here is crazy uncle’s rap sheet:
- He chases underage women.
- He believes that the age of consent for sexual intercourse should be ten years old…but out of his twisted sense of decency, says ten years should be the limit, even if a younger child consents.
- He’s been married seriatim to a 12-year-old, a 15-year-old, and a 14-year-old.
- [Fun Fact: The Commonwealth of Virginia made history in April 2024 becoming the first southern state to ban child marriage. Not a typo. This past April. In 2024.]
- He’s thinks neither Blacks nor people of color should be allowed to testify in court against white people.
- He wants all marriages between people of color and white people declared null and void.
Crazy uncle’s name? William Claude Jones.
And no, he won’t be coming to your dinner table anytime soon. He died in 1884, twenty years after the 1st Arizona Territorial Legislative Assembly passed the draconian anti-abortion law in 1864—the very same zombie law that was reinstated by the Supreme Court of the state of Arizona on April 9, 2024. You read that correctly.
This year.
Every person who shall administer or cause to be administered or taken, any medicinal substances, or shall use or cause to be used any instruments whatever, with the intention to procure the miscarriage of any woman then being with child, and shall be thereof duly convicted, shall be punished by imprisonment in the Territorial prison for a term not less than two years nor more than five years. - Howell’s Code Sec. 45 [Arizona's first laws, 1864]
In 1864, William Claude Jones was speaker of the Arizona House. Arizona was not even a state. It was a territory. Statehood would come nearly 50 years later in 1912. History records that the point of the 1864 law was less about concern for the unborn and more about reigning in the lawless behavior of rapscallions, scoundrels, and ne’er-do-wells. Seems they had a knack for messing with each other and each other’s possessions [i.e. wives] with poison.
Faint comfort.
In that context, there was a whole slew of laws passed to keep the peace. There were laws against cutting out tongues or eyes, slitting noses, or lips, or “rendering useless” someone’s arm or leg. The Civil War was still being fought at the time. It brought out the worst in men. Crazy uncle laws were passed to keep these men in line. They were written to prevent these men from inflicting damages on others—including pregnant women—rather than to police women’s reproductive care.
Whether you ascribe to originalism or textualism, the intent of the 1864 anti-abortion law, with all its misogyny and racial prejudice, seemed to hold no sway with the 2024 Supreme Court of Arizona. Subsequently, the Arizona legislature has turned the issue into a political expedient, the results of which are yet to be determined.
Imagine that.
Women’s lives relegated to who best benefits from a harsh ban or a harsher ban. All this thanks to a man named William Claude Jones.
In the Shadow of 1864
On its face, Arizona’s reinstatement of an 1864 zombie law is a testament to the U.S. Supreme Court’s questionably sage counsel that decisions about abortion be returned to the states after overturning Roe v. Wade.
That is illusory.
Overturning Roe was not the end of the anti-abortion movement’s campaign against women’s rights, freedoms, and liberties. They may be able to keep turning to the Supreme Court to further roll back reproductive rights. That’s because the issues flowing from Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization affecting women’s health including abortion, IVF, contraception, when life begins, and whether emergency care can be provided, will be decided in whatever venue where so-called pro-life parties can prevail. Be it the Supreme Court. The Executive Branch. The Legislative Branch. The Judicial Branch. On the federal level. At state levels. In legislatures. In state Constitutional amendments. And when all else fails, there’s always the 1873 Comstock Act. It is not inconceivable that the Supreme Court could hold that the Comstock Act can indeed be used to ban abortions nationwide. All it would take is a sympathetic administration with a compliant Department of Justice to initiate prosecutions against drug companies, providers, or even women who mail or receive abortion-related items.
What about Viagra?
Ironically, men might also be entangled by the Comstock Act whether by overlooking or ignoring the impact of Comstock on their own lives. What happens to the many forms of erectile dysfunction medications, mail-order “girlfriends,” and various forms of pornography that would also be proscribed? Unless, of course, a compliant Department of Justice is willing to look the other way.
Women’s rights, bodily autonomy, and agency are all part of a consummate game of three-dimensional chess. Each side is only as good as its next move. Each side intends to win.
Battle lines have been drawn. Stakeholders have carved out their positions.
Project 2025’s comprehensive policy guide, “Mandate for Leadership; The Conservative Promise” calls for a complete overhaul of the country with biblical overtones beginning on day one of the next conservative administration. The premise:
The Left has ignored the voice of everyday Americans leading to crippling inflation, biological males dominating women’s sports, rampant violence, and a crisis in education not seen in decades. Our country is all but unrecognizable.
This is why the conservative movement is coming together to prepare for the next conservative administration. Heritage is convening the conservative movement behind the policies to ensure that the next president has the right policy and personnel necessary to dismantle the administrative state and restore self-governance to the American people.
‘The Conservative Promise’ is just the first step in preparing future conservative leaders for the task of serving their country, and it will continue to guide the movement-wide coalition. We know what time it is; the conservative movement is on offense to restore our great nation.” - Kevin Roberts, President, The Heritage Foundation.
In the nearly 1,000 pages of its blueprint guidebook, Project 2025’s, “Mandate for Leadership,” echoes and expands upon the 1864 ban on women’s reproductive rights [without reference to cutting out tongues and eyes or slitting noses and lips].
- Banning abortion nationwide [p. 6]
- Restricting access to in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other assisted reproductive technologies via support for H.R.431 Life at Conception Act
- Undermining access to contraception by targeting the Affordable Care Act's contraceptive coverage mandate [p. 483]
- Promoting abstinence-only sex education and limiting comprehensive sex education, through the plan to "break up the Department of Education" and empower parents to control curriculum [p. 477]
Project 2025 is infused with Christian Nationalism through many of its partners and members. [Note: Christian Nationalism is a political ideology… distorting both the Christian faith and America’s constitutional democracy.] Spearheading the effort is Russell Vought, president of The Center for Renewing America. Vought is advising Project 2025 on public policy. His prescription for America is succinct.
We have religious liberty, but it cannot come from this notion that a country isn’t understanding the reality that it has to obey God and there is only one true God, and that is Jesus Christ, our Lord.
The most extreme version of Christian Nationalism targets the “seven mountains” of organized society:
- Family.
- Religion.
- Education.
- Media.
- Entertainment.
- Business.
- Government.
“Seven Mountain Dominionism” plans to take control of each mountain to give rise to a new and purely resurrected “Christian Nation.” It’s a tall order, but movement followers believe their work is ordained by God. They claim that a message from God orders them to invade the "seven spheres" of society.
Translation: Overhaul society with theological fundamentalism and impose that fundamentalism on every American citizen.
Project 2025, Christian Nationalism, and Seven Mountains Dominionism are all closely aligned. They each claim to know what is best for America and what is best for every American. Each has chosen a form of “us, the saved, versus them, the damned” mentality.
We have abandoned those seven mountains, and they’ve been occupied by the opposite side…. I will say that God created government, and the fact that we have let it go into the possession of others is heartbreaking. - QAnon conspiracy theorist Johnny Enlow, author of “The Seven Mountain Prophecy.”
For adherents like Enlow, the coming battles represent a “spiritual tsunami.” His book offers a detailed study of each “mountain” of influence, how it will be taken and by whom, and what resistance will be encountered by individuals assigned to claim each mountain.
Enlow’s book was released in 2008. So far, his “prophecy” has not been fulfilled.
At least, not yet, though he’s getting an assist from a powerful ally.
Increasingly, the Supreme Court has aligned itself with a society that infuses religion into various aspects of civic life. In several rulings over the past years, the court has chipped away at the wall of separation between church and state. The court has consistently sided with religious plaintiffs in cases involving public funding for religious schools, public high school prayer on football fields, and the creation of wedding cakes and websites [or not] based on religious sensibilities. At the same time, the court's conservative majority, which is most inclined to interpret the Constitution based on its literal text (textualism), appears skeptical of government actions intended to maintain the separation of church and state, despite Constitutional language that suggests otherwise.
There are other allies that have affiliated with Christian Nationalism, blurring further the lines between church and state. A member of the U.S. House of Representatives condemned the separation of church and state as “junk” arguing that “the church is supposed to direct the government.”
That’s a civics lesson most of us probably missed.
The debate rages on. During a 2022 speech in Rome, Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito invoked the “honor” he felt to have penned the 6-3 majority opinion in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization. He continued lamenting “the turn away from religion” and claiming the times warrant a full-on “fight against secularism.” Clearly Alito has tethered his judicial ruminations to his own religious convictions. He seems to dismiss the Constitution which says, “We the People,” not “We the nine Supreme Court Justices.”
Table Talk
Back to the dinner table. Crazy uncle is gone. Conversation is good-natured, but uneasy. Younger members around the table are unenthusiastic about the coming election. Some aren’t planning to vote at all.
We’ve all got to be prepared for comments like this which are golden opportunities. Not to engage in cerebral dissertations about civic duty and democratic ideals. You might also want to skip the lectures on computer chips, tax plans, budgets, and infrastructure.
You’ll lose them.
Instead, go straight to the heart of the matter. Keep it simple. Poke at heartstrings. Inject raw emotion into what cannot be taken for granted.
- Reproductive choice
- Family planning
- Contraception
- Loving whom you chose to love
Add some looming threats.
- Digital menstrual cycle tracking
- Arrests of pregnant women at state borders
- Denial of emergency medical care
- [Maybe bring up William Claude Jones]
These topics should heat up quickly, and we’re only on the “family mountain.” Why stop there? There are six other “mountains” that an authoritarian government could mess up if citizens sit out the vote.
Embellish.
More than ever, major questions will be decided at the polls. Getting voters there is a top priority. Do we preserve democracy? Or do we allow democracy to be overthrown by authoritarian rule?
Looking for more? Art is one way to infuse lives with illumination and wonder. Grandparents are another. Check out Artists for Democracy and Grandparents for Truth.
Defending Democracy can and should be fun. We can pull people out of cramped authoritarian trenches and fill their lives with life.
These Artists for Democracy from across the nation have joined together to turn out the vote.
Victoria Cassinova | Shephard Fairey | Jeffrey Gibson | Titus Kaphar | Deborah Kass | Christine Sun Kim | John Lehr | Beverly McIver | Amalia Mesa-Baines | Sam Messer | Angelica Muro | Cleon Peterson | Alyson Shotz | Hank Willis Thomas | Carrie Mae Weems
Join Grandparents for Truth. Become a mentor and guide:
- Speak up against censorship at local school board meetings
- Organize your community to protect the freedom to learn
- Contact your lawmakers to promote the freedom to teach and learn
- Join a national community of people like you at in-person and online events dedicated to fighting book bans, censorship, and authoritarianism.
Stay informed. Get involved. Good things are happening.
We’ve got a democracy to keep.
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