Give Us Barabbas: Reflections on 45’s Attempted Coup

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“No, not him! Give us Barabbas!”

I could probably write a thesis about the hypocrisy of white Trumpers, aka #VanillaISIS (courtesy of Alicia Garza, haha) for being able to storm and trash a federal building without any significant repercussions, including death, but that would be low-hanging fruit. There are enough thoughts on that subject posted on all the major news and social media platforms anyway. So, instead, I thought it might be more fun to explore this topic by diving into one of the most talked-about passages in church culture: John 18:28-19:16 (the trial and sentencing of Jesus). I hope that the parallels I draw today can help you make sense of why our society desperately needs to cut the crap and finally deal with American exceptionalism and white supremacy.

First, some background…

Jesus v. Religious Priests

According to the gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), Jesus was seen as a charismatic figure who not only attracted crowds via teaching and performing miracles, but he also challenged the religious status quo. For the sake of time, I will only share a few highlights (source attached below):

Needless to say, the work and life of Jesus did not sit well with the chief religious priests. Because Jesus was popular, loved "commoners," and often exposed religious hypocrisy, the priests became jealous, saw Jesus as a threat, and worked together with Judas to plot his death. This secret plot brings us to Jesus's trial and sentencing.

After the high priest questioned Jesus, the Jewish leaders took him to Pontious Pilate, void of criminal charges. They asked him to trade Jesus for Barabbas to honor the Jewish custom of releasing a prisoner during Passover. The funny thing is that Barabbas is the one that was actually known for his criminality (we will talk more about this below). At the end of the day, even though Pilate had no reason to execute Jesus, he listened to the people and sentenced Jesus to be crucified, reestablishing the "religious order."

Now that I have shared the Biblical context of this post, let's talk about the foolishness that happened on January 6th...

Trumperpalooza 2021

As most of you all know, on November 7th, after days of being anxiously glued to our different electoral college map displaying screens, Joe Biden became our President-Elect; and of course, Trump and his people were not having that.

Enters a slew of costly legal challenges...

After several recounts and losses, Trump, his administration, and his other supporters adamantly asserted that the election was rigged despite winning several Senate and House of Representatives seats on the same ballots.

 

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But I digress…

Void of reason and logic, Trumpers held prayer vigils and events like "MAGA-palooza" and "Million Maga March" in Washington, D.C., to support Trump's challenges disregarding the U.S. constitution and an ongoing global pandemic.

Let's fast forward to the "Revolution" at the U.S. Capital...

According to USA Today, Trump and his goons gathered together for a "Save America" rally in Washington D.C. on January 6th at 11 a.m. This action seemed harmless enough, ignoring the fact that people usually are working or should be staying at home to help reduce the COVID spread, but this rally idea eventually proved to be a giant mistake. Following his sons and his lawyer, Trump gets up to speak. At some point, he inspires his supporters to walk down to the Capital and "cheer on" our lawmakers. By 1:00 p.m., the rest of America and the world watch as thousands of white people wearing MAGA hats throw the biggest temper tantrum over the right to practice racism and white supremacy. 

 

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Again, I can spend hours writing about the double standards and privilege displayed at this event, but instead, I will share how I saw connections between John's passage and Wednesday's coup.

Modern Day Parallels

Before I dive into the meat of my reflection, I would be remiss if I did not take a second to note: Despite what you may think about me or my beliefs, THIS IS NOT A PLEA OR AN ENDORSEMENT FOR CHRISTIANS TO VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS. I cannot deny that my personhood as a black woman, and my beliefs often lead me to vote Blue in the name of choosing the "lesser of two evils." However, for me, being Christian and making decisions around voting goes beyond our country's current political landscape (Democrat v. Republican). For far too long, the United States has been using God's name in vain to support White supremacy, and as a Christian, I firmly believe that it is our duty to repent and make amends. With that said, I will now explain how we can use John's passage to illuminate and address our current (and some past) sins.

As I reflect on the passage, I am captivated by the symbolism depicted through the four main characters: Jesus, Barabbas, the Jewish leaders, and Pontious Pilate. In Jesus, we see a symbol of justice and hope. Although his disciples and the people of Israel did not fully see it at the time, Jesus was a manifestation of God's love and liberating presence in human life. His role as Messiah was not what most would have expected, but his presence was significant because it questioned the legitimacy and oppressive powers of religion and government. 

As we consider the other characters in John's passage, we can obviously see that the Jewish leaders represent religion and Pilate symbolizes government, but what symbolic message lies within the character of Barabbas? According to the gospels, Barabbas was not only a known robber/liar, but he was known as a revolutionary who murdered someone during a violent uprising against Rome. Although many of us can probably use the relationship between the Jews and the Romans to make an argument for Barabbas revolting, for the sake of this blog post, I will argue that his role in this passage symbolizes instability, death, and injustice. Despite Pilate's recommendation for the Jews to reconsider and the many accounts of Jesus being a champion for the Jewish people, they still chose Barabbas, someone who could potentially rob them and create more tension between the Jews and the Romans. 

So, how does this compare to the present day?

When I consider the events leading up to January 6, 2021, Jesus is still a symbol of love and hope. He represents the ideals that so many Americans are willing to fight for: justice, peace, accountability, employment, a living wage, universal healthcare, affordable housing, and safety. In the same way, Pilate still represents the government in the form of U.S. lawmakers who repeatedly wash their hands of injustice even in the face of truth. No matter where you fall on the blue and red side of the aisle, I would argue that majority of our politicians are guilty of turning a blind eye to the truths of American History, thereby being complicit in the fight against White Supremacy. 

Disagree? Check out the speeches given by people like Joseph R. Biden this week. A lot of them begin with or added the following lines somewhere in their formal statement: "ThIs is nOt WHO wE arE As a cOUNtrY." Complicit... Now, as we consider the other characters of the John passage, I want to argue that Barabbas symbolizes white supremacy, while the Jews reflect the actions and views of these MAGA white people. I will also like to note that this Jew and MAGA supporter comparison is by no means an endorsement for America's other favorite pastime, Antisemitism. So hear me out...

For the purpose of this post, I am suggesting that Barabbas symbolizes everything that white America can't seem to forgo in the name of protecting whiteness. This list includes but is not limited to white supremacy, American exceptionalism, Antisemitism, policing, toxic individualism, capitalism, systematic oppression, addiction, idolatry, violence, exploitation, toxic masculinity, sexism, racism, and xenophobia. You would rather unrepentantly fight for these ideals than admit that lives other than your own have value even to the point of death (cc Ashli Babbitt, Officer Howard Liebengood, and those who are unfortunately dying due to the "opioid epidemic"). Now I know some of you are probably clenching your jaw and may be thinking that I am being harsh, but the reality is, while most of you white people are choosing whiteness over justice, you are only hurting yourselves. Furthermore, that hurt is way more than any black or brown person who is only asking for CIVIL RIGHTS can ever do to you.  

With that said, I want to end by offering a final thought...

As I was doing some research for this blog post, which included reading the U.S. constitution, I was reminded that all members of the U.S. House and Senate receive substantial pay and benefits, while regular members of America have been busy arguing over who is entitled to human rights.

Just for fun's sake, how about we do a little math? 

According to several sources, the current salary for "rank-and-file members" of the House and Senate is about $174,000 per year, while the leaders of both of these branches receive a significant salary increase (sources attached below).

Senate Leadership

  • Majority Party Leader - $193,400

  • Minority Party Leader - $193,400

House Leadership

  • Speaker of the House - $223,500

  • Majority Leader - $193,400

  • Minority Leader - $193,4003

So, as we consider these figures and remember that we currently have 50 Senators and about 435 voting representatives, we can safely calculate that, annually, 99% of American people are paying $8,352,000 for the Senators salaries and $75,168,000 for House members. These numbers exclude other benefits, cooperate payoffs, and the salaries of leadership.

For fun, I invite you to calculate how much your boy Mitch McConnell (who is married to an Asian woman, lol) and our homegirl, Nancy Pelosi, have made during their tenure in U.S. politics. To save you some time, Mitch has been in office since 1984. He has served as the Senate minority leader from 2007 to 2015 and as the Senate majority leader from 2016 to 2020. Nancy's information is a bit more complicated to type out but can be found easily via Google. Anyway… 

Although there are more facts that I could share based on my research about this, my final point and the reason I calculated these figures for you is this: 

While you white people are out here begging for Barabbas, these Pontious Pilates are out here "washing their hands" and collecting funds; rest assured that you will not let go of your hatred long enough to notice. While we are left to figure out how to manage during two global, deadly pandemics (racism and COVID), they are busy making empty gestures like wearing kente cloths and arguing over if we deserve $600. Smh…

So, as you find yourself arguing with millionaires like JP Morgan and Brian Moynihan so you can feed your families, keep your homes or have insurance coverage, I want you to remember that you are actively choosing to have less because your hatred of other people takes precedence. Similarly, the Jewish priests choose Barabbas over Jesus because they valued defending the status quo over welcoming the man who was the embodiment of freedom and liberation. May God have mercy on us…

History, Justice, Politics, Reflection, TheologyNeph Lesperance