Those Covington Kids have never met Jesus; they proved it by their actions

When Nathan Phillips, an elder of the Omaha tribe and Vietnam War Veteran, went to Washington for the Indigenous Peoples March on Friday, he didn't know he would be at the center of a now National Debate. The Indigenous Peoples March happen to coincide with the March for Life, a "pro-life" rally, which Covington Catholic Highschool in Kentucky sent a delegate of their all male, predominantly white school rally in D.C.

These students were supposed to be representing their school at the anti-abortion rally. They instead represented a lot of other things: racism, bigotry, the human penchant for sadism. But what they did not represent well at all: Jesus Christ.

Clad in their Make America Great Again, these teens surrounded elder Nathan and his constituents in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial, phones out, chanting "Build that Wall" and other foolishness. Various clips of the video have since gone viral.



Through their actions, this pack of MAGA white boys proved that they indeed have never met Jesus. Just like the KKK and every other hate group before them who sat in a pew on Sunday morning and were burning crosses and lynching people of color by Sunday night.

Covington Catholic High School and the Diocese of Covington have apologized, of course. directly condemning the students’ actions, saying that their conduct “is opposed to the Church’s teachings on the dignity and respect of the human person.” But many, including myself, see that not only their school but their own churches and communities have indeed failed them by clearly not teaching them the true meaning of the scriptures they are supposed to profess.

We see no more clear example of the faulty faith Right Wing conservative, Trumpian peoples profess. A faith that will send one to a march under the guise of being pro-life but really at its core one is representing an ideology of white male supremacy and ignorance. After all, pro-life would imply that one is not only anti-abortion but pro the respect of human life in all forms, including not just the end of the death penalty and euthanasia, but would also mean respecting those who are alive, especially those senior to us, receiving their wisdom as someone younger. These boys did none of that. They instead showed complete disrespect to the first peoples of this America they claim to want to make great.

These privileged boys, in pure ignorance, screaming behind iPhones and MAGA hats "build that wall" to people who have been here for millennia following a pro-life rally shows the depth of ignorance. The Covington teens were there for the March for Life Rally. Yet somehow, in their supposed standing up for life, their chants of "build that wall", a rallying cry usually heard from Trump's base during discussions of immigration, show the true intentions of the boys' presence at the rally. White Male Supremacy.

It is the same White Male Supremacy that attempts to dictate what a woman can do with her own body that also attempts to dictate who is allowed into the U.S., a country that was stolen from the Indigenous peoples. It is the same ignorance of that base to disrespect an elder of the First Peoples of this land, who happens to be a war Vet, simply because of the color of his skin and the culture of his birth. It is the stupidity of that supremacy that will look at the descendants of the very first inhabitants of this land and chant "build that wall" to people who can trace their lineage back to this land thousands of years ago when yours only extends a few hundred years at best.

But it is the sheer lack of Jesus that I find most troubling. These students, who have spent at least a year in Catholic schools, hearing the scriptures and the very words of Jesus say ""'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind'; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'" (Luke 10:27). Or Proverbs 11:17 "A man who is kind benefits himself, but a cruel man hurts himself." Or Galatians 6:10 "So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone..."Or Colossians 3:12 "Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience." Or 1 John 3:18 "Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth."

No, these boys didn't represent any of that. But they did represent hatred, disrespect, and gross privilege very well. After all, that kind of ignorance can only be taught. and they represent that Kentucky community pretty well in that regard.

I am sure in weeks, we will see interviews of them and their parents. They will cry on T.V. saying "This is not who I am. I am a good person." Their parents will say "Boys will be boys." and say they were just children. But we all know the truth, while they may have marched for life, not one of them stood for Jesus.