I. The Evening News
I don’t remember Richard Nixon.
I mean, I don’t remember Nixon when he was in office as President. He was President when I was born and resigned when I was still only 1 year old.
So I don’t remember Nixon.
I don’t remember Gerald Ford either.
As I cast my mind’s eye back as far as my memories can take me into childhood, nothing comes up on the old black-and-white TV screen when I look for President Ford. He was in office until I was about to turn 4 years old, but still I don’t remember Ford.
But I remember Jimmy Carter.
Not like, I remember President Carter because of watching documentaries in history class in high school or a “This Day in History” moment on the TV news.
No, I remember President Carter when he was President.
Maybe it was because my Mom was so excited about his presidency. Maybe it was because his Vice President was Walter “Fritz” Mondale, hero in my home state of Minnesota. Maybe it was because Carter became President when I was about to turn 4 years old, and that’s when I was really starting to make memories that would last up until today.
Or maybe it was because as a kid, I knew that our President used to be a peanut farmer, so that every time we had a can of peanuts at home, I wondered if those peanuts had come from Jimmy Carter’s farm.
But I think it’s actually more than all that.
I remember President Jimmy Carter, because he was the one who guided us through those difficult years at the end of the 70’s. I remember watching Walter Cronkite on the CBS Evening News, showing us lines and lines of cars during the oil shortage. I remember how the news began with Cronkite announcing how many days the hostages had been kept in Iran. And I remember that President Carter kept trying to change things, fix things, free the hostages, and bring peace to the Middle East.
I remember President Carter being our hope in the 1980 election, and how sad we were when Ronald Reagan defeated him. I couldn’t have told you then why it was sad, and I suppose then I grew up hearing about all of the failures of Carter’s presidency. But still I remember President Carter, and I remember I was sad that he wouldn’t be my President anymore when I turned 8 years old.
I remember President Jimmy Carter being my President, and I mean that in a very personal way, as if I actually knew him.
So yes, I remember Jimmy Carter.
II. The Church
I didn’t remember that President Jimmy Carter was called an antisemite.
I mean, I remember that Carter worked towards peace in the Middle East, had brokered the Camp David Accords, had spoken, written, and acted to elevate the humanity of the Palestinians while not negated the State of Israel.
But I didn’t remember that President Carter was vilified as an antisemite.
I didn’t remember that one Carter Center fellow and fourteen of the organization’s advisory board members resigned when he published his book, Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid.
I do remember that many evangelical Christians questioned Carter’s faith in Jesus, figuring that a man with such liberal tendencies towards justice and human rights, a man who was comfortable in the Democratic Party, that such a man could not possibly be a true follower of Jesus.
Yet I also remember that my in-laws sat at Carter’s feet while he taught Bible study at Maranatha Baptist Church in Plains, Georgia. This was something he did most Sundays when he was available. This was not a one-off show for the media, not some awkward attempt at establishing his Christian bona fides. And this was decades after he left the White House and elected office, long after he would have needed to drum up an image to appeal to the voters.
No, what I remember is that President Carter was also, is also, Jimmy, my brother in Christ. Carter genuinely practiced what he said he believed, committing his life to Jesus and living out the Sermon on the Mount.
But I didn’t remember that Carter was called an antisemite.
In the wake of the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, I spoke up on social media, in conversations, in sermons, and at local city councils. I lamented that tragic day, the vile acts, and the hostages taken. Yet, I also spoke up for the Gazans as Israel’s reaction seemed outsized and ongoing and indiscriminate. I lamented the destruction of hospitals and churches. I asked city councils to pass resolutions calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, standing with Muslim friends who feel the pain of this war immensely and who quote President Carter, the Christian and former President who spoke up for Palestine. I created art to draw attention to the plight and injustices. I reached out to organizations to see how best to point towards solutions and peace, the mutual flourishing of all people in the Middle East and the world.
And then I was called an antisemite, or at least online comments implied this.
And my faith in Jesus was questioned, because I stood with Muslims in the community.
I grew fearful of what other people might say on social media. I was anxious about what local vitriol I might receive. My art of protest is in our front yard; was I opening my family up to violence?
I felt sorry for myself, that I spoke up for what I believed was right and now I was being vilified. I questioned my words and my actions. I was surprised at how quickly I could go from being known as someone who speaks up for justice, like racial justice for African Americans, and then just as quickly be cast aside as anti-Jewish, anti-American, pro-terrorist, and a fake Christian.
I didn’t remember that President Carter was called an antisemite and vilified much worse, in much wider circles, with far greater consequences than I ever would experience.
I remember President Carter as a man of great character, humble in spirit, committed to serving all people, speaking with a hope drawn from his faith in Jesus, and one who believed that even while we wait for Jesus to return, we can begin beating our swords into ploughshares now.
I don’t remember President Carter being antisemitic.
I don’t think that President Carter was antisemitic.
His critics were not correct.
If I can live out the rest of my life like President Carter with as much Christian faith, integrity and character, and commitment to action on behalf of other people, than I will have lived as a disciple of Jesus.
And in the process, I may also get called an antisemite. Or anti-American. Or pro-terrorist or a fake Christian or any other number of names to denigrate me or silence me.
But President Carter’s critics weren’t correct; my critics won’t be correct either.
I remember President Jimmy Carter, because he’s the first president I can remember from when I was a child.
But I also remember President Carter, because Jimmy was, and is, my brother in Christ. I will follow his example. I will stay the course, aim towards justice, mercy, and love, and speak up even when it costs me something.
I don’t remember President Carter being against some people.
I remember Carter working towards the flourishing of all people.
And I remember that I want to be about that same work.