Glenn Grothman's selective embrace of diversity, religious tolerance

Glenn Grothman - - 

- - had a lot to say in a constituent newsletter emailed Saturday about diversity and religious tolerance.

I'll post some excerpts below, and while I am not challenging his sincerity, I do find it undermined by his earlier public disparagement of Kwanzaa, excerpted here.

Here's a reminder from this blog posted in 2017 that dates to 2012:

...it's hard to chalk up the reported rant against Kwanzaa by State Sen. Glenn Grothman, (R-West Bend), to anything other than gross ignorance and intolerance:  

Calling it a holiday that "almost no black people today care about," state Sen. Glenn Grothman is characterizing Kwanzaa as a false holiday conjured up by a racist college professor and perpetuated by hard-core liberals.

"Why must we still hear about Kwanzaa?" the Republican lawmaker from West Bend asked in a press release. "Why are hard-core left wingers still trying to talk about Kwanzaa — the supposed African-American holiday celebration between Christmas and New Year’s?" 

Here's a fuller account: 

Senator Glenn Grothman calls for Kwanzaa to be “slapped down”

Grothman, a Republican lawmaker from West Bend issued the press release during the week of Kwanzaa, calling it a "supposed African-American holiday celebration between Christmas and New Year's..."Dr. Karenga is a racist separatist who wanted to destroy the country in 1966." 

In 2014, while making his successful run for US Congress, a reporter asked Grothman how he knew that few black people cared about Kwanzaa. 

...he [Grothman] told me that he had "polled 20 black people at random" at airports in Los Angeles and Phoenix.

So with that in mind, you can take in some of his newsletter's text:

Religious Freedom  Over 230 years ago on January 16, the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, authored by Thomas Jefferson, passed the Virginia General Assembly. For this reason, since 1993, every President of the United States has issued a proclamation to designate January 16 as Religious Freedom Day. Religious Freedom Day not only commemorates the passage of the Virginia Statue for Religious Freedom, but calls our nation to forever protect the unalienable right to religious freedom for all people. Many of America's first settlers came to the United States to flee religious persecution. That is why our Founding Fathers sought to create a nation in which individuals and families could practice their chosen religion freely, without government interference. Like our Founding Fathers, I believe it is vital to ensure that all Americans enjoy the right to exercise their chosen religion. Tragically, those that would prefer an America where prayers are only spoken in private, school children grow up ignorant of the basic facts of various religions and militant special interest groups can force individuals to violate their conscience in the name of false tolerance, are gaining strength in our society. Still, there is hope for the preservation of religious freedom in the United States. In honor of Religious Freedom Day 2020, nine federal agencies under President Donald Trump's leadership enacted rules to safeguard the constitutional rights of religious organizations. These rules will provide for the undue defense of First Amendment freedoms, the removal of regulatory burdens on faith-based institutions and the establishment of programs that ensure religious organizations are treated fairly in all circumstances. There are also provisions to ensure that religious and non-religious organizations receive equal consideration when applying for federal grants. With these rules, preserving the right to religious liberty in Wisconsin's Sixth District and throughout our great nation is more than possible. I am thankful that the Trump Administration continues to work to maintain the integrity of our Constitution’s guarantee of religious liberty for you and your family. Likewise, I will always fight to protect your right to religious freedom in Congress. Ultimately, it is my hope that the religious freedom that our country was founded on endures for every generation to come.... Knights of Columbus While many people claim we live in a society that embraces diversity and tolerance, prejudice and bigotry remain towards certain groups of people. For example, Senator Kamala Harris (D-CA) and Senator Mazie Hirono (D-HI), at the end of 2018, used their official roles to try to bring down a judicial nominee for being a member of the Knights of Columbus. Likewise, similar statements attacking the Knights have arose [Sic] from my fellow Members of Congress....