Immigrants – bendingtheneedle

“A Lot More Shirley Chisholms” by Sapient Rain

Sapient Rain is a musical project that blends human creativity with artificial intelligence. It is a collaboration between lyricist / writer Geoffrey Reilly and the AI music engine Suno

The song “A Lot More Shirley Chisholms” is about the heartbreaking transformation of America from a country that welcomed and benefited from immigrants to a country led by a xenophobic nationalist who traffics in racial tropes and bigotry.

“A Lot More Shirley Chisholms” is coming to music streaming services on 07/20/2026. You can listen to it for free today on the Suno Website here.

A Lot More Shirley Chisholms

Thoughts Skewed by algorithms
Caught in thought complacency
dumbstruck and stuck in schisms
of moral rot and latency

We’re lost in planes and prisms
we’re distracted by our screens
we need a lot more Shirley Chisholms
in the land of the obscene

A greedy bigot runs the show
we all get painted by his brush
America’s lost that special glow
and the world’s been stunned
into a hush

[Chorus]
We’ve gone from taking huddled masses
yearning to be free
to terrorizing humans
trying to earn their currency
We’ve tamped the lamp of freedom
we closed the golden door
that shining city on the hill
is just a giant Walmart store

We choose a news that won’t refute us
we set up camps, we pick a side
we seek a truth that won’t dispute us
we all refuse to swallow pride

Lady Liberty has vanished
in a MAGA world of hate
She’s a dead idea in bronze and stone
we can’t resuscitate

We’ve become constant politickers
never doubting what we see
walking talking bumper stickers
with no humanity

If you haven’t had a chance yet, please check out my book, My Paper, My Words: Rantings from a Progressive Boomer and Peeved Parent, from Amazon. And if you feel moved to write a review of the book, on Amazon, or anywhere else, I’d be honored.

My Paper, My Words is a collection of essays, stories, and poems that reflect the challenges of a middle-class husband and father trying to navigate a rapidly changing political, religious, and technological landscape of post-911 America.

What Would Jesus Do?

“What Would Jesus Do?” by Sapient Rain is available on music streaming services.

Sapient Rain is a human / machine collaboration between lyricist Geoffrey Reilly and the AI Music Engine, Suno.

On a week when we watched a “pastor” grotesquely compare a convicted felon and suspected pedophile to Jesus Christ, I think this song rings particularly true, especially heading into Easter weekend.

What Would Jesus Do? Lyrics

What would Jesus do
to a brownish me and you
would he throw us in a cage
and attack us with his rage

what would Jesus say
when we choose to look away
not turn the other cheek
and make mincemeat of the weak

In the cold and brackish waters
of America’s not great
we’re drowning in hypocrisy
and the riptide of our hate
We’re bastardizing Jesus
ignoring what he said
not welcoming the stranger
terrorizing them instead

If Jesus Christ came back today
what would MAGA do?
they’d label him a liberal
and re-crucify the jew

MAGA’s blue-eyed Jesus
is muscle-bound and blonde
armed and deadly dangerous
from heaven and beyond

What would Jesus say
about how we treat the poor
of how open we’ve become
to the slamming of the door

I think Jesus would be sick
at what America’s become
fanatically intolerant
and lovers of the gun

The Rope-a-Dope Pope

Mike Johnson’s recent attempt to use biblical arguments to justify America’s immigration enforcement shines a light on a dangerous problem: political leaders are misusing scripture to defend actions that run counter to the central Christian moral tradition. That should be a red flag to those of us who cherish living in a country guided by the rule of secular law.

The quote “When fascism comes to America, it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross” seems tailor-made for House Speaker Mike Johnson. Yesterday, he tried to “out-bible” Pope Leo by using his favorite little black book to justify the GOP’s cruel treatment of immigrants, saying, “Borders are biblical.”

Put aside the troublesome issue of the person third in line for the presidency using the Bible as justification for law; any credible theologian knows Johnson’s biblical argument for strict border enforcement is selective, incomplete, and doesn’t correspond to the broader Christian tradition.

When Pope Leo cites Matthew 25:35 (“I was a stranger and you welcomed me”), he highlights a moral duty toward immigrants, widely affirmed by Christian theologians: Hospitality to strangers is central in the Bible.

The Old Testament repeatedly commands care for foreigners (e.g., Deut 10:19).

Jesus’ teachings prioritize mercy over legalism.

Johnson uses scripture to highlight order and sovereignty, but pays less attention to major biblical themes such as hospitality, compassion, and the dignity of migrants. Additionally, this approach appears not to fully acknowledge Christian ethics, suggesting that governments also have moral obligations, as prophets in the Bible often addressed nations regarding their treatment of foreigners.

Again, putting aside the fact that we live in a society that is ruled by secular law, the Bible’s recognition of borders and civil authority does not override its commands to welcome and care for migrants.

Pope Leo is not a U.S. official—he is the spiritual and moral leader of Catholics worldwide. His call to “welcome the stranger” offers guidance for leaders in line with Christian tradition.

As an American citizen and atheist, all this bible thumping is infuriating. When officials use bible verses to justify policies, we cross the Rubicon. America is a constitutional republic, not a theocracy. Mike Johnson and Donald Trump are elected officials who swore to uphold the Constitution, not a religion.

Here’s a suggestion: Treat everyone with respect and dignity and give all people, including the undocumented, the due process guaranteed them by the constitution.

What Would Jesus Do? (Music by Suno, Lyrics by Me).