Lawmaker who penned manifesto wins re-election
Nov 7, 2018, 1:36 PM | Updated: 3:16 pm
Washington state Rep. Matt Shea finds himself in hot water once again. (Washington House Republicans)
(Washington House Republicans)
Despite backlash for a manifesto titled “Biblical Basis for War,” Representative Matt Shea (R) has fended off his Democratic challenger in Eastern Washington’s 4th legislative district.
The document alienated some campaign donors and the Spokane County Sheriff turned it over to the FBI.
But Shea still won re-election with more than 58 percent of the votes Tuesday night.
Days after news about a “manifesto” Shea responded saying that he does not support racism, anti-Semitism, or white nationalism.
.@RepMattShea responds: pic.twitter.com/qgkEc3d86v
— Chad Sokol (@bychadsokol) November 2, 2018
Experts says that Shea’s document appears to have nothing in common with The Old Testament — as Shea claims it pertains to — and expresses values foreign to that section of the Bible. James Edwards, a Bruner-Welch professor of theology at Whitworth University, noted to The Inlander that the document mentions communism, which was invented thousands of years after The Old Testament was written.
Lt. Governor Cyrus Habib called for Shea’s removal on Wednesday:
I call on Republican legislators to remove Matt Shea from his role as Chair of the House Republicans. I hope his colleagues will agree that no one should be permitted to hold such an important leadership role while threatening religious minorities. #waelex #waleg https://t.co/fTSNIrSd0D
— Cyrus Habib (@cyrushabib) November 7, 2018
Shea’s manifesto
Shea has defended the document via a Facebook video and has admitted to writing it.
The Biblical Basis for War paper has 14 points starting with “God is a warrior” and continues on to comment on a “Holy Army” and argues for when it is appropriate to fight and how to do so.
For example, it promotes that Christians are to avoid bloodshed and offer peace to their enemies. This includes demanding that they stop all abortions, no same-sex marriages, no communism, and they must obey biblical law. If they do not yield, “kill all males.”
It refers to “godless civil rulers” as bands of robbers, and says that a tyrant is someone who rules without God. It also states that “assassination to remove tyrants is just, not murder.”
The document is short on context and other details, and heavy on bullet points. It can be viewed on here.
MyNorthwest staff writers contributed to this report.
