Overview:
Ralph Rebandt, a Christian pastor and Republican candidate for governor, embarrassingly makes a case for banning the Bible in schools.
The Michigan gubernatorial race is shaping up to be Democratic incumbent Gretchen Whitmer versus a field of Republican candidates looking to turn the state red for the next four years. One candidate, a Christian pastor named Ralph Rebandt, was recently interviewed in a TikTok video by The Good Liars, a channel known for man-on-the-street interviews that highlight right-wing lunacy and some very creative conspiracy theorists.
In the 90-second video that’s been viewed over 2 million times, Rebandt introduces himself and then is asked a series of questions that lead up to a bit of a contradiction:
RR: “My name is Ralph Rebandt and I’m running for the governor of Michigan. I’m a pastor, but I’m running to bring God back into culture, because I’m convinced that if we don’t get God right in this next election, nothing will matter.”
Rebandt might be referring to the End Times here. Oh boy.
TGL: “Bringing God back to Michigan, what would that look like? Would there be religion taught in schools?”
RR: “There would be, as our Founders said, the Bible should be the basic textbook in scripture, I mean in schools.”
Correct me in the comments if I’m mistaken, but I don’t recall ever reading that edict from the Founding Fathers. If I even google it, I’m going to feel stupid.
TGL: “Are there books that you don’t want to see in schools?”
RR: “I would remove the pornography.”
I mean, I know it’s been a while since I was in school, but I’m pretty sure pornography is not on the summer reading list. That’s purely elective “reading” material.
TGL: “So we need to ban books that have pornographic imagery in them, right?”
RR: “Yes, yes.”
And off we go…
TGL: “Because we… somebody was telling us about a book that had like two daughters getting their dad drunk and having sex with him.”
This is obviously a biblical reference to Genesis 19:30-36, where Lot’s two daughters, having no men around, decided to have their father drink wine on two consecutive nights, have sex with him without him knowing, and get pregnant to continue their family lineage. I don’t believe this heartwarming anecdote is covered in the popular children’s book, The Bible Story, Vol. 1—a companion I embarrassingly admit I owned as a child.
RR: “I knew you were going that way. I knew you were going that… Yeah, that’s a good point.”
TGL: “So you’re saying ban the Bible in school.”
RR: “Uh, no I’m not saying ban the Bible in school. I get where you’re going with your questions.”
TGL: “Right, because you’re saying anything that has a pornographic image should be banned, and there are some images in the Bible about, you know, sex and incest and things like that, so it sounds like you’re saying we should ban the Bible.”
RR: “Uh, what I am saying is that Judeo-Christian principles under which our country is founded need to be brought back into culture, and I can’t state it any more clearly than that.”
Looks like someone might want to read The Founding Myth by Andrew Seidel.
TGL: “And if that means banning the Bible, so be it.”
It’s very clear at this point, probably even to Rebandt, that he’s not going to dig his way out of this one. Rebandt’s demeanor seems to be shifting a bit too, as he’s growing frustrated with this line of questioning and likely his inability to get out from under his own words.
RR: “The Bible would not be banned from culture, or…”
TGL: “From the schools. I’m just saying the schools. To protect the kids.”
RR: [Long pause, staring at the interviewer] “No, I…”
And that’s the end, thankfully. I’m certain it didn’t get any better for Rebandt after that, and he very likely may have just ended the interview and cut his losses.
So who is this guy and what’s he actually running on?
According to Ralph Rebandt’s website, his top priority is to investigate election fraud in the state of Michigan, stemming from the 2020 Presidential election. Here’s the kicker though… an investigation is already happening, and if it follows suit with other states, it’s focused on post-election tampering by Trump supporters who gained access to voting machines to conduct their own “investigations.”
The probe in Michigan reflects a growing number of incidents around the country where unauthorized people attempted to gain access to voting systems that were key targets in the Donald Trump campaign’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election outcome.
They succeeded in at least one instance in late November 2020, when a team of pro-Trump operatives traveled to Antrim County and conducted an audit of voting systems there, according to court documents released as part of a failed lawsuit filed by attorneys working on behalf of the former president at the time.
ABC12 News
I don’t think this is the investigation Rebandt has in mind.
He’s missing a comma on that billboard, and it’s driving me nuts.
Nevertheless, Ralph Rebandt’s quest for power in order to promote theocracy and conduct a bogus investigation doesn’t look like it will come to fruition any time soon. According to a May 2 poll by the Glengariff Group, Rebandt trails 8 out of 10 Republican hopefuls, cashing in 0.8% of the vote. He’s not dead in the water though, since the poll reports that 44.6% of respondents are still undecided on who they support in the Republican primary.
You never know… if this TikTok video catches on in the right circles, he could gobble up those undecideds and win this thing. Let the Bible banning begin!