When Will This Insanity End?

I have a Christian friend who says he's stopped going to church because so many people there have bought into the Far Right conspiracy theories that they won't listen to reason any more.  This makes me sad and angry.  I can certainly relate because there are people like that at my church, too.  Most of the time I've managed to avoid them.  It's gotten to the point that's all I can do.

Four years ago, the Democrats were crying foul when Trump defeated Clinton, especially since Clinton won the popular vote.  Now the Republicans are doing the same and worse, despite the fact that Biden won the popular vote and the electoral vote.  At one time Trump said he would concede if the Electoral College vote was against him,  But like all the other shifts in what he says, he's gone back on that statement, too.  How can people trust someone like that, who changes with the wind of his own opinion?

I've heard many Republicans who say, "The courts will decide."  Well, the courts have decided, but not in their favor.  Not what they wanted to hear, and so they vow to fight on, continuing to divide our country.

In my mind, sending death threats to election official and electors who are just doing their job is unconscionable.  How can people justify this?  It appears the Far Right has pushed the party do far Right that they believe, "Might makes Right."  They've been taking lessons from Machiavelli--or Hitler and Stalin.

People talk about Russian plots to overthrow us and set up a police state.  Actually, the first hints of this showed up in Portland, Oregon last summer, when unmarked Federal Agents began arresting people indescriminatly on no grounds.

I don't argue that Russia (and perhaps China) would like to see our democracy fall.  And by inciting so much division and fear in our country, a lot of politicians are playing right into their hands.  I see evidence of this standing on the street corners right here in remote Kalispell, Montana--flags waving for the candidate who soundly lost, using four-letter words I refuse to even print, insinuations of Chinese and Russian influences in the Democratic Party.  How ironic that four years ago it was the Democrats saying that the Russians conspired to get Trump elected!   It's becoming clearer all the time that they are succeeding in dividing and conquering us.

A few lonely voices, including the President-elect, are begging us to unite and stand together, even if we don't agree on everything.  But somewhere along the way, certain news agencies and politicians on both sides have convinced us that we must despise the people who disagree with us.  Unfortunately, some of those people are even waving the Bible in our faces.  Have they really taken to heart what it says?  I see too many who Talk the Talk but aren't Walking the Walk.

Once in a while, one of the Republican supporters or appointees sees the light and takes a stand for the truth.  Most recent example is Attorney General Barr.  One after another, these former "Yes men" have heard the word, "You're Fired!"  We've seen it repeatedly for the past four years.  Isn't that enough?

I know I'll lose friends over this, but I've decided it's time to stand up with these few brave, persecuted people.   I pray that we won't forget what Christ told his followers, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free."   

Loving Your Neighbor As Yourself

 Nearly all the world's religions have some basic tenet of caring for our neighbors.  I ran across a quote this morning from Eugene Peterson, a fellow Montanan and Christian who died recently.  He said, "Freedom is a delicate and subtle gift, easily perverted and often squandered."

How often recently have we witnessed people of all persuasions using "freedom" as an excuse to foster hatred, rioting, looting, prejudice, or even just refusing to wear a mask?  None of these things, whether done by the Right or the Left, show "Love" to our neighbors.

Who is my neighbor?  You may ask, the very way someone asked Jesus this one day.  He told a story many of us know of The Good Samaritan.  What most have forgotten is that to the Jews who were his audience the Samaritans were the Enemy with a capital E.  To tell them this was their neighbor was a challenge to their whole belief system.

I often see bumper stickers that say, "Freedom Isn't Free."  And I absolutely agree.  Freedom is actually beyond price.  It cost Jesus his life.  But he's also the one who said, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free."  Are we remembering that one of the prices of freedom is responsibility?

Is The System Broken?

 Now that I'm 68, I've lived through some interesting times.  The election of Kennedy, his assassination, the presidency of Johnson and dreams of his "Great Society", the Vietman War, the rise and fall of Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford the unelected president, Carter and the long siege of the embassy in Tehran, the rise of Reagan, Clinton, the Bushes, Obama, and now the illustrious narcissist Trump.  Each and every time a new president took office, there was a shakeup, but people always managed to say, "The System Worked, the great system of democracy."

Yes, it mostly did.  Studies have found that the delayed transition of George W. Bush in 2000-2001, because of the Florida voting debacle, led to a weakened communication among our national security agencies, which led to the disaster of 9/11/2001.  The system wavered that time.

This year has been the worst year of my life, and probably has for many others.  I'm still trying to figure out why the Almighty decided to send Covid-19 in our election year.  And why Trump is being such a sore loser that he's willing to let our country go down the toilet, just to assuage his ego.   He's busy playing popularity games while thousands are dying and the economy is crumbling.  The country is a gaping wound, and all he does is throw salt into it.

I can't understand why otherwise good-hearted, conscientious people can see anything Christian and worthy in this man.  He has no redeeming qualities unless you count his big mouth.  I know he claims to be pro-life.  But is that the only litmus test there is?  What about his attitudes toward toe needy among us, blacks, Hispanics, or women, for God's sake?  What about his arrogance?  Is he producing any Christ-like fruit?  In the Old Testament, God repeatedly warned the nation of Israel about their arrogance and ungodly behavior.  When the refused to listen, he allowed their enemies to destroy them  A sobering example.   

I have so-called friends who scold me for watching the "wrong" newscasts.  For their information, I don't watch any of them.  I just happen to read my Bible and see multiple verses scolding humans for being arrogant, selfish, and greedy.  I read verses that say we're supposed to love and care for our neighbors, feed the poor, even to love our enemies, not despise them just because we disagree with them. I see verses that say, "By their fruits you shall know them.  A good tree cannot produce bad fruit." No, I don't watch the news stations, any of them.  I just happen to be able to still think for myself, for I haven't been brainwashed by either extreme.

Sorry people, but we're in the midst of national crisis like our country hasn't seen since the Spanish Influenza  of a hundred hears ago.  And The System is broken, folks.

God help us.

Whoever the "Leader of the Free World" Is, Christ is Still the King

 I remember my dad often saying, "Quit your belly-aching" when my complaints got to him.  Yes, I admit I have a pessimistic streak.  Now as I hear Trumpites doing this, I've decided not to stoop to their level.  My son said it well a couple of days ago:

"It's about character, Mom.  Now I can teach my students that character does matter after all.  It's about not being vindictive, but about trying to promote healing in a fractured nation."

I'm not sure it will work, but it shows that the spirit of Abraham Lincoln still lives in some hearts.  (See another of my blogs for thoughts on the man I consider to be our Best President Ever.)  I often wonder if we would be this bad off if Lincoln hadn't been assassinated.  Perhaps the reconstruction of the South would have gone better for all people.  

It's very ironic to me when I realize Lincoln was a Republican.  It was Southern Democrats who instituted Jim Crow laws and segregation.  I know it firsthand for I was born in southern Arkansas in the early 1950s.  I saw it with my own eyes.  When I was eleven, we moved to northern Illinois, where there was supposedly no segregation, but it was there, too-- if 'unofficially.'

The Southern Democrats came over to the GOP when Reagan was elected, but instead of becoming Republican, they drew the Republican Party into being Southern Democrats.  I think we're reaping the harvest of this today.  It's especially sad to see how far the GOP has fallen in the past four years--losing its soul in a Faustian deal with the Devil.

There may be a chance for healing, but the wounds are very deep, and by refusing to concede, Trump (in my opinion) is throwing salt on those wounds.  He's apparently forgotten that we're still a democracy (or at least a semblance of one) and the people have spoken.

I'm reminded of a story in the Bible book of Daniel, when mysterious handwriting appeared on the palace wall in Babylon.  No one could read this supernatural message, so Daniel had to interpret what it meant:  "Your regime has been measured in the balance and found wanting."  This signaled the end of the Babylonian Empire, at that time the most powerful the world had ever seen.

Several empires have risen and fallen since then--the Persians, Greeks, Romans, and more.  I pray that we're not next.  But only God knows, because He's still in charge.

Might Makes Right?

 It's November 4, 2020 as I write this blog.  Some things I just need to share.  In my opinion, the problems and divisions in our country have been with us for generations, perhaps from the very beginning.  The past few decades have seen increasing polarization, though.  

Who's at fault?  Probably both sides.  They just keep pulling farther apart with each passing year.  People wave their flags and guns and holy books.  Not just Christians, but Isis, too.  Hmm... 

Our country used to have statesmen in the middle who knew how to compromise when necessary for the greater good of the nation.  But I don't think there are any of them left.  President Carter, in my opinion, was among the last true statesmen.  He was defeated after one term by Ronald Reagan 40 years ago today.  ( I remember it vividly because as Carter was conceding, my water broke, and I gave birth to my first child about an hour later.)

It seems that ever since then we've been on a long downhill slide.  For some reason, God has permitted this.  He's chosen not to send us any more statesmen.  Just politicians.  Perhaps this is part of God's plan to wipe America off the map.  Like the nation of Israel was conquered as punishment for their sins.

There was a song on the radio back in the 1960s called "The Eve of Destruction" by Barry McGuire.  It upset a lot of people by saying things I just did.  But as the years of my life have gone by, I see it turning into an eerie prophecy.

I don't want this to happen, but I'm beginning to wonder if the Great American Experiment is failing, and one day we'll have to look back and realize it was all a pipe dream.

Feeling Like an Island

 I'm sure some people out there remember the song by Paul Simon, "I Am a Rock, I Am an Island."  That's what I feel like, now that Covid Insanity has gone on for over 200 days.  Looking out of my lonely room, day after day.  Oh, yeah, that's from a Paul McCartney song, I think.

Anyway, Covid-19 has forced all of us into a small shell of isolation.  The thing I miss most is seeing and talking to friends at church.  These have always been surrogate family to me, wherever I've lived.  But now it's pretty much cut off.  For a loner like me, it's probably not as difficult as for people who really crave social contact.  

I wonder how long it will be until we can come out of our shells.  Will we even remember how to relate to people?  The things I see in the news make me think we've already lost all knowledge of how to get along with others.  In fact,  I've quit watching, in order to preserve my sanity. 

Sorry. Gloomy thoughts for a cloudy, gloomy day.

Troubled Deeply About America

 I'm feeling so troubled about our nation that I must write something here to try to sort my thoughts.  Twenty years ago, one of my favorite songs was by Lee Greenwood.  It said, "I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free..."  But now, I almost feel ashamed to be an American.

Too often now, I see people on all sides using "freedom" as an excuse for violence toward the 'others' they hold in contempt.  In my opinion, our president's vocal criticisms, tweets, diatribes, name-calling, and arrogance have just exacerbated the problems. Evidently diplomacy isn't something CEOs of big corporations have to learn.

I grew up in the turbulent 60s and 70s.  Now it seems like our country has backslid over 50 years.  Racism, bigotry, chauvinism, seem to be running rampant again.  The current administration seems bent on undermining some of the main progress made back then--the Civil Rights and voting rights legislation,  the environmental legislation, and equal rights for women.

If you look back at our history over the past 300 years, you will find that scapegoating, blaming the poor for their own fate, and derogatory labels are nothing new.  In other words, we have made no progress at all.  And we dare to say, "Make America Great Again" ?  It has failed to be great in so many ways, which we choose to ignore.  Think about slavery, genocide of Native Americans, mistreatment  of various races, and anti-immigration laws.  The Statue of Liberty has a tablet engraved with, "...I lift my lamp at the open door."  But too many want that door closed. 

The COVID crisis has brought out our true colors, and they aren't pretty at all.  Does anyone wonder why we have the highest infection rate in the world?  Without even mentioning Washington, I think Covid has unveiled the inequities and weakness in our health care system, just for starters.

What really irked me was when I saw pro-Trump banners that said "Fuck your feelings."  (I don't normally use that word in print.)  My gut reaction was, "I want no part of attitudes like that."

I have decided to live by another four-letter word -- LOVE.

Where are the leaders like Abraham Lincoln and Martin Luther King, Jr.?  Men who reminded us that violence only breeds more violence, hatred just breeds hate.  Darkness cannot overcome darkness.  Only light can do that.  But unfortunately, these great men were assassinated by other "Americans".

And the saddest part is their dreams died with them.  Other lesser men took over and kept our country in the old divided, segregated form.  That's the reason why we still have "Systemic Racism" 250 years after the end of the Civil War.

Some days, I feel like we're on the verge of another Civil War in our country.  I know there are people who are wrong on both sides of everything.  But if Christians would look at what St. Paul said in the book of Romans, about how Christians should act, it could go a long way toward helping.  Here are some examples:

True Christian Love:

- speaks well of its persecutors.  (Rom. 12:14) 

- empathizes with all people. (Rom 12:15)

- remains humble, not proud. (Rom. 12:16)

- does what is right, with no expectation of reward. (Rom. 12:17)

- seeks to live at peace, as much as possible. (Rom. 12:18)

- does NOT try to get revenge! (Rom. 12:19) 

If only there was more of this in the world...

 There are many people, even some of my relatives, who vehemently disagree with me in this.  But I am just going to pray for everyone.  Lord, give us the strength to go through these troubled times.  Help us hang onto hope, but protect us from false-hope.