Brief Thoughts on the Election. Dare We Still Love?

… important brief thoughts on the election:

“Everything we can save is worth saving”

The fact that we cannot save everything does not mean we cannot save anything, and everything we can save is worth saving. … Remember what you love. Remember what loves you. … The pain you feel is because of what you love.”  [from Robert Reich quoting Rebecca Solnit]

A Really Bad Joke?

3 or 4 times a day the psychic gloom is suddenly gone and I’m thinking, “What a hideous joke that was! What a relief!”
But quickly things gray up again and, Nope! not a joke – except in its pretensions to having either credible plans to benefit, or any true concern for all these people – us.

I seem to be undergoing a “slow, vast reversal of skies.” To many of us the sky may seem different; this may not actually be the country we thought it was. You know?

But we’re still us, and we’re still here. “Ah … let us be true to one another.” Or, as that Wise Man we claim to honor said to his questioner, about a man who helped a stranger at cost and great risk to himself, “You go and do likewise.”

(1st quote is from Stephen Vincent Benet about Stonewall Jackson dying;
2d from Matthew Arnold’s “Dover Beach”;
3rd from Jesus of Nazareth’s story of the Samaritan who helped the beating victim)

The Economy

We had to bail out the German economy (“Marshall Plan”) after Hitler was dealt with.
There will be no one to bail us out …

Pain

The pain around us today is very great. For the many now-targeted groups (lots of us and our neighbors!) it will become greater.
Nevertheless!
Let’s persist in (or begin) doing what we have been given to do – at work, at home, in public or media places.
Let’s persist in simple decency all through our lives. And with energy and excellence even if our actions seem unimportant. “Hard work is good work!”
And do that with conscious, deliberate love – love for our work and its beneficiaries (there are some), love for ourselves, and – what is desperately in demand now – active love for our varied neighbors.
Let’s bloom where we are planted if at all possible; let’s endure; let’s resist the tide of hate – with love.
(The post-election speeches of both Kamala Harris and Joe Biden are good examples of these attitudes. Let’s follow these good attitudes, tailored to our unique situations.)

Stop Trusting Them

In the end, I realized the hurt never turned to hate.  No matter how much my emotions led me to feel so, I never stopped loving people.  I stopped trusting them.  [Morgan Richard Olivier]

See Also:
– Jesus and John Wayne – 2 Saviors. Choose Wisely.
– Can We Love Our Problem Nation – Like Jeremiah Did?

Surprise!!

“Many voters who were using their vote to make an economic statement are likely going to be surprised to discover what they have actually voted for.
…
“White nationalist Nick Fuentes posted, “Your body, my choice. Forever,” and gloated that men will now legally control women’s bodies.
…
“Benny Johnson, previously funded by Russia, posted: “It is my honor to inform you that Project 2025 was real the whole time.”
[from Heather Cox Richardson]

Jesus and the Orange Anti-Christ

Jesus:
Truth, Kindness, Love, Healing. Love God.

The Orange Anti-Christ:
Lies and Fraud, Violence and Rape, Hate, Destruction. Love and worship toward brutal totalitarians.

Our mission:
to hold to the character of Jesus of Nazareth.

I got some flak on this “Anti-Christ” post. Here is my response:

To anyone else reading this thread: I absolutely and wholeheartedly stand by the truths I have expressed here.

Trump Anti-Christ?

Someone said they thought Trump might indeed be the Anti-Christ (after “3 1/2 years” of decent leadership. This is a long-standing right-wing Christian fascination with an Anti-Christ figure that has been pieced together from a variety of Bible passages.) Here’s my response:

I’m judging by how he behaves and how he talks (“by their fruits you will know”). This is about the meaning of “Anti-Christ”. Trump is the moral and spiritual opposite of Christ. That’s the meaning of the term.

And I weigh how worshipful so many of his US “Christian” followers are toward him. One reason the Anti-Christ is significant is because of the worship of so-called Christians.

To me, the geo-political considerations are both too speculative and irrelevant. We see his character – his hate and self-indulgence at any cost, his fraud against anyone and everyone, and his willingness to accept and delight in being worshiped. It’s pretty serious stuff.

So whether he is THE Anti-Christ, he is surely A very visible and obvious anti-Christ.

On slightly different matters

– the right’s whitewashing of MBS (Saudi Arabian leader) is utterly contemptible and we should be grateful for a negative public response, from wherever;
– there are many, many in Israel who deeply and publicly resent Netanyahu.

Thank you, x, for discussing this.

Your Gay Friend

“If you don’t understand why your gay friend is scared right now, then you don’t have a gay friend. You know a gay person.”  [Hanah Fields-Austin]

You Didn’t Know?

In 1946 there were people in Germany and Poland who said “we didn’t know.” Today no one can say they didn’t know, you can only say you didn’t care.  [Daniel HP]

Expensive Food

“If you think food is expensive now wait until we deport half the farm workers. And add on the cost of tariffs. [Kissing Fish Book]

Your Vote is Your Business

Your vote is your business – as between God and you, privately. You CAN vote your conscience.
It’s one of the really wonderful things about being a citizen here.
So let’s do it, eh?

[These quotes are from my personal Facebook page, items I’ve written or shared this month, most recent at the top.]

__________

Questions for us:

1.  Is it even rational to have hope, or to commit to activism, including trying to protect people, in a time like this?

2.  Do you have any explanations for why “conservative” Christians would so eagerly embrace someone who actually meets the criteria for “anti-christ”?

Please add any comments below. (Your personal info is not required.)