As much as I hate the way media fan the flames of agony and uproar, I don’t want this fire to die down. Reports on what actually occurred in the Capitol building, and who did it, are beyond alarming. Not to mention five people dead. And there’s the possibility that the same thug conspirators are planning something equally terroristic for the January 20th Inauguration Day–with the promise that their fuhrer won’t be attending.
This morning I received a long (and rare) email from my colleague Veda, head of the PEB Schools in Pakistan, which I have supported for more than a decade. She is heartsick over the shock and humiliation of the American image, and the Christian image, in her native country. She’s an America citizen now, but faces equally problematic attitudes towards Christians, or “Christians,” in this country. The labels Christian, patriot, and Republican are forever besmirched with the feces those invaders reportedly left in the Capitol building. What else I fail to understand are the senators Hawley and Cruz. They are smeered with feces, too, with their heads up their own backsides.
Reverence and awe are in short supply among the ignorant and unwashed–as so many of the rioters appeared to be. Even the T was heard to remark on video that they looked “low class.” Well, did he expect anyone more sophisticated than his rally gangsters to show up for his insurrection?? Of course, it takes one to know one, as playground bullies will say: low class recognizes itself.
I pray for impeachment. Even with the threat that a trial will interfere with the business of Congress immediately upon entry of the Biden administration, the soon-to-be-ex-president must face consequences that prevent him from ever running for office. After that, other criminal charges of all kinds should be pursued as well.
As for his loyal followers?? What will burst their bubble of delusion?? We know that millions of so-called evangelicals have adhered for decades to a deluded theology proclaimed by their preachers and prophets in the churches. Why would they not cling to their political hero?
I’m not accustomed to crude thinking, and the language that goes with it. I feel besmirched myself. However, sometimes a sense of righteousness impels one to turn over tables and whip the blasphemers out of hallowed places. I accept responsibility for being mad as hell.
In the contemporary paraphrase called The Message, one of my guiding scriptures reads thus:
How can I stand up before God….?…He’s already made it plain how to live, what to do, what God is looking for in men and women. It’s quite simple: Do what is fair and just to your neighbor, be compassionate and loyal in your love, And don’t take yourself too seriously–take God seriously.
Love and compassion. Fairness and justice. These are not weak beliefs and fuzzy behaviors. They are strong and certain actions of faith and government that can and will prevail.
We are in for a dangerous time between now and Inauguration Day — and no doubt after that as well. But I am not without hope that things can and will improve once the putsch leader is out of official power.
My own outrage knows no bounds.
I’m glad I lived my life on my own terms. I’m proud of that.
Every night before we go to sleep I tell my husband:
“If they destroy the country tonight, I’m okay with dying. Thank you for being my loving partner all these years.”
It’s sad that we live in fear of such consequences.
It should not be so.
I can’t decide which horrifies me the most–the pandemic or the insurrection in the Capitol. Both of which I never thought I’d be experiencing. Both, also, could have been less horrific or, in the case of the Capitol, still considered to be something that “just could never happen in the USA”
due to the would-be dictator at the top. And his enablers. It is exhausting–this living through interesting times.