Morning Reading . . .
It was a busy summer and especially July in our little corner of creation. My companion and I traveled most of the month with work splashed into the travels. That is one way life is different for me. Have laptop and phone so the office is always with me. I choose to “work” on holiday to stay informed and meet expectations of my position. I also channel a bit of my father’s workaholic tendency the older I become. Anyway, there has not been much time for the leisure routine of reading and when I have I did not make the time to post. I guess if some of my livelihood depended on this blog to generate income then maybe it would get into my regular attention sphere.
I do like to write and think through the keyboard. That part of my day is coming back when September arrives.
Morning reading . . . you might guess that it is dominated by news and opinion about the clash of ideals and values in Charlottesville, VA this past Saturday. Oddly, we passed through Charlottesville on the train from Lynchburg to New York during July taking our niece on her graduation trip.
The last article from Vox.com provides some explanation about the forces at work on white people, no matter how educated or cosmopolitain one might be, as our country struggles to embrace changing demographics, leadership, and address systemic racism. Like my denomination, our country is going through a remodel. Some citizens are not comfortable with the architects drawing the plans. The film, “Men of Honor” highlights the fragile relationship of poor whites, working class whites, and specific to the film, black people, though if made about our historical context it would no doubt include other non-white people.
The response to the election of former President Obama by the GOP at all levels of government, in polite educated voices like Senator McConnell and the gun wielding Tea Party movement, was an alarm ignored that led to the election of Trump with Russian help or not. In the end, the privacy of the election booth gave cover for the fear of other, of change, and loss of power to overshadow education and experience. Electing a woman, even a white woman, after such a shock of victory by a non-white was just too much for some of our citizens no matter her qualifications. And Trump’s lack of civility, open bigotry, and attitude of being above the law based on his economic privilege empowers white people to act out without fear of prosecution like what we saw in Charlottesville. President Trump’s bullying privilege makes space for discriminatory religious liberty laws, for pro-birth requirements of women, and monetizing all aspects of life. These United States are looking a lot more like the Nation States of Europe rather than one Nation with liberty and justice for all. Maybe these are growing pains?
We are all racists, sexists, some kind of ‘ists’ or ‘ism’ to some degree or another no matter our ethnicity. The movie “Blazing Saddles” notes this aspect about the human condition very well. And the movie demonstrates that this doesn’t mean humans cannot overcome this condition, but it takes intentionality. If we survive this second decade of the 21st century it will be because American citizens decided to give up our adolescent ways, learn from history, and embrace early adulthood as a Nation. The civic contract we have with one another requires it. I wonder if people in other parts of the world ask themselves, “I thought America was better than that?”
This Indiana man is in the middle of the ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville
IndyStar.com
Christian Parents of LGBTQ Children: The Church Has Been Wrong
http://johnpavlovitz.com
Editorial: We don’t have words strong enough
The Roanoke Times
Amid the violence in Virginia, President Trump failed in a test of leadership
The Dallas Morning News
Ten Ways to Fight Hate: A Community Response Guide
Southern Poverty Law Center
Independents’ movement hits Philly, walking in Founders’ footsteps
philly.com
The Charlottesville protests are white fragility in action
Vox.com
Well said, Michael, as always. For many different and interrelated reasons, encompassing historical, theological, and cultural issues, I have had gnawing and escalating fears of rather than “growing pains,” that, as you suggest, might lead to a greater expression of “liberty and justice for all,” we may actually be moving toward a choice between a Hobbesian state of nature or some form of strong (usually) Man quasi-Fascist dictatorship. The two films that model this choice for me, both originating in novels, are Cormac McCarthy’s THE ROAD and V FOR VENDETTA. There are others, of course, such as THE HUNGER GAMES (especially the first two novels and films) as well as DIVERGENT (it tends to be a poor person’s version of THE HUNGER GAMES, but the post-apocalyptic setting where a choice had been made long ago, seen every day in the high-rise decay of Chicago, serves its purpose, I think), but my basic frame work starts with McCarthy and V (Natalie Portman’s bad English accent aside). I hope we can find our path away from these two binary ends, but after last November and what has followed since, I have increasing doubts. Thanks for your musings this morning.