 |
| Does he even understand what America is? |
Surely you can find photos and bios of the most wholesome-appearing couples you would ever want to see - leaders of the church. I just wonder how, privately, they probably feel support for many parts of the progressive political agenda - ideas espoused by Jesus Christ himself.
I am trying to give these wonderful young people the benefit of the doubt. My theory is that many of them are "closeted," in the closet because they are beholden to so many of their congregants who feel their faith must be attached at the hip to the Republican Party and Donald Trump. I'm not sure those two things - the Republican Party and Trump - should really be synonymous at all. The popular perception has taken over.
The young and committed evangelicals need money to support their churches. So many of the older white people who disproportionately support churches have grown reactionary in their political thinking. The intensity of their views scares me sometimes. It's an element of the "heartland" population of America.
The media talk regularly about the "evangelicals" who it is assumed support Republicans of the most staunch kind, but not the kind that can actually respect critical thinking. It's reactionary and emotional. And these congregants have money. Money is not supposed to be the overriding propulsion for Christianity. It complements the true ideals and principals espoused by Jesus Christ. This does not include xenophobia and other common ills of the right wing mind.
Explaining a conundrum
Often I hear or read: Why do so many heartland people continue with loyalty to Donald Trump even when it can be demonstrated that the policies are hurting them? A question like this demands an answer, explanation or interpretation. Problem is, the answer can be ugly. It probably has to do with sheer race. Because Trump can be seen as being aligned with white America, as we heard the "send her back" chants, no other issues matter to so many of those people.
We must not avoid being blunt: What so many of the older heartland folks seem to be professing is: Being white is all-important, the quality that trumps (so to speak) all others. So, even if I'm an impoverished and struggling white person, I'm still allowed to feel superior to all non-white people. And in that refuge I'll feel content to my dying day.
Such people pine for the Norman Rockwell America which really wasn't as great as nostalgia suggests. Rockwell commanded 100 percent respect as an artist. His niche was to present the idyllic view of America and I think he did this without any partisan motives. It just became his "thing." His images were endearing by themselves and without any political embellishments. I think he might decry how his work would today be equated with the xenophobic strain.
The heartlanders who populate so many of our fundamentalist-style churches are scared. They fear aliens and elitists. In the Morris area they see a distinct divide between their world and the University of Minnesota-Morris. There is no reason to feel threatened, I assert while chuckling, by anyone at UMM. Mix with that community and you'll find them totally warm and caring. Give them a chance.
Trump tries selling his vision with fallacies. He pushes various buttons to seize on the fears and insecurities of the heartland. In its essence, Trump's vision to the extent it can even be distilled, is contrary to the fundamental idea of America. We can easily argue it is more in line with Russia. Sound familiar?
We in the U.S. are meant to be pluralistic. It is our destiny. America was in fact set up to be future-oriented and not to be buried in the past. This means switching to electric cars, a trend resisted by many Trump-ites who have actually chosen to try to block access to electric charging stations (with their pickups that have the "Hillary for prison" bumper stickers).
Normally we see regressive ideas die a pretty decisive death as with the U.S. Civil War. Trump-ism might be a special problem, partly because he was elected with less than 50 percent of the vote. His administration is having profound and scary effects.
Evangelicals, be aware
I have warned several times that the biggest dangers might not be the kind of things that evangelicals even think about. No. 1 on that list: Trump's desire to take over complete authority with the Federal Reserve. It is said he cannot "likely" do that. Well. . . Trump has a background of winning all these things in the end with sharp lawyers who constantly file suit.
Anything reaching the Supreme Court would end up 5-4 with the Trump-ites (not to be confused with real conservatives) winning. William Barr is a total Trump loyalist, a sycophant.
Why don't more of us rise up and plead for an end to these power usurpation trends? Many of us are, just not enough. Democrats need some assurance there is sufficient public support.
America has been through challenges to its unique and idealistic pillars in the past. Honestly, I really wonder if we'll get through this one. At some point I may have to give up arguing these points. Maybe it will seem like "every man for himself" and I'll have to behave accordingly.
Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
- Proverbs 10:12
- Brian Williams - morris mn minnesota - bwilly73@yahoo.com
No comments:
Post a Comment