Another U.S. election has come and gone and I’m more inclined than ever to NOT watch TV news and the like. The level of negativity and vitriol is exhausting. That said, there are a few points I can’t help but to make….
1st off, I must state that I’m not a partisan. I have been greatly disappointed by both major parties in my lifetime. If I was to label my political philosophy, I’d lean towards “Anarchism” in the classical definition and Christian Anarchism to be more specific. I’m also a realist and know that we as a society are not evolved enough to have a state-less society as described in classical anarchism. That said, I have, at the least, suspicion of those who seek power and, at the most, contempt.
All that is to say that I am very disappointed in where we as a society seem to be. That racism is no longer a disqualifier, after a brief period in our history (post-Civil Rights movement) where it was, disgusts me. It has emboldened people to display ugliness. I speak not just from observations made in the media but also from recent personal experience. I find myself being suspicious of people in public spaces…and I hate that.
It is my hope that things will not continue to get worse in regards to civility. It is my hope that people who profess to be Christians will remember The Sermon on the Mount before they cast disparagement at their neighbor in support of a leader who, by any observation, lacks the ability to be sympathetic or charitable. It is my hope that love will prevail. Perhaps we must 1st experience more ugliness and pain before “our better angels” emerge.
I will finish this borderline rant by expressing my core values. I’m unapologetically, unequivocally opposed to racism, xenophobia, homophobia (or any social “phobia”) and violence. I have no tolerance for any of that BS. I’m of mixed race (BTW, who isn’t?!) and am married to a Filipina immigrant. I have no time for anyone who I perceive as a threat to those I love.