"REMORSE, ANGER AND ACTION"

REMORSE, ANGER, ACTION

            These are some of my reactions to the events of this past week – pipe bombs mailed out, two African-Americans killed by a white supremacist in Kentucky, eleven people shot to death in a Pittsburgh synagogue, the latter ironically named “Tree of Life.”  I am remorseful that it has come to this, that white supremacy has felt emboldened to crawl out from its pit of iniquity and not just speak hatred and racism and anti-Semitism ad sexism, but to act them out in public also.  As a white man, I need to remember that many people in this country live this every day – my white male privilege has kept me shielded from much of these kinds of events.  This past week was not one of those shielding weeks.

            Second, I am angry that my white brothers feel the need to kill and maim and terrorize the “other.”  I am angry that this kind of action is part of the bone marrow of United States history.  What we saw this past week was nothing new – it grew out of the deep reservoir of white supremacy that is in our American DNA.  I’m also angry that our President not only calls this up – he stokes it and revels in it.  His base is reacting to his sermon on white supremacy, just like a call and response.  Though I pray every day that the President will change, I can’t imagine that he will.  He seems to live for this kind of stuff, and his very self-image seems to depend on his having an enemy.   The slaughter in Tree of Life Synagogue is only the latest manifestation of this deep sickness of white supremacy.  And, oh, the guns!  The guns!  How our manhood depends on them!   As the prophet Ezekiel put it:  “the parents have eaten bitter grapes, the children’s teeth are set on edge.”

            The third reaction is the call to action.  We can no longer wonder what is wrong with President Trump.  We must no longer wonder why the Republican Party is so captured by his white supremacy.  We must no longer wonder if there is anything that we can do.  Yes, we must take action.   The midterm election ends in 8 days, so it you have not voted, go do it tomorrow.  Get your friends to do it.  Get your colleagues and friends to do it.  There are simply no more excuses, no more chances.  It’s either stymie Trump and his white supremacists or risk becoming Nazi Germany.  

            After you vote, go get involved somewhere in the political realm.  By “political,” I don’t mean choosing a political party, although that would be fine.  I mean for us to get involved in discerning and changing how power is distributed and used in this country – that’s what “political” means.   I’m committing to working on getting the cannon removed in the Decatur square that celebrates “the Indian wars of 1836.”  Yes, that is the beginning of the Trail of Tears, ordered by a Presbyterian, Democratic President Andrew Jackson.   I’m also going to join a court watch program somewhere in order to be a presence and hopefully a mitigator of the Mass Incarceration program arm of white supremacy.  These may not be your places of engagement, but I hope that you will find some.   All of our lives, especially those lives on the margins – all of our lives depend upon our choices over the next few weeks.  Just remember – RAA – remorse, anger, action.