Unfortunately,
to live in a historic time where one is tested is not a choice; the choice lies
in how one responds. And in the United
States of America, such a time is where we find ourselves. We are in a time of crisis. The word “Crisis”
comes from the Greek word krísis,
which denotes “a separating, power of distinguishing, decision, choice,
election, judgment, dispute.” In
our time modern definition Crisis means a
crucial or decisive point or situation; a turning point. Crisis is thought to always be bad, but it is
not necessarily; it is, however, intense.
We find ourselves at a crossroads, a time of political and ideological
division. The result is an unprecedented
display of non-civility towards each other as citizens. The result is an unprecedented series of
actions from our government that severely threatens our basic rights, and more
dangerously, the processes which keep our nation safe from tyranny.
It has been said that President Donald Trump
is like Hitler; but what does that mean?
What does it mean to be like Adolf Hitler? If the qualification is an ambitious ego that
thinks it knows best how to make a nation safe and prosperous, then we
would have a long list indeed. If the qualification includes attempting to
silence or discredit the opposition, or seeing any opposing voice as an enemy…again,
the list would be quite long. No, if we
are honest many of the qualities of Hitler, many of the qualities of evil men
and women live inside all of us; the seduction of using violence to bend others
to our will is something we all face. So
what is it? I would say it is not
beneficial to compare President Trump to Chancellor Hitler. It is useful and necessary to compare the
current population of the United States to that of Nazi Germany. It is time to compare us with the people of
Germany in the 1930’s; the real sin, the real problem is a collective problem,
a national problem. Adolf Hitler would
never have existed without the approval of many Germans, and the silent
sanction of other Germans (The Nazis only won a 43.9% vote in the last
free election). And so today,
we must face the fact that President Trump’s policies and our state of
government are a reflection and a result of our collective sins; but it is not
too late to change course.
Collective sin is a difficult concept for
us. First, many of us Americans don’t believe
in God or sin; that is fine. No religion
is required for this discussion, and I consider the word “sin” has enough
context and colloquial use that no explanation or substitution of the word is
needed. Second, Americans hate the idea
of collective anything really. To individually bear the burden of crimes committed
by the mass, seems to us unjust. The
justice of it can be argued in a metaphysics or theology class, the reality is
we do bear the burden of each others' sins; and as a nation no time makes that
more clear than now. This reality, this glaring fact of our existence reveals
another truth we are loathe to recognize: We are all responsible for our own
actions and the welfare of each other; a truth so many of us have ignored or
forgotten. And the results are all
around us…
While many Democrats or Liberals in this
historical context will eagerly point the finger at the Conservatives and
Republicans who bore this tyrant, it is important to remember that we are all
responsible and bear the burden: a Tyrant
in America is the result of the American People. For example with
globalization came increased wages and prosperity for many. But for many in
this nation, that benefit was not shared.
We could have done more to promote and encourage education and skill
training for job markets that were growing.
We didn’t. We could have valued
and encouraged academic excellence over achievement in sports; we didn’t. We could have had leaders in our communities
and government that taught us the way forward in a global economy is away from manufacturing,
towards education in technology and science; we didn’t. This nation still bears the scars, burden and
judgement for its own continued racial injustice. Many (white people from all political backgrounds)
would love to keep slavery, Jim Crow Laws, the socio-economic impact of white
flight in history books. In history
books we can pretend that the impacts of those sins are done and over; but they
are not. The sins of our ancestors are
with us still today, and I hope in time we will have the courage and humility to
face these impacts together. For we must
remember just as we bear the sins of our ancestors, so will our children be
impacted by the choices and the world we create today. And then there is the
dawn of social media…
In this our collective sin should be
evident. As a people we have developed a
culture of demonizing those who believe different than us; behave different
from us; are different from us. Are we
then surprised at the recent Executive Orders to build a wall and prohibit
refugees and immigrants from entering our great nation? In social media
politics, we have become more obsessed with our side winning, then our side
being moral. We have become more loyal
to personalities or parties, then to principles. Together, fist-to-fist, we have created a divisive
and violent culture that will not listen to others, will not reflect on self…we
have created a system where we no longer encourage thinking, where we no longer
value bettering ourselves as moral agents; the consequences are now becoming
deadly.
The
symptom of a collapsing society is its eagerness to demonize and blame the
foreigner: this is Human History 101. Any
sensible person will be able to discern that it is not the refugee or foreigner
that is to blame for economic decline and breakdown in community…it is this
nation’s citizens that are to blame. But
it is easier to judge others than to reflect on oneself. And so instead of asking the question, “what
is my role in this?” or “how can I or we be better?” We blame the Republicans; We blame the
Democrats; We blame them…we blame powerless refugees from a war-torn nation (?!?). Honestly, how can we seriously think refugees
or migrants have had any power over our National Decline?
It is imperative that we work to break these
divisions amongst us. Not that we must agree
on policy; in fact, that is the VERY thing we MUST defend: the freedom to
disagree. But, how we disagree, and how
we communicate and debate ideas, this is where we need to change. How can we find solutions together; how can we
begin to trust each other again? It is
not too late…we can change; together we can stand against this tyranny and be
better for it. Republicans would do well
to reemphasize their traditional values of free markets, and decreased power to
the Central Federal Government: be loyal to your ideals and principles…not to politicians.
Would Republicans allow such sweeping orders from a Democrat unchallenged? And would Democrats adhere to their principles
under a growing tyrannical regime under the “Democrat” label?
In the end…we are responsible for our own
actions, and for each other. Unfortunately, to live in a historic time where
one is tested is not a choice; the choice lies in how one responds. And what we choose, and how we live out those
choices defines our humanity.
May God have mercy on America.
