I was reading a mystery novel last night and this one line stood out as it applies to these times especially: "You lose your job if you tell the truth, and lose your soul if you don't" Right-on, Congress, yes?!?
Your messages always resonates with me, John, particularly today! I'm so tired of hearing that there's nothing we can do about this & I've already blown up 2 long time friendships over this. They couldn't believe I would end a relationship over 'politics'. I'm tired of having to explain myself, but I feel very strongly about where our country is right now and as I told them, this is no longer about politics, it's about values & morals. 😔
Yes! Politics is not a separate category. It's built into the fabric of existence of everyone. I was a long time not understanding that. However, I voted Democratic because of their long history of successful governing. Now I understand "the opposition": better -- and it isn't good.
A.M.E.N. Thank you for being "too loud, too opinionated, too political." It gives the rest of us hope and courage. To be silent is to give power to the cruelty and abuse of power and privilege. Yesterday and today, Jesus' words, "Brood of vipers," have been ringing in my head. Couldn't say it better than that.
I completely agree with the need to speak out and act. However, my son is frightened that I'll be deported and asked me to sanitize my Facebook postings. I didn't attend the 4/5 protest in our city for the same reason. I feel paralyzed. You see I'm not a citizen. I am a legal resident alien which used to feel safe. It doesn't any more. But then I think of all those Germans who stayed silent in the face of the Nazi regime. Legally silence suggests consent, I believe.
I have been a religious educator and a hospital chaplain. I have always seen my career as ministry and currently support PFLAG and the Trevor Project. But that's not enough.
I hope you can be gentle with yourself about this. It certainly sounds to me that you would not be safe at protests in the same way that many of us are. You can keep praying, stay connected with groups who are helping, and perhaps donate time and money if you are able. Please stay safe.
First & foremost, keep yourself safe. But other people on here have some good ideas: donate money or time behind the scenes. Local candidates you support probably need volunteers to do phone banking, which will not expose you, but could get the word out for good people who are running for office.
You are not safe. As Heather Cox Richardson says, This is when old white women need to step up (if we are able). We are less likely to be attacked or arrested because we are white and maybe older. Not that it’s a guarantee. Sit this out. Send postcards. During the campaign, someone printed business cards with Democrat successes and left them in dressing room and restrooms. Could do the same with Trump screwups. That’s anonymous.
You can write to your Congressmen. You can donate to the cause. You can speak to your circle of friends and make them aware and encourage action. You can help candidates who have your values by volunteering. You are not powerless.
Mona - No human being is an "alien." Period. Here or any other place on the planet. So, you are an immigrant to the USA. So we're every single one of our ancestors except the indigenous nations who lives her millenia before the rest of us came. Just know you BELONG here! If you are "alien" then we all are "alien"! Meanwhile, be wise about where you go alone and who you interact with. Others have offered good suggestions about how to stay engaged. Those of us who are safer, for now, will take the front row. We need you and all you bring to us! Stay safe!
Love what Gov. Walz said while campaigning, “Oh you’re not into politics? Well, politics is into you!” One way to welcome people into the conversation is to do so by determining what directly impacts them.
I’m super anxious about an upcoming visit to see a friend who used to be my bestie but the drift seems too big to overcome. I deconstructed faith (love my Jesus still) and went left in politics while she stayed evangelical and apolitical but voted Trump because she wanted Kennedy. We have nothing to talk about. She doesn’t want to follow current events and I can’t look away. This may be a last visit unless she can see and acknowledge the destruction.
I used to be apolitical. Then in 2015 when Trump came on the scene, I began to be scared. That's what influenced me to follow politics. I always have voted blue, without detailing much thought. Now it has become of deadly import, life or death. Started being thus in 2015. How could any thinking person continue voting republican after enduring Trump's first term? That's (sadly) the answer: the enemy is the people. I became more active because of what was staring me in the face, that's what it took for me.
I have been wondering if my MAGA friends don't want to talk about politics because if they look at the facts of what is happening, there is no way to defend it.
Yes, absolutely. And I would add this. Too many feel moral outrage or outright despair yet do nothing. You hear them railing at the Democrats as if this is their fault. Well, as Trump would say, the Democrats don't have the cards. In the government, the Democrats can't even bring legislation to the floor unless the Republicans acquiesce. No cavalry is coming to save us. We, the people, have to get off the couch and save ourselves. Get out and protest, write to your Congressmen, and/or donate to the cause. Moral indignation alone is not enough.
Well said. The reality is we live in dangerous times. Dangerous for our rights, our economic security, our diversity as a nation, and silence is not an option. When people are deported without due process and the president encourages the leader of El Salvador (a dictator with concentration camp like prison) to build 5 more to house US citizens, it is eerily like Dachau or other Nazi concentration camps. It means that all Americans could easily be denied due process and disappeared like in Chile or Argentina in the past. If due process is abrogated for some it is really abrogated for all. We have to be loud. We have to stand up for the least of these among us, the poor, the immigrant, the different. As a pastor I was apolitical in my church as well, but I could not be if I was in a church now. Part of the Christian church has sold its soul for power and given up its moral authority. Those of us remaining must shine that light so people can see that there are still people of faith who try to be moral, compassionate, caring, democracy loving, kind, but are also willing to call out the hate, call out the racism, call out the bigotry etc.
My priest is retiring this year. She has her years in, but her husband, to the chagrin of the GOP parishioners, is quietly Indivisible and I’m sure both would like to be more vocal. I wonder how much that plays into her decision. I am grieving because she’s been such a support in these times even as she sits the fence. I’ll bet you had folks in your congregation who felt the same. Love wins. Always.
I find myself relying too much on reading and commenting on the situation. The solution is not expressing beliefs in writing. It is in direct action. It must be done in mass as it was on April 5th. The thing that is missing is a strong leader in the Democratic Party and expression of the party's platform or agenda. It must be more than just a refuting Trump; there have to be alternatives. Congress must be forced into action as part of any plan. The Republicans in the Senate and house who disagree with what is happening, and I believe there are many who disagree, have to show the courage to speak out and reclaim the power they have given away. Courageous campaigns will beat Elon Musk's money like it did in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court needs to issue firm directives and find Trump's action to be unconstitutional and issue opinions that are not ambiguous and open to misinterpretation. Mass demonstrations, a defined leader and a defined platform that brings together the factions that have formed in the party. My only power is my vote; I can't march for physical reasons and age and my HOA will tell me to remove my sign.
Bernie and AOC had a full capacity crowd, over 12,000, at their rally in Boise (Nampa) ID last Mon. Bernie IS our strong leader and is rallying the opposition
This is exactly why you're my people. My friends are annoyed by me. I don't care. I keep saying, "Y'all think I'm overreacting. I think you're not reacting enough." And every day that passes I get angrier because I'm one of a handful of actual humans that I know that are getting angrier, while the reasons for getting angrier keep piling up. It's bullshit, quite frankly, and I'm sad, I'm tired, and I'm lonely.
You just wrote the story of my last 10 years. These comment sections don't do the work. They do show us a large community united in outrage against the lawlessness, danger, and cruelty of this regime. Previous comment " If you wonder what you would have done in 1930's Germany, you're doing it now. "
Well said, John. These truly are unprecedented times in a country where this treachery was considered unthinkable a few short years ago. The more voices that we hear protesting against it, the safer the protesters will be.
I am speaking out while trying to approach it all with love. I am sick at heart with all the cruelty and hatred I am seeing and don't want to add to that. I do not find those positions easy to balance.
You are speaking/writing exactly what we all need to hear again & again right now. I also feel less alone in my conservative soul when I read your words & hear your outrage over the same things that break my heart everyday.
I was a public school teacher and then, after thirty years of that, became a massage therapist for almost twenty. I know all about sitting on the fence and being “tolerant”. Now I’m 74, and I keep remembering the verse where Jesus says, “I never knew you.” I don’t want that to be me, so as scary as it is, I’m going to rallies and making my calls. I have to be true to what I know is right. Abrego Garcia is only one of the things that is so very wrong.
I was reading a mystery novel last night and this one line stood out as it applies to these times especially: "You lose your job if you tell the truth, and lose your soul if you don't" Right-on, Congress, yes?!?
Your messages always resonates with me, John, particularly today! I'm so tired of hearing that there's nothing we can do about this & I've already blown up 2 long time friendships over this. They couldn't believe I would end a relationship over 'politics'. I'm tired of having to explain myself, but I feel very strongly about where our country is right now and as I told them, this is no longer about politics, it's about values & morals. 😔
Yes! Politics is not a separate category. It's built into the fabric of existence of everyone. I was a long time not understanding that. However, I voted Democratic because of their long history of successful governing. Now I understand "the opposition": better -- and it isn't good.
Get out there and wave OUR FLAG!!!!
Capture the flag!
Have signs supporting the constitution.and any other signage supporting illegal power grab.
And everyone bring an American flag big or small.
Don’t give the other side reason for a fight to defend their idol leader. He is not who we are fighting against.
We are fighting for the constitution.
Take back the symbol of the American flag as our flag that upholds the ideals of the constitution.
Do not have signs that have the names of their idol leader or anyone else.
We represent America and American morals and values. We show it with the symbol that unites us, not divided us.
A.M.E.N. Thank you for being "too loud, too opinionated, too political." It gives the rest of us hope and courage. To be silent is to give power to the cruelty and abuse of power and privilege. Yesterday and today, Jesus' words, "Brood of vipers," have been ringing in my head. Couldn't say it better than that.
I completely agree with the need to speak out and act. However, my son is frightened that I'll be deported and asked me to sanitize my Facebook postings. I didn't attend the 4/5 protest in our city for the same reason. I feel paralyzed. You see I'm not a citizen. I am a legal resident alien which used to feel safe. It doesn't any more. But then I think of all those Germans who stayed silent in the face of the Nazi regime. Legally silence suggests consent, I believe.
I have been a religious educator and a hospital chaplain. I have always seen my career as ministry and currently support PFLAG and the Trevor Project. But that's not enough.
I hope you can be gentle with yourself about this. It certainly sounds to me that you would not be safe at protests in the same way that many of us are. You can keep praying, stay connected with groups who are helping, and perhaps donate time and money if you are able. Please stay safe.
First & foremost, keep yourself safe. But other people on here have some good ideas: donate money or time behind the scenes. Local candidates you support probably need volunteers to do phone banking, which will not expose you, but could get the word out for good people who are running for office.
You are not safe. As Heather Cox Richardson says, This is when old white women need to step up (if we are able). We are less likely to be attacked or arrested because we are white and maybe older. Not that it’s a guarantee. Sit this out. Send postcards. During the campaign, someone printed business cards with Democrat successes and left them in dressing room and restrooms. Could do the same with Trump screwups. That’s anonymous.
You can write to your Congressmen. You can donate to the cause. You can speak to your circle of friends and make them aware and encourage action. You can help candidates who have your values by volunteering. You are not powerless.
Please be safe. 🙏
Mona - No human being is an "alien." Period. Here or any other place on the planet. So, you are an immigrant to the USA. So we're every single one of our ancestors except the indigenous nations who lives her millenia before the rest of us came. Just know you BELONG here! If you are "alien" then we all are "alien"! Meanwhile, be wise about where you go alone and who you interact with. Others have offered good suggestions about how to stay engaged. Those of us who are safer, for now, will take the front row. We need you and all you bring to us! Stay safe!
John is so right!
Do all you can- protest, march, shout, send emails, support those who uphold our constitution, call out cruelty!!!!
Love what Gov. Walz said while campaigning, “Oh you’re not into politics? Well, politics is into you!” One way to welcome people into the conversation is to do so by determining what directly impacts them.
I’m super anxious about an upcoming visit to see a friend who used to be my bestie but the drift seems too big to overcome. I deconstructed faith (love my Jesus still) and went left in politics while she stayed evangelical and apolitical but voted Trump because she wanted Kennedy. We have nothing to talk about. She doesn’t want to follow current events and I can’t look away. This may be a last visit unless she can see and acknowledge the destruction.
I used to be apolitical. Then in 2015 when Trump came on the scene, I began to be scared. That's what influenced me to follow politics. I always have voted blue, without detailing much thought. Now it has become of deadly import, life or death. Started being thus in 2015. How could any thinking person continue voting republican after enduring Trump's first term? That's (sadly) the answer: the enemy is the people. I became more active because of what was staring me in the face, that's what it took for me.
Ditto
I have been wondering if my MAGA friends don't want to talk about politics because if they look at the facts of what is happening, there is no way to defend it.
Send her John's column (or a free subscription) and tell her you'd like to discuss it with her when you visit.
You summed it up ; She doesn't want to follow current events and I can't look away.
Having an effect on my previously close friendships too
Yes, absolutely. And I would add this. Too many feel moral outrage or outright despair yet do nothing. You hear them railing at the Democrats as if this is their fault. Well, as Trump would say, the Democrats don't have the cards. In the government, the Democrats can't even bring legislation to the floor unless the Republicans acquiesce. No cavalry is coming to save us. We, the people, have to get off the couch and save ourselves. Get out and protest, write to your Congressmen, and/or donate to the cause. Moral indignation alone is not enough.
Well said. The reality is we live in dangerous times. Dangerous for our rights, our economic security, our diversity as a nation, and silence is not an option. When people are deported without due process and the president encourages the leader of El Salvador (a dictator with concentration camp like prison) to build 5 more to house US citizens, it is eerily like Dachau or other Nazi concentration camps. It means that all Americans could easily be denied due process and disappeared like in Chile or Argentina in the past. If due process is abrogated for some it is really abrogated for all. We have to be loud. We have to stand up for the least of these among us, the poor, the immigrant, the different. As a pastor I was apolitical in my church as well, but I could not be if I was in a church now. Part of the Christian church has sold its soul for power and given up its moral authority. Those of us remaining must shine that light so people can see that there are still people of faith who try to be moral, compassionate, caring, democracy loving, kind, but are also willing to call out the hate, call out the racism, call out the bigotry etc.
My priest is retiring this year. She has her years in, but her husband, to the chagrin of the GOP parishioners, is quietly Indivisible and I’m sure both would like to be more vocal. I wonder how much that plays into her decision. I am grieving because she’s been such a support in these times even as she sits the fence. I’ll bet you had folks in your congregation who felt the same. Love wins. Always.
I find myself relying too much on reading and commenting on the situation. The solution is not expressing beliefs in writing. It is in direct action. It must be done in mass as it was on April 5th. The thing that is missing is a strong leader in the Democratic Party and expression of the party's platform or agenda. It must be more than just a refuting Trump; there have to be alternatives. Congress must be forced into action as part of any plan. The Republicans in the Senate and house who disagree with what is happening, and I believe there are many who disagree, have to show the courage to speak out and reclaim the power they have given away. Courageous campaigns will beat Elon Musk's money like it did in Wisconsin. The Supreme Court needs to issue firm directives and find Trump's action to be unconstitutional and issue opinions that are not ambiguous and open to misinterpretation. Mass demonstrations, a defined leader and a defined platform that brings together the factions that have formed in the party. My only power is my vote; I can't march for physical reasons and age and my HOA will tell me to remove my sign.
Bernie and AOC had a full capacity crowd, over 12,000, at their rally in Boise (Nampa) ID last Mon. Bernie IS our strong leader and is rallying the opposition
This is exactly why you're my people. My friends are annoyed by me. I don't care. I keep saying, "Y'all think I'm overreacting. I think you're not reacting enough." And every day that passes I get angrier because I'm one of a handful of actual humans that I know that are getting angrier, while the reasons for getting angrier keep piling up. It's bullshit, quite frankly, and I'm sad, I'm tired, and I'm lonely.
Thank you for being my people.
You just wrote the story of my last 10 years. These comment sections don't do the work. They do show us a large community united in outrage against the lawlessness, danger, and cruelty of this regime. Previous comment " If you wonder what you would have done in 1930's Germany, you're doing it now. "
Well said, John. These truly are unprecedented times in a country where this treachery was considered unthinkable a few short years ago. The more voices that we hear protesting against it, the safer the protesters will be.
I am speaking out while trying to approach it all with love. I am sick at heart with all the cruelty and hatred I am seeing and don't want to add to that. I do not find those positions easy to balance.
You are speaking/writing exactly what we all need to hear again & again right now. I also feel less alone in my conservative soul when I read your words & hear your outrage over the same things that break my heart everyday.
I was a public school teacher and then, after thirty years of that, became a massage therapist for almost twenty. I know all about sitting on the fence and being “tolerant”. Now I’m 74, and I keep remembering the verse where Jesus says, “I never knew you.” I don’t want that to be me, so as scary as it is, I’m going to rallies and making my calls. I have to be true to what I know is right. Abrego Garcia is only one of the things that is so very wrong.