Dear Friend, There's a good chance you won't see this, as at some point over the past few years you either unfriended, unfollowed, or physically disconnected from me—or I from you. There may have been a decisive severing or a slow drifting apart, but the resulting space between us is the same. Still, I'm hopeful that somehow these words will reach you, because there are some things that you need to know; things that I need to say, if for nothing other than my own sanity.
I identity with your plight. I became an atheist 8 1/2 years ago after decades of bring a "born-again" Christian. I now am a secular humanist. My prior dogmatic thinking made me judge people I viewed as living in rebellion against a holy God.
Now I strive to see the value of every human. That includes those still trapped by dogma. You have helped me in getting over any lingering anger I held against conservative Christians when I left Christianity. It's so much better to see our "opponent" as fellow human beings.
This is a grieving that continues in many of our lives. The story is one that stems from whatever that last step was. For us it was Covid and then trump. The culmination of believing in nonsense over the care of us. It is the waste of it all. It is the moving on part and finding some peace that while I didn't wish it, it is healthier. It is hard though to let go of the anger part of grief.
I’ve followed you for a long time now, and always enjoy your input. Two friends have become subscribers and I continue to share your posts to others. Along with Thom Hartmann, the two of you keep me on track politically and spiritually. Our world is in crisis, so we need all the help we can get! ❤️❤️
Right there with you, John. "It's not just political stuff - it's human stuff...." I agree that your list of non-negotiable items are not political positions - they are baseline principles establishing minimally acceptable human behaviors. Today's Rs have chosen to fight for their dystopic policies by recharacterizing our bedrock moral principles as mere political positions - things which they feel free to deny, denigrate, devalue, and even mock but never counter with substantive, reasoned responses. At the same time, they seek to elevate policies awash in greed, racism, gender terrorism, and theologically-based bigotry to sacrosanct "truths" arising from the mouths of their god(s), the Founders, or their NPD/APD Dark Tetrad Pathological Liar Orange Messiah/Felon.
Principles - really? Where is the outcry from the MSM that Felon DJT should drop out of the election or that the Rs should nominate someone who has not taken us on a long ride through the criminal statute book, including serial sexual assault(s), treating a charity as his personal piggy bank, falsifying business records, tax evasion and tax fraud by mis-classifying employee earnings, falsifying property values and related transactions, attempted extortion of foreign countries, money laundering, divulging state secrets and intelligence information to national enemies, fomenting civil disorders (if not insurrection), theft or wrongful retention of highly classified documents, lying or suborning lies by his employees to federal officials, and being an overall putz? Principles - really? Evangelicals - we're looking at you.
Finally, Biden had a bad night last night, just as Obama had a bad night in his first debate with Mitt Romney in 2012, but there is no comparison between an older but highly effective statesman like Joe Biden and a complete criminal and moral degenerate like DJT - and there is no rational or reasonable choice either. Not holding my breath, however, waiting for the NYT, Washington Post, or CNN to state that simple fact. Every single op-ed or article about the "debate" should have started with DJT's disastrous and disqualifying character, his multiple pending trials and convictions, his interminable lies about his and Biden's records during the so called "debate", his dangerous disdain for the military, minorities and women, and only then mention that any concern about Biden's age and cold-influenced performance does not and cannot in any way diminish DJT's profound unfitness for office. Why are these very same media entities so careful to "balance" good news from the Biden Administration with tortured analyses as to how that good news is still somehow bad for Biden, while treating the Felon DJT"s unhinged campaign rants with silence?
In the same vein, did somebody put a muzzle on Chuck Todd last night as DJT lied and refused to answer substantive questions (like how he would help support child care affordability)? Todd just smiled and moved to the next question, letting DJT treat the event as another campaign rally, albeit with a bipartisan audience, and wholly unburdened (and unrestrained) by the truth. Is the reason for this biased media coverage as simple as Biden wants them (people earning over $400,000 annually) to pay their fair share in taxes or is it that the chaos and havoc the Felon DJT wreacked on the country during his term was good for their bottom line and didn't make them actually think hard to find, investigate and report stories of import? Media executives and news "personalities" (most aren't journalists as they were in the past) claim that's not the case, but their actions are drowning out their words.
John, I think the moral arc of the universe needs some more help getting it to bend toward justice again. This year, the color of that help is Blue.
Ever so beautifully spoken...and speaks for so many of your followers/readers, John. The rifts in families and communities (including Church families) are very real, but they were always there ~ just hidden by politeness. The fundamental differences cannot and should not be ignored, not when God's very own heart is being ripped out by the hideous behavior of many who profess to be His people. Thank you. You dug deep for each of us on this one.
I identity with your plight. I became an atheist 8 1/2 years ago after decades of bring a "born-again" Christian. I now am a secular humanist. My prior dogmatic thinking made me judge people I viewed as living in rebellion against a holy God.
Now I strive to see the value of every human. That includes those still trapped by dogma. You have helped me in getting over any lingering anger I held against conservative Christians when I left Christianity. It's so much better to see our "opponent" as fellow human beings.
Thanks for this column.
This is a grieving that continues in many of our lives. The story is one that stems from whatever that last step was. For us it was Covid and then trump. The culmination of believing in nonsense over the care of us. It is the waste of it all. It is the moving on part and finding some peace that while I didn't wish it, it is healthier. It is hard though to let go of the anger part of grief.
Omg thank you for writing my heart and struggles.
I’ve followed you for a long time now, and always enjoy your input. Two friends have become subscribers and I continue to share your posts to others. Along with Thom Hartmann, the two of you keep me on track politically and spiritually. Our world is in crisis, so we need all the help we can get! ❤️❤️
Right there with you, John. "It's not just political stuff - it's human stuff...." I agree that your list of non-negotiable items are not political positions - they are baseline principles establishing minimally acceptable human behaviors. Today's Rs have chosen to fight for their dystopic policies by recharacterizing our bedrock moral principles as mere political positions - things which they feel free to deny, denigrate, devalue, and even mock but never counter with substantive, reasoned responses. At the same time, they seek to elevate policies awash in greed, racism, gender terrorism, and theologically-based bigotry to sacrosanct "truths" arising from the mouths of their god(s), the Founders, or their NPD/APD Dark Tetrad Pathological Liar Orange Messiah/Felon.
Principles - really? Where is the outcry from the MSM that Felon DJT should drop out of the election or that the Rs should nominate someone who has not taken us on a long ride through the criminal statute book, including serial sexual assault(s), treating a charity as his personal piggy bank, falsifying business records, tax evasion and tax fraud by mis-classifying employee earnings, falsifying property values and related transactions, attempted extortion of foreign countries, money laundering, divulging state secrets and intelligence information to national enemies, fomenting civil disorders (if not insurrection), theft or wrongful retention of highly classified documents, lying or suborning lies by his employees to federal officials, and being an overall putz? Principles - really? Evangelicals - we're looking at you.
Finally, Biden had a bad night last night, just as Obama had a bad night in his first debate with Mitt Romney in 2012, but there is no comparison between an older but highly effective statesman like Joe Biden and a complete criminal and moral degenerate like DJT - and there is no rational or reasonable choice either. Not holding my breath, however, waiting for the NYT, Washington Post, or CNN to state that simple fact. Every single op-ed or article about the "debate" should have started with DJT's disastrous and disqualifying character, his multiple pending trials and convictions, his interminable lies about his and Biden's records during the so called "debate", his dangerous disdain for the military, minorities and women, and only then mention that any concern about Biden's age and cold-influenced performance does not and cannot in any way diminish DJT's profound unfitness for office. Why are these very same media entities so careful to "balance" good news from the Biden Administration with tortured analyses as to how that good news is still somehow bad for Biden, while treating the Felon DJT"s unhinged campaign rants with silence?
In the same vein, did somebody put a muzzle on Chuck Todd last night as DJT lied and refused to answer substantive questions (like how he would help support child care affordability)? Todd just smiled and moved to the next question, letting DJT treat the event as another campaign rally, albeit with a bipartisan audience, and wholly unburdened (and unrestrained) by the truth. Is the reason for this biased media coverage as simple as Biden wants them (people earning over $400,000 annually) to pay their fair share in taxes or is it that the chaos and havoc the Felon DJT wreacked on the country during his term was good for their bottom line and didn't make them actually think hard to find, investigate and report stories of import? Media executives and news "personalities" (most aren't journalists as they were in the past) claim that's not the case, but their actions are drowning out their words.
John, I think the moral arc of the universe needs some more help getting it to bend toward justice again. This year, the color of that help is Blue.
Ever so beautifully spoken...and speaks for so many of your followers/readers, John. The rifts in families and communities (including Church families) are very real, but they were always there ~ just hidden by politeness. The fundamental differences cannot and should not be ignored, not when God's very own heart is being ripped out by the hideous behavior of many who profess to be His people. Thank you. You dug deep for each of us on this one.