Well said. To me, this is not a hard call. It is one thing to disagree over marginal tax rates or whether we should have Medicare for all. But if you are ok with women dying because they can't get medical care for a miscarriage, or the military shooting and killing protesters, or taking the right to vote away from anyone, or separating families who have tried to immigrate to our country, then I just don't like you anymore. It isn't about politics as much as it is about values and humanity.
I have already given up some friendships, and it was hard because some of them were people I loved and had known for years. But when it is a daughter-in-law who is raising my beautiful grandson, I can't cut her out of my life if I want to be able to have a meaningful relationship with him. As he enters his teens, it is easier to talk with him about my own views and why we disagree with Trump, but there is no point talking with his mother about it because she is one of those people who refuses to discuss politics. (P.S. I do more than "disagree" with Trump. I hate him and everything he stands for. I weep for our country. I'm scared for our allies and for the future of mankind. It is unfathomable to me that over half the voters chose this malignant, horrible man.)
Curious how such a spiteful mother is able to raise a child with the ability to escape her lack of humanity and thought. Hang in there with your grandson! You can plant seeds that will provide empathy and critical thinking skills.
I generally believe in live and let live. But the forced birth people don’t believe that. They believe their view should impact your healthcare. Never mind that they don’t know you in any way and that no action of yours will impact their lives. I no longer have the emotional bandwidth to tolerate such odious, cruel people who go out of their way to be hurtful to others. So some relationships will fall by the wayside and not picked up.
As a UMC retired clergy, I agree. You noted all the American minority members who will be unsafe under Trump. That goes double for the people of Ukraine, Taiwan, and others in this contemporary but undeclared WW III between Autocracy (Putin, Xi, Trump, Jung il, Maduro, al Asaad, Orban, Erdogan, et al) and Democracy. This election is equivalent to America entering WW II on the side of Mussolini and Hitler. It's time for us as Christians to emulate Bonhoffer and not Niemoller.
I really tried not to let politics get in the way of relationships after 2016. But then I started noticing more and more dehumanizing rhetoric from folks, and that is just a deal-breaker for me. I have to accept that is who they are and distance myself from these relationships. It feels like the most loving thing I'm capable of with some people.
Is it politics or is it values? Do values inform our candidate and policy choices? I ended a relationship with a colleague of 30 some years who became a friend.
Because of their work with military veterans, I emailed the Gen Kelly interviews, saying if they’d not voted yet, I hoped it would influence, that tho I knew they were GOP & conservative, it made no sense given Trump’s statements about Sen McCain, Gen Kelly’s son and others; it would be hypocritical to vote for trump.
They had already. They said they were hurt I’d said what I did; I said I was stunned given their knowledge of my Judaism & the admiration trump has for Hitler.
My values inform my life and they know that. They thought we could “get beyond” the election. When they started repeating lies about immigrants, I said another bridge too far.
Done. I thought it would feel bad, sad. It didn’t & doesn’t. Values. Ethics. Compassion. Shared. That is what binds us. Thank you for thoughtful reflection to allow us all to share.
I agree with John's response of B.S. Jesus said to love our enemies, not get in bed with them. Relationships are based on the ability of two people to look in the same direction with similar hopes and dreams. As a person of the Christian faith, there is no way I can seriously be in relationship with anyone who is as full of hate and bigotry as MAGA represents and nurtures. You cannot have a relationship with anyone who despises what you hold dear. When hate is the first response to anyone or anything different, it can hardly be possible for a relationship to exist with someone who sees the person of Christ in the outsider.
John, I am usually with you 100%, but on this one I have to respectfully differ. Trump voters are not monolithic in their reasons for their vote. Some voted out of frustration about their local economic situation (drive around rural Pennsylvania and tell me that the economy is thriving there). Some voted out of propaganda fueled ignorance and fear (fear won this election - based on both the shamelessly racist messaging and the soteriological blackmail practiced by the myriad of nominally but fraudulently christian church pastors and congregants who preach and believe that the Democratic Party and all of its members and fellow travelers are demons). Finally, some voted based on their distrust of the "elites" - the people who live well and far away from rural healthcare deserts, opioid-ravaged communities, Dollar Store economies, industry-polluted water and air, huge corporate farms, and internet dark zones. Being so far away from their problems, both physically and mentally, these "rescuers" bring not real world solutions, but sometimes only computer apps built on the premise not that people simply don't have adequate resources but the paternalistic belief that they use them inefficiently or waste them on frivolous expenditures. This is not a "hearts and minds" strategy designed to succeed (despite its bs claim that they are "doing well by doing good" - since their only emphasis is on doing well for themselves). The US has not been good with that type of approach since the Marshall Plan.
So, what do we do? 1) Cut away from the overt racists and misogynists for your own sanity. 2) Learn what you can about the rural dystopia and blue collar economic angst (it is real and it is valid for all races and age groups) and try to do something about it. 3) Stay open to empathy and social grace - it is how we express our very humanity. 4) Examine yourself for your own prejudices and tendency toward easy generalization - often the immediate precursor to a sweeping judgmental condemnation of a whole group. (This is a constant challenge for me personally.) 5) Look for and acknowledge the germ of truth in the primary issues on the other side, especially third rail issues (e.g., no, immigration cannot be unlimited and unrestricted without potentially wreacking havoc on existing social services and other national assets, but the rules should be applied humanely; abortion can be regulated as under Roe's trimester system and all other reproductive care issues exempted from any such restriction, but the purely religious concept that legal rights of a fetus begin when it is only a fertiluzed egg (based on the ensoulment dogma) is wholly inappropriate under our existing pluralistic governing structure). 6) Dispense with any personal need to "win" an argument or discussion. Be content to plant seeds that may not bear fruit until long after we have disengaged with the argument (or with life itself). We are dealing with the human condition - developed and influenced by a host of factors over many centuries of existence and struggle.
Real change cannot be legislated - there are limits to behavior modification techniques, as we have seen with the resurgence of open racisn after decades of "political correctness" imposed or encouraged throughout most of US society.
In conclusion I believe deeply that we shall always encounter people who are the basest of characters, but, like Marcus Aurelius, we can bear them because we know that throughout the experience and at its conclusion, we shall remain who we are at our core - people of good character.
Take a deep breath, John, and embrace the wonderful man you are at your core - one who is a treasured teacher in words and example. We cannot, true to our nature, disengage from contact with others. "Ships are safe in their harbors, but that is not what ships are for." (Not original to me - I misplaced the source.) This is not a task simply to be performed and completed - it is a lifelong pursuit, after which we pass the baton to the next generation. We look to the past for guidance, investigate the present to identify the need for change, and remain mindful of the future to fulfill our responsibility to our descendants.
The problem I have with your reasoning is that pollution, Dollar Store economies, whole communities ravaged by opium, health care etc were all created by the policies these people just voted for. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been offering genuine solutions to these problems all along. The so called elites actually care about the problems they could, in their privilege, ignore. Why deride them.
On immigration, we definitely need a system that is more sensible and more humane, and better funded. That is not going to happen as long as people can rile up voters with anti-immigrant lies. More immigration judges to hear asylum cases would go a long way to solve our current problems. I know of a family that has had the status of Asylum Seeker for several years.
I do think we can accommodate all of the people coming to our border. These people ADD to our economy. They work hard, they start businesses, they raise responsible children. The Steve Miller image of immigrants as gangsters and thugs is a cynical, hateful lie. The same one Trump has been telling since he came down the escalator.
It will be awhile before I have the strength to deal with my Trump supporting friends and family members.
Debra, I appreciate your comment and concerns. I do not think the issue is so much my reasoning regarding various policy issues as motivating one type of Trump voter this election as it is the recognition that this election was very clearly not a policies election - it was a carefully created, strengthened, disseminated and reinforced propaganda campaign (by right wing and MAGA activists, christian nationalist religious leaders, and the billionaire-owned mainstream media) designed to connect with people at an emotional level to trigger fears and distract from real issues, not to engage voters at an intellectual level. As a strong Harris supporter in this election and a strong DJT opponent (voted against him 3 times), I am dismayed by the inability of what seems to me to be rational, reasonable analysis to receive even a respectful nod from mainstream media anymore, while they continue to sanewash DJT's most egregious statements and conduct.
As I mentioned above, propaganda, fear, and "seven mountain" christian nationalist domination fantasies simply drowned out reason in favor of both religious fervor and entertaining distraction. As Charlie Sykes put it this morning, America has proven itself to be not an exceptional nation, but a profoundly unserious one.
As for the elites, the propaganda campaign against intellectual excellence - one I feel personally given my educational background and efforts to contribute meaningfully in both professional and nonprofit organizational pursuits - is only picking up steam for some reason. There is only disaster at the end of that path (RFK? Really?)
The only point you made with which I respectfully disagree is that America can (and implicitly should) accomodate unlimited immigration. Without a major change in federal immigration policy and funding that replaces the essentially unfunded mandates currently imposed upon state and local governments, requiring them to support migrants who arrive in their jurisdictions often without advance warning, and requiring locally-funded social services often for years before they can functionally assimilate, the problem will only become more acute and the social support more tenuous. I agree that immigrants are portrayed by the right wing propaganda machine in a grossly inaccurate and unfair manner, but the levels of support required are substantial already. No policy that one can reasonably expect Congress to pass (it is, after all, Congress's responsibility to set the policies and provide the authorities needed to control immigration, not the president's) will include acceptance of unlimited immigration.
I hope to see more of your writing in the future. Wisdom is a process, facilitated by effective, respectful conversation. Thank you for engaging.
Rod, I agree with you. I have an older lady that comes in to care for me several times a week. She voted for Trump but is literally without clue about anything that he has said he intends to do. When I've explained some of what he intends to her she just replies, "Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see." There is not a malicious bone in her body.
There may be some we have to cut off, but I don't want to cut anyone out because I, ME, and MYSELF is angry and upset, and not even if they are gleeful over their victory. They will discover soon enough they have let the rats aboard the ship and now those rats are eating a hole in the bottom of the boat to sink us all.
For, some Trump supporters I can say they truly don’t know any better. For others, I have to wonder whether they were ever the person I thought they were and that is what most upsets me.
Well reasoned and persuasive...additionally, there are those do immersed in the Fox News world that they never heard anything except those perspectives, and hold a completely warped view of reality without bring aware of it. These are the people who "don't have time to study politics" so they just vote based on the political ads they were fed by their preferred news sources.
Lois - I do not think I understand your question, but will try to respond. Many if not most folks do not follow politics like we do. I noticed on your profile that you follow many of the same Substacks that I do, and that you restack many good articles as well. For us, it can be difficult to accept that so many people simply skim the tops of the waves of political issues without meaningful engagement at depth. It has been a frustration of mine for many years. So, our immediate response to the R ticket's absurd (and, per JDV, admittedly fabricated) claims that Haitian menus in Springfield Ohio include cats, dogs, ducks, etc., that such a claim adds to the myriad of reasons why DJT and JDV should be allowed nowhere near power probably failed to register with drive-by or alternatively focused voters as anything other than noise (with a laugh track, unfortunately). Not a comforting feeling, but that's where we are and the response to such voters should not be ostracization, but education. In our "bread and circuses" society, that deficiency will be difficult to remedy, but our survival requires that we who care make the effort.
Thank you for your question and I hope you continue your civic engagement at your currently high level, especially now that we need it the most.
Absolutely, John, the orange menace has all the compassion for humans (from which I would distinguish him) of 'nine rifles' to silence every dissenting voice. Every citizen possessing logic by now should have employed it to reject this perverse power from office, and those who have empowered him are complicit in whatever atrocities he may engage. Ignorance is not an excuse for having put him in office. When a person does the math, it adds up to about one vote for Kamala out of nearly three registered voters, or close to it. This tells a person what one needs to know about people in this country and in general, not acting in their own best interests. The book from 1993 by Thomas Frank, 'What's the Matter with Kansas?' mirrors what's the matter with this whole damn country. It is pointless to continue in relationships with ones who refuse to stop gorging and assimilating a lunatic's vile lies.
Not to seem harsh, but I refuse to continue a relationship with a person who acts in favor of my personal destruction and won't relent. Besides, it is not worth the anguish. They have made up their beds.
John, pardon my proof-texting, but there is solid scriptural support for what you're saying in 2 Cor 6:14-15 where Paul writes, "Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?" (NRSV).
In his 1978 essay, "The Power of the Powerless," the late Vaclav Havel addressed what it meant to be a "dissident" living under a dictatorship, which he characterized as "living the truth" rather than "living the lie" of the totalitarian regime. This, I think, is what many of us will have to do following January 20, 2025. To a large degree, we will increasingly be in a powerless position within our own nation. That, of course, doesn't mean that we must give up or adopt the tactics of our adversaries. It only means that life will simply become quite a good deal more difficult.
The main focus of Jesus' teaching was "the kingdom of God," which meant living one's life as though God were king rather than Caesar. Recall the familiar line from the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth...." Living in conformity to the divine will here and now ["this present evil age," Gal 1:4] is what followers of Jesus are called to do.
In the coming days, our lives need to look very different from the lives of those who voted for a man who has said that he has never asked for divine forgiveness. Those folks clearly believe that they can "serve two masters," something that Jesus insists isn't possible (Mt 6:24).
Our only relationship to such people only involves contradicting their values, their attitudes, and their actions in any way possible.
What you're writing gives hope to a lot of people. Keep up the good work!
I have only one problem friend. She is hopelessly brainwashed. I am still halfway in the process of distancing myself from her. I don't feel good about it, but if I can communicate one thing - that her beLIEfs and her complicity in spreading poisonous lies have consequences - maybe a little of that one tiny truth might sink in. I have not yet said to her, "God gave you what you wanted. Let God fix your computer." She won't be able to pass on disgusting AI-generated memes if her laptop won't boot. I've been her IT person for over ten years and three computers, but the asteroid has landed.
John, thank you so much for writing this! This is exactly what I've been struggling with. I'm done bending over backwards to try to understand how people can be so hateful and support someone so evil.
It has been an exhausting decade for sure, and time to spend the next decade living life and enjoying each day surrounded by my new tribe of folks who have my back and I theirs.
I agree with you very strongly. Which is why I have cut any communication with my brother, nephew, and ex-husband (who says Trump is the only person who cares about the common man!) pardon me while I throw up. These people are completely brainwashed and beyond help.
Well said. To me, this is not a hard call. It is one thing to disagree over marginal tax rates or whether we should have Medicare for all. But if you are ok with women dying because they can't get medical care for a miscarriage, or the military shooting and killing protesters, or taking the right to vote away from anyone, or separating families who have tried to immigrate to our country, then I just don't like you anymore. It isn't about politics as much as it is about values and humanity.
I have already given up some friendships, and it was hard because some of them were people I loved and had known for years. But when it is a daughter-in-law who is raising my beautiful grandson, I can't cut her out of my life if I want to be able to have a meaningful relationship with him. As he enters his teens, it is easier to talk with him about my own views and why we disagree with Trump, but there is no point talking with his mother about it because she is one of those people who refuses to discuss politics. (P.S. I do more than "disagree" with Trump. I hate him and everything he stands for. I weep for our country. I'm scared for our allies and for the future of mankind. It is unfathomable to me that over half the voters chose this malignant, horrible man.)
Curious how such a spiteful mother is able to raise a child with the ability to escape her lack of humanity and thought. Hang in there with your grandson! You can plant seeds that will provide empathy and critical thinking skills.
Up until 2016, I totally believed that politics shouldn't destroy relationships...up until the gleeful "fuck your feelings" started.
And then it morphed into "Fuck your facts", which was the start of the slide between my "friends" and family and myself.
I generally believe in live and let live. But the forced birth people don’t believe that. They believe their view should impact your healthcare. Never mind that they don’t know you in any way and that no action of yours will impact their lives. I no longer have the emotional bandwidth to tolerate such odious, cruel people who go out of their way to be hurtful to others. So some relationships will fall by the wayside and not picked up.
My sentiments exactly.
As a UMC retired clergy, I agree. You noted all the American minority members who will be unsafe under Trump. That goes double for the people of Ukraine, Taiwan, and others in this contemporary but undeclared WW III between Autocracy (Putin, Xi, Trump, Jung il, Maduro, al Asaad, Orban, Erdogan, et al) and Democracy. This election is equivalent to America entering WW II on the side of Mussolini and Hitler. It's time for us as Christians to emulate Bonhoffer and not Niemoller.
I really tried not to let politics get in the way of relationships after 2016. But then I started noticing more and more dehumanizing rhetoric from folks, and that is just a deal-breaker for me. I have to accept that is who they are and distance myself from these relationships. It feels like the most loving thing I'm capable of with some people.
Is it politics or is it values? Do values inform our candidate and policy choices? I ended a relationship with a colleague of 30 some years who became a friend.
Because of their work with military veterans, I emailed the Gen Kelly interviews, saying if they’d not voted yet, I hoped it would influence, that tho I knew they were GOP & conservative, it made no sense given Trump’s statements about Sen McCain, Gen Kelly’s son and others; it would be hypocritical to vote for trump.
They had already. They said they were hurt I’d said what I did; I said I was stunned given their knowledge of my Judaism & the admiration trump has for Hitler.
My values inform my life and they know that. They thought we could “get beyond” the election. When they started repeating lies about immigrants, I said another bridge too far.
Done. I thought it would feel bad, sad. It didn’t & doesn’t. Values. Ethics. Compassion. Shared. That is what binds us. Thank you for thoughtful reflection to allow us all to share.
I agree with John's response of B.S. Jesus said to love our enemies, not get in bed with them. Relationships are based on the ability of two people to look in the same direction with similar hopes and dreams. As a person of the Christian faith, there is no way I can seriously be in relationship with anyone who is as full of hate and bigotry as MAGA represents and nurtures. You cannot have a relationship with anyone who despises what you hold dear. When hate is the first response to anyone or anything different, it can hardly be possible for a relationship to exist with someone who sees the person of Christ in the outsider.
John, I am usually with you 100%, but on this one I have to respectfully differ. Trump voters are not monolithic in their reasons for their vote. Some voted out of frustration about their local economic situation (drive around rural Pennsylvania and tell me that the economy is thriving there). Some voted out of propaganda fueled ignorance and fear (fear won this election - based on both the shamelessly racist messaging and the soteriological blackmail practiced by the myriad of nominally but fraudulently christian church pastors and congregants who preach and believe that the Democratic Party and all of its members and fellow travelers are demons). Finally, some voted based on their distrust of the "elites" - the people who live well and far away from rural healthcare deserts, opioid-ravaged communities, Dollar Store economies, industry-polluted water and air, huge corporate farms, and internet dark zones. Being so far away from their problems, both physically and mentally, these "rescuers" bring not real world solutions, but sometimes only computer apps built on the premise not that people simply don't have adequate resources but the paternalistic belief that they use them inefficiently or waste them on frivolous expenditures. This is not a "hearts and minds" strategy designed to succeed (despite its bs claim that they are "doing well by doing good" - since their only emphasis is on doing well for themselves). The US has not been good with that type of approach since the Marshall Plan.
So, what do we do? 1) Cut away from the overt racists and misogynists for your own sanity. 2) Learn what you can about the rural dystopia and blue collar economic angst (it is real and it is valid for all races and age groups) and try to do something about it. 3) Stay open to empathy and social grace - it is how we express our very humanity. 4) Examine yourself for your own prejudices and tendency toward easy generalization - often the immediate precursor to a sweeping judgmental condemnation of a whole group. (This is a constant challenge for me personally.) 5) Look for and acknowledge the germ of truth in the primary issues on the other side, especially third rail issues (e.g., no, immigration cannot be unlimited and unrestricted without potentially wreacking havoc on existing social services and other national assets, but the rules should be applied humanely; abortion can be regulated as under Roe's trimester system and all other reproductive care issues exempted from any such restriction, but the purely religious concept that legal rights of a fetus begin when it is only a fertiluzed egg (based on the ensoulment dogma) is wholly inappropriate under our existing pluralistic governing structure). 6) Dispense with any personal need to "win" an argument or discussion. Be content to plant seeds that may not bear fruit until long after we have disengaged with the argument (or with life itself). We are dealing with the human condition - developed and influenced by a host of factors over many centuries of existence and struggle.
Real change cannot be legislated - there are limits to behavior modification techniques, as we have seen with the resurgence of open racisn after decades of "political correctness" imposed or encouraged throughout most of US society.
In conclusion I believe deeply that we shall always encounter people who are the basest of characters, but, like Marcus Aurelius, we can bear them because we know that throughout the experience and at its conclusion, we shall remain who we are at our core - people of good character.
Take a deep breath, John, and embrace the wonderful man you are at your core - one who is a treasured teacher in words and example. We cannot, true to our nature, disengage from contact with others. "Ships are safe in their harbors, but that is not what ships are for." (Not original to me - I misplaced the source.) This is not a task simply to be performed and completed - it is a lifelong pursuit, after which we pass the baton to the next generation. We look to the past for guidance, investigate the present to identify the need for change, and remain mindful of the future to fulfill our responsibility to our descendants.
We need everyone.
.
The problem I have with your reasoning is that pollution, Dollar Store economies, whole communities ravaged by opium, health care etc were all created by the policies these people just voted for. Kamala Harris and Joe Biden have been offering genuine solutions to these problems all along. The so called elites actually care about the problems they could, in their privilege, ignore. Why deride them.
On immigration, we definitely need a system that is more sensible and more humane, and better funded. That is not going to happen as long as people can rile up voters with anti-immigrant lies. More immigration judges to hear asylum cases would go a long way to solve our current problems. I know of a family that has had the status of Asylum Seeker for several years.
I do think we can accommodate all of the people coming to our border. These people ADD to our economy. They work hard, they start businesses, they raise responsible children. The Steve Miller image of immigrants as gangsters and thugs is a cynical, hateful lie. The same one Trump has been telling since he came down the escalator.
It will be awhile before I have the strength to deal with my Trump supporting friends and family members.
Debra, I appreciate your comment and concerns. I do not think the issue is so much my reasoning regarding various policy issues as motivating one type of Trump voter this election as it is the recognition that this election was very clearly not a policies election - it was a carefully created, strengthened, disseminated and reinforced propaganda campaign (by right wing and MAGA activists, christian nationalist religious leaders, and the billionaire-owned mainstream media) designed to connect with people at an emotional level to trigger fears and distract from real issues, not to engage voters at an intellectual level. As a strong Harris supporter in this election and a strong DJT opponent (voted against him 3 times), I am dismayed by the inability of what seems to me to be rational, reasonable analysis to receive even a respectful nod from mainstream media anymore, while they continue to sanewash DJT's most egregious statements and conduct.
As I mentioned above, propaganda, fear, and "seven mountain" christian nationalist domination fantasies simply drowned out reason in favor of both religious fervor and entertaining distraction. As Charlie Sykes put it this morning, America has proven itself to be not an exceptional nation, but a profoundly unserious one.
As for the elites, the propaganda campaign against intellectual excellence - one I feel personally given my educational background and efforts to contribute meaningfully in both professional and nonprofit organizational pursuits - is only picking up steam for some reason. There is only disaster at the end of that path (RFK? Really?)
The only point you made with which I respectfully disagree is that America can (and implicitly should) accomodate unlimited immigration. Without a major change in federal immigration policy and funding that replaces the essentially unfunded mandates currently imposed upon state and local governments, requiring them to support migrants who arrive in their jurisdictions often without advance warning, and requiring locally-funded social services often for years before they can functionally assimilate, the problem will only become more acute and the social support more tenuous. I agree that immigrants are portrayed by the right wing propaganda machine in a grossly inaccurate and unfair manner, but the levels of support required are substantial already. No policy that one can reasonably expect Congress to pass (it is, after all, Congress's responsibility to set the policies and provide the authorities needed to control immigration, not the president's) will include acceptance of unlimited immigration.
I hope to see more of your writing in the future. Wisdom is a process, facilitated by effective, respectful conversation. Thank you for engaging.
Rod, I agree with you. I have an older lady that comes in to care for me several times a week. She voted for Trump but is literally without clue about anything that he has said he intends to do. When I've explained some of what he intends to her she just replies, "Well, I guess we'll have to wait and see." There is not a malicious bone in her body.
There may be some we have to cut off, but I don't want to cut anyone out because I, ME, and MYSELF is angry and upset, and not even if they are gleeful over their victory. They will discover soon enough they have let the rats aboard the ship and now those rats are eating a hole in the bottom of the boat to sink us all.
For, some Trump supporters I can say they truly don’t know any better. For others, I have to wonder whether they were ever the person I thought they were and that is what most upsets me.
Well reasoned and persuasive...additionally, there are those do immersed in the Fox News world that they never heard anything except those perspectives, and hold a completely warped view of reality without bring aware of it. These are the people who "don't have time to study politics" so they just vote based on the political ads they were fed by their preferred news sources.
Lois - I do not think I understand your question, but will try to respond. Many if not most folks do not follow politics like we do. I noticed on your profile that you follow many of the same Substacks that I do, and that you restack many good articles as well. For us, it can be difficult to accept that so many people simply skim the tops of the waves of political issues without meaningful engagement at depth. It has been a frustration of mine for many years. So, our immediate response to the R ticket's absurd (and, per JDV, admittedly fabricated) claims that Haitian menus in Springfield Ohio include cats, dogs, ducks, etc., that such a claim adds to the myriad of reasons why DJT and JDV should be allowed nowhere near power probably failed to register with drive-by or alternatively focused voters as anything other than noise (with a laugh track, unfortunately). Not a comforting feeling, but that's where we are and the response to such voters should not be ostracization, but education. In our "bread and circuses" society, that deficiency will be difficult to remedy, but our survival requires that we who care make the effort.
Thank you for your question and I hope you continue your civic engagement at your currently high level, especially now that we need it the most.
Absolutely, John, the orange menace has all the compassion for humans (from which I would distinguish him) of 'nine rifles' to silence every dissenting voice. Every citizen possessing logic by now should have employed it to reject this perverse power from office, and those who have empowered him are complicit in whatever atrocities he may engage. Ignorance is not an excuse for having put him in office. When a person does the math, it adds up to about one vote for Kamala out of nearly three registered voters, or close to it. This tells a person what one needs to know about people in this country and in general, not acting in their own best interests. The book from 1993 by Thomas Frank, 'What's the Matter with Kansas?' mirrors what's the matter with this whole damn country. It is pointless to continue in relationships with ones who refuse to stop gorging and assimilating a lunatic's vile lies.
Not to seem harsh, but I refuse to continue a relationship with a person who acts in favor of my personal destruction and won't relent. Besides, it is not worth the anguish. They have made up their beds.
John, pardon my proof-texting, but there is solid scriptural support for what you're saying in 2 Cor 6:14-15 where Paul writes, "Do not be mismatched with unbelievers. For what partnership is there between righteousness and lawlessness? Or what fellowship is there between light and darkness? What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or what does a believer share with an unbeliever?" (NRSV).
In his 1978 essay, "The Power of the Powerless," the late Vaclav Havel addressed what it meant to be a "dissident" living under a dictatorship, which he characterized as "living the truth" rather than "living the lie" of the totalitarian regime. This, I think, is what many of us will have to do following January 20, 2025. To a large degree, we will increasingly be in a powerless position within our own nation. That, of course, doesn't mean that we must give up or adopt the tactics of our adversaries. It only means that life will simply become quite a good deal more difficult.
The main focus of Jesus' teaching was "the kingdom of God," which meant living one's life as though God were king rather than Caesar. Recall the familiar line from the Lord's Prayer: "Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth...." Living in conformity to the divine will here and now ["this present evil age," Gal 1:4] is what followers of Jesus are called to do.
In the coming days, our lives need to look very different from the lives of those who voted for a man who has said that he has never asked for divine forgiveness. Those folks clearly believe that they can "serve two masters," something that Jesus insists isn't possible (Mt 6:24).
Our only relationship to such people only involves contradicting their values, their attitudes, and their actions in any way possible.
What you're writing gives hope to a lot of people. Keep up the good work!
I have only one problem friend. She is hopelessly brainwashed. I am still halfway in the process of distancing myself from her. I don't feel good about it, but if I can communicate one thing - that her beLIEfs and her complicity in spreading poisonous lies have consequences - maybe a little of that one tiny truth might sink in. I have not yet said to her, "God gave you what you wanted. Let God fix your computer." She won't be able to pass on disgusting AI-generated memes if her laptop won't boot. I've been her IT person for over ten years and three computers, but the asteroid has landed.
John, thank you so much for writing this! This is exactly what I've been struggling with. I'm done bending over backwards to try to understand how people can be so hateful and support someone so evil.
It has been an exhausting decade for sure, and time to spend the next decade living life and enjoying each day surrounded by my new tribe of folks who have my back and I theirs.
That sounds good to me!
I agree with you very strongly. Which is why I have cut any communication with my brother, nephew, and ex-husband (who says Trump is the only person who cares about the common man!) pardon me while I throw up. These people are completely brainwashed and beyond help.
I want to ask some particular friends if they voted for Trump. If yes, I have to decide if the answer is yes.