"We need to turn at least part of our critique inside, toward our own information bubbles, our own ignorance of what many of our neighbors feel, believe, and fear. We need to listen much better." I live in a very MAGA area, and I differentiate MAGA from what I consider "normal" republicans. What my neighbors feel, believe, and fear are so confounding. I try to understand how they come to these opinions and have had many earnest conversations lasting a good deal of time. I ask questions, listen to answers, and ask follow-up questions. For the life of me, I cannot believe how utterly disconnected these views are from reality. It's depressing that so many of my neighbors, while having a decent life, not being burdened by excessive debt, food insecurity, medical issues, and the like live in this constant state of fear and rage. How do we even begin to relate in real ways? It's scary and sad and makes me feel hopeless.
Truly disturbing! It's testament to the power of 'tribal' identity and especially a nourished sense of common enemy solidarity, united by hatred of a despised 'them'. I commend you for your patience - I would be in near-constant facepalm mode! 🤦♂️
As a long-term progressive Christian who seeks the common good, I resonate with these thoughts profoundly. In reflection, I have come to the conclusion that our best space is outside speaking in. Better to identify our dislocation with the culture than play footsie with it and find our voices absorbed into indifference.
The situation is dire, probably in ways that we do not yet understand. Later in life I have learned that Christianity doesn’t have to be the narrow constraining way that I learned. It can be freeing and I want to lean into that
Hopelessly depressing. We're watching the one-world government being established right before our eyes. I fear that Trump is either the man of lawlessness mentioned in II Thessalonians or the beast/antichrist in Revelation.
I am sickened. This evangelical church I am attempting to bear witness to issues of injustice...why was I so angry at their excitement at their proud proclamation of 50 people being baptized Easter Sunday...like that is the evidence that God is at work in their church. It's like trying to bring a wake up call to small children who are just focused on winning a little game, while people are blind to the morals of justice, keeping misogynistic sex offeners from being the leaders, like losing protections for the marginalized and the vulnerable, like maybe the numbers of individual people being baptized is the be all and end all, when it is just a stupid ritual of inconsiquentialism. Open our eyes Jesus to the work we really need to be doing. Keep talking David...please!!
Thank you, David. You’ve captured my thoughts with precision and insight. I, too, up until November 5, could not imagine that Trump would be elected. Think back to his rally speeches; the Republican Convention (Hulk Hogan??!!). It felt like he was imploding before our very eyes. Harris/Walz were such a welcome contrast - joy, hope, optimism, inclusion, integrity… it was all there. Then boom. We recorded our two-part conversation (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1022596/episodes/15698094) over The Moral Teachings of Jesus before the election. You were prescient then, and now in your Substack piece. Yes, let’s get back to work.
I dread all the ways we may have to learn just what Rule of Men (rather than Rule of Law) does to a society. A heavy burden of repentance will land at the feet of the churches in America. What will the response be? 🤷♂️
"We need to turn at least part of our critique inside, toward our own information bubbles, our own ignorance of what many of our neighbors feel, believe, and fear. We need to listen much better." I live in a very MAGA area, and I differentiate MAGA from what I consider "normal" republicans. What my neighbors feel, believe, and fear are so confounding. I try to understand how they come to these opinions and have had many earnest conversations lasting a good deal of time. I ask questions, listen to answers, and ask follow-up questions. For the life of me, I cannot believe how utterly disconnected these views are from reality. It's depressing that so many of my neighbors, while having a decent life, not being burdened by excessive debt, food insecurity, medical issues, and the like live in this constant state of fear and rage. How do we even begin to relate in real ways? It's scary and sad and makes me feel hopeless.
Truly disturbing! It's testament to the power of 'tribal' identity and especially a nourished sense of common enemy solidarity, united by hatred of a despised 'them'. I commend you for your patience - I would be in near-constant facepalm mode! 🤦♂️
I love the phrase that maybe "America is a racist-sexist-homophobic- amoral- faux Christian nation." Might be overstated, but I think it's very true.
Rev. Tom Eichenberger
As a long-term progressive Christian who seeks the common good, I resonate with these thoughts profoundly. In reflection, I have come to the conclusion that our best space is outside speaking in. Better to identify our dislocation with the culture than play footsie with it and find our voices absorbed into indifference.
The situation is dire, probably in ways that we do not yet understand. Later in life I have learned that Christianity doesn’t have to be the narrow constraining way that I learned. It can be freeing and I want to lean into that
Hopelessly depressing. We're watching the one-world government being established right before our eyes. I fear that Trump is either the man of lawlessness mentioned in II Thessalonians or the beast/antichrist in Revelation.
The church is complicit in all of this. I don’t know how to come to any other conclusion.
I am sickened. This evangelical church I am attempting to bear witness to issues of injustice...why was I so angry at their excitement at their proud proclamation of 50 people being baptized Easter Sunday...like that is the evidence that God is at work in their church. It's like trying to bring a wake up call to small children who are just focused on winning a little game, while people are blind to the morals of justice, keeping misogynistic sex offeners from being the leaders, like losing protections for the marginalized and the vulnerable, like maybe the numbers of individual people being baptized is the be all and end all, when it is just a stupid ritual of inconsiquentialism. Open our eyes Jesus to the work we really need to be doing. Keep talking David...please!!
Thank you, David. You’ve captured my thoughts with precision and insight. I, too, up until November 5, could not imagine that Trump would be elected. Think back to his rally speeches; the Republican Convention (Hulk Hogan??!!). It felt like he was imploding before our very eyes. Harris/Walz were such a welcome contrast - joy, hope, optimism, inclusion, integrity… it was all there. Then boom. We recorded our two-part conversation (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1022596/episodes/15698094) over The Moral Teachings of Jesus before the election. You were prescient then, and now in your Substack piece. Yes, let’s get back to work.
I dread all the ways we may have to learn just what Rule of Men (rather than Rule of Law) does to a society. A heavy burden of repentance will land at the feet of the churches in America. What will the response be? 🤷♂️
Wow, that was depressing. Antichrist sounds about right.
https://open.substack.com/pub/morfmorford/p/the-whole-worlds-watching?r=9hujo&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=false