Regardless of our party affiliation, patriotic Americans in general, and humanitarians and people of all faith traditions have to ask ourselves, “How have we come to this?” How have we come to this time and place in which so many people question so much? Furthermore, how is that we have come to this time and place when many not only question or flat out reject scientific truth, but they do so to their own detriment and the detriment of others?
Answer: I think many of us have been “Trumped.” We have been trumped into someone else’s self-serving agenda; because we are suffering so much and feeling so vulnerable, and it’s easier to blame someone else or something else than it is to face our own needs and our sense of loss and grief. We don’t like feeling weak. We don’t like losing. We don’t like living this American nightmare. We want to be living the American Dream!
So, many of us are sucked into someone else’s lies, which only builds someone else’s power, and only serves someone else’s future. And, when we do, the symbolic boil of our suffering is lanced, the infection is released, and for a few minutes, we may feel a sense of relief. But, then, sadly, the relief does not last long, because the cause of our suffering has not been appropriately addressed, and the process repeats itself.
Social scientists and historians alike will be busy for a long time studying, mapping, and describing how Donald Trump hijacked the American airwaves and manipulated a significant number of U.S. citizens into believing his lies, fanning his xenophobic agenda into flames, and drinking his toxic Kool-Aid.
They will be reviewing and analyzing this mess for generations to come--and they should. And when they’re done, I hope that we and our posterity will have learned from what we have endured, and I hope and pray that we will find a better way for all of us. But how?
