By Ruth A. Sheets
There is so much going on politically right now I am having some difficulty keeping track of it. I suspect this may be a challenge for many others too. It would be pretty easy to sit back and say, “well, there are just too many people working to undermine our democracy, how can I, one little person do anything to stop them?” We all can do a lot but we need to see how we and our democracy are being undermined so we can act where we can.
A reading from the Christian Scripture Book of Romans this past week got me thinking about sin. St. Paul was worrying about sin and why he keeps doing sin. I am not sure why he kept doing it, but I have come to the conclusion that a working definition for sin could be, “doing harm to another person.” This harm may be physical like killing, assaulting, raping, or in another way using violence or force to do harm. It can also be emotional harm where through words and actions one belittles, deliberately insults, gaslights, harasses, or lies to or about anyone for the purpose of doing emotional harm. Then, there’s stealing, cheating, or committing vandalism, again with the intent to harm. It does not matter what the other person’s response is if, for example, they say, “it’s OK and I forgive you.” The sin is committed when we step over the line and intend to harm someone else.
This year when Independence Day came around, it occurred to me that people regularly commit sin against our society. Many people over the years, mostly men) probably because they have had the most power to do harm), have done a lot to try to shape this nation so it will favor themselves and their group, usually white men. Their sins have done tremendous harm to those who happened to be in the way of advancement meant to benefit those, usually also rich men.
We are currently in one of those times when we are faced with a critical mass of folks willing to do as much harm as they can get away with, and right now, they are getting away with a lot, just as in the past. The lying that has brought us into wars is probably the most harmful action, but name-calling and accusations, cheating and stealing by banks and racist financial institutions have done their part too. Consider the War in Iraq beginning in 2003 started by lies, the McCarthy Communism insanity of the 1950s accusing people of being communists as though it were a crime, and the Great Recession of 2008+, banks cheating and misinforming mortgage holders. The people causing the harm knew they were doing it, but thought they would get away with it, and for the most part, they did.
What do those folks have in common, a desire for power, the ability to intimidate people, and the money they accumulated. They showed a total disregard for the people they hurt and the damage they caused our society, and all of it deliberate.
When the attack on the society comes from people or institutions that are well-known, it is easy for others to latch onto the perpetrators, hoping some of the “glory” will spill onto them. Maybe as a bonus, they can take their revenge on those who have less than they do expecting they will have the nominal blessing of the ones in charge. Those midlevel influencers don’t realize they, themselves are pawns of those at the top and are only useful as long as they do what they are told, hurt the right people, and stay out of the way when not needed.
On January 6, 2021, Donald Trump and a select group of men (and a couple of women) planned an insurrection. All knew Trump had lost a fair election, but just couldn’t stand to see Trump and his cause (whatever it was) defeated and out of power. They made sure Fox pundits and others were on board first, then began spreading the word to those midlevel influencers like the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys whom they were sure they could count on. Some members of Congress were all in too and even gave “encouraging” speeches in support that morning. People who thought they came to hear speeches and Trump himself, got purposefully or inadvertently caught up in the theatrics directed by Trump and friends. By the time they reached the capitol, they knew what they were doing was wrong, but they no longer cared, just as Trump and the others hoped would happen. Trump supposedly tried to get down there with the insurgents, I guess hoping he could get in on the violence, watch a few members of Congress get killed so he could claim a national emergency and stay in office. It didn’t work out that way, but people were killed, hurt, and the members of Congress were terrorized. The coup wasn’t successful, but a whole lot of people participated and took notes as to how it might be done in the future. That is sin from beginning to end. I bet nearly every person in the crowd as well as the instigators would call themselves “christian.”
In addition, something really harmful, therefore sinful is going on in our states, and by “Christians.” In Florida, Gov. Ron DeSantis decided to ban books (against the first amendment), deny health care to women and trans kids (with no medical knowledge on DeSantis’s part, of course), dictate what students will be taught in school (with no education credentials and a whole lot of racism and homo/transphobia), and bus immigrants based on lies to Martha’s Vineyard (to prove a point or something). Once those actions, those harms were going on in Florida, they spread like a disease to other states in the Confederacy or in Confederate wannabe states. Texas regularly ignores our Constitution, but nothing happens and Gov. Abbott, like Gov. DeSantis, sits and grins at his success. That’s sin, too.
In Tennessee earlier this year, 2 state representatives were kicked out because they stood with constituents when they protested that the legislature had done nothing to stop gun violence after a mass shooting in Nashville. Fortunately, both men were reinstated by their constituents. The harm done by that legislature and governor didn’t stop there. On Saturday, a federal court said it was OK to deny medical care to trans kids while they were waiting for a court decision. In addition, they demanded medical records from a Vanderbilt University Medical Center clinic that treats trans kids and other medical issues young people have. I and many others thought medical records are entirely personal and no one could get them without the patient’s permission. I guess not in Tennessee. Vanderbilt turned the records over and didn’t tell any of the patients until it was done. The whole anti-trans people action is sin! We don’t know how those children and families will be harmed by that decision, but it is pretty much guaranteed that they will be. I can’t believe Vanderbilt could not have protected those records from the ignorant hateful Tennessee State Attorney General. Did he even need to have an honest reason? I suspect it was just power of position and the anticipation of the cruelty he could inflict.
The powermongering and money-grubbing mostly centered within the Republican Party is not going to slow down on its own. The leaders and their most ardent followers will not willingly give up the power, money, and ability to do harm to those they don’t respect. They are addicted and are so deeply overwhelmed by the euphoria that comes from their positions or perceived positions they will use them to the fullest doing as much harm as possible as they orgasmically hunt for the next targets for their venom.
The Republican Party has 6 of our Supreme Court justices on board with the harm and they are doing as much of it as they can get away with and they can get away with a lot while they tell states they can decide about a woman’s reproductive rights and whether colleges can diversify their student body using race as a factor, and can let businesses discriminate against LGBTQ+ persons (hey, even using a case that wasn’t even a case). All of these have done significant harm while the 6 sit back, smile and believe they have done god’s will. They haven’t, but they no longer care. Power, money, and causing others’ pain are powerful drugs, and they partake frequently.
We the People will have to be the ones who ultimately decide whether or not we are going to permit the constant denigrating of our fellow Americans and trampling on our Constitution. We are up against a formidable opponent because they have been planning and practicing this bad behavior for decades while We the People just lived and tried to do better.
To start, we must find ways to get every citizen registered to vote, then to the polls or to vote through absentee ballots or mail-ins. We can’t let this to chance because the Republican harm machine is moving forward at a rapid pace. They have nothing real to offer anyone outside their leadership circle but pain and more pain. Our Department of Justice needs to start acting on behalf of We the People as states pass laws that are clearly against our Constitution, particularly the first and 14th amendments (our basic rights) as well as the 15th, 19th, and 26th voting amendments. Maybe getting some of the planners of Jan. 6th indicted would help a bit too. There is no time to sit back and just watch. We must do what we can right where we are, then expand outward, tapping into the expertise of those who have been working to stop the harm/sin for a long time. We can do this!
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