The Day Decency Died

Mark it down; November 8th, 2016 was the day decency died.  We had a clear choice for President of the United States and we made the wrong one.  We voted for someone who is clearly unqualified for the office.  How are we so easily manipulated?  How are we so easily deceived?  How are we so easily turned to the wrong choice?  Is it because we are not paying attention?  Is it because we believe so easily those who speak ill of others?  I am discouraged about the future of the United States, but I am not discouraged about the future.

Yes, we are easily manipulated.  Those who are unwilling to seek truth are manipulated by those who speak lies loudly, and that happened a lot during this latest campaign season.  Fact checks were going ballistic over the number of lies told by the winning presidential candidate, but nobody cared.  As long as the lie was told over and over again in convincing fashion it became the truth.

In the meantime, even though there was no proven wrongdoing on the side of the other candidate, the court of public opinion had already tried and convicted the candidate without credible evidence.  The reason has to be that too many people believed the lies.  It does not seem to matter how often the facts were trotted out, if people are convinced the lies are the truth, the truth doesn't seem to stand a chance.  The witch hunters scored a vicious victory, and decency, and possibly even democracy, died.  I am very concerned for the future of the United States of America.  I see some striking similarities to the Nazi regime that overtook Germany in the late 1920's, and those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.  The future of decency and even democracy in the United States looks very uncertain.  Decency seems to be dead, and democracy is at least on life support.

But I am not discouraged about the future of the world.  I know that God has not abandoned what God created.  God is love, and God sheds the light of God's love on all who walk in God's ways.  Those who speak hatred and divisiveness do not walk in God's ways.  The Bible is very clear on this.  In 1 John 4 it says, "Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God.  Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.  Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. (skip to verse 18) There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love.  We love because he first loved us.  Those who say "I love God" and hate their brothers or sisters are LIARS; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen.  The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God MUST love their brothers and sisters also."  I'm not making any of this stuff up!  The Bible actually says all of that!  We cannot chose who gets God's love.  God's love is indiscriminate.  God loves black people, white people, red people, yellow people, brown people, and any other shade of people.  God loves men, women, transgender, politically correct, politically incorrect, bigots, gays, lesbians, questioning, answering, and any other label you can think of.  God even loves Muslims, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, Zoroastrans, Druids, Odinists, and yes, even us misguided, confused, Pharisaic Christians.  God loves us all.   That's in the Bible, too.  "For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, so that anyone who believes in Him may not perish, but may have everlasting life.  Indeed, God did NOT send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be SAVED through him.  See, God still cares about the whole world, including Donald Trump and those who voted for him.  God cares about those who voted for Hillary Clinton as well.  God cares about and loves all of us.  I hope we can see that in the midst of things that will go horribly wrong.  I also hope we can see it in the midst of things that will go wonderfully right!

And now, while we are concerned about the future of our country, here is my pledge.  I will seek to love mercy, and do justly, and to walk humbly with God (Micah 6:8).  In order to do that I will make sure to be a safe person to talk to when you feel threatened by our government, or by people who would rather divide our country into the 'us' and the 'them'.  Until we decide otherwise, we are still the United States of America, and, as Abraham Lincoln said, we are a nation "of the people, by the people, and for the people."  Let us not put any qualifiers on who we mean my 'people'.  God doesn't, and neither should we; neither will I.  Keep the faith, my friends.  Don