I've often
wondered how it was possible for the good people of Germany to endorse and
enable Hitler in his evil enterprise.
I've wondered
how men and women sat in church in the morning, then turned out to cheer the
Fuhrer in his parade ground that same afternoon.
I've wondered
how people who heard from childhood "love thy neighbor as thyself" could
stand and watch as Jews and Gypsies were hurried to their death.
Willful
blindness is a dangerous thing.
Misguided
allegiance can destroy us all.
The need to be
right, to save face, to maintain pride: how many millions have died on that
demonic alter?
The demands of my current work led me to step away from this blog several months ago.
The demands of
this week's news require me to take it up again.
How is it
possible that a man who by his own admission has tried to ban Muslims from
entry to our country would make Saudi Arabia the first stop on his first
international presidential journey?
Why would he fawn
and curtsey to a despot who had 47 opponents put to death in one day (January
2016), some by beheading, others shot by a firing squad, a move deplored by
nations around the globe?
Why would the
first major act of this international tour be a $460 billion arms agreement
with that repressive regime?
That one act
would be enough to raise a lament - against war, repression, hypocrisy, furtherance
of hate.
But that was
just the beginning of a week so full of sorrow, when I sit to catalogue it all
I find I have difficulty breathing.
Consider: our
president called Philippine President Roger Duterte to applaud the execution of at
least 7,000 alleged drug dealers, without evidence, without trial.
From Foreign Policy:
“I just wanted to congratulate you because I am hearing of the unbelievable job on the drug program,” Trump told Duterte, according to a transcript of the call obtained by the Washington Post. “Many countries have the problem, we have a problem, but what a great job you are doing and I just wanted to call and tell you that.”
International watchdogs and human rights groups slammed Duterte for his controversial war on drugs, in which he’s encourage extrajudicial killings of users and dealers in a massive wave of violence. “Hitler massacred 3 million Jews, now, there’s 3 million drug addicts. I’d be happy to slaughter them,” Duterte said last year. (In fact, Nazi Germany massacred 6 million Jews.)
Those two paragraphs send me to
tears. The president of the strongest nation on earth called to congratulate a
mass murderer who willingly likened his effort to Hitler's slaughter of the
Jews.
Endorsement of hate begets more
and more hate.
The darkness gathers: slaughter
of dozens of Coptic Christians in Egypt. A bombing at a Manchester concert.
Murder of two men jumping to the aid of two young, apparently Muslim women.
In the light of those events,
maybe it seems small that in Montana this week a Congressional candidate was
elected despite assaulting a reporter, breaking his glasses and shouting
"get the hell out of here" when politely asked an uncomfortable
question.
And equally small that our
president celebrated on Twitter:
"Big win in Montana for Republicans!"
Was it a win?
To elect a man with so little
self control?
But then, self- control is in
increasingly short supply.
As I've said before, I'm
neither Republican nor Democrat.
I'm first a follower of Christ,
bearer of good news and agent of reconciliation
I'm second a citizen of his kingdom:
friend and neighbor to a world in pain, determinedly opposed to attempts to
divide us.
Following that I'm an advocate
for democracy: in my own state, my own country, around the globe.
From that stance I watch,
appalled, as others who claim the name of Christ endorse and enable a man who
exemplifies the attributes Christ most denounced.
Power used to harm the poor.
Pride that pushes others aside.
Folly that can't hear or heed
wisdom.
Unrestrained idolatry that
worships only wealth.
Yes, I've seen the sweet photo
ops.
President Trump visiting a
child with cancer and smiling for the camera.
President Trump embracing a grieving widow.
But discernment demands we look
past the photo ops, the manipulation of media, the spin, the slant, the
never-ending tweets.
It won't work to simply dismiss
the mounting evidence of personal gain, obstruction of investigations, claims
that so many in the White House simply "forgot" to report recent
meetings with high-level Russians.
The president's talk of holding rallies to reach the public, while shutting out the questioning press, should trigger immediate, insistent alarm.
We've seen how that plays out in the past. The first steps toward autocracy are to bypass the press and unravel the rule of law.
Willful
blindness is a dangerous thing.
Misguided
allegiance can destroy us all.
The need to be
right, to save face, to maintain pride: how many more will die?
Our nation and
our world are in desperate need of leaders who seek justice, love mercy and
walk humbly with our God.
We are in need
of leaders who demonstrate the fruit of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
We are in need
of citizens willing to do the hard work of insisting on the truth: looking past
their favorite media outlets to dig a little deeper.
It won't work to
say "I didn't know."
There were many
Germans who made that claim, in an era before the Internet, before unlimited
news sources.
Maybe they truly
didn't know, but we have no such excuse.
Information is
available.
There are
impartial, investigative sources that try hard to get the story right. It's important to read a variety of sources to escape the echo chamber of partisan spin.
On this Memorial
Day weekend, I look back with thanks for those brave men and women who have
chosen to stand against evil, who have given their lives, their limbs to
protect freedom, fairness, human lives, human rights.
I give thanks
for those brave and women who right now, in our country and others, are doing
all they can to stand against evil, to intervene against hate, to insist on
truth when so many around them seem content to swallow lies.
I lament the
many lives lost to war, to repression, to strong men shoving others aside,
eager to prove their power at colossal, unbearable cost.
I lament that
our nation, once a beacon on a hill, is now the laughingstock of democratic
nations and the primary roadblock to a more judicious care of creation.
I cannot be
silent.
We are well past
the point when people of conscience can look the other way.
Too many lives
are at stake - in coastal countries struggling to prepare for the rising tides
and the unrelenting waves.
In refugee
camps, where families wait for the safety and space our own ample land could so
easily offer.
In places
wracked by war propelled forward by profit on American guns.
In neighborhoods
like my own where racial tension is inflamed by misguided policy and careless
accusation.
Read the
prophetic books: God is very clear about the kinds of leaders he approves.
And very clear
as well about the fruit of misused power, unchecked pride, mistreatment of the
poor.
Hear this, you who trample the needy and do away with the poor of the land, buying the poor with silver and the needy for a pair of sandals, selling even the sweepings with the wheat. The Lord has sworn by himself, the Pride of Jacob: “I will never forget anything they have done. “Will not the land tremble for this, and all who live in it mourn?
There are times
when people of faith have been agents of wisdom and healing and mercy, voices
of Shalom in confused and troubled times.
There have also
been times when the church has lost its way, sucked in by surrounding
idolatries, deaf to the voice of mercy or love.
We do well to
remember, to listen, to lament.
And to speak as
clearly and courageously as we can.
To pray for
justice, mercy, compassion.
And wisdom - for
ourselves and those in positions where they might to intervene.
Then to ask that
they do so.
Lord, have
mercy.
