The path to the abyss

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smoke whirls

as flash grenades echo

and assailants

better armed than combat troops

trod heavily

 

faces covered

 

bullies

the hands and feet

of a movement that prizes

power

and seeks intimidation

 

we do not know who they are

these furtive intimidators 

 

we do know that this is not

greatness

this is not democracy

 

this is terrorism

 

the yield of seeds planted

by clever souls

the seeds of fear and resentment

of racism

 

they march

these denizens of tyranny

seeking the tired, the poor

those who endured oppression and violence

and have come here

yearning to breathe free,

the refugee and the immigrant

 

no longer welcome

in the land of freedom

no longer welcome in a land that consumes

but does not give

 

too afraid, too resentful

too greedy

to welcome the stranger into its midst

 

to embrace those who

if welcomed

would flourish, and in flourishing,

enrich this land

 

who would work, and raise families

and be our neighbors

 

we have demonized these precious souls

deemed them dangerous and unworthy

accused them of eating pets

and made them the enemy

 

are there wicked people among

those who have come?

por supuesto

 

but fewer among them

than among those who are so proud

to be an American

 

but till we dehumanize them

and round them up like livestock

we line them up

hands zip tied behind their backs

we detain them without due process

and deport them

to places unknown

 

or send them back to certain death

 

what have we become?

this land

this United States

this self proclaimed “Christian Nation?”

 

this is tyranny looming,

a dark cloud of oppression looming

growing

obscuring the light until all

is darkness

 

true religion, Jesus said

is taking care of the vulnerable in your midst

it is feeding the hungry, clothing the naked,

giving water to the thirsty

taking care of the sick

 

it is fighting for justice

 

so what do we do

in these days, as armed men march

and justice is denied?

 

Jesus said we can be sheep or goats

we can side with the vulnerable

or ignore them

but that siding with the poo

and welcoming the stranger is not optional

 

America first (and only) is not the path to greatness

it is the path to the abyss

taken

one masked militant

one zip tied immigrant

one injustice at a time

 

even as the darkness encroaches

we cannot fight hate with hate, evil with evil

violence with violence

 

we must stand, yes

and speak, yes

and act, yes

 

but the way is clear

 

We must learn to do good;

seek justice,

correct oppression;

bring justice (Isaiah 1)

 

that is Yahweh’s way