“My students remarked that the Fascist chiefs we remember
best were charismatic. Through one method or another, each established an
emotional link to the crowd and, like the central figure in a cult, brought
deep and often ugly feelings to the surface. This is how the tentacles of
Fascism spread inside a democracy. Unlike a monarchy or a military dictatorship
imposed on society from above, Fascism draws energy from men and women who are
upset because of a lost war, a lost job, a memory of humiliation, or a sense
that their country is in steep decline. The more painful the grounds for
resentment, the easier it is for a Fascist leader to gain followers by dangling
the prospect of renewal or by vowing to take back what has been stolen.”
Madeleine
K. Albright, Fascism: A Warning
_________________________________________
All living creatures need fuel.
Some sources of energy
That gives them life, even power
Animals need food, plants need sunlight
We, human creatures, seem to need a little more
A fuel that is emotional or spiritual
What fuels us, drives us, matters
Because what fuels us as individuals
As movements
As nations
Shapes our values and our priorities
Influences how we perceive things
And determines our choices, words, and behaviors
This is perhaps why the author of Proverbs writes
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do
flows from it.”
And why Jesus warned the people
That “the things that come out of a person’s mouth come
from the heart,
and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil
thoughts.
This raises the question
As we look around us, and what is happening in our
country, our culture
As we watch people make choices about who to support
(vote for)
Who to welcome, or exclude
Who to help or abandon
As we listen to the words that come out of the mouths
Of leaders and followers alike
As we see people lie, and hear them demean others,
And stir up enmity
What is driving us?
Jesus said clearly that we ought to be shaped by love
Love God, love yourself, and have those two loves create
a third love
Love of others
And do it with all your heart, soul, mind and strength
But it seems clear that love is not the fuel that powers
MAGA
Or the church
It doesn’t matter if one is traditional, or oriented
toward change (which they see as progress)
We watch as division tears at the fabric of our nation
And we hear lies that wound and harm
We see anger, even rage
We see hate written on faces
And we watch as neighbors, friends, and family
Make choices that surprise and confuse
And seem to violate who they are,
Or who we thought they were
We watch as people we believed were grounded and rooted
Injustice and equity
And yes, compassion and
Ignore, even enable
Racism, bigotry, misogyny, vulgarity
Dishonesty and cruelty
Even vote for those things.
I have thought variously, that this was about fear
Or perhaps anger
Or that it was the result of people being misinformed and
mislead
By people they trust
But at this point, for me, it all distills done to one
word.
Resentment
People resent change, which often means they have to
change
People resent the push for equity and equality, which
asks them to let go of privilege
People resent immigrants, who make them uncomfortable or
afraid
They resent inflation (which does hurt)
They resent everything and everyone they think has cost
them or will cost them,
Comfort, power, privilege, or wealth
And now they have someone
Who has created an emotional link with them based on
resentment
And who has dragged bitterness out of the depths of their
souls
Out of the collective soul of much of America
And if resentment (and its political embodiment, MAGA) prevails,
it will damage America profoundly
especially those who have embraced it
Resentment is a poison
Oscar Wilde when talking about resentment once wrote
“One cannot always keep an adder in one's breast to feed
one, nor rise up every night to sow thorns in the garden of one's soul.”
Paul in his letter to the Ephesians (4) implored the
people to
“walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have
been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with
one another in love, 3 making every effort to maintain the unity of the Spirit
in the bond of peace”
He pleaded with them not to let people manipulate them
with bitterness
“… No longer be children, tossed to and fro and blown
about by every wind of doctrine by people’s trickery, by their craftiness in
deceitful scheming, but speak the truth in love”
And He asked those who would follow Jesus to let go of
resentment (which becomes ugly things like hate, a desire for retribution, and
a need to control) and
(gasp)
Have a spirit of forgiveness.
“So then, putting away falsehood, let each of you speak
the truth with your neighbor, for we are members of one another. Be angry but
do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, and do not make room for
the devil. Those who steal must give up stealing; rather, let them labor, doing
good work with their own hands, so as to have something to share with the
needy. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths but only what is good for
building up, as there is need, so that your words may give grace to those who
hear. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were marked with
a seal for the day of redemption. Put away from you all bitterness and wrath
and anger and wrangling and slander, together with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted,
forgiving one another, as God in Christ has forgiven you.”
In this time when some want us to be our old deluded selves
We are called to clothe ourselves with the “new self”
And put away resentment
And put on kindness and generosity
And live (and vote) accordingly.
