Yesterday, Ethel Kennedy, in response to a granddaughter dying at the age of 22, said, "The world is a little less beautiful today." She was not only correct in the personal aspect, but also of the truth of this statement in regards the world at large. I would just change the little to a great deal with regard to the state of the country and the world.
The world is filled with hate. The Bible tells us that before the flood, the land was filled with "chamos", which included evil deeds and attitudes and a hopelessness that this state could ever be remedied without drastic action. I fear greatly that we, too, are at such a state of being, mostly due to the hatred that permeates the very atmosphere of this world, a thick layer which encompasses all, another layer around the world, though not protective of it at all. In fact, it is the very opposite. Are we too at a stage of no return?
Three priests of The National Cathedral raised the question of hate, of racism, of personal responsibility in a letter they posted online. They raised the same question I do, all the time. They stressed the same point. See, the hatred that comes spewing forth from the filthy mouth of that bloated personality masquerading as a leader, is one thing. But, a great big but, he is not alone in the guilt for the poisonous atmosphere we now live in. So who? All of us. We are. We have allowed him to do this, to reach this point, to have a platform on which to vomit his ugliness of soul, the same ugliness that appeals to the worst of us and/or the worst in us.
These priests point out that we need to pay attention to the decency not only of Trump, but also of "those who do not take action." When the words of ugliness and hate come forth from the mouth, ugly face, angry face, hatred coloring all, "they are a clarion call, and give cover, to white supremacists who consider people of color a subhuman 'infestation' in America. ...Violent words lead to violent actions." How often I have typed those very words and their cousins into my daily blog. How many times have I despaired as to how long will it take for people to realize that one cannot just laugh at the insidious moron, or shrug shoulders, or ignore it all, hoping it will go away, or worse, one actually supports this hatred, this ugliness of the very soul, this perversion of humanity and what that should mean.
It is not normal to have a President like this, a man of such a mean soul and heart and filthy mouth and "to stay silent in the face of such rhetoric is for us to tacitly condone the violence of these words".
So where is the triumph in here? Well, in the worst of all possible worlds it would mean the triumph of Trumpism and all the horror that entails. But there is another triumph, one that has been seen before and can be seen again. How many times throughout history have we confronted super villians, madmen who would destroy the world, all in the name of their warped and violent philosophies? How many times have we had to beat them down?
How many groupings of people, be they of ethnicity or religion or color, or simply over the border, have been subjected to violence? I am a Jew and proud of it, though perhaps more frightened now than at any other time in my life, for there is an enormous growth of anti Semitism, in both words and deeds than ever before, in my lifetime anyway, and it scares me, greatly.
But then I recall the triumph of the Jews throughout history. Of all the great empires of the past, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Persia, the Medes, all of them, are no longer here, or remnants are left, much bereft of position and glory. But the very nation that was persecuted for its belief in an invisibe G-d, for its stubborness in its maintaining its culture and religion, in fighting against desperate odds to do this, to keep an existence, to remain viable in changing and hostile worlds, that very same nation is here, alive, well, for the most part, and ready to challenge any modern day repros of the past.
Last night, somehow some song suggestions came up on the side of the screen The songs were beautiful, in presentation and meaning. They spoke of the courage and determination of a nation besieged over the centuries. They spoke of the strength with which we adhered to our beliefs and not only that, but performed acts of charity and philanthropy that benefitted the entire world. We became contributors to the scientific, literary, artistic worlds at large and despite the crazed efforts to exterminate us, via Hitler and now, via the terrorists of Hamas and Hezbollah, who seek to deny us an existence at all in our ancient land, we are here. Yes, we are here and will remain so.
That is the triumph of this blog. To see a memorial presentation on Holocaust Day in Israel, which had four generations of survivors and descendants, singing a song stating that WE ARE LIVING, that we will continue to live, to enjoy our cultures and that passed down through the generations, that we have returned to our homeland, that we will stand and resist all who espouse hatred and violence, no matter the target - that is triumph.
That is the triumph we need in the world at large. When we remember the words of these pastors, "What will it take for all of us to say, with one voice, that we have had enough? The question is less about the president's sense of decency, but of ours."
So, Americans, have we no decency? How long will we tolerate this hatred, these violence inciting words, the recycling of hateful tropes and memes, the perversion of the internet with falsehoods guaranteed to rile up violence, the racism, the xenophobia, the viciousness, of it all.
Must we have yet another time when the world filled, overfilled with violence and violent people, with a burning hatred for all others, or can we not look deep into our inner selves and find that decency. Admit errors that we have made regarding this man and his nasty minions.
Words are dangerous. Words are uplifting. Words demand choices. Let us all make the right ones, choose the correct words, and make it soon. The situation is that dire. Let us look for the elements of triumph that are within us; we just have buried them deep and need to work a tad harder to find them and expose them to the invigorating light. Let that light shine throughout the world and let the darkness of the words of Trump, the darkness of his right winger extremist supporters, the haters, the selfish, be diminshed and conquered.
"Have you no sense of decency?" That was the question asked of Sen. Joseph McCarthy during his crazed Red hunt that turned this nation inside out. Let us ask that question of ourselves and let us come up with the right asnswer and deeds. May decency triumph, respect for all, triumph.
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