And you're out? Or should the punctuation be out!! The third approach, following, or continuing, yesterday's posting is to change the very ethos, the very composition, the very core of this country to something it was and isn't meant to be. It will change this country to such a great degree that it will prove to be unrecognizable in any shape, manner, or form. Rather, it will resemble countries of the past, the present, and those trying for the future. Countries where no one is or will ever be safe, other than a privileged few, and even they will find themselves living under constant suspicion, always having to prove themselves, never actually succeeding 100%.
This third way shatters my soul. It destroys my heart, my trust, my confidence. I think of what Trump said, that the only way to exist, to survive, is to be "untrusting". That cannot be. That man cannot represent the future truth of America, actually, the destruction of America. And yet, even as my heart and soul scream out against that possibility, the mind knows that the possibility has moved, faster and faster, into a reality and probability that will take place unless there be immediate and proactive as well as reactive steps.
Have you figured it out yet? If not, here are a few hints, not in any particular order, as the order does not make a difference, and actually maintains the reasoning behind by fear and concern. The hatred is real. It is physical. It is mental and emotional. It is real. It means blood. It means great loss and dehumanization beyond belief, among both victim and oppressor. It means turning180 degrees from what is supposed to be, to what has unfortunately been the actual truth, the ugly, bloody, eternal truth.
Look up the dates and the names if they are unfamiliar to you and read, learn of a dark past, an increasingly common present, and a threatening future. Read and understand why my heart beats so fast, why my innards are ripped by terror, why my soul cries out, "Why?" Must it always be so? Can there never be a surety of permanence, of belonging, of acceptance? Why are our contributions to society, to history, to science, to mankind, to philanthropy always discounted, while the false and acrid blood-stained accusations proliferate? Enough!!! Will that ever be true?
1492. 1648. 1881. Kiev. Mendel Bailis. Auto-de feus. 1924 immigration law. 1948. 1933 -1945. One plus one plus one plus one plus one to .... To the count of millions. Cossacks. Henry Ford. Protocols of Zion. Oath Keepers. Tree of Life synagogue. Ilan Halimi. Growing right wing Christianity. Evangelical adherents turning on their own beliefs. Pogroms. Quotas. Secret agreements. Implied, implicit, explicit - take your choice, or do all three.
Got it yet? Separation of church and state a "myth"?Blending of Christianity - a perverted false one - and conspiracy theories. "Jesus, Guns, and Babies" shouted at rallies. Declaring the country, my country, your country, a Christian nation - forcefully, only, restrictively. Claims that the Constitution is based on the Bible. A campaign and heavy-duty efforts to leverage, to build upon, this ever increasing, ever more fervid extreme right-wing religionists as they attempt take over the government at all stages. A sword inscribed with "For God and Country' given as a reward and why? "Because you've been cutting a lot of heads off". "You are fighting for our religious rights in Christ Jesus, and so we wanted to bless you with that sword of David."
How ironic that evident facts are overlooked or disregarded. David was a Jewish hero and King. Jesus was born, lived, and died as a Jew. His speeches spoke of many elementary principles of Judaism, railing against corruption. Not new actions for any Jew. But Crusades and butchery was the way Christianity chose for too long.
Make no mistake. This Christianity is not what it purports to be. It is a Christianity that used that name as a costume, a deadly one, which will uncloak as a hater of all but their views. Jews, Hindus, Moslems, Bahai, Catholics. LGBTQ+. Single parents. Contraception. Women's rights and acceptance, recognition as equal to all. And on and on and on.
My heart breaks as I see this hatred encouraged, bought into by troubled souls looking for a quick fix to all the problems they see and have. This is not Christianity. This is not truth.
This is not, cannot be, my country. I do not ever expect every American to recognize eternal truths, but I do, at least till now, have faith in their inner core, in the education they received, in life. Evidently, I am now being proven wrong, dreadfully so.
Thus, the results. The wondering if my Christian friends will speak for me, protect me. The fear of wondering, three years from now if we should have left then and too late now. Nowhere to go. No country a refuge. A Bermuda Conference repetition. Yet another attempt to extirpate Jews from society, from life itself? Wonder why I am truly frightened, growing more each and every day? Wondering, worrying, to my last cell, what will happen to my kids, grandchildren and future generations? Will there even be any future at all for them?
Think I am wrong, jumping the shark? Go read history. Read the newspapers of the times - past and present. Hear the interviews and podcasts, newscasts, political analysis. Feel the crunch of hate thrust against your jaw, undercutting your knees, with no help in sight. It has happened - again and again - in counties where Jews were among the highest ranks of society and government, thinking they were of that nation as a first descriptive term. Read of their great shock when they were 'outed' as eternal aliens, eternal others, eternal scapegoats for the woes and ills of the world.
This country today leaves a frightened woman all alone in a Russian jail cell, facing unjust 'punishment', as a political pawn, the currency of a nation. Why have we abandoned her? Because, she, like the Jewish person is different? Because she IS a woman? Why? And why do I see a horrid ad asking why use something else, when you can have a Jew. What the hell is that?! Why is that even printed? Is it because that person feels the hate directed against him and uses that hate to increase his business or to keep others safe? Cannot answer that, but both incidents are indicative of society's ill-chosen turns.
Yes, this is the third way, the worst way, yet perhaps the more likely, probable way. It cannot be. It should not be. Yet the doubt, the fear, the ugliness of it all befogs all else.
And hot off the press. San Antonio's Jewish congregations were told to cancel all prayer services on Saturday due to threats. Where are we living? How are we living?
No comments:
Post a Comment