By Joni Halpern
Among the books of old, old stories, there is one that stands out to followers and non-followers of religion. It is the story of a gentle, but firm adherent to a way of life so revolutionary that despite its call for compassion toward all, including our enemies, it was treated like an insurgency. Its leader was condemned, its followers persecuted, its goal of fidelity to a God who loves us all still evading humanity more than 2,000 years later.
Today, people who claim to be ardent followers of this way of life have endorsed a new American leadership so bereft of compassion, so devoid of mercy, that it bears no resemblance at all to the life these followers say they want to emulate. Instead, the followers of our contemporary American Heathens embrace the promise of power and wealth, the hatred of all who cannot serve the goals of personal enrichment and political grandiosity, and the denigration of all who believe differently than they, no matter how decent those labeled as “liberal” or “woke” might be. These followers of the new Deities of the Cold-Hearted have breathed deeply the gust of arrogance that arises from the condemnation and humiliation of others, filling their lungs with righteousness of a very different kind than that of the humble person crucified like a criminal so long ago.
Oddly, many of our New Charlatans’ followers believe they are acting out the mandates of the One Who Loved Us All, the ancient no-nonsense teacher who never claimed a denarius, never walked past a person in need, never turned his back on the unwanted or unwelcome. Yet many of these followers have either endorsed or stood idly by while the Current Madman and His Minions have shredded the tapestry of decency woven over decades from the shared wealth of our country to help our own people and those who suffer in other parts of the world, even in places where we helped to bring about the suffering.
“America First,” these followers of the Majestic Profiteers shout. “We are tired of helping those outside our country who are sucking the lifeblood out of us.” But as it turns out, these followers are also tired of helping those inside our country – not just the immigrants who have picked our crops, cared for our elderly, babysat our kids, manicured our lawns, served as laborers and warehouse workers and office cleaners and custodians and restaurant workers and hotel servants and…and…
The followers of the present-day leader are sick and tired not only of immigrants, but also of American citizen children of the working poor – the kids who need food, housing, medical and dental care, who need neighborhood public schools that are safe and well-staffed, who need summer opportunities and more time with their parents who are now working two and three jobs and still losing ground.
In truth, the followers of today’s Avaricious Leaders have long ago abandoned the path of that ancient symbolic life of love and forgiveness. Since 1975, these followers (and many who are not followers but wonder how we got here) have inhaled the political dogma our selfish, greedy and profoundly unforgiving leadership, accepting the ludicrous notion that each of us is singularly responsible for our own fate. We are never the victims of forces beyond our control. Those who die or become injured in hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, or wars were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They should have lived somewhere else, built better storm shelters, dodged bullets and shrapnel.
If they are poor families with children, they should have chosen not to have children. If they are poor without children, they should have chosen to work two jobs. If they are poor with two jobs, they should have taken three jobs. If they have no health care, they should sicken and die or pray for a miracle. If a miracle does not occur, then the Great Source of All Goodness in the Universe did not want them to live.
If people have no housing, it is because they have made some large or small unfortunate, ignorant, or purposely bad choice about what to do with their lives. If they had done better in school, taken advantage of every opportunity (because everyone knows there is equal opportunity for all), if they had put their nose to the grindstone and never given up – if they had done all these things, they would never have needed anyone’s help, let alone the largesse of government. And if they are among those who, having made an unassisted, unprovoked “bad” choice that has led to their involvement in the criminal process, they deserve every moment of torture or abandonment an unforgiving nation can dish out. As one follower of the Great Con Artists recently put it, “Why don’t we just put them all in Gitmo? They don’t belong here with us.”
Today, these followers of the new Gods of Ambition and Enrichment have climbed farther up the pole of human judgment to cast their gaze of condemnation not only upon those who have failed economically, but who, in view of these followers, have failed morally: the people among us who believe in tolerance for their own differences as well as for those of others; the ones who believe differently about women’s choices over their own bodies; who love deeply but with different gender identities or sexual orientations, or who persist in pleading for mercy and forgiveness for those who have made mistakes and paid for them dearly.
The followers of the Great Wealthinators also decry those who have devoted their lives to scientific research, although most of the followers are not averse to accepting what once were cutting edge cures developed by American scientists in American laboratories at American universities, in concert with worldwide colleagues. The followers see no need to contribute to the efforts of those whose artistry or research contribute to our understanding of the intense beauty of the universe or depict the searing pain of many of Earth’s creatures (including humans), or show the agony of those who suffer from failed national relationships that end in war. The followers of our America-First Champions do not regard any of these endeavors as necessary investments of the public wealth.
Film clips or photos of bare-boned babies and tearful mothers in countries America has abandoned to starvation and disease are of no consequence to these followers of the North Stars of Market Manipulators. The dying babies should have been born in wealthier countries; the mothers should never have gotten pregnant. Perhaps the followers perceive a greater world in which a select few (among whom they mistakenly believe Bulging Billionaires will count them) receive abundance while the rest of us fight over crumbs. And perhaps they believe those who are given only crumbs must relinquish the joy of having children, since they will not be able to afford them. Such a society should be one that sends a chill down the spine of all who envision it. But apparently it does not elicit even a shrug among these followers of the Massive Enrichers.
It now seems an impossible journey to reach the humble vision of the poor prophet of so long ago, where justice, mercy and love reside amid the family of humankind, or even to achieve agreement that such a goal, born of whatever source of goodness any of us believes in, is still worthwhile. What is certain is that we cannot even imagine such a goal by treading the path we are now on. Where the Captains of Enrichment and their followers plan to take us is clearly in the opposite direction.
The Source of All Goodness in the Universe, whatever we conceive this force to be, left a map with vastly different contours than that revealed thus far by our Righteously Rich leaders. It is a path not of wealth, but of generosity; not of external power, but internal strength; not of hatred and humiliation but of love and forgiveness. Not MAGA, but decency and shared responsibility for the well-being of ourselves and each other, not just in our own pocketbook, our own household, our own neighborhood, our own community, or our own nation, but as participants in the world.
Only by taking a path in the opposite direction from that of the Prevailing Profiteers will we see what the ancient preacher envisioned, a land where, as the poet says, “now and forever, the day breaks and the shadows flee away.”
AMEN sister! You stated the case very well.