Almost daily, I’m tempted to throw up my hands and surrender this crazy fight to preserve the civil liberties of all Americans. Negative news reports, unhinged poll results, and ridiculous social media posts set my heart racing. I’m stressed and have to take frequent breaks to relax so I can regain my rational thought in order to respond prudently. I often posit that since most young people are too pre-occupied to pay attention to the wrecking ball coming for their freedoms, then perhaps I should just let it come. It would certainly be less stressful. But even if I respond on social media, Facebook and Instagram have minimized my political posts in accordance with their new community standards so that it feels like I’m shouting in an abandoned forest. And that’s frustrating!
The problem is that I care. I care about my children, nieces, nephews and grandchildren as well as my former students. I care about their ability to live their lives in accordance with who they are and what they value. I care about their ability to breathe clean air and drink clean water. I care that they have opportunities to thrive. I don’t want them to live their lives under religious tyranny, legalized discrimination, lack of affordable health care, or constant threat of violence or climate related natural disasters. So, I fight on even when I’m infuriated by their lack of attention and willingness to engage in their own protection beyond the task of voting. So, I push for at least that (voting) while simultaneously reminding MAGA lawmakers and their supporters that there are Americans who oppose their agenda. In my thinking, silence is a form of consent and pushing people to defend their position can have a moderating effect.
Fighting is hardest when you’re dealing with stubborn and uneducated people who have been led to believe a fictional version of American history and who have a distorted view of Christianity, our constitution, and humanity itself. It’s mentally taxing and takes a lot of time and emotional energy to listen to their unsubstantiated pronouncements, deeply flawed and even dangerous proposals, threats of violence, and incomprehensible defense of Trump as their persecuted “savior” who will right this sinking ship.
I’m thankful for the rising voices of Christians who are finally speaking up and proclaiming that what these MAGA are promoting is not in fact “Christianity” but a dangerous form of white nationalism that completely contradicts the teachings of Christ and gives Christianity itself a bad name. MAGA claim that this country was established by and for white Christian protestants and that the original constitution provided freedoms intended for them. However, they are willing to extend a measure of freedom to the rest of us. In other words, second class citizenship awaits women, people of color, and LGBTQ folks if they were to take power. The freedoms we enjoy today will be gone tomorrow and our lives will be subjected to their self-serving view of “Judeo-Christian” values and their unscientific view of humanity and the planet on which we reside. And because they believe climate change is a hoax, they will drill and thwart any efforts to address environmental issues in favor of cheap energy.
Given the current make-up of the Supreme Court, if Trump were to win this next election and if the GOP capture both the House and Senate, I predict several immediate outcomes: 1) All legal actions against Trump will end. 2) Trump will hand Ukraine over to Putin and encourage Israel to completely remove the Palestinians. 3) There will be mass deportations across the country, creating a shortage of workers to be replaced by prisoners as legalized slave labor, child labor and the impoverished elderly. 4) There will be a nationwide ban on abortions followed by an attempt to ban contraception, endangering the lives, life-prospects, and livelihoods of women. 5) There will be a gradual elimination of the safety net, forcing labor and stretching charities to the breaking point. 6) There will be a ban on gender reassignment surgery for everyone, increasing suicides. 7) There will be a ban on same sex marriage and public displays of homosexuality and transgender. 8) There will be widespread censorship of the media, entertainment, and an expanded ban on books. 9) The Department of Education will be eliminated along with reduced funding for public schools, and the Bible will be required as the main text for morality and science, enraging educators. 10) The guaranteed individual freedoms in the constitution will be suspended in the name of public safety and national security. 11) Environmental regulations will be relaxed in favor of corporate profits, causing more pollution. 12) Massive tax cuts for the wealthy will be passed, defunding government agencies into oblivion. 13) There will be an immigration bill that favors white protestant immigrants and bans Muslims, homosexuals, and others. 14) There will be an uptick in police brutality and arrests along with a substantial growth in the prison population (slave labor) which will grow to include political protestors, abortionists, the unhoused, homosexuals, transgender, rebellious professors and teachers, and the mentally ill. 15) There will be more tariffs imposed on goods coming from China, raising the prices on everything. And finally, 16) There will be actions taken to ensure that MAGA wins all future elections.
Of course, no one really knows what Trump will do because he doesn’t articulate policies beyond his desire to get revenge, deport and ban undesirable immigrants, remain in power with absolute immunity, and bask in the adoration of his followers. To these ends, I predict that he will do the bidding of the nefarious characters around him who have a clear vision for remaking America. I predict that they are going to need a lot of complicit able-bodied police, a lot of loaded guns, and a whole lot of new prisons to accomplish their vision because I also predict that the youth and pre-occupied adults who aren’t paying attention today, will be more than willing to fight then.