Wednesday Word: Enough
Enough.
Just before I went on vacation, President Trump verbally attacked four congresswomen of color telling them to, “Go back where you came from.” The implication, of course, being that unless you are white you aren't from here, nor do you belong here. It's a clearly racist and xenophobic view held not only by him, but by the vast majority of his supporters.
While I was on vacation, the president verbally attacked Rep. Elijah Cummings of Baltimore's 7th congressional district. The most (in)famous words when he called Baltimore a “disgusting, rat and rodent infested mess” where “no human would want to live.”
Besides being obviously racist, the president's rant contained other dark undertones. In stating that no human would want to live there, he effectively identified those people who do live there as sub-human and less-than. As a white man describing this black-majority area this way, he has used a tactic that slave owners, traders, and white supremacists have used for centuries, equating non-whites as sub-human. I'm waiting for him to propose a bill stating that blacks get 3/5 of a vote. It is also reminiscent of the posters and other propaganda that were distributed in the 1940's during the Nazi occupation of Denmark equating Jews with rats that must be exterminated.
And this past Saturday evening, I went to bed with the news that 18 people had been killed by a gunman in El Paso and awoke Sunday morning to the news that 9 had been killed in Dayton. In El Paso, a white nationalist who idolizes the president and his racist rhetoric set out to cleanse Texas of the Hispanic invasion. The Dayton killer had compiled both a “hit list” and “rape list” of those he wanted to kill and/or harm. All of this on the heels of the seemingly endless words from our president pushing a white, nationalist agenda that proclaims there are fine people in the white supremacy movement.
Enough.
In the face of these and other acts acts of misogyny, xenophobia, racism, and other hate-spewing rants, I can no longer be silent. In the face of lies designed to appeal to our most base nature, speeches designed to increase our fear of others, and evil words and actions that have been utilized and normalized by a swath of Christianity, I can no longer be silent.
What is being held up as virtuous by this president and his supporters are, in fact, evil powers which corrupt and destroy the creatures of God. There is no repentance, only poor excuses. There is no resistance to evil, but an embrace of it in the name of national purity. There is no proclamation of Good News, only a bullhorn proclaiming fear. There is no desire to seek Christ, only a desire to seek the elimination of those not like us. There is no striving for justice and peace, but a striving for homogeneity that silences minority opinions and voices. There is no desire to serve, only a desire to maintain power and control over those who are different and a desire to be seen as the greatest.
Feed the hungry. Welcome the stranger. Love the enemy. There is no more Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ. This is the gospel we should be following. And unless we speak out against the atrocities of the current regime, we will be seen as supporting it, because our silence will be our approval.
Enough.