You Can Be Sure...

Stan, at the Winging It blog, offered some thoughts on the problem with humans having a "deceitful heart." This line of thinking often posted at blogs like Stan's always raises questions for me. Questions that I've never had well-answered (and mostly have been ignored.)

Usually, these commentaries are of the sort that say (this is my summation, to be clear, not a direct quote from anyone...)

Even if someone SAYS they're saved, they can be mistaken, for Scripture says that some will be surprised in the "final days" to learn that they're not saved. Yes, the human heart is deceitful above all things!

Which always raises the question, for me, well, how do you know you're not the one who is deceived and deceitful, confused and mistaken?

In a (very) slight attempt to deal with the problem, Stan said...

"While admitting up front that God's word is truth (and when they do not, you can immediately dismiss them, having only their own deceitful hearts as their standard), we are still left to our own wits, so to speak, to interpret God's word."

Stan then asks, are we considering the text and the context of the text? The language and culture and the writing style (and Stan cites "historical, doctrinal, hyperbole, poetry, etc..." Noting that he doesn't offer mythic or epic as potential writing styles...), etc. All of which are fine, as far as they go.

But what of two groups of people reading the same collection of texts in good faith efforts to understand and yet who come to disagreement on interpretation and understanding?

Stan deals with this towards the end by saying...

"...how does your understanding of the text, the context, and the Scriptures line up with the history of Christendom?
Is your understanding novel?
Does it contradict all prior understanding?
Have you come up with a new and creative way to understand God's Word?
Then you can be pretty sure your deceitful heart is doing its devilish work."

So, this is a LOVELY rationale for sticking to human religious traditions. But, some questions arise...

1. It's not strictly biblical, you know that, right? Appealing to human traditions as a test has mixed responses in the Bible's pages. Some places, it affirms human traditions, others, it decries them.

2. Indeed, Jesus disrupted a HUGE number of human religious teachings and understandings, traditions that the religious fathers had handed down for thousands of years that Jesus up-ended.

3. It STILL has the problem of relying upon human teachings, which teachings and interpretations being HUMAN in nature, are fallible.

4. It has the problem of needing to affirm things like slavery and forced marriages (because God in the Bible appears to condone such things) and the problem of condemning loving marriage relationships between gay and lesbian folks. For instance.

5. So, to address Stan's last line:

Does your human understanding of your human traditions have you affirming slavery and forced marriages (ie, rape) in some circumstances and yet denying committed loving marriage options to gay and lesbian folk, you can be sure your deceitful heart is doing its devilish work.

Stop the Hate

 Attacks on Asian Americans is and has been on the rise...

https://www.npr.org/2021/03/17/978055571/anti-asian-attacks-rise-during-pandemic-read-nprs-stories-on-the-surge-in-violen

Killer targets Asian Americans (Asian, Asian-looking...) in attacks in Atlanta. Eight dead...

https://www.cnn.com/us/live-news/atlanta-area-shootings-03-17-21/index.html

Spit on, yelled at, attacked... Asian Americans are not feeling safe...

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/23/us/chinese-coronavirus-racist-attacks.html

Trump and his supporters and other racists used and continue to use stereotypical hate language to inflate hatred towards Asians and Asian Americans. Words matter. It's NOT being PC to say that Trump should stop with the hate language. Just as we could predict violence over the election due to his stirring up distrust with his idiot words, so too, we could predict violence towards Asian-appearing people directly from the words he and his supporters use.

Stop it.

Asian Americans are not the enemy. Asian people are not the enemy. BLM is not the enemy. Antifa is not the enemy. Liberals, the media, LGBTQ folk, Democrats... hell, even Republicans are not the enemy.

The enemy are those who embrace hateful language and deploy dangerous attacks to demonize groups of people - especially historically oppressed groups of people. We MUST unite against such hate language and denounce it when it happens. We MUST not give a pass to such demonizations and hate.

Executive Orders, Clarification

Disclaimer: I am no expert on Executive Orders. But I've been doing some reading and here are some thoughts based upon those readings...

 Craig recently complained about Obama's Executive Orders, saying something on his blog that other conservatives have said in variety of ways, some not as gracious as Craig's (which is not saying a lot)...

I’m certainly not singling out Biden, I don’t remember this sort of rule by EO being a big issue before P-BO, and Trump was certainly guilty of it as well. This notion that “the other guys did it”, just doesn’t seem presidential or healthy.

1. "Trump was guilty of it as well..."

This is the sort of downplaying/attack that we see from the conservatives who want to pretend they don't support Trump, while downplaying his flaws and treating him as just another less than perfect politician.

The reality is that, for those who view EOs as "bad," Trump was much worse than Obama was. IF you want to say that Obama's average of 35 EOs a year are an abuse of executive power, THEN you HAVE to say that Trump was nearly twice (35/55ths) as bad with his 55 EOs a year.

*More on Trump's EOs later...

2. The reality is that, since 1900 (and before, at a lower rate), EOs have been regularly used.

McKinley averaged 40/year (more than Obama)
Teddy Roosevelt: 145/year
Taft: 181/year
Wilson: 225/year
....
Franklin Roosevelt: 307 (the peak)
...
Kennedy: 75
...
Nixon: 62
Ford: 69
Carter: 80
Reagan: 48 (more than Obama)
Bush I: 42 (more than Obama)
Clinton: 46
Bush II: 36 (more than Obama)
Obama: 35
Trump: 55 (more than Obama)

https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/statistics/data/executive-orders

I point this out because, in their defense of Trump's abuse/misuse of EOs, I've seen many conservatives suggesting that Obama began the "abuse" of EOs. The reality is that he's on the average end of EOs.

* More on Obama's EOs later...

3. EOs have been used for a variety of reasons over the years. Mostly with less flashy/departmental clarification sorts of orders. In theory, they were often used to answer questions and make the workflow easier.

4. Perhaps the most famous EO was Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation (!)

* More on Lincoln's EO...

5. I am generally opposed to using EOs as a way of governing and working around Congress. If a policy needs to be implemented, then Congress should implement it. Generally.

But, as we can see from Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation, EOs have sometimes been used to create policy that is absolutely required by reason and morality and justice. There's no telling how long enslaved people would have had to wait for freedom if they were waiting for Congress.

And so, while Congress SHOULD act in a just and reasonable manner and tackle vital issues promptly - and that IS the preferred route for policy - the reality is that sometimes Congress is "broke." They are not acting as they should, not taking action on policies as they should. Slavery is an obvious case that proves the point.

In cases when Congress is negligent, I support the president using EOs.

6. I am absolutely not an expert on Obama's (or Trump's) EOs.

However, we know that McConnell and the GOP Congress promised to be an obstructionist Congress. They deliberately tried to block Obama policies that he was promoting. They said out loud that this was their intent. In that context, Obama issued 35 EOs a year. Some were sort of typical, administrative style EOs and some were ways to work around a Congress that wouldn't take action on an urgent need.

In this link, we see that Obama used EOs (again, at a typical/average rate) at times to create policies to help oppressed/marginalized/at risk groups. He used EOs to help immigrants, to fight climate change, to raise minimum wage for federal gov't employees, to help LGBTQ people...

Obama "abused" (so say conservatives) the EO to help oppressed groups.

https://thehill.com/regulation/court-battles/211303-obamas-key-executive-actions

7. Trump, on the other hand, used EOs to have a way of saying, "Look! I did something! I've done so much! More than any others! I accomplished things that no one else could!" Because he could not get anything of much significance accomplished in a Congress controlled by his own party (hell, he couldn't even get infrastructure policies passed!). Just watching Trump with his EOs and you could see it was a power trip for him (this is an opinion based on observation, not a provable fact, but it's a reasonable opinion). Trump LIKED the power of EOs.

But looking at his EOs, a lot of them were relatively meaningless. Minor policy adaptations with no significant impact. And a lot of them were to fan the flames of his supporters ardor for him (signing protections for federal monuments and establishing the anti-history, rightwing propaganda "1776 Commission," for instance... or his attack on diversity training or... well, he did this a lot.)

https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-trump-executive-orders-ineffective-20190327-story.html

And, in contrast to Obama's EOs, Trump used EOs to cause harm to or limit liberty of immigrants, LGBTQ folk, etc... and to help industries and corporations. To "build the wall" or increase detention of immigrants, for instance.

https://cmsny.org/trumps-executive-orders-immigration-refugees/

Or to limit regulations to benefit businesses and polluters at the cost of the poor and the environment.

https://www.brookings.edu/policy2020/votervital/what-is-the-trump-administrations-track-record-on-the-environment/

To promote fossil fuels and remove protections for the environment and human health.

https://eelp.law.harvard.edu/executive-orders-in-depth/

Just a short overview and not exhaustive. I see some of Trump's EOs that may been actually helpful, at least at a small scale, but more often than not, they seem to be used for tossing red meat to his ultra-right wing fan base, to give benefits to corporations, to cause harm to immigrants, LGBTQ folk and other marginalized, historically oppressed groups.

And he used them a lot, by comparison to all other recent presidents.

And no, Obama did not bring in a new era of using EOs at a rate wildly higher than ever.

Time to Unite

Imagine that there's a family that has been impacted by an abusive relationship. Imagine that the husband who was abusive had managed to fool almost half the family that he was a good guy, and that part of the family sided against the wife who was abused. Imagine that many people in the extended family sided with the husband when the wife left him... that they blamed her for being divisive and causing trouble.

That family NEEDS to come together.

But the way they need to come together is to unite behind the wife, the survivor of the abuse, the one who was strong enough to leave the abuser. The way for that family to unite is to condemn the abuser.

We can't "unify" if part of the family is ignoring the abuse. If part of the family is still siding with the abuser.

Unity IS important and for that family to be healed and made whole, it will come only when they all stand united against the abuse.

In our nation, we have a unique opportunity to start over, to move past the destructive and corrupt years of the Trump presidency. We ARE a divided nation and we need to find ways to unite.

But that unity can't come at the expense of ignoring the abuse.

Right now, today, it appears that a majority of the Republicans in the Senate are poised to refuse to hold the abuser, Trump, accountable for his clear and awful actions, his ongoing active divisiveness. And those Republican Senators who refuse to acknowledge Trump's culpability in his crimes and sedition are not going to listen to the Democrats, Independents, the liberals and the moderates in our calls for them to do the right thing.

But, right now, today, conservatives across the country, YOU all have the chance to unite the nation. You can do that by making all the calls you can to your GOP Senators to demand that they vote to convict Trump of the charge against him.

We stand ready to unite, but you all (conservatives) are the ones with the power to make it happen. Denouce Trump's actions. Insist that Trump is held accountable by the Senate.

Over half the nation is already united. Democrats and Republicans and former Republicans (who've left the party because of Trump)... conservatives, moderates and liberals and wild-eyed radicals... church-goers, atheists, gun-owners, environmentalists, black and white... over half the nation IS united.

Join us.

No Return

They want things to return to normal

but normal is a cage too small.

Stop the Steal, Indeed

 

Why Trump was rightfully impeached:

The difference is between a reasonable person who has always been reasonable and peaceful who one day in a speech says, "We have to fight for what we believe in..." THAT person is not inciting violence or engaging in dangerous speech.

But the man...

1. who has spent years ruthlessly attacking the press as an enemy of the people and with the false claims that they are fake news...

2. who has spent years lying about everything, from mundane matters to serious matters...

3. who has spent a year preparing his followers with the likelihood that "they" will try to "steal" the election and

4. then spent months repeating the dangerously false claim that the election was stolen and we have to "take back" our nation...

...THAT man in those circumstances is inciting violence when he gathers his followers in DC and tells them to be strong, to fight, to take back and to march down to the Capitol (where our free and fair presidential election was being certified) and stop them from "stealing" the election.

And the thing is, this has been predictable and it is why many rational people from across the political spectrum have been warning people about Trump since he first began running for office in 2015. It's why historians, military experts, generals, foreign affairs experts, mental health experts and countless regular people have been raising flags for years.

He began with dishonesty, false claims, attacks on the our heroes in the media (and make no mistake: We can not have a free nation without a decent free press), attacks on Democrats and even Republicans who disagree with him and get in his way. He began with divisive and racist language that emboldened white nationalists and anti-government types (they will tell you that themselves) and the dishonesty and divisiveness just increased over the years.

It was predictable and nearly inevitable that Trump's presidency would lead to this result and people have been raising that alert for years.

Let us hope that in the coming years we will begin to heal and rebuild NOT to where we were, but to some place better than where we were.

When, At Last, the Sun Sets

When, at last

the sun sets,

it will set upon you

and upon me

equally

and the moon

will suffice in the near-darkness

and

should there be no moon

and the stars are covered by clouds

let us hold hands

and find our peace

together

in darkness

Find Common Ground, We Must

 

The facts are these: The nation is made up of people who are conservative AND who are moderate AND who are liberal. Depending upon the poll and the topic, we could think of it being about 1/3 conservative, 1/3 moderate and 1/3 liberal. In rough numbers.

In this Gallup poll, we see that in 2019, we identified as 37% conservative, 35% moderate and 27% liberal.

https://news.gallup.com/.../remained-center-right...

And we see that liberals are the minority, but making gains. In other surveys and polls, we see similar results

This poll from 2020 shows the C/M/L mix at 34%/36%/26%...

https://news.gallup.com/.../conservatism-down-start-2020...

The point being, there's not ONE view that represents all of us in the US and that we're roughly split into thirds. Again, it also depends upon the topic.

As we enter into a new post-Trump era at a very divided time, it is vital for us to recognize that we're all in this together. I know that many of us more progressive types have been quite wounded by the Trump years. Nonetheless, Trump conservatism has broad support. Those people are not going away and we in the middle and left have to recognize that and share this land.

Same for you more conservative types. I know you feel like you have to "take America back" - presumably from the 40-60% who disagree with Trump's policies - but the nation is not yours to "take back." It belongs to all of us.

And I know you all feel quite wounded and are grieving Trump's loss - not even trusting that Trump lost! Nonetheless, the fact is just as ultraconservative Kellyanne Conway recently noted: Trump lost, Biden won. The fact is just as ultraconservative Bill Barr has said: There is no evidence for widespread voter fraud.

Trump has lost and Biden has won. Biden is our president elect.

For those on the right, grieve this if you must. Take your time. But in the end, your ~37% of the nation has to work with my 27% of the nation and the other third in the middle.

 

So, can we stop with insults and attacks and start to find common ground? Can it be that difficult?

Some ideas:

1. We are in the midst of this pandemic. We have a vaccine now starting to come out. Let's find effective ways to distribute that vaccine. That goal should be something we can all agree upon.

2. The spread of covid is skyrocketing. We don't have to like the measures suggested by medical experts, but we need to cooperate to stop the spread from getting worse. We should be able to agree to this. If you truly don't want to follow the guidelines, that's fine, but then stay home. If you can't wear a mask in a store, stay home. It's your right to not wear a mask if you don't want to, but it's not your right to insist upon going wherever you please without a mask and put other people at risk.

For a short time, we can do this. We should be able to agree upon this goal.

3. Our economy has taken a big hit this last year. We need to find ways that are safe to get us working again and we can do it. Social isolation and masks are a convenience, but it's also an opportunity to find new ways of doing things. Groceries need to be delivered more. Restaurant food can be delivered. We can be smart about this and create jobs and help one another in the process.

4. While we're figuring it out, many people are hurting. We need financial aid package and we need it now. This should be an area of common ground. We can disagree upon the exact numbers, but we have to work together to get something out.

5. In Trump's four years, we never really got our infrastructure moving. Experts will tell you that our infrastructure is crumbling. We HAVE to invest in infrastructure and we can find common ground on that.

6. Whatever you may feel about the police, the vast majority of the nation would like to see some systemic reform. It's going to HELP police to not to have to be social workers and mental health workers on top of being police. And we have to recognize that we don't want to see our black citizens killed because the police "feared for their lives..." Again, the majority of the nation agrees we need to do something about this. Let's find some common ground.

7. Likewise for our drug and prison policies. There are systemic problems with how we've handled this. We need to find some common ground. Conservatives: You all are supposed to be about fiscal responsibility. Providing education and rehabilitation to prisoners results in LOWERING the prison population and increasing their odds of making it on the outside. It is a money saver. We can find common ground there.

I could go on but will stop there. We may not agree about abortion or some other topics, but we can agree on a lot and we have to start there. This decade after decade of dysfunctional family squabbling is no way to operate a commonwealth.

Three final suggestions as we seek common ground:

A. We have to learn to listen to experts and trust expert opinion. That's not to say we can't ask reasonable questions of experts, but if we're not operating based on best advice, what will we operate upon and find common ground upon? Our gut feelings?

B. We have to stop accepting false claims and unsupported claims. It's NOT okay for a president to insist that "he won," when he is not in charge of the electoral system and when he has no data to support that claim. It's not okay to say that there is a conspiracy and that the media or the Democrats or the GOP WANTS to see our nation collapse. Sweeping unsupported charges are not okay. We have to be adult about this and just stop accepting it when a politician or expert or news source makes sweeping unsupported or just false claims.

C. We have to agree that causing harm to others is not acceptable. Period. Especially causing harm to innocent people. That's a line we can't cross or accept.

Now, let's put on our adult clothes and find some common ground.

Feeling Thankful

They couldn't be together

but they could remember years past

and make plans for next Thanksgiving

to gather in the woods

and hug

and sing songs

to all the gods and goddesses

My Reality is Different than Yours...

"Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?"

"That depends a good deal on where you want to get to," said the Cat.

"I don't much care where--" said Alice.

"Then it doesn't matter which way you go," said the Cat.

"--so long as I get somewhere," Alice added as an explanation.

"Oh, you're sure to do that," said the Cat, "if you only walk long enough."

Alice felt that this could not be denied, so she tried another question.

"What sort of people live about here?"

"In that direction,"

the Cat said, waving its right paw round,

"lives a Hatter: and in that direction,"

waving the other paw,

"lives a March Hare. Visit either you like: they're both mad."

"But I don't want to go among mad people," Alice remarked.

"Oh, you can't help that," said the Cat: "we're all mad here. I'm mad. You're mad."

"How do you know I'm mad?" said Alice.

"You must be," said the Cat, "or you wouldn't have come here."

==========

It circulates that, at some point in the conversation, Alice tells the Cheshire Cat that "My reality is different than yours..." but apparently that's not in the book.

Nonetheless, that reality not standing, the point stands. There are some people whose reality is different than, well, reality. They may bark at us when we point out reality. They may retreat to hide in sanctuaries full of people who agree with their "reality." They may even start whole new social media and "news" groups just so they can surround themselves with others who believe in their non-reality reality. And, if that's as far as it went, that's all well and good.

But when they emerge with their guns and their anger and insist that everyone else needs to agree with their reality, that's a problem.

When they are elected the president of the US and insist that those who disagree with reality are lying and trying to "steal" an election, that is a big problem.

And when this non-reality-based president is supported and defended by others who insist that his "reality" is correct... or even, "well, maybe he is correct, we'll just have to wait and see..." that is a big problem.

Where are the reality-based conservatives who will stand up and say, "Yes, the people have spoken. We may not like it, but the facts are that the data shows that Biden won the election. Any claims that Trump won or that the election was "stolen" by "fraud" - when they can't and don't support such claims... that is a big problem..."? Where are THOSE conservatives? (Yes, I know I've seen a few - Mitt Romney and others and good for them. But by and large, those conservatives are only attacked and undermined by the rest of the conservatives defending the Mad World of Trump.

So, to be clear:

IF you are making the claim that widespread voter fraud has happened in an attempt to "take away" the election from Trump; and

IF you have no data, no proof, no support for such claims and you make it anyway;

THEN, you are attempting to defraud the election by presenting a false narrative to undermine the election.

Stop. Don't do that. Don't be silent when those around you are doing it.

We all agree that attempt to defraud an election is bad, but as things stand now, it is Trump and his supporters or silent defenders who are doing it by passing on this false claim.

Thank You, America

"Remember this in the darkest moments, when the work doesn’t seem worth it, and change seems just out of reach: out of our willingness to push through comes a tremendous power… Use it."

~Stacey Abrams

Whatever Happens

                                        Whatever happens, friends
                                                  come what may
                                          we gonna keep on working
                                                     it's just our way