A Path Forward for a Partisan Nation: Walk Together
If you’re like us, you may have moved money to a more conservative account or to a home safe. The image below shows some of the canned food we bought today to stock up the basement kitchen. Like our Mormon friends, the events of the day remind us to set aside a room of the house to prepare for tomorrow. I rewrote this article to shift the focus to how we can find a path forward for a politically partisan nation. You may not listen to me, accusing me of being one of “Them.”
Below I describe a present painful situation and the rise of a new form of U.S. ideology in government, called “Fascicom.” Rather than leave you with “isn’t it awful,” the second part below discusses the pathways forward and some homework for the reader.
Revolution is Not a Mandatory Course
Granpa, What’s a Communist Revolution?
The above definition of a Communist Revolution struck me as I considered the difference between it and an American Revolution. An American Revolution removes kings and replaces them with representative leadership. America is a “No King Zone”!
Those who shout for more destruction of our structures of U.S. Government, and that these Civil Servants, teachers, professors, experts, doctors, lawyers, and judges are parasites on society, take a page from the Chinese Cultural Revolution, the purge of the “intellectuals,” and the Communist teachings of Karl Marx. Those who declare these cycles of economic upheaval and revolution are necessary and needed to restore society to the working class, wave the red flag of Communism.
An American Revolution removes kings and replaces them with representative leadership. America is a “No King Zone”!
A Hybrid Fascism and Communism
"Fascism emphasizes nationalism, hierarchy, and a strong leader, while communism focuses on class struggle, egalitarianism, and the abolition of private property." - An AI Definition
While the present direction of the U.S. leadership shouts Fascism, the similarities between Fascism and Communism reflect two sides of the same coin:
- Both types of government often resulted in the creation of a cult of personality around the leader. The leader was seen as an all powerful figure, that could do no wrong.
- They controlled media outlets, suppressed opposing viewpoints, and used propaganda to create a cult of personality around their leaders.
- As historical views said that Communism abolishes private property ownership, the present economic pressures in the United States have abolished home ownership as a reality for many families.
- They employed secret police, mass surveillance, and purges to maintain their grip on power.
- Both attempted to erase classes and ethnicities of peoples from history.
The reader will make his or her own determination whether our direction is Fascism or Communism. The economic and political pressures in the U. S. could have created a Chernobyl-like hybrid between Fascism and Communism… FasciCom!
The reader will make his or her own determination whether our direction is Fascism or Communism. The economic and political pressures in the U.S. could have created a Chernobyl-like hybrid between Fascism and Communism… FasciCom!
The Path Forward: A “We” and Not a “Them” Problem
We are in this together. We are one nation of the United States. You may say, “Pastor Jim, how do we overcome the momentum of this FasciCom revival?”
First, we recognize this is not a “Dem” and and “Republican” issue; this is a partisan problem. Rather than accusing the opposing parties as being the army of “Them,” recognize that the starting place is opening the door of dialogue with those political minority groups. This means validating and giving them a place at the table of the discussion the town halls and in Congress.
Second, the principle of “stop loss” needs to be applied to wholesale dismantling of our government in the name of ideology. Along with “stop loss” is reasonable restoration of that which was unreasonably deleted, such as Government workers, Military members, and agencies who were casualties of a premature action. A sign of an advanced culture is “We made a mistake, and we are going back.” Stop loss and restorative actions would also be applied to other incendiary actions, such as tariffs and offhand cuts to Medicaid.
Third, considering loss of a free press signals a movement toward an authoritarian state, seat press members in the physical room as a lottery. Then provide virtual space for those want to dial in and have questions.
Fourth, ask for members of the other party to serve as ad hoc members of the Presidential Cabinet, with voice without vote. These ad hoc minority members present would provide serve as political peacekeepers recognized as partners in democracy. Working with these political peacekeepers would provide both transparency and validity to an already troubled Cabinet.
Finally, I once worked with a CPA who served as a volunteer in our church. She made the observation, “There are very few true emergencies.” In other words, “There are very few emergencies” that require a stop, drop, and roll method of reaction. Knee-jerk leadership typically results in more knee-jerk reaction, as the entire situation is destabilized.
I once worked with a CPA who served as a volunteer in our church. She made the observation, “There are very few true emergencies.” In other words, “There are very few emergencies” that require a stop, drop, and roll method of reaction. Knee-jerk leadership typically results in more knee-jerk reaction, as the entire situation is destabilized.
I defer to the readers with their multiple tribes to seek out bipartisan collaboration. You may say, “Jim, that is just a dream. I know some folks who won’t go with this.” Years ago I asked a fellow pastor of a large Baptist church in Tucson how he navigated all the naysayers in his congregation to have such a lengthy tenure. His answer stayed with me, “It’s easy. I just outlived the knotheads!”
We may have to outlive some poorly conceived ideas that were rushed into place, until we can work together to right the course. It is not so much important that we rush to implement our agenda we consider right but how we can work together establish a right course. Last month we returned from a motorhome trip that took us from Missouri, to Arizona, then through Texas to Florida, then up through the South back to Missouri.
Walk Together Children
While driving through the endless swamps of Louisiana the manicured farms of Mississippi and Alabama, we some visited some sites on the Civil Rights Road Trip . Over the 1200 miles traveling from Florida to Missouri, I reflected how Black slaves seeking freedom sung the spiritual, “Walk Together Children,” as they hid in the roadless dark swamps with Cottonmouth vipers and mossbacked alligators, walking toward the North Star to freedom by night. At highway speed, it took us three days to return to Missouri. A slave following a star course by night and on foot, avoiding the open, green expanses of white sweet tea mansions and neat rowed cotton fields, with their Blood Hounds, where they would be tracked and butchered. This was a walk they were willing to make. Are we willing to take the long walk to preserve these rights of freedom they walked so far to secure?
Walk Together,
Pastor Jim
How good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity!
-Psalm 133:1