Reflections on the current election cycle

This election cycle is painful. The sources of the pain are the parties themselves. The Republicans have nominated a man manifestly unstable and unqualified to be the President of the United States. His personality disorder is so obvious that the thought of him being the President of the most powerful country that ever strode this planet causes genuine fear in millions of Americans and our allies. Coumpounding the gravity of the situation is the irrational support he has among the pharisaic “religious right.” The party that nominated the man suffers from the spirit of anti-christ and the religious right is collectively its high priest.

On the otehr hand, Democrats orchestrated the nomination of Hilary Clinton at the expense of their reputation and deliberately disenfranchised their younger generation of adherents. As it turns out, though, Hilary Clinton is eminently qualified to be President. She is not perfect, and, unlike her adversary, she does not narcissistically claim to be. Efforts to slander her continue to fall on the sword of dead-end investigations that turn out to have been politically motivated witch-hunts, not to mention deeply seated misogyny.

Sad for me is the fact that single issue voting is fueled in part by the religious right’s funding their agenda with apocalyptic threats. They believe that if Roe vs. Wade is not overturned, along with same-sex marriage, then God will judge America (Of course, they mean USAmerica, but in typically colonialist naivete, they talk as though they own the entire continent.) They need a richer understanding of why people, even Christians, disagree about when human life begins, and why decisions smade about sustaining or terminating pregnancy finally must be made between a woman and her physician. Regarding same-sex marriage, once again, where Christians are so deeply divided, there must be respect for diversity; and oppressive legislation against LGBT persons is contrary to the anti-legalistic character of Jesus’ teaching and example.

A holistic interpretation of the Judeo Christian scriptures, and respect for the separation of churches (religion) and the state, make becoming intelligent and respectful persuaders, rather than single issue legislators fueled by apocalyptic visions the better option in a post-Christian society.