Sometimes I get very angry at God. I attempt to hedge my bet in my prayers by acknowledging even in my anger that God is perfect and all knowing, and I am sure that there are things that I am not aware of. It is tough for humans to be in relationships with perfect ones, be they other humans or be He/She God.
But God made us. What was She/He thinking? On the sixth day Genesis says that God made us and that it was "very good". The velvet night sky filled with stars, the vast oceans and their mysterious occupants, the majestic mountains, the rain forests, the elephants, platypus, tigers, snakes, the redwood forests, the gulf stream waters . . . all were just plain "good". I don't get it.
I won't go into the variety of times and reasons my anger comes up about this. Most of them have to do with mistakes in my life that I am sure God anticipated I would make but he created me anyway. Different stories for a time that will never come in this blog.
But tonight I am angry about the way we are as a group. We are eager to hate. I was born several years after World War II ended. As I learned of the events as a child, I could not comprehend how an educated, civilized, "Christian" nation like Germany could have committed the atrocities of the holocaust.
About the same time I learned about that same human trait close up and personal. On the nightly news I watched as the fire hoses and dogs were turned on real, live, peaceful citizens of Birmingham, just 36 miles down Highway 75. I watched in horror the news of the bombing of a church in Birmingham that killed children. Equally as horrible, I listened as people that I had been brought up to respect gave excuses for the violence and death rather than condemning the action and mourning the consequences. I saw the violence continue as deranged individuals gunned down several of our political leaders within a few years.
There are a lot of dangerous words. But here are five words when put together should make the top ten list of dangerous words.
"It could never happen here."
"Who is Barack Obama?" Socialist? Communist? Terrorist? Radical? Re distributor of Wealth? Muslim?. Not part of the "real" America? Is he one of the liberal members of Congress that should be investigated to see if they really have America's best interests at heart?
All of these things have been said over and over and over during the past week. At least twice an attendee at a McCain/Palin rally has yelled "Kill Him" in reference to Obama. A conservative member of Congress actually suggested that members of that body should be investigated to see if they have America's best interests at heart.
Maybe we won't fall over the precipice. According to the polls the majority of Americans do not like this language. But it only takes a few deranged souls whipped into a distorted patriotic frenzy to do horrible things. And it only takes apathy and timidity by us normal folk to allow it to happen.
In twenty years will children wonder what people like us were thinking when we let the persecutions begin? Communist? Socialist? Welfare? Immigrants? Gays? Christians? Jews? Atheists? Muslims? Liberals? Conservatives?
You see, we don't really know who the next group will be. Especially in an ever diversifying population. But it really doesn't matter who it is. When we as a group are afraid, there will always be some amoral leader who will use that fear to control us. That is why we Americans have sat quietly while our sacred rights that have more to do with our identity than almost anything else have been frittered away in the name of security.
Because we have been told that we need to be afraid. For eight years.
I don't want to have to hang my head in shame when questioned by the next generation.
I am sure God is right. I am sure He appreciates my endorsement. I am sure that we are "very good."
I believe it is time for us to show Him or Her. Fear not.
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