The election is over. Phew! Since no one is really in charge at the moment, the market for chaos theory is in full swing. The pandemic is a Fourth of July, the daily rockets going higher. The collateral damage it illustrates must be the attention and concern of every citizen. It’s terrific that a vaccine is now probable in the not too distant future.
It’s alarming that Trump supporters have such little belief in the democratic process that the cult status they cling to precludes any rational analysis of the situations facing us as we slog onward to the inauguration. It’s frankly not worth itemizing. There are bigger fish to fry.
People may be tiring of the epidemic but lacking a vaccine, cult behavior dominates those sour about the Biden win. The jury is not out on what can save us. But the Divine Rights of citizens, demonstrated in Washington this weekend has put us all on notice that once again Truth is in the eyes of the beholder not the piece of paper in the National Archives. The faithful decide once again that their God protects sinners, and believing lies have no consequences.
But then again, my illusion is better than yours, right? I’ll take my toys and go home. Trump tried to guard his toys for a week until it became evident playing alone deprived him of pretending to win. The crowd outside was shouting, “Give us Caesar! Caesar cannot be dead! Caesar will live!” The crowd hustled into the square to proclaim the true victor. Back in Delaware Biden spoke calmly, reassuring all assembled that by whatever means the process would proceed as decreed. Could alternative reality descend and turn red the mighty Chesapeake?
And the tumbrels roll, the numbers climbing, the illusions crumbling, the records broken, and the squashed lives through no fault of their own except perhaps a careless moment, a lapse in vigilance; there is no real fault except in refusing to acknowledge that our actions determine our outcomes. And invincibility is protected by youthfulness or ignoring the fire on the mountain above. Or even keeping the bars open until 10 p.m. only. We cannot live in lockdown interminably! The stress of constant awareness battles with the subconscious pleading for the old order.
The Trump cult has poisoned followers ability to move forward, actively prevent deaths, pushing the medical response past the breaking point. We’re running out of nurses and responders. Trump taught us that living at the expense of others was fine. Masks are bad fashion statements. Doing nothing is fine, most people aren’t dying. Freedom is perverted into ignoring restrictions and making it harder for states to establish simple safeguards. It’s a death cult. Sacrificing others for the sake of false liberty is unconscionable. In two months, the reckoning will come. Will this be the beginning of a conflict we will all regret or the coming to our senses that the virus has been a sociological leveler and our future depends on our joint efforts.
We will always be our brothers’ keepers. I’m sure Jesus once again is rolling over as many evangelicals wave their hands in the air and proclaim God punishes the wicked and rewards those who proclaim fealty, transcribed as “liberty,” though not for homosexuals and women needing abortions. The hypocrisy of the non-mask wearers is the final judgement as their numbers fall prey to their own largesse and demagoguery. Yes, folks it’s biblical, a reckoning with our beliefs, it can shake our faith except those who understand each is responsible for our collective fate recognize the test we’ve been given: to do what’s best for the greater good, our fellow man, and the Earth we live on.
If the bars are closed, if we’re prisoners of our own lack of imagination, if we’ve set ourselves outside of the risks that now frame our lives, if we’ve decided the lives of others are not our problem, then yes, the true idea of the “Christ” as a consciousness is a long way off. We’re here to preserve life and liberty. We’ve not been hunter/gatherers for a very long time; we’re interconnected in every way. There can be no indifferences to suffering, neither the affects nor their causes. The election was in large measure a repudiation of the apostasy affecting so many. Together we have to act on our responsibility to control this virus. We might find meaning instead of inconvenience, unity instead of discord, compassion. Talk to the medical workers.
Allan Harris is surviving the virus with wife Jane, recording an audio book of his novel and lots of swim and gym time. Stay safe.