AMERICA'S TOXIC CULTURE IS COSTING US AND DIVIDING US-WHY HASN'T TRUMP APPOINTED A PEACE OR SPIRITUAL 'EXPERT' TO INTERVENE?
Causation does not always equal correlation. President Donald Trump
Let's talk about the soul of America. I don't recognize my country anymore. When I look around, this is what I see. . . People are tensely navigating life wearing masks appearing to be zombies. Blood and smoke fill our streets from civil unrest. Toppled statues are crumbled on the ground in cities where some people are tired of being reminded of the past those statues symbolize. In public places, people act out more aggressively using insulting words and gestrures. Some of us are using our rights and freedom to be inconsiderate and harmfuil to others. Families are pulling up by the van loads to get food assitance as millions of American workers are out of jobs. From fires to hurricanes and earthquakes, we have not gotten a break from bad weather impacting some part of the country. This is a feast or famine, survival of the fittest environment. In my lifetime, I have never seen the level of adversity the nation is facing today.
In the mid 2000's the United States was hit hard by sequestration and recession. Back then I thought that was the biggest challenge I'd see in my lieftime. The economy started to level out during the second term of Pres. Barack Obama's reign with noticeable growth in the housing market, jobs market and of course the revival of the auto industry. Despite the hardships, Americans held it together. There was a different tone and sense of hope. We were one nation back then.
When you think about it-- and I implore you to do just that, THINK--America is in a worse condition than it was 4 years ago. You can feel it and see it too. She's almost unrecognizable. I'm not comfortable with this because flaws and all, she is still the land that I love. Out of a well of exuberent respect for the contribution of my ancestors in building and sustaining this land and my personal sacrifices as a military spouse, I write this.
Dateline NOW --The social unrest, economic disparities and race/class divisions have made the nation toxic. See exhibit A (reality TV) and exhibit B (social media) conduct. People respond to fear, vulnerability or things that make them uncomfortable by reducing other people's humanity or being silently complicit in watching others do it. The country has been changed by widespread political cynicism and a lack of compassion that has seemingly come to a head during our most vulnerable moment --the Coronavirus pandemic. Partisanship has never been more polarized. We look and feel like two nations. Division has weakened this Republic to the point of desperation We can not unsee the history that is unfolding or continue to deny the spiritual sickness that plagues the nation.
So what can we do before it is too late?
What the nation needs in this qaugmire is healing. To get to that point, every individual must take a look in the mirror and realize getting the nation back on a stable course is a fight for human decency and that comes from individual behavior -- not political partisanship. We have become accustomed to answering individual and national problems by using tribalism and cancel culture as a defense mechanisms. And although politics are personal, pain and suffering have no party. Thereforef, the upcoming presidential election is not about voting Democrat of RepublicanPeople are people. Pain is Pan. In the midst of the recovery process, the soul of American needs redemption because it looks and feels like we have forgotten what it means to be one nation under God and the principles on which America was founded, the gratest of which is unity.
The soul of America is composed of the two things that yoke us, our humanity and our citizentry. By recognizing this commonaility instead of our differences, we have a chance to progress past the current pain. Our present state of adversity demands that we face our trauma head on -- that some of the wounds are self-inflicted. Individuals must take personal responsibility for the damage that is being done and understand this truth -- it is a . Aympto f the spiritual problems we created. 2 Corinthians 7:14
So must our leaders
The height of this toxic culture that has metamorphosized America beyond recognition, has occurred under the leadership of President Donald Trump, who we learned this week purposefully neglected his duties protecting the nation from the deadly spread of the Coronavirus. It was not a matter of incompetence to lead in an unprecendented health crisis as many of us thoguht, but the president admitted in his own words to Washington Post journalist bob Woodward that he knew the depth of the threat of Coronavirus, but wanted to keep the nation calm. His presidential rival Joe Biden feels the soul of America is dying because of a surge in racial activity that could place the nation on an irreversible course of destruction of its progess and effort to become a "more perfect union."
Trump identifies as a born again Christian and is embraced by the evanglical community. He appointed Paula White to the White house as a Spiritual Advisor. Why hasn't he desginated a National Day of prayer to helop the nation navigate
In a toxic relationship, one of the partners is controlling or domineering. Abuse is a no The president exhibits this behavior in the way he leads, intimidating those whow work directly with him and perhaps his base.
The causation for America's current "spiritual" condition is not all political or all Trump's fault. Shaming is being used as a defense mechanism in popular culture. There is a prowling energy that seeks to consume and devour those who are not perceived as popular, powerful or otherwise deemed influential. This energy produces a mentality that individuals It has been The #metoo movementIn addition, there are other signs of an eroding nation such as a lapse in moral judgement and ethical practices. This type of energy has a widespread manifestation from churches, schools, Corporate America, the entertainment industry and in mass media. A recent example is the praise from people responding to attacks on Pres. Trump. Bob Woodward and others who have "outed" Trump with strategically released tell-all books should not be lauded. Each time a daming story is released or a book comes out there is a strom of praisin the media, which is a form of cancel culture too. The gossip mill runs full speed as people express their frustrations with Trump and give kudos to the detractors, giving no thought to the fact that real human beings could be geting hurt America's fascination with people's cancellation is a reflection of the condition of the nation's soul.
Woodward is not the leader of our country and does not bear the same level of responsibility, but he too withheld knowlege of the president's costly mentality about Coronavirus and several other issues and said nothing until now. Just as he exposed Nixon he is exposing Trump and on the face of it there . But this time thousands of lives were literally on the line. He and Trump both seemed to have a motive. Trump gave Woodward hours of his time and reportedly none of his aids knew about the interviews.
A journalist is to work at all times to preserve the public's trust. In my opinion, he had a social, professional and moral obligation to report the facts that we all heard on his tape earlier. Instead, he waited for months to cash in on a book that can possibly take down another president before an election, possibly for bragging rights. In these uncertain times, people are more dependent on the media than ever before. It was a let down in my opinion. Mary Trump, his niece, completely betrayed n her book. It did not seem to matter to pundits that she could be ruining her family.
We are in this together whether we want to be or not. America's soul is made up of the collective energy of each of us. Are there anough of us who care about the non-tangetial aspects of the struggle to demand a better way of operating as a nation.
A New York Times Editor caught COVID -19 and said she would not have gone on the campaign trail if she knew it was air borne. She is still here to share her story. Think of the thousands who are not. Yes, America has some soul searching to do and it starts with the heart of each individual and obviously, electing a leader who is qaulified to do the job of running the nation in good and bad times. Reader, I sure hope you vote in the 2020 election. In the meantime, maybe we can all try a little tendersness in how we treat one another during these challenging times.
