Resistance Is Necessary

“Martin King Jr, whose words have been domesticated so that people aren’t shaken too much had a way of saying, ‘There’s a sickness gripping our nation’. I was hoping we would at least get out of the ICU, stabilize the patient. We have some moral work to do”. — Rev. Raphael Warnock at Ebenezer Baptist Church . 10/11/2024

The other night, after nursing my wounds for a solid two weeks, I wrote a nightly prayer that said, “I’m back, and I’m not taking any $#!% from anybody.” I explained that a friend and I had been talking about how the election had clarified the issues for us.

I want to clarify what I meant by “not taking $#!#” in relation to MLK’s non-violence and Warnock’s call to moral work:

These are my new rules for engagement with the Trump-supporting crowd and others:

1. I’m not going to listen if you don’t want to converse. If you want to talk at me, you can stop talking. I don’t want to waste my time.
2. If you blame other people for policies you want to put into place, I don’t want to hear it. If you blame Kamala’s supporters, have a nice day somewhere else.
3. If you start a sentence with descriptors of who you think I am, there’s no point in finishing the sentence. As in “soy-milk- latte-drinking communist, emasculated lover of people with pronouns”. Just don’t.
4. If something you say is designed to “own the libs”, don’t say it.
5. If the thing you say is designed to piss me off, I’m gone.
6. If you think life is miserable because you deserve what Elon Musk has, even Elon Musk shouldn’t have it.
7. If you think you shouldn’t have to help others, remember that they can feel the same way about you.
8. If you feel threatened because someone else is happy, and it doesn’t concern you, get over yourself. Their happiness shouldn’t be your problem.

That said….

If you want to help somebody, it doesn’t have to be me, but it can’t be you.

If you see that your choices have caused pain in your life, live with it. Everyone else has. Then apologize. Then fix it. Alternatively, fix it, then apologize. You don’t get to have me help you avoid the pain that you caused. I’m done with that. You repent, then we can talk.

If I’m wrong and Trump is the best thing since sliced bread, I will acknowledge it. If I’m right, can you admit it?

Media coverage: I just saw a CBS News poll that said “Americans are generally happy with Trump and the economy”. It’s not Trump’s economy! Joe Biden is President! How can you be happy about things that aren’t real??? Why even ask the question???

Same poll: “people are net positive about Trump’s cabinet picks”. Then they use Marco Rubio as their example, as though he’s the average. Pedophiles and rapists, at least among the men, seem to be the average. And the man telling us about this poll smiles as he does it. I don’t like the story, but this is comparing apples to oranges from outer space! That’s bad journalism, something I wouldn’t normally think CBS did, but it makes me wonder, “Can anybody tell me the truth? Isn’t that what journalists are supposed to do?

So, resistance to hatred of neighbor, over-reaction, petty jealousy and just plain twisted reality that expects me to twist myself in knots, futile or not, is necessary. Part one of that is not engaging with people that don’t respect or me, or aren’t respectful to my friends for no particular reason (and race, gender, or another category of “that’s who they are” isn’t a reason).

Maybe I’ll be less into raging sadness in the future, but today and the foreseeable future aren’t the time.

Resisting with peace,

John