Friends, I want to share a particularly poignant resource, and also add my thoughts on the question that has been circulating among clergy and people of faith: Where is Bonhoeffer in all of this, and/or, have we arrived at the Bonhoeffer moment?
This was an excellent discussion on authoritarianism this morning on NPR's "On Point." I highly recommend it. It's about an hour, and I believe a transcript will be available within the next day or so.
https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2020/10/29/america-authoritarian-threat-government-democracy
I do feel, after hearing this, and looking at the other readily available signs (Trump's own words in his speeches; policies of his staff; reports from NPR, NY Times, and similarly reputable news sources on the activities of the militias, supporters, police, ICE, etc.), that we are plausibly headed into some form of a civil war following this election--even if there were a landslide for Biden.
The question I raise for voters is: do you want Trump to have the full force command of the military, police, intelligence services, ICE, and militias behind him--where we will have to rely on people in these forces to conscientiously object or abandon their posts; or do we want Trump to no longer have access to that firepower, except for the militias and the loyalists he has in the military and police?
I do not put it past Trump to try to harm Biden if he wins; based on the statements he has made about Biden 'being shot three weeks into his term and Kamala taking over.' While Trump has since walked back his statement to say that 'being shot' means Biden wouldn't have the stamina--a recurrent theme; it could also be seen as a dog whistle or invitation to the same kinds of folks who were plotting to kidnap Governor Whitmer in Michigan.
I do not put it past Trump to enact as many human rights violations as he can against as many marginalized groups as he can, including the deportation blitz recently referenced in the news from a White House leak, immediately following the election--perhaps regardless of whether he wins. I also expect Trump will pardon each of his associates who have been convicted of crimes in the process of aiding his rise to power or corruption since taking office.
I do believe it is plausible that Trump is using the pandemic as a means of passively eliminating the groups he believes are 'undesirables:' the poor, immigrants, racial-ethnic minorities, people with disabilities and chronic health conditions, the elderly, those living in institutionalized settings. As it became clear that the virus was largely sparing those who could afford to self-isolate by not having to work and being able to have all needs delivered; and that those who had access to high-quality healthcare are more likely to survive; Trump's response to the pandemic shifted. Life-saving aid to benefit the most vulnerable has been stopped, such as unemployment supplements that raised many impoverished workers to a living wage, food assistance supplements, and direct stimulus aid to every household. Activities known to spread the pandemic are being promoted: unmasked large social gatherings such as rallies and church, in particular. While the people boldly participating in these activities.
I do even believe that the impeachment at the beginning of this year was a type of 'trial run' for holding on to power this fall: in the end, even though there seemed to be little disagreement on the facts of the case itself, Congress declined to convict. I believe that there was at least some realization among Congress that there were enough white nationalist sympathizers among the police and military, along with growing white militia activity, that any attempt to force Trump from office involuntarily would lead to significant armed resistance. Far better, perhaps, to pass the buck until the election in the fall. And now here we are, with the threat of violence on the horizon once again, as evidenced in Trump's own speeches.
One of the statements that did give me bleak encouragement was that if Trump did hold on to power and do his worst, that perhaps Canada would re-open the border so people could escape; please, friends--update your passports and other essential papers. Not only may some of us need to be prepared to move from our homes to safer neighborhoods, communities, states, or countries; we may indeed need to help others get to safety with our vehicles, fundraising, and networks.
So many folks have asked already, "Are we at the Bonhoeffer moment?" or "Where is Bonhoeffer in all of this?" We remember that Bonhoeffer was not a famous, powerful church leader in life; but a simple pastor and professor whose work was relatively unknown until after his death. We also remember that Bonhoeffer was arrested and executed for his part in a plot to assassinate Hitler. So, while we have so many good everyday pastors and professors, faithful and true, who have resisted the lies of Nationalism and the Christian Nationalist movement; who are speaking up from their pulpits and writing to their audiences about the need to realize what is happening and who is suffering; no friends--that Bonhoeffer moment is not yet here.
The Bonhoeffer moment arrived when there were no more options available to German people of good conscience; when Hitler could no longer be stopped from within; and most importantly--when the seemingly random and rare occurrences of daily oppression moved into the Final Solution: systematic, mass deportation, concentration, and extermination of the groups of people deemed enemies of the State: Jews; foreigners, racial-ethnic minorities; Roma (Gypsies); LGBTQIA+ people; people with disabilities; people who were too sick to labor in the camps; dissidents, and anyone who resisted. This was after the removal of dissidents from the universities and government; after the silencing of the major media to the crimes of the State; after all borders and routes to escape incarceration and death were closed; and after all of the everyday German citizenry were too worn down themselves by the war, the decade of economic collapse that preceded it, and the all-consuming everyday struggles brought by both, to realize or process fully what was going on--or to separate the benefits they believed the State was bringing them from the horrors enacted against the Others. We are quite plausibly on the road to that end, if unabated; but no, we are not yet at the point where it would be morally reasonable for us as clergy to participate in an effort to assassinate our Head of State.
Rather, the moment that is here, now, is for all of us, and everyone around us, to vote. We are to vote; to encourage calm and reason to prevail in these next weeks around the election and ballot counting; to preach and teach the fundamental human worth and dignity of all people; and to attend to the needs of our communities--shepherding our people who despair, who are lonely, who are hungry, who are cold. We are also to be watchful for signs and declarations that our nation intends to engage in mass concentration, incarceration, deportation, and execution of marginalized groups of people, which could plausibly happen within the next six months.
These times may seem bleak. The most recent reports tell us that these present hardships and disruptions of the pandemic are likely with us for another two years, into 2022. Our society will be coming to terms with the psychological stress and trauma and the biological and economic impact as well) from this experience for a solid 3-5 years after the pandemic begins to wane. It may remain with us in a less lethal form for the foreseeable future thereafter. This will consume an enormous amount of our energies. Neither will our political troubles be over within the next few months, regardless of the outcome of the election; even if we are able to attain a peaceable outcome to the election, we still have the long, difficult work ahead of us of undoing systems of historic injustice. This, too, will consume a good deal of our energies, as it ought.
And yet, friends, despite these present challenges, I do not give up hope; I believe that while each person may not be held accountable in court or custody, that somehow yet justice may prevail; that somehow yet children in cages will be freed and reunited with their families; that somehow yet we could begin taking common sense measures to contain the pandemic; and that somehow yet, we will walk back from the brink of fascism in this country. At least while we have so many people who do deeply desire the common good, for all people, we have hope.
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