American Reality

This blog post was written in the wake of the events in Virginia last August.  Your editor apologizes for the delay in posting.  However, the views expressed here are still important to think about, discuss, and act upon.

I must state, right up front, that I am a white Christian minister (albeit, a radical one) and tend to believe that deep down, spirituality (that is, our relationship with God, whether named him or her or they) underpins everything. The thoughts below are my own and not endorsed by the Plymouth-Canton ICO or any other organization. These thoughts are aimed at white people and are intended to make you examine your place in the system.

Events this past summer in Charlottesville have left us all a little shell-shocked, assaulted with a truth that we would have preferred to ignore. We believed that as a nation, as the American people, we were better than what happened when the alt-right, the white ‘nationalists’, the KKK, and the twenty first century American Nazis gathered to protest the removal of overt signs of slavery and racial oppression (Civil War statues of famous Southerners) from public places. Thankfully many more anti-racism activists gathered to oppose those screeches of hate with love. Tragically, lives were taken because of the hateful situation and I deeply mourn that loss. 

But few of we who have worked in the anti-racism field were surprised. What do you expect when you pour the gasoline of flaming rhetoric on smoldering embers of generations of resentment? That the violence was limited surprises me more than what happened in Virginia, and sadly, I believe will happen again. White supremacy is the fear that ‘those people’ are TAKING OUR STUFF. That is the ni***, the sp***, the ch***, the glbt***, etc. (fill in your own group) This is not new; for more than a century the KKK targeted blacks and Catholics, especially the Irish Catholics. The Jews have been the target of so many, for so long. I could go on about our history for hours, but you get the idea.

We express our anger at the white supremacy movement and pat ourselves on the back because we are 'not like that'. And we continue to ignore our own complicity in our racist society. We think that racism is an individual overt affliction and turn away denying that we benefit from the way things are, from the concept that racism is designed as THE systemic foundation of our society, designed to benefit white people, Eurocentric people, and if People of Color are harmed, oh well. Racism affects everything we do, whether we are People of Color or of European ancestry. Period. 

Even those of us (whites) who recognize a limited truth of how racism works are still bound to the reality that we exacerbate the problem. We are part of a large intricate dance with People of Color that sways to the music of hate, oppression, and for many of us, denial. 

So we reject white supremacy. We reject racism as long as we define it as individual transgressions of God created love for humanity. We even reject the concept of systemic racism, even as we live it. 

What is the cause? How do we break out of this ongoing drama. First, let's look at the underlying foundation that got us into this mess in the first place. From a secular, philosophical standpoint we must place the blame on the American version of capitalism. Think about that for a minute before reacting. Our world, even those countries that claim to be communist or socialist still practice the capitalistic ethic: get more and more, progress means our financial resources must grow or we experience failure. We believe that life for our grandchildren should be better (wealthier, less struggle regarding economics, etc.) than what we lived through, which was easier than what our parents and grandparents went through. But increased economic success is not sustainable for the vast majority of Americans under a system that rewards not the workers, but only the wealthy ‘owners’. It is only reserved for a few, those who appropriate what the labor of the 98% have accomplished. And as long as we buy into the myth of capitalism that success is only economic, and the only trail to happiness and self-fulfillment, then we will continue to speed down the highway to human destruction. As the Dali Llama recently said, "People were created to be loved. Things were created to be used. The reason why the world is in chaos is because things are being loved and people are being used."

American capitalism was birthed with the notion that people were property, not persons created in the image of the living God. It is not a shock that we still struggle with ascribing divine worth to people who are a different color/gender/orientation/etc. than us.

It is not a wonder that American society has embraced this cruelest form of capitalism. As long as people suffer because of resource distribution, the fixation to hoard for security will not go away. I do not intend to wholly reject capitalism, but to look at a modification that incorporates socialistic, Christian, and other religious viewpoints that regard the care of humanity and creation as paramount.  

Is not one of the things the Creator wants for all of us is happiness? So if I look at the happiest countries on earth in 2017, according to the latest World Happiness Report, Monday by the Sustainable Development Solutions Network of the United Nations, what might I find? The top 9 countries, in order: Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Switzerland, Finland, Netherlands, Canada, New Zealand and Australia and Sweden (tied for 9^th). The US is # 14. I would like to point out that every one of the nine is what we in the US would call a ‘socialist’ country. Apparently ‘socialist’ is defined as having universal health care, a safety net for all citizens, universal educational opportunities and, according to Forbes magazine, for 6 of them (Iceland #1, New Zealand #2, Denmark #5, Canada #8, Switzerland #9, and Australia #12) as being the safest countries in the world. The US is #114 (out of the 163 countries ranked).

But American capitalism is not the root cause of all the situation we find ourselves in in 2017: the theology of scarcity is. This is the belief that God does not provide enough for everyone. It is the opposite of the theology of abundance, that Jesus lived. Spirituality is the root cause of EVERY human interaction with all of creation. But when we act as if there is not enough to go around, and we have to get ‘ours’ for ourselves and our families first, we have set up the foundation for hatred of the other.

But here’s the thing: God does provide enough for everybody. It is only humanity that determines that many do not get enough. Do you have enough? I do. Do you have more than enough? I do. And what do we do about those who do not?

Duke Morrow

Guest Blogger