If our country is to heal, we need to understand the people we disagree with.
After the insurrection, they showed images of the guy with the horns on his head, Jason Chansley, in the Senate chamber with other insurrectionists who were kneeling in gratitude for being able to get rid of traitor-liberals that day. They appeared gentle and devout and it shifted my perspective about them.
I remembered my vision years before of men in Robin Hood attire, running with bows and arrows in the woodlands of the U.S. interior, and realized I was seeing people just like Chansley, who considered themselves true patriots, loved America, and distrusted the government. It was how I was feeling during the Reagan, Bush and Trump administrations.
I recommend THE NEW YORKER feature story just released this week about the insurrectionists.: The Vigil Keepers of January 6th: The author gives us an inside view of some of them that shows how their views are born out of moral integrity, that they thought they were saving our country's democracy.
One of the insurrectionists' family members spoke about how he had been misled: After Guy’s sentencing—five felonies, seven and a half years—Peyton, [his daughter] told reporters outside the courthouse that Trump deserves life in prison. “I could really see how my father’s ego and personality fell to his knees when President Trump spoke,' she wrote, in a letter to the court. “I just mean to convey that the language used by the President of the United States has real effects on American citizens.” In jail, her father receives trash bags full of letters of admiration for his heroism on January 6th. Sarah told me, “Some of these letters, I read them and they’re just, like, ‘You’re the next forefather of this country,’ and it’s, like, a kid writing it.”
Some of the insight about the insurrectionists came from a man who devoted himself to catching some of the insurrectionists. He ended out, in the process, feeling empathy for them. He shared his views about Taylor Johnatakis, one of the insurrectionists, who he caught and turned over to the FBI.
Johnatakis had for years recorded a podcast called “Peasant’s Perspective,” about living off the grid with his family. “The premise of the podcast was that no matter what the government does, we peasants have to stay focussed on our families, and in many cases, survive day to day,” Johnatakis wrote.
THE NEW YORKER interviewed Johnatakis' wife who provided more insight that I think we all could use about ourselves, including those we vehemently disagree with:
I spoke to his wife, Marie, who told me, “We saw ourselves as not really polarized. We just felt like, Rome will come and go, the United States will do whatever they do, but we still have to make a living and feed our families.” When Johnatakis went to prison, Marie started reading “The Righteous Mind,” by Jonathan Haidt, which argues that people make decisions based on moral intuition, not reason. “People have these principles that are righteous for them,” she said. “We’re all rational in our own minds.”
The Vigil Keepers of January 6th:
@jeanne-mayell The world definitely needs people like you Jeanne. I'm going to save this and keep re reading it in hope it will penetrate my brain at some point. I admit that I know we need to get there but I am no where near ready for it. It's been an ugly 9 years. I've lost family and friends. And I don't see Trump getting justice for any of it. I don't believe he'll be sentenced. I don't feel very forgivy with no justice. It feels out of balance. But I truly appreciate you and this forum and look forward to continuing to learn from you.
@jeanne-mayell Thanks for your reminder of the humanity of those with whom we deeply disagree. Many of these men and women sincerely believed they were called to support their leader.
@jeanne-mayell After this past week, I honestly - truthfully - feel that social media is a major part of the problem. Yes, I know it’s a wonderful way to see photos of family members far away, and keep up with people’s lives but there’s a disconnection that happens in online interactions that easily bleeds into normal life. Are we really, truly keeping up with 1200 friends on Facebook? And if we hide/unfollow folks who post things we don’t like - are we learning/hearing what they say?
My example/reasoning: As I posted in the request/give healing or emotional support thread, the cousin we’ve been working with has had someone living with her since the day she first kicked her husband out. We’ve taken turns staying with her. Another set of cousins, ones who I had written off because of their horrible comments and opinions on social media. Over the last 10 days I’ve been in close confines with them and had some long, drawn out heart to hearts after everyone was in bed. We both continue to disagree politically but their views of me and mine of them changed by sitting, listening, and talking with them - none of which happens when we’re posting memes on FB. I’m not making plans to go see a movie with these cousins, but I’m no longer feeling angry and resentful about the three holidays a year we all get together. It took a crisis and in-person communications to get us to that point, but the point is we’re there.
There’s definitely a place for social media in our world and as part of our discourse, but it very much contributes and deepens the divide if that’s how we’re primarily communicating.
@dannyboy I love that you had that experience with your extended family and I thank you for taking the time to tell us about it.
I also have had some good experiences with my political rivals.
l had the fortune to attend some civil discourse sessions in my town with people I disagree with. A friend who set up the whole thing knew how angry I was at some people in town, and when she saw I'd signed up for the program, she deliberately placed me in a small group with some people she knew I abhorred.
One was a woman who has repeatedly lied, made up stories, and inflated her resume to get elected. Three others were anti-black lives matter people. Our group was moderated by a "facilitator" who asked us to respond to certain questions she'd been given to ask us about our backgrounds in race.
This civil discourse was on race issues. The people in the group revealed their deepest heart felt fears. It came down to family issues. In every case, these folks had been grossly misled by well meaning people. I was moved to tears.
The woman I had abhorred is now my friend. I saw her at a local meeting and we hugged. That's what true civil discourse will do. She's just misguided and wounded. It eased my heart.
Learning to see the good in your political rivals will ease your heart. It will help you feel happier. Love is light. Truth is light. And love and truth are beautiful. It will also make you feel more safe in the world.
@jeanne-mayell Nick Cave was on the Colbert show the other night, so i tuned in, hoping to hear him perform some music from his upcoming new album. Instead, he read a beautiful letter that he wrote, in response to a question he received on his website :
Following the last few years I’m feeling empty and more cynical than ever. I’m losing faith in other people, and I’m scared to pass these feelings to my little son. Do you still believe in Us (human beings)?
VALERIO, STOCKHOLM
Dear Valerio,
You are right to be worried about your growing feelings of cynicism and you need to take action to protect yourself and those around you, especially your child. Cynicism is not a neutral position — and although it asks almost nothing of us, it is highly infectious and unbelievably destructive. In my view, it is the most common and easy of evils.
I know this because much of my early life was spent holding the world and the people in it in contempt. It was a position both seductive and indulgent. The truth is, I was young and had no idea what was coming down the line. I lacked the knowledge, the foresight, the self-awareness. I just didn’t know. It took a devastation to teach me the preciousness of life and the essential goodness of people. It took a devastation to reveal the precariousness of the world, of its very soul, to understand that it was crying out for help. It took a devastation to understand the idea of mortal value, and it took a devastation to find hope.
Unlike cynicism, hopefulness is hard-earned, makes demands upon us, and can often feel like the most indefensible and lonely place on Earth. Hopefulness is not a neutral position either. It is adversarial. It is the warrior emotion that can lay waste to cynicism. Each redemptive or loving act, as small as you like, Valerio, such as reading to your little boy, or showing him a thing you love, or singing him a song, or putting on his shoes, keeps the devil down in the hole. It says the world and its inhabitants have value and are worth defending. It says the world is worth believing in. In time, we come to find that it is so.
Love, Nick
here is a link to his website:
https://www.theredhandfiles.com/
@dannyboy 10,000%. Social Media is very destructive. I often get sucked into the hate and I have to remind myself to stop and just scroll on. I try to imagine that every mean thing I put out there is a ding on my soul. LOL! Sometimes it works. And sometimes I fail bigly! Lol! I would really love to free myself from SM but I think I may be addicted. Hello, my name is Tara and I think I have a problem. Lol!
@jeanne-mayell I think as Light workers we are intrinsically called to reach out especially to ones who are not living in the light, or whose light has dimmed, for whatever reason. By nature, that is what we do, encourage soul work and communion. It's really hard because we have to set our human feelings aside to allow the Light to work through us.
@impassionate I deactivated my Facebook account in2021 and never looked back. I was on it for hours every day! Haven't succumbed to Instagram or Tik-Tok. I do all my media socializing here, where I feel safe!
@unk-p After you posted about the musician Nick Cave, I watched the Colbert interview and was deeply moved by the guy. Then I read another interview with him, and he changed me. He opened my eyes about grief and the real world. He has modeled how even the darkest grief, if you face and go through it, you will be a happier more awake person. Thank you for sharing him with us.