Regarding 45 getting indicted, I have a feeling that Liz Cheney will be the woman that will take him down. Regarding the rise of matriarchy, what Cheney is doing is proof of this trend. Does anyone here see it as such?
You make excellent points. I admit that I have become extremely biased against Republicans. I distrust them deeply, and my various efforts to forgive and try to understand them have been futile.
I was born near the time Reagan first served. I have lived in a deeply red state my whole life, so I grew up surrounded by Republicans and their ideas. I was a democrat due to my family, but my views were remarkably similar to Republicans. And Republicans never failed to impart evangelical values on everything.
I realize now that my rage against my fellow Republicans is due to their betrayal.
It first began when I was in high school. A fellow student was drugged by two male classmates, who proceeded to rape her (and videotaped it). Yet these Republicans blamed the girl for "putting herself in that position."
This incident opened my eyes to the hypocracy in Republicans. They go on the warpath about Clinton but adore Trump concerning how they treat women. They accuse gays of being evil and remain silent when others commit acts of violence against them. They claim God loves everyone but use the Bible as a means to discriminate (women can't preach, but men can by virtue of being men.)
After Trump, they don't even bother to hide the fact that even though they know it is wrong to poise with an assault rifle after a school shooting, they deprive great enjoyment out of "owning the libs."
How can someone like me who has a strong sense of fairness ever forgive people like that? Is it evil of me to hope that they themselves will reap the consequences of their actions? But it has been over 40 years now, and they keep getting worse. So my expectation that they are punished in this life is low. I can only hope justice is served to them somehow, even if I never learn about it.
Georgia is going to be in the news a lot this year ahead and its going to be a mighty struggle in our state https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/dec/17/georgia-secretary-of-state-election-bee-nguyen
We will persevere to keep our Democracy .
Am at an age to have seen quite a few lives come full circle. Accountability rarely happens in the way we hope and expect, but it comes for everyone one way or another.
I was born into a Republican family and carried their values until going to work for a democrat attorney. She was honest, thoughtful and generous with the staff and an active City Counsel member. Her every action showed care and concern for her fellow human and community. Because of her example, I changed my political party affiliation and life trajectory. Hang-in there @allyn. Being the blue dot in a sea of red is not an easy path, yet I know you have awakened some inner blue in your community.
I think you make great points too, how do you side and support someone who is unwilling to admit when they are incorrect? I wish I could tell you that i had the answer but i do not, I'm not sure if there is one other than forgiveness.
I'm an immigrant who came illegally to this country and has been living in Texas ever since. My mother was lucky to meet an older gentlemen who offered her the residency in exchange for taking care of him. My step father is "card-carrying-republican" who I've never gotten along with, and at this stage in his life I don't believe there is much of a relationship to salvage. Last time I saw him he brought the topic of trump up to argue and began pointing out the faults of Biden when I pointed out Jan 6 event. He emboldened and furiously told us off by saying that in reality we were not american and that in the end us foreigners weren't entitled to have an opinion on american affairs. Now It was in my right to get angry and tell him to fuck off but would he have listened to what i would have said if i barked back? what would i have gained if I allowed him to hurt me?
I ignore his comment and I told him we came here for a reason, that us south americans have vast knowledge on populism and dictatorships. That we can see one coming a mile away and because of this he should listen when we warn him. I told him that when he closes off to us and ignores us because he doesn't want to be wrong he loses the chance to learn something. He calmed down and seemed to finally listen. That's when I realized that I've known this man for over a decade and he doesn't really know us.
There is a saying here in Texas: you get more with honey than with vinegar. I believe in this also.
I want you to know that i do not claim to know your experience but i feel like we have similarities since we are both blue dots in red seas. I've come to realize that these people aren't going anywhere and they most likely aren't going to change specially when confronted about how they are wrong. It's just going to take a different approach.
How can someone like me who has a strong sense of fairness ever forgive people like that? Is it evil of me to hope that they themselves will reap the consequences of their actions? But it has been over 40 years now, and they keep getting worse. So my expectation that they are punished in this life is low. I can only hope justice is served to them somehow, even if I never learn about it.
It depends on what you mean by "forgiveness."
I share your hope that they pay for their actions. I do not find it evil that you hope they will pay for their actions. Your feelings are simply the workings of karma through your own psyche. Your psyche wants balance and if they pay, then there is balance. But you and I don't know the complexity of karma. We don't even know how we ourselves would weigh on a karmic scale.
To me, forgiveness is simply an acceptance or understanding of the forces that created those bad behaviors. Your forgiveness is not about them. It's about you.
It's about whether you can accept that in this world things happen that lead people to do the bad things. It's about seeing people's actions as the outcome of many forces that we can't fully understand.
Mary Trump wrote a book that described the trauma her uncle Donald endured as a two year old, terrified by his father and abandoned by his mother. Mary Trump has no love for her uncle Donald and has said he is the most dangerous person in the world. But she helped people understand in part how he got the way he was.
Forgiveness does not mean condoning the person's actions.
We still do everything we can to stop that harmful behavior and/or to hold that person accountable for what they did. We wish for them to pay for what they did, to the extent that payment is possible. If our laws or leaders are unable to hold them accountable, we need to come to peace with those forces as well. It's just laws of nature.
Forgiveness comes out of humility that we can't understand it all. With the Republicans, I can see how they arose out of our society. I have never known someone for whom I couldn't ultimately find an explanation for their bad behavior. But when their treachery is great and I or others have suffered from it, then I need to find a way to accept the ways of nature and trust that karma or natural forces will ultimately bring all back into balance.
Why do we have to forgive? Because if we don't, we live with a clenched heart. We live in a world we cannot and will not accept. It's also hubris not to accept the natural world. It's hubris to think we have gotten it all figured out. We haven't.
But again, it all depends on our definition of forgiveness. When someone has done something horrible, I don't condone it. I don't think I can be their friend. I want them to be held accountable or stopped. I also get mad and my heart clenches. I even get sick from it. But I know that my thinking is wrong, an error. So when I give myself the space, I see them as an angel would see them. I do this best during the Circle of Light Zoom meditations on Wednesdays at 7 eastern that anyone can attend. I see how they got that way, how they became horribly messed up. I breathe through it. I still usually don't want to be their friend. But I can feel forgiveness flowing through me, allowing me to unclench and breathe again, and I can be at peace.
Hi all!
I wanted to tell you all a brief story about our last 24 hours. Well before Omicron was a thing we were talking about, back when things were going a lot better pandemic wise, we picked up tickets to the Nutcracker Ballet, Hairspray, and Frozen (Three shows, three different weekends over six weeks, two different venues) Having sunk some considerable money into those tickets we've been nervous as all get out as the dates for the Nutcracker (last night) approached.
We have of course been to both venues numerous times but not during the pandemic. We read everything there was to read on the venue (Devos Hall in Grand Rapids) and it said they were asking for vaccination cards and that everyone would be masked in the venue, but we didn't know if they'd actually be following that.
They did. In fact there was a quartet of Maskholes in box seats near where we were sitting. The usher went through several times during the first act and told them to put their masks back on. When they continued this behavior in the second act they finally called security and had them removed from the building. I was worried they were going to disrupt the performance because they kept getting louder with the "Fine, we'll put them back on". At one point I finally heard Security say "You're not understanding what I'm saying. You've had your chances. You're going to have to leave now." A bunch of us applauded both for the dancers, and the security staff when the next opportunity arose. (I know this because many of the people around us made it a point to turn towards where the security folks were standing during that applause.)
I was not expecting this, but was grateful to the staff for following through on the venue's rules. If I'm honest, my nervousness disappeared completely once we got into the auditorium. Everyone wore a mask (minus those yahoos) and I knew they were all vaccinated. It was a brief feel of "the before times" minus the piece of cloth on my face.
We also stayed at a very fancy hotel right next to the venue - I had some connections that got us a high floor room facing the city for a decent enough rate and I took it. The whole 24 hours was great, but the point of this story was that if any of you have a desire to see the performing arts again (especially with places shutting down again!) there are some venues out there doing everything they can to keep the performing arts alive, and if your venue has a policy like this one (which I wasn't expecting from a place funded by Betsy Devos and her ilk) it was amazing to have this back in my life. I feel much better about Hairspray in January. Frozen is a different venue and their policies seem to change by the week.
@dannyboy My husband and I went to see The Nutcracker in Seattle with our family last weekend. We all showed our proof of vaccination at the door and everyone wore masks. It was a wonderful, wonderful experience and it did our hearts good to see performing arts again. As you commented, it was like “before times.” We will be limiting our exposure to groups of people during the omicron wave, with the exception of celebrating Christmas with our vaccinated family.
It’s hard to face the omicron wave. Yesterday, I ran into a neighbor on my walk and she nearly burst into tears at the thought of this new wave. We reassured each other that we are vaccinated and know how to protect ourselves, but it is daunting. There will be breakthrough cases in the vaccinated population, but the unvaccinated will bear the brunt of the omicron wave. I worry about our health care workers.
But I digress. I’m happy you and your family had a great time and felt protected for this special event.
I think Robert sums it up nicely https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/dec/19/the-enemies-of-american-democracy-big-lie-big-anger-and-big-money