Stopping the Authoritarian Train in It's Tracks

Americans take the system for granted. Read enough world history, things can default to tyranny. Trump is attempting a coup and is picking his flunkies for the Pentagon.  We are in scary times. It remains to be seen whether justice and goodness will prevail. Watching people turn over time and time again is one reason, countries are lost. Remember Hilter's sycophants made things possible for him to take over.  I figured then I would share this short reading written by me, edited by my husband which we did at the UU.  Let's hope Trump does not succeed. 

*********************************
I am not an authoritarian. Once I got sent to the principal's office for defending a student from a teacher I thought was wrong. I don't believe we should ever follow authorities blindly.

Yet authoritarianism is on the rise. As reform and renewal give way to command and control: It's not hard to imagine a generation of students raised with metal detectors and cameras in schools, humming along with the sentiments of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" :

"We don't need no education,

We don't need no thought control......."

Strong men and sociopaths stalk our schools and workplaces promising to solve our problems with 19th century precepts:

"I alone can fix this."

"The winner will not be asked to explain himself."

"We don't let them have guns why would we let them have ideas?"

It's not hard to feel despair. We've seen the largest transfer of wealth in history, along with the largest number of people in prison---2.3 million, as of 2016 and counting the explosive growth of militarized police forces and a surveillance society that never stops tracking it's citizens. This includes surveillance cameras, to endless tracking and monitoring through smart phones and social media websites.

All these trends have created a "might makes right" culture, focused on punishment and compliance; crushing not cooperation. The most relevant example is the religious right and it's Dominionist, Nationalist and Nativist mindset that it seeks to impose, no matter what the majority might actually want.

As we speak, we're look at a SCOTUS nominee who freely acknowledges her vision in bringing about "The kingdom of God". The Handmaid's Tale is no longer some dystopian fantasy, but in danger of becoming reality.

All in all it's a disturbing picture so what do we do? 

1. Free ourselves from fear. The nation is headed for a nervous breakdown. The constant stream of apocalyptic headlines and never ended adrenaline strikes are wearing us all out. We need to feel hope again, no matter how far off it seems.

2, We must welcome our prophetic voices and radical heroes back. I find hope in voices like Bernie Sanders, Dr. Ibraim X. Kendi, AOC, the Rev. William Barber, Chris Hedges, maybe you have your own personal list. We must show a willingness to air their ideas and discuss them, not find new ways to run them off the reservation.

3. Liberal religion must stand up and speak out against authoritarian religion. Our planet has had enough of authoritarian leaders, and authoritarian parents, program and inquisitions and rejection of science and pluralism.

Marjane Satrapi said as much in her graphic novel, "Persepolis", which traces the rise of fundamentalism in Iran: "I wanted to be Justice, Love and the wrath of God all in one."

So did Davidson Loehr one of my favorite UU ministers who in the 1980s, who wrote a book, "American Fascism and God: Sermons from a Heretical Preacher". He talked about how the command and control structures of corporate America worked hand in hand with controlling fundamentalist religion. 

4. Keep our fears in perspective. If history teaches us anything, it's that tyranny seldom stays the course: Hitler's 1,000-year reign lasted just 12 years;  Erich Honecker's East German Police state lasted 40 years; Francis Franco, the Catholic dictator of Spain, 36 years. The average strongman, statistically speaking lasts 12.5 years. The moral? People want freedom. It's as simple as that. 

5. Don't obey. Sometimes civil disobedience is necessary. Despots and dictators only thrive and survive when they can scapegoat people of color and minorities. Stamping on institutions, and silencing a free press by cheating, lying and getting flunkies to do their dirty work.

And that melts away the day that people stand up--as they did in East Germany and Egypt or as they are doing in Belarus and Hong Kong--streaming out onto the streets and saying, "Enough."

George Orwell said in his book 1984: "If you want a vision of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face forever. 

Show him that boot hasn't stamped down yet--stand up for a better vision. Those who did before expect no less.