POLITICAL OPINION NO. 1

The angst in our country has certainly peaked in this year of 2016.  The political arena has pulled the scab off of our wound.  The major party candidates are both universally disliked, but the relativity between the two makes one of them less reviled.  Having read lots of articles about both over the past months, coupled with impressions formed over the a few decades, it's time to weigh in.

Up front, I will say that I am a Christian, and have always considered myself a conservative.  In today's climate, my position is really more right of center independent.  I do not believe that being a Christian in America means you have to be a conservative Republican.

We have in Donald Trump a man who has tapped into an anger in our nation.  That anger has built up over the years as the right wing conservative elements have slowly taken over the Republican party.  Now, we have a Republican candidate who disdains parts of our Constitution that the Right claims to hold so dear.  We have in him a person who is fanning the flames of bigotry.  He has said that if he loses the election it will be because of a rigged election.  What can we make of this?

When we look at other parts of the world, we see the same types of things in play.  We're just a bit behind the trend but catching up.  Germany, Britain, Sweden, and others have seen extreme right wing groups on the rise.  Leaders are emerging who typify the strongman, the one who can save us from the onslaught that threatens our way of life.  The Philippine president is such a person.  Trump wants to be such a person.

The strongman always emerges when there is a populace that thinks things are out of control, and the only way we can be saved is with someone who will crack down on what is causing the problem.  The trouble is, the problem is always some identifiable group.  The fix is simple:  do away with that group and your troubles are over.  Even Bernie Sanders had his group: Wall Street.

Today, in our country, there are two main groups that are targeted:  Hispanics and Muslims.  Despite what Mr. Trump and his surrogates say, it is the control of these two groups of people that will ensure our survival.  Nothing else really matters.  The economy, trade agreements, they are all incidental.  Just get a dedicated force to round up illegal immigrants and get them out of the country.  Identify all Muslims so we know who they are and where they are.  Problem solved.  We will see high economic growth, a job for everyone, and a vibrant America.  Of course, our civil liberties, the decline of which is a conservative lament to date, will be severely curtailed and our Constitution flaunted.  But, hey, as a white person, I won't be affected.

Mr. Trump has simple solutions to complex issues.  He will be in good company with others emerging in this world.  It is so troubling that, after all these centuries of human progress, we continue to put a face on our problems.  And that face is always some other group.  We Christians, as a whole, can be the worst offenders because we know better.  We have thousands of years of God's Word, and especially that of Jesus Christ, and yet we still can let bigotry raise it's ugly head.   We talk a big game.  As it's said in Texas, "All hat and no cattle."

I could go on, and maybe I will later.  I'm disappointed that we are at this point in our country.  We should be better than what are seeing in this land today.