During some extra reading while traveling I came across several items that put into perspective our current political disaster.   The first is contained in a book published in 2008 called Capitalism and Christianity, American Style by William E. Connolly.  He convincingly shows how evangelical Christianity epitomized by the Christ of the Book of Revelation as depicted in pulpits and such best sellers as the Left Behind novels (60 million plus sold) has found resonance with a cowboy sector of American capitalism.   Both divide humanity into the “saved” and the “damned.”

The second political theory catching my attention is in the April edition of Atlantic magazine:  Breaking Faith by Peter Beinart.  He discusses another, major force on the right that is mainly secular.   Its adherents have disengaged from religion and morality that emphasize messages of universality and love because such values tend to erode  prejudices that emphasize race and nationalism.  The Alt-Right is a prominent player in this movement.

Thus, we have very different forces but they have in common that they are embedding in or our culture bellicose voices that seek to diminish diversity, ignore responsibility to future generations (and the environment), are uncaring about urban poverty and support a system of extreme economic inequality.  Such voices are grounded on an ethos  of revenge and extreme entitlement.

I have, of course, over-simplified each of these writings.  I commend them to whoever wants to read more.  I see our present, national leadership as both a beneficiary and driver of these shifts.  I have a renewed pride and dedication to be a part of what Connolly calls the “positive resonance machine.”  That’s the one that persists in seeking to embed an ethos of presumptive generosity and pluralism into communities we touch, and which seeks to forge affirmative connections across significant differences of faith.

That’s where our UU principles and faith call us and the direction we commend to our children.

So be it:

Rev. Bill