Makes you wonder this day
Why there’s the gift
of a clear blue sky and
The crinkly coverage
of yellow leaves everywhere
Why there were so many voters
for the Trump perplexity. Why?
Makes you feel a lump in the throat
As you sip another cup of coffee
And spot the visit of a red cardinal
And speculate on the divisive election
So what do you do about those
Who differ in values
Who defend the second amendment
Who disparage the immigrants
Who look down on the poor
Who deny systemic racism
Who like conspiracy theories
Who are strict literalists
Who Who Who
What do you say?
Can we compromise?
Can we get along?
Do we just remain silent?
How do we get beyond
Skin–deep conversations?
Two factors make this difficult
Literalism and Hypocrisy
Strict literalists accept
What is at face value
What appears through the senses
as the absolute truth
without looking at the context
So in religion they become
Fundamentalists
rejecting Higher Criticism
without considering the context
or background to a Biblical text
The other disparity is hypocrisy
A lack of honesty
To see clearly one’s values
Stuck on lower level survival needs
Rather than reaching for higher thinking
Or going deeper for authenticity
In aligning what we say and do
So that we pretend to be someone else
And masquerade our intentions
Even living in an illusionary world
Being shallow without spiritual depth
Coming off as a sham, living a lie
Literalists and hypocrites lack honesty
To know who they are politically
So they accept an easy answer
From Fox news or conservative media
And fail to ask the hard questions
Which probe deeper behind the news
They may join a cult led by authoritarians
Or can anyone break out of the selfishness?
Taking another sip of coffee I wonder
when we can return to civil discourse?
At least it is a nice day!
—By Ron Faust, 11/11/20 (On occasion when the turnout for the 2020 national election was great but contentious for both parties)
