POLI•RANT: The Hate at the Heart of MAGA

Being a decent human being isn't a character flaw.

With Easter a few days ago and the passing of Pope Francis just yesterday, I find myself pondering and revisiting some thoughts I had already been jotting down on the role of morality and emotion in our politics.

Because both Easter and the passing of the Pope are both couched in religion, a little background on me.

I was raised Catholic because of my mother. My dad was a Methodist but didn’t go to church religiously, mostly because his dad was averse and he had plenty of work on the farm for his eight kids.

My early childhood was spent in Kentucky and there wasn’t a Catholic church in the area so I didn’t go until we moved to heavily-Catholic Louisiana and I was enrolled in St. Anthony’s school in Bunkie, Louisiana. We moved back to Michigan before I could be confirmed, and that was the end of organized religion in my life.

Over time I came to an agnostic point of view on religion. I’ve never considered myself an atheist because, to me, that has a certainty of belief that I just don’t prescribe to.

That said, I was always fascinated in religious issues since my religion classes at St. Anthony. Maybe that was because I came to them without any formal background. My religion teacher there (Brother Edward) was also extremely progressive in his teachings. I particularly remember him teaching that the Adam & Eve creation story could very well represent a parable for the audience at the time and likely represented the coming together of two tribes.

Things like that seemed to spark my curiosity even more, which led to Brother Edward coming to the house to ask my parents to advise me to kind of take it down a notch. He didn’t disagree with any of my questions or theories, but thought they might be confusing the other kids.

So, that’s me.

Ever since then I’ve been interested in Christianity — especially the New Testament. Over the years I’ve read a few scholarly books on the historical figure of Jesus and things like the Gnostic Gospels which I find fascinating.

One thing that has never wavered is my appreciation for the teachings of Jesus Christ. And, yes, they not only mirror my political philosophy but helped shape it. That also goes for what I’m against, and how the Conservative movement (in my opinion) has often been antithetical to the teachings of Christ.

Which brings us to the rise of MAGA and Trump and how we effectively counter it.

I tend to be both profane and sarcastic in some of my writing about the Trump Regime. I think the sarcasm is a good thing. As truly frightening as so much happening is, on some level these people are a bunch of bumbling idiots and mocking them gets under their skin more than anything else.

I can also be quite an alarmist, even though I think it’s completely warranted. But, one thing I always try to argue with is as much logic as possible.

Whether it’s unconstitutional overreach or terrible policy, I usually come from the point of view that (I hope) is reasoned and logical. For example, when I argue against extreme anti-immigration policy I tend to couch it in economic terms — like the waste of money in building a wall or the macro economic necessity of immigrant labor to our economy.

While all that is true — and logical lines of argument — thinking about it I believe that myself (and I’m sure many others) have been intimidated against talking about the morality and pure right/wrong and good/evil aspect of so much that’s going on around us.

I think we’re bullied into making those arguments because the MAGA crowd has scared us into believing those are somehow weak arguments — buying into the whole idea as progressives as snowflakes who aren’t strong or manly enough to see the world as it truly is.

Maybe this realization isn’t as revelatory to you, but I’ve found myself thinking about it all weekend.

Trump 1.0 saw a dramatic rise in hate crimes across the country and that is surely only going to get worse.

MAGA is largely driven by a permission for people to be their worst selves. We see that daily.

But, I do believe that there are millions of soft Trump supporters out there who are good and moral people. Likely because of years of (what I believe is) disinformation and alarmist propaganda they feel that because millions of criminals, drug dealers, and gang members are pouring across the border (they’re not) that they have to support a morally bankrupt man to stop it.

I know they are there.

The term the cruelty is the point is often associated with the MAGA movement on a number of fronts. And I think it is objectively true. But, we need to not be afraid to call it out, especially as it gets worse. Because, there are people out there who can be converted, who do have some moral line in the sand that they won’t cross.

Just like we should be pressing and fighting on all issues in front of us, we should be using all the tools in our toolbox to make the argument against them.

Calling out cruelty and hatred isn’t weak, it’s righteous. And being a decent, moral human being — regardless of where or how you became one — is a strength, not a weakness.

Let’s not be afraid not to use it.

As for Pope Francis, I don’t have much to add. Of course he didn’t reform the church to the extent that I’d like to see, and the decades of abuse stains the legacy of generations of church leaders. But, he was by far the best pope of my lifetime and has been (on balance) a moral force for good in this world. RIP.

From his last Easter message:

"I appeal to all those in positions of political responsibility in our world not to yield to the logic of fear which only leads to isolation from others, but rather to use the resources available to help the needy, to fight hunger and to encourage initiatives that promote development," the message said. "These are the 'weapons' of peace: weapons that build the future, instead of sowing seeds of death!"