Two mass shootings in less than twenty four hours. The response is predictable and we have heard it all before. We witness the stagnation and stalemate that prevents any action. Politicians wring their hands and shift the focus from gun control to mental health. Mitch McConnell single handedly prevents any meaningful gun legislation from reaching the Senate floor. (He has also received more than four million dollars from the NRA through the years.)
We are a nation of the hunting and the hunted. Islamic terrorists are a threat, but we are as much at risk from young (for the most part) white men with connections to white supremacist groups. It is inappropriate to call them domestic terrorists. Terrorists by definition seek to overturn the regime of the government. These shooters are in concert with the regime, acting in ways that are modeled by the occupant.
What the shooters have in common is an online presence that is filled with right wing hate speech. These sites are protected by the First Amendment. We are free to say what we want, whenever we want, to whomever we want. These sites appeal to those feeling fearful and disenfranchised by an eclectic society of diverse people.
Traditionally, the right to free speech has meant one doesn’t scream “fire” in a crowded movie theater out of basic human decency and a concern for the safety and well-being of a crowd. It seems no such concern exists these days. Inflammatory rhetoric abounds and the standards for human decency are being eroded at an alarming rate.
The occupant is a major contributor to such erosion. It is not all his fault that these awful things are happening; however, his consistently inflammatory rhetoric lowers the standard for public discourse in the common experience of the American people. The occupant uses derogatory language to speak of migrants at the border. He fails to stop the “send them back” chants that marginalize four congresswomen of color. He smirks when murdering immigrants is suggested as a solution to some of our social problems. It sends a powerful message about what is acceptable.
In previous administrations, both Republican and Democrat, the highest office in the land has modeled the standards of acceptable speech. No such modeling happens with the current occupant. He incites hate speech and hateful action with no checks and balances. Such behavior allows what has always existed in the underbelly of public life to come to the fore.
Hate speech increased 226% in areas where the occupant has held rallies. This is not a partisan statement; it is a statement of fact. His party affiliation is irrelevant. This is behavior, pure and simple. The tragedy is that the spineless members of his party fail to hold him accountable for fear of how it might affect their re-election campaigns. It becomes a partisan issue when it immobilizes an entire political party.
Supporters of the occupant are willing to wink at his behavior and this alone is mind boggling. The occupant has successfully manipulated the fears of the American people to believe that immigrants are the problem, the poor are ciphers on public resources and the differently abled are objects of ridicule who are unworthy of public and social support. Years of social progress and raising the bar on socially acceptable behavior are diminished by his behavior.
Politically correct has become something to make fun of, to eschew as a way of being in the world. The erosion of public commitment to being politically correct means it is okay to make fun of and marginalize the groups we were learning to speak of with compassion and acceptance. Being politically correct was a standard of language that raised the bar for public discourse. No such bar exists now.
Despite the occupant’s recent comments about needing to condemn racism, bigotry and white supremacy, his rhetoric and behavior through time belie any commitment to doing that.
In ancient Israel it was believed that to speak a word was to invoke its power. Speaking the name of God invoked God’s power. It’s why taking God’s name in vain is such a big deal. Sometimes Jesus healed with just a word. The Judeo-Christian tradition acknowledges that words have tremendous power. Talk is anything but cheap.
When inflammatory rhetoric is used by the occupant of the most powerful office in the land and the leader of the free world, it begins a downward spiral of public decency and socially acceptable behavior. Our corporate commitment to acceptance and integration as desirable goals for a diverse society are diminished and our common decency as a nation is set back decades. It is all related: hate rhetoric, hateful action, white supremacy, mass shootings, fearful responses to the “other” and respect for one another as human beings.
Enough is enough. Use your words. Speak truth to power. Hold up the standard for decency and public discourse. Do not remain silent. Silence is complicity.
The Irreverent Reverend 