Just Wondering

So, I’m just wondering why the CEO of United Health being shot on a Manhattan Street is an act of terrorism and (another) school shooting is not considered terrorism. Anybody being shot for any reason is a tragedy and there is no way that gun violence can be excused in any setting. Yet we have been dealing with school shootings (83 so far this year) since the 1700’s when four Lenape Native Americans entered present-day Green Castle Pennsylvania, shot and killed schoolmaster Enoch brown, and killed nine or ten children (reports vary). Only two children survived. I’m just wondering if the violence of these Natives was related to yet another example of having their land stolen, their people being senselessly killed and their way of life threatened.

I’m wondering how politicians, in good conscience, can continue to be owned by the NRA, which effectively circumvents any meaningful gun control in the United States.

I’m wondering why the Trans community is the target of such vitriol when they make up less than one percent of the entire population of the country. Twenty-four states have pending legislation to limit access to health care for the trans community. According to the National Institutes of Health, eighty two percent of trans teens have attempted or seriously considered suicide. These numbers are only going to increase as the incoming administration targets the trans community.

I’m wondering how we, as a nation can continue to give carte blanche to Israel to conduct a systematic genocide against the people of Gaza. I wonder where the outcry for the people of Gaza is. I wonder why it is impossible to say anything against Israel without being called antisemitic. The truth is that Israel is guilty of war crimes and needs to be called to accountability in the international community for systematic murder of Gazans in the name of defeating Hamas. Thanks to American technology, Israel has access to weapons that can blow the top off a can of soup, but instead they choose widespread bombing campaigns with high civilian losses.

I’m wondering about the implementation of Project 2025 and what it will mean to poor and marginalized communities. Equal marriage, decades of progress in civil rights, social justice and equity particularly for African Americans are on the chopping block. Social safety net programs like SNAP and Medicaid face drastic cutbacks. I’m wondering how the American people can be so blind to the truth that Project 2025 is going to cause widespread suffering to the poor, those with food insecurity and those at risk for homelessness. I’m wondering if we are so self-centered as to think that as long as we are okay, it really doesn’t have anything to do with us. I’m wondering where the “love your neighbor as yourself” part of the gospel has gone in our corporate American religious life.

I’m wondering what will happen to our planet as hard-won regulatory restrictions against fossil fuels are rolled back. I’m wondering how close we are to the point of no return. Sometimes I wonder if my war on single-use plastics at home is making any difference, if burning wood instead of fossil fuels contributes to the health of the planet, among other things I do to try and live lightly on the earth. I’m wondering if we have forgotten that two and two and fifty make a million, and if we all did what is ours to do we could make a difference.

I’m wondering why everyone blames inflation for high grocery prices when the truth is that grocery chains are posting record profits. I’m wondering if the American people know they were played when political candidates promised to lower grocery prices for hard working middle class families. In reality, unless there are government checks on price gouging, nothing will happen to reduce grocery prices.

I’m wondering why the health care industry is completely owned by insurance companies. Before 1993, insurance companies were not-for-profit. The focus was on providing medical care. Now the focus is on making profits for shareholders. Premiums continue to rise and benefits continue to decrease. Increasingly artificial intelligence algorithms make decisions about the kind and amount of health care one can receive. I’m wondering when the whole system is going to implode, or as seems more likely, health care will be a privilege of the increasingly rich, while the poor will continue to have less access to care and poorer health outcomes.

I’m wondering where our capacity for outrage has gone. As the old saying goes, “If you’re not outraged you’re not paying attention.” I think it is true. We are not paying attention because the changes that are gradually happening have not caused us a sufficient amount of pain. I’m wondering how we became so selfish, so self-involved, so unconcerned for others while still claiming to be followers of Jesus. Incidentally (not really), Jesus was all about the poor and marginalized. I’m wondering how the church of Peter and Paul’s time went from being on the cutting edge of announcing an upside down realm to being the chief holder of the status quo.

Maybe it’s me, but I’m just wondering.