It's been a while, but outrage prompts me to write

 

So, it’s been a while since I wrote a blog entry. Apologies to those of you who have been reading along. I’ve been busy at work, which has cut into my church and personal time, which ticks me off. I mean, I’m happy we are busy at work, as I’ve been at a company where we were not busy, at least not in terms of sales, and I ended up laid off from that job. But there are not enough people in our department, so we are all overworked. I ended up not taking all my PTO time last year. My fault, to some extent. I didn’t’ plan my year out in terms of making time to schedule it. And also, I have this hang up about asking for time off when I am behind in my caseload. By the time I realized that I’d have four or so days left by year’s end, it was so late in the year that I couldn’t fit them in.

But it’s not like I haven’t been writing at all. I wrote and delivered a sermon at church at the end of November. That went very well. I think it was one of the best sermons I’ve ever written, and the delivery went really well, too. Unfortunately, the service didn’t get recorded that day, so I can’t provide a link. But I will post the sermon in another blog entry someday.

But I’ve been pushed to write now by the murder of Renee Nicole Good by Trump’s Gestapo aka ICE. Not that I have anything original to say about it. I just need to express my outrage. What kind of professional law enforcement officer uses a cell phone to film as he is engaging in a conflict? What kind of professional law enforcement officer positions himself directly in front of a vehicle, just a short distance away? Why didn’t Ross just get out of the way of the vehicle? And, of course, the Trump regime’s response is typical of that ilk. Blaming the victim, calling names. They have all but said, well, she is a leftist activist, so she deserved to die.

Of course, ICE has been kidnapping and terrorizing brown and black people for the last year now. And historically, the US has taken advantage of, abused, and killed, either directly or indirectly, black and brown people since its inception. So, as much as I am outraged by Good’s murder, I can’t help but wonder if some of the intensity of the public reaction is because she is white. White, middle-class folks are starting to realize that this could have been them. Their privilege won’t protect them anymore, at least not if they are questioning or protesting the regime’s policies. And the realization caused by Good’s murder and the regime’s justification for it does seem to indicate that a line has been crossed. Anyone this regime sees as a threat is a target – black, brown, white, male, female, trans. If you are standing up for justice against the regime, they will mow you down, no matter what. Good’s murder was not the line, per se, as I doubt it was a planned event. But instructions to shoot to kill must have been in place for a while now.

I am also heartsick about knowing what to do. People gather at protest events. They call their representatives. They write letters and emails. Commentators write their outrage and explain what is happening in a historical context. Religious leaders speak truth to power and try to comfort and encourage their congregations. And little seems to change. The regime becomes increasingly extreme. I know that the regime’s policies are unpopular. There is hope that the midterms will flip the House. But will we have free and fair elections? Will we have elections at all? What more can we do?