YeKengalé

In spite of the optimism of all those who believe in Martin Luther King’s moral arc of the universe….(the one which bends long but tends towards justice) no one is advised to assume that the truth will prevail. And even it does, considering the length of time it takes for some truths to triumph, (The Catholic church finally admitted the world wasn’t flat in 1991…..not much consolation to Galileo, who was forced on pain of torture and death to recant his thesis), it would behoove those of us who have a stake in truth to defend it tooth and nail, and expose those who pervert it….now. (Especially those for whom recanting might not be an option).

It was always true that the world was round, that black people have souls and are the moral and intellectual equivalents (at the very least) of other races, and that gay people should be accorded no less dignity than those of normal (or ‘natural’ – whichever seems more correct to the reader) sexual orientation. But can justice, which depends on truth wait for 400 or 500 years before some government finally acknowledges the point? Or if the cost is not time, it may be blood. Do we wish to wait until the cost of truth telling is murder or martyrdom?

Hate and fear are powerful emotions. They have no commitment to anything higher than their selfish objectives. Having faith in people motivated by fear or hate seems illogical. Hitler was not ignorant or foolish – he was evil. And truth keeps evil at bay.

I conferred recently with a prominent Jew of international renown, a member of the ADL. He compared Trump with Hitler. Those who consider the comparison incredulous, perhaps are not keen students of history. Historians will tend to see the full fruit in the first seed. The patterns are discernible. Hitler started out not as bloodthirsty warmonger, but populist leader, greedy for power, with absolutely no moorings either to tradition, law or any principle higher than his own vaunted imagination.

Those who underestimate the power of a lie to bring strong delusion, need only to look at the history and nature of both politics and religion, to understand how humanity can become so captive to delusion that the truth becomes supreme enemy, whether of church or state; and worthy of death if there is no recanting.

A kingdom divided against itself cannot stand. I was not surprised to hear such clear vision from my friend. For all of Trump’s apparent successful usurpation of both Zionism and Christianity to solidify his power base, Jews, unlike Americans are Jews first. They can negotiate with the devil because their soul is fixed on Israel. There isn’t a more boisterous seat of government than the Knesset. Sharply divided views will vehemently contend but in the end, every last man will lay down life and limb for the nation.

Americans have no such character. The only thing that moves its soul is capital. (Look at citizens and past presidents alike whimpering under the almighty NRA or FDA or whichever perpetrator of hidden high crimes and misdemeanors that might make neighboring nations cringe (whether Canada or Colombia). Senators can be bought. Church leaders can be bought.

They have long forgotten the Baptism of Blood that forged their unity. The only wars they remember are their external and internal race wars…and they were about control not survival. America, its politics and religion is like the Biblical Babylon – a bloodsucking vampire with no greater cause than its belly.

Jews will negotiate in their interest, but Jews have never been a monolith. This is why they have survived. Almost 3/4s of American Jewry are registered Democrats. The Right wing Orthodox element in Christianity and Judaism that will back Trump when he shoots someone in the middle of 5th Avenue, or openly intimidates truth-tellers called whistle-blowers, or flagrantly breaks law, custom and norm; have vested interests in backing the president who prepared for his presidency in the casino world of thuggery, wheeling and dealing. They have moral reasons (of a sort….or at least they consider so) for their Faustian bargaining.

One should indeed rehash the history of the Third Reich….and its beginnings. But the notion which fascinates me most is how men and women who claim to publicly defend truth, whether servants of the people, or servants of God (if you want to differentiate the two that’s your prerogative in this Western world); when confronted with evidence of obvious deception, and concealed evil, how they respond …..and why.