Tag Archives: church

Light in the Darkness of a Trump Presidency

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On Our Way to Standing Rock

On Our Way to Standing Rock

My birthday falls during the darkest time of the year.  Then, almost immediately, the Winter Solstice is here.  We celebrate the dawning of the light and the days start getting longer.  Then comes Christmas, and we celebrate the birth of Jesus and the coming of the light of Christ.

Being someone who seeks to follow that light, it’s unfathomable to me that over 80% of white Evangelicals voted for Donald Trump for president. (See Christianity Today)  The values, practices, and policies that Donald Trump models and promotes are the antithesis of the teachings and example of Jesus.  It reminds me of a book called Tired of Apologizing for a Church I Don’t Belong To.  I don’t apologize for Right Wing Christianity and I definitely don’t belong to that church.

For people who yearn for peace, justice, and the healing of creation, the election of Donald Trump has brought a new level of darkness.  But even the specter of Trump as president is not enough to completely blot out the light.

My friends and I arrived at Standing Rock on Election Day.  That night, we watched the election results on the TV in a hotel room at the nearby casino.  The reality of Trump’s election hit us hard, along with all the people in the camp.  But I was glad to be with like-minded people and engaged in positive action during that time.

I believe that perseverance in the work for justice, even and especially during the hard times, will help us move as a people in the direction of the light.  The struggle has been hard, but it looks like it’s about to get harder.  I am still glad to be surrounded by people who have been praying and working for justice for a long time, and by those who are new to the struggle.

As the darkness of fear descends upon people who are vulnerable, those of us who care will stand in solidarity with them, for if we stand by and allow our brothers and sisters to be sacrificed, we become part of the darkness.  As hate and discrimination become the norm, we will stand in resistance to cruel policies and act with compassion.  As lies pervade public discourse, we will seek truth and open ourselves to the guidance of Spirit.  As greed and selfishness become conventional wisdom and national policy, we will share with the poor and stand with the dispossessed.  As the darkness of despair settles in, threatening to paralyze us with apathy, we will rouse ourselves, become more fully human, and take actions that embody hope.

Like many others, I have seen and seek to follow the light in my daily life.  I know that “the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.”  I still believe that we shall overcome someday.  Each day that we walk hand in hand we help make it so.

 

To find out more about a Jesus whose mission was to bring “good news to the poor and release to the captives,” and to “bring down the mighty from their thrones and to raise up the lowly,” see a previous Christmas blog:  The Revolutionary Stories of Baby Jesus.  Or take a look at Jesus, Resister, Part I or Jesus, Resister, Part II, or just about any of my other writings

Follow Sharon’s blog by clicking the “Follow Sharon Delgado” button at the right or by “liking” the Shaking the Gates of Hell Facebook page.  

 Find previous blog postings about Christmas.

 Find previous blog postings about Standing Rock.  

 

Resolution: A Call to Stop Drone Killings

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IMG_6062This resolution was passed without debate on the consent calendar at the 2014 California-Nevada Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church, held in Burlingame, California, in June 2014.

Be it resolved: That the California-Nevada Annual Conference affirms the 2012 General Conference Resolution 6128, Seeking Peace in Afghanistan, which includes a call for: “an immediate end to drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan, which have escalated exponentially since 2008…”

Be it further resolved:  That the California-Nevada Annual Conference endorses the document “A Call from the Faith-Based Community to Stop Drone Killings;’

“As representatives of faith-based communities, we are deeply concerned about the proliferation of lethal unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones. The United States is leading the way in this new form of warfare where pilots in US bases kill people, by remote control, thousands of miles away. Drones have become the preferred weapons to conduct war due to the lack of direct risk to the lives of U.S. soldiers, but these drone strikes have led to the death of hundreds of innocent civilians in countries where we are not at war, including Pakistan, Yemen and Somalia.

“Some aspects that we find particularly disturbing include:

  • The President and his aides draw up a Kill List in which they play the role of prosecutor, judge, jury and executioner. People on this secret Kill List have never been charged, tried or convicted in a court of law, and are given no opportunity to surrender;
  • The labeling of all military-age males in a strike zone as combatants, thus justifying their murder, is an extreme and macabre form of profiling;
  • Drone strikes kill not only their intended targets, but innocent people, including children, violating the sanctity of human life;
  • Drone strikes violate other nations’ sovereignty (Pakistan’s elected leaders, for example, have repeatedly called for an end to the strikes);
  • Drones in the hands the CIA and the Joint Special Operations Command keep the program veiled in secrecy. The lack of transparency and accountability violate the basic tenets of a democratic society;
  • Drones make killing more abstract, impersonal, antiseptic, convenient and “easy”;
  • The Administration insists that because drones do not risk American lives, Congress need not be consulted, leading to a dangerous abuse of executive power;
  • Drone strikes have replaced Guantanamo as the recruiting tool of choice for militants. They fuel anti-American sentiment, radicalize local populations and perpetuate an endless cycle of violence.
  • The example being set by the United States that a nation can go anywhere it wants and kill anyone it wants on the basis of secret information is leading to a world of chaos and lawlessness.

“The world’s great religions teach us to cherish human life. This impersonal, risk-free killing of people on the other side of the globe runs counter to religious belief and the teachings of our traditions.

“We urge our government to put an end to this secretive, remote-controlled killing and instead promote foreign policies that are consistent with the values of a democratic and humane society. We call on the United Nations to regulate the international use of lethal drones in a fashion that promotes a just and peaceful world community, based on the rule of law, with full dignity and freedom for every human being.”

Be it further resolved: That the Conference Secretary will send letters to President Barak Obama, and U.S. Senators and Representatives of California and Nevada, informing them of this action and urging them to work to end drone strikes and to develop peace-building alternatives;

Be it further resolved:  That members of California-Nevada Annual Conference will inform their congregations of this action and help raise awareness among church members about the immorality of drone killings and the need to work for peace.