No Persecution Detected #Antifascist #Christmas #Resist

            I am checking in to testify to the fact that in this most recent Christmas season, as an observer of this holiday, I have once again not experienced any harassment whatsoever for the songs I’ve sung, the decorated tree displayed plainly in front of my living room window, and uttering openly in public to others I know who observe this holiday, the words, “Merry Christmas”. I’ve not been cursed at, called a pejorative or other insulting name, been spat at, beaten, or imprisoned. Keeping in mind that many other people who reside in this nation do not observe my same traditions, I refrained from stating “Merry Christmas” to those whose faith traditions are unknown to me, as that could be received as disrespectful, and given there is a faith principle which I endeavor to be mindful of, stating “as once sows, so shall they reap”, I elect not to sow what could be perceived as disrespect in order to operate in kindness, thereby thwarting a potential harvest of disrespect. Simple stuff. Easy. Not injurious to my person or psyche in any way. No persecution detected.

            That said, there are two observations I would like to share for the reader’s consideration, especially if the reader is of another faith tradition or of none. Christians and the churches in your neighborhoods are not monoliths, and anti-fascist Christians are not unicorns. Many are horrified at the fascist direction the country is taking and are committed to resisting the destruction of our democracy, as well as seeing the separation of church and state maintained. Sadly, those dominating your media feeds are those causing distraction as they bark about culture wars while oligarchs and kleptocrats pick our pockets clean. I understand wanting to tax the churches—I see why that makes sense to people. One thing I would like to point out though is, well, you know how large corporations pay high-priced accountants to find all the loopholes to avoid paying taxes? I think it would be reasonable to expect the same to happen with churches. The obscenely wealth-heavy mega churches would pay pricey accountants to find those same loopholes, while your little neighborhood congregation that is volunteer heavy, donating generously to your community food banks, advocating for the homeless and the immigrant, showing up to stand for Native American land and water protection, attending BLM marches, standing for bodily autonomy and healthcare for women and girls, supporting sensible guns legislation, and--if open and affirming as many are—offering spiritual support and a safe place of worship for members of the LGBTQ+ community, would be the ones to suffer. These are the people who do their best to show up for their neighbors’ and friends’ Go Fund Me shares regardless of the person’s beliefs. When asked to send good vibes or prayers, etc. from our atheist and agnostic friends, those requests are taken seriously.

            These people believe in loving God and loving one’s neighbor as oneself and failing to commit to love one’s neighbor well is a failure to commit to loving the God they profess to serve. It is understood that “Greater love has no man than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” (John 15:13), and operating in any spirit other than love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, as “against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23) may indicate a straying from the faith. (However, let the reader keep in mind even Jesus lost it and flipped over tables. I believe today’s version would be tables belonging to Tump-signed bibles vendors and all his other grift-ie merch being quite flip-able, but I digress).

            Secondly, I submit to the reader that regardless of race, faith, gender, etc., those of us wishing to see our democracy preserved need to work together in unity. Neither a fascist bullet nor a Nazi noose care about your confession of faith, absence of one, or any an individual’s status regarding any of the other above-mentioned identifying qualities. Dietrich Bonhoeffer could have testified to this. It is important, regardless of anyone’s beliefs, spirituality, creed, scientific opinion, etc., to resist a temptation toward virtue signaling and to avoid being concerned with the world’s perception of one’s personal intelligence, cleverness, righteousness, etc. that one might want to convince others that they possess, as no one who turns their back on the marginalized and the vulnerable can function in any meaningful capacity to put those claimed attributes to good use. Individual acts of grand-standing for clicks and shares, to “send a message” about a pet issue, obsessing about one tree when the whole forest ablaze must not insist upon taking up space in this resistance. Creation of division and playing personalities or groups against each other is not a winning strategy. (Will note here we are seeing a bit of that occur within the looming next administration’s party.) We need the talents of all willing citizens across the diversity board engaged to hold on to our democracy.

            In 2025, I am recommitting to doing the following: Being present, staying open, and paying attention. I invite the reader who values our democracy to consider the same.