Can I ask you a question? Whose side are you on? It’s not intended to be a rhetorical question. I really want you to answer that for yourself. Are you on the side of democracy, the side that believes people should be free? The side that believes no one is above the law and that authoritarianism and fascism are evil? I can’t imagine anyone would answer no to that. But we are at a watershed moment right now. This is a chance to make a meaningful choice to determine the type of person and the type of legacy that you will leave on this earth. I’m 43 years old – for most of my life I have wondered about how Germany could possibly have supported Hitler, and how people could have actually been a part of Nazism and not understood that what they were doing was so evil and so wrong. I know that I’m not alone in that sentiment – in everything from movies to books to history lessons – in everything having to do with Nazis or Nazi Germany, it is always readily apparent and beyond obvious that Nazis are the bad guys and everyone roots for them to lose. I think this is one of the rare things that we can all agree on. The idea that they deserve everything bad and are irredeemable and hopelessly awful – there is no debate about this point. Which brings me back to my original thought – I have always wondered how they came to be and have always found it inexplicable and unlike anything I could ever imagine a human being deciding to be a part of. Until now. You know what else I think? I think that if you would have asked them if they knew that they were the bad guys or if what they believed in or supported was evil they would have emphatically told you no. I think they would have believed wholeheartedly that they were in the right and justified in thinking so. Before we get to the watershed moment we need to address a different question. Is it possible to know which side we would have been on in Germany if we were alive in that era? Would you have been a Nazi supporter or would you have been someone that recognized that it was a vile and evil party? Your answer to this question will be the same as your answer to the next. And that question stands before you today, right now. You get to know what kind of person you would have been by answering one simple question. If the election has happened then that question will be behind us, which might even be sadder depending on the outcome of your answer. This is your chance to test your metal, to make a decision for who you are. I imagine that in the years which followed the fall of the Nazis, those who supported Nazis felt shame and their children and grandchildren feel shame still for their relatives who had supported them. Conversely, pride and admiration for those who stood up to them. You don’t get many chances in this life to make this type of decision. Looking at the presidential campaigns, statements and actions of the two candidates Harris and Trump – one of those camps has a lot of scary things that map directly to what helped give life to Nazism through fascism. This is not just a partisan statement that could be turned around and just as easily said about the other party. There is actually only one party that is legitimately and wholeheartedly embracing aspects of fascism. The other one is not – full stop. I don’t say that lightly, and it’s easy enough to verify that claim – if you are brave enough and honest enough to look.
There are a couple of other watershed moments that we’ve been able to have in our lives, and it’s been on my mind to address them as well, which I will. Much like what I stated about Nazis, I’d had the same thoughts about the Confederacy that brought about the civil war. While I always knew that slavery was a part of America and that racism is an ongoing issue here, it was always obvious to me (and I’m sure to you) that slave holding, racism and the Confederacy were wrong and evil. I couldn’t imagine how any individual could possibly justify, stand up for or fight for such a vile cause that is so egregiously wrong. It took me an embarrassingly long time, until 2020 to finally understand the following idea: The racism that was responsible for the Confederacy and everything else is still alive today – because of that, we have an opportunity to see what kind of people we would have been back then. You might wonder how as things have changed so much, right? If you oppose DEI, affirmative action, roll your eyes at the idea of reparations, or think critical race theory makes someone hate America or makes people racist against white people, then congratulations – you would be a Confederate or Confederate sympathizer. You’re able to perform the same mental gymnastics that they did and still feel good about yourself at the end of the the day. It’s an uncomfortable thought exercise, but you can take this through the different eras in American history. Ever wondered what you would say about segregation? If you would just go along with it or stand up to it? The Civil Rights act? Whether you would have thought Martin Luther King Jr at the time was an inspiration or just a trouble maker stirring things up by talking about race? The same answer applies. It’s not fun to realize that you would have been the bad guy, and I’m pretty certain that if you are the bad guy you’re not going to agree with me and will write me off, just like those Nazis would have. The chances are that whatever side you fall on for one question, you’ll land consistently on the same side for every other I’ve posed. But just know for the rest of us, when we see a Trump sign or a MAGA hat, we don’t see something edgy or just a political party preference.
We see you.
We see you for what and who you are. It is always in the front of our minds when we interact with you and measure who you are as a person. You are probably a nice person to interact with in most/all circumstances. You probably go to church every Sunday. You probably say you “don’t see color” and treat everyone the same. But inside, you are full of anger and blame others unfairly for any hardships you have. You are ignorant and unwilling to listen to views which challenge yours. You consume information which only affirms what you already believe. You say racially charged things when everyone in the room looks like you because you think that makes it a safe place for you. I said earlier that we get a few chances at these watershed moments to decide who we are as a person. Those moments are decidedly important, they set the tone for the rest of our lives. But they also set the course to help us make the more routine decisions in our everyday lives. Decisions like when we decide to fight against our implicit bias, recognize what privilege we carry, use inclusive speech, and show kindness and love to others who are different than we are. I encourage you to start making those decisions today and make your way over to the side of history that you can be proud of and that your children and descendants will be proud of too.
Merely Xtian 