I do think that large scale war is more possible than it has ever been in our lifetimes. There's a powder keg feel to much of it. Towering empires, armed and empowered.
This thing that many western nations have experiencedāseveral generations of peaceāis a luxury, maybe even a historical anomaly.
Neither you or I (as far as I know) have our hands on the levers of power or command armies with our decrees.
But we aren't powerless. And one of my biggest concerns is the hallowing out of care for our communities.
Of course it starts with our own hearts:
Are there particular people groups that I'd like to see "get what's coming to them"?
We know that marginalizing people based on race and ethnicity and class and nationality is bad. But what about those people whose religion we think is narrow and harmful? Whose beliefs are wacky? Or who support causes we find offensive?
Do we find ourselves justified in wanting them to suffer because of what they think or say or which political faction they support?
āĀ that's a dangerous place to live.
As an American who pays attention to the historical record, I can see that since its founding, my country has been marked by compromise, national sin, and perpetration of injustice. But I can also see that there have been timesāaround the second world war, for instanceāwhen we were a force for global good: pushing back waves of fascism. That was only possible because of a willful working together among the people.
And "together among the people" seems to be a great area of vulnerabilityā"a house divided cannot stand"āand also the opportunity space where each of us can influence our communities for the better.
My challenge to me: show kindness and love to someone whose beliefs I dislike.
2d ago
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love this. disagreeing is good and reasonable, but wishing harm upon and creating further separation from our brothers and sisters is dangerous to everyone. as long as those in power have us fighting amongst ourselves, the people will never win.
2d ago
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Been thinking a lot of this Beuys piece and works from artists created during the span of the vietnam war and the civil rights movement. The optimism that if only there were enough dialogue created with their pieces, you could galvanize individuals to organize and together enact change.
Iām wondering if Beuys were alive today would he still hold onto that same sliver of hope?
(Joseph Beuys, I Like America and America Likes Me)
Jan 23, 2025
āŖ
Iām very tangled in with the Christian faith due to my upbringing, but part of my deconstruction over the last decade has really driven me to dig into what this faith looks like historically, and especially in the eastern world where it was formed.
I think thereās a major blind spot in the current Christian leader landscape, especially when you apply a historical view of church leaders in Roman times vs. American times.
To be a church leader then, it was required that youād have at least a basic grasp of current scientific advancements (compared to science-rejecting stereotypes today) + an understanding of world history (compared to a rejection today) + acceptance of astrological findings (ābut the earth is flat!!!ā) + a commitment to your spouse (how many more spiritual leaders committing affairs types of news can we handle) + common decency and kindness (ā¦ā¦..not even touching this one).
I find that the studies that show that Christianity is declining yearly here in the US is fascinating because if, perhaps, the general consensus was to steer back into historical church history, and you filled leadership with kind men & women who loved their communities and didnāt fight science and know history and how to not repeat it thenā¦MAYBEā¦the church as a whole would be seen as a safe haven once again. Tom Holland (secular historian) wrote a fascinating book called Dominion ā his thesis was the the Christian faith was [historically] responsible for a large amount of early social justice reform + funding of communal help systems + supporting the science and arts. That has sadly died today, and we can see how itās affected everything.
Sorry, just a long rant I needed to get out.
Aug 25, 2024
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1. Meeting my now husband, who self-identified as communist. The first one that I knew in said bubble.
2. 2016 when trump won and I realized how different other people felt to me, causing me to start wanting to fundraise and advocate, but also feeling a great divide between me and people in my life.
3. The ongoing COVID debacle and the response from the US government, continuing today where there has been so much misinformation and lack of regard for people.
4. Having children and realizing just how alone we are in the US. I had no idea how nonexistent any safety net was in our society until I had them.
5. Trump winning again and realizing that fearing others and making lines in the sand with them has partially caused this mess. I am now folding in resources and help for people who are not politically aligned with me. I am working to build community with the people so that they eventually realize that weāre actually against the powerful instead of each other. I am done with infighting.
Jan 26, 2025
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this is worthy of celebration:Ā the lack of videoāautoplay video, noisy inane video, panicky video, algorithmic, dumb video, rabbit hole video, any videoāon pi.fyi is a good thing
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this is going to hurt āĀ A LOT āĀ but it's getting to the point where there's no other option
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