I made a mistake today. Twitter was open on my phone for more than 60 seconds. Normally, it’s a quick tap, scan for stock picks or Norm posts, then off to a happier item like schoolwork. The lowest of low bars to be sure, but certainly better than what social media has become.
I could easily write about what sucked me in and challenged my apathetic approach to the news cycle, but it really doesn’t matter anymore. It will be replaced soon enough by the next outrage. Most insidious about this cycle is it is designed to feed off itself, and feed it has. Each story more polarizing than the last. Each one seeming perfectly designed to pit group against group. Human against human. Living being created in the image of God against living being created in the image of God. Groups of people don’t look at “the other side” as being Imago Dei, because groups aren’t. People are. It’s become easy to believe others are enemies. No longer simply people with different ideas, but enemies: not to be mourned when slain, not to be shown compassion when hurt or hurting, and to be crushed by any means necessary. I realize this is yet another post that will annoy…well…everyone, and I’m NOT trying to portray myself as a guy who has all this figured out. In fact, I’m the lowest of the low, often do what I’m decrying (in fact I’m doing it right now) and I’m a hypocrite, but I enjoy writing sometimes horribly constructed run-on sentences like this one about things that interest me, so here I am.
The US has done a decent job with elections over the past couple hundred years, but there have been contested elections in various areas and times before. Try to research them without strategic apathy. Information driven by “Just the facts” died with Joe Friday. The only thing left is articles of commentary. It’s easy to then choose our side’s approved outlets and enter our echo chamber and become further polarized. This makes it impossible to search for truth which almost always seems to be somewhere in the middle, so I just stop. I don’t know what else to do, but to just stop and try to not care.
It’s hard to imagine a scenario where the way we elect our leaders hasn’t already been destroyed. If Trump wins, the other side will not recognize it. If Harris wins, the other side will not recognize it. They’ve already said so. If the election process is destroyed, and it already has been, then what? Russia will be the least of our worries, and more germane to our immediate future will be the question of, “can we be a country?”. Should we be one? Are there stronger powers than even CNN and Fox News pulling these strings? I wonder.
Faith is a large part of my life and I can’t imagine looking at this political hellscape and thinking this is all there is. In the context of all this pain, exclusion, destruction, and loss of life, how much more amazing does Jesus look? The answer is none more amazing. He’s always been and always will be the best thing in the universe. To the 2-3 people still reading, if you ever want to have a kind, respectful, honest conversation about the hope Jesus offers, please reach out. I’ll be happier in that conversation.
Now off to school work…
Throne Time 