LINK Hatred Hasn't Won John Pavlovitz Nov 14, 2024
I think this is soothing for today.
"Hatred won."
Many times a day I now find myself thinking this; maybe just as some internal primal scream therapy, an emotional pressure-release to fend off a coming explosion, a way of coping with so much hitting the fan in this country at one time.
I say the words to myself, and after a few disorienting seconds the feeling passes. I breathe and realize my overreaction. There is a brief moment of despair but it soon departs, at least one some days.
But on other days, I really believe the words. On those days, the feeling doesn't pass quickly, it lingers and begins to settle like a stone upon my chest. Some days I'm fully convinced that indecency has the run of the house, that good people are an endangered species, that love's victory may not be inevitable, but impossible.
I caught myself believing that today.
Maybe you're feeling that way right now, too. Maybe you're looking at the decidedly sickening stuff that flies in front of your face and you're coming to the conclusion that evil has the upper hand. You may be thinking it's all going to hell in a Cybertruck. You might be losing faith in humanity.
I understand why you'd feel that way.
I also know that you'd be wrong.
Seriously, hatred has not won.
It hasn’t—not everywhere.
Yes, there are some really miserable human beings doing some incredibly cruel things to a whole lot of people; many from Senate seats and mega church pulpits and capitol buildings and television studios. This gives their vitriol a megaphone, it magnifies their enmity, it earns their sickness greater bandwidth than it deserves. The venom those relatively few people produce commandeers the headlines and writes the loud narrative of impending disaster. It's a story you read and re-read all day long. It becomes gospel truth.
But that is not the whole story. It is not your story, or mine, or the story of tens of millions of people like us who are profoundly disturbed right now; those of us sick to our stomachs and moved to tears. We are furious, and that fury is an alarm ringing out in the center of our chests. In that place, hatred has not won. In that place, love and goodness are still in power. In that place, life is defiantly breaking out. In that place, hope is a rising flood.
It is happening in quiet moments with those who make up our tribe, our chosen family;
as we make meals and kiss scraped knees and gather around the table;
in the laughter we cultivate together, the embraces we share, the memories we create;
in the care we provide and the compassion we express and the decency we generate.
It is happening in the silence and solitude when we reflect or think or pray about this world and try to figure out how to help it heal.
It is happening in our relationships and our work and our ministry and our activism.
It is happening right now—in a billion ordinary, sacred acts of love that will never make the news but will still leave their mark.
Right now, we need to stop waiting for permission from someone else to be hopeful. We need to stop requiring consent to be optimistic. We need to believe the goodness we see in the front row of our lives, instead of the lies of those we see from a great distance—or even the ones careening around inside our heads.
Someone once asked Prince about the relatively poor chart performance of one of his albums. His response was something to the effect of, "It's number one in our house." He was reminding the reporter that his life would not be defined by anyone else; that he could only measure for himself what gave him joy or meaning. He could only produce something beautiful to him and rest in that. He could only make the world he had access to.
You are living proof that hatred has not won. In the story you are writing here—good, compassionate, open-hearted people still walk the planet. Don't underestimate the subversive, catalytic power of this.
In the hearts of vengeful people, yes hatred is winning.
In those continually consumed with contempt for others, yes violence has taken the high ground.
In the lives of those who get up every day seeking to do damage, yes the bad people are winning.
But this is not who you are.
And as exhausted and disheartened and terrified as you are—there are millions upon millions who are similarly burdened.
Take a look in the mirror and remember that there, in that heart, hatred has not won.
Notice the people in your news feed who give you reason to keep going. Realize that in them, hatred has not won.
Think about the people you see being brave and selfless and compassionate, and remember that because of them, hatred has not won.
Look across the room or through the contacts on your phone or next to you at dinner, and remember that hatred has not won.
As long as the hearts of decent people are still beating, hope lives.
Put your hand on your chest right now and be reminded:
Hatred hasn’t won.
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Glad you were able to get this posted and many of us feel the same-disgusted but hopeful. I received a message from the Calif. GOP asking people to try and stop the governors attempts at trying to ignore tRumps policies (we here in Washington State are also on board this and trying to preserve as much decency and help for others as we can (and there's a lot we can do).
What I see as the main problem is tRumps constant attacks and outrageous lies have actually fostered a lot of anger at others. The louder, more forceful and often one tells lies the more people believe them and that has been and will continue to be his modus operandi. He will never take responsibility for the mess he has and will continue to create and will always blame others. The only thing we have on our side is time as we all know he is about to implode both physically and mentally. Also, we will soon become a global pariah among developed countries and will lose out greatness status. We may be alone with little outside support except from the fascist countries. Still, we have not lost all our power yet and states as mine gives more to the feds than we get back so we do have some power. Other states in our position are the same.
pedigojr
Level 7
Nov 15, 2024
4
My fear of Trump imploding is JD Vance will be equally as bad if not worse.
@HippieChick58 I can't imagine anyone worse then tRump. He could care less for anyone or the economy. He is totally insane and Vance might be like Pence at this point but when things crumble, as they will, the economy will require a supportive base outside of the gazilionairs.
@HippieChick58 What about Musk and his promotion to the Treasury, where he is going to "clean up the place". That will mean no pensions or support for the average working stif, but the billionars will become trillionairs!
@Diogenes Honestly, I am terrified. I will officially retire on Jan 1. I won't get far without Social Security and Medicare.
@HippieChick58 Excuse my very sick joke, but don't you want to see the billionairs become trillionairs?
And also, 'the greedy are the needy'.
@HippieChick58 I know both were on the chopping block of the 2025 project. However, tRump 'said he has no intention of scrapping SS. These two items will cause not only a huge rebellion but the wealthy will lose a large number of people who will buy their crap. Affordable care is another matter. Here we have a state version of this and the governor and the new governor have said they will expand it.
My biggest concern is his insane picks for important departments. This will but us in a dangerous situation.
I also saw that the Republicans are expecting the Demos to go along with their ideas. We should ask ourselves is this what they did when we had the controls!? They did everything they could to overturn even the winner of the 2020 election. I'm not even convinced the election was not without tricks. We do know his way of dealing with things.
Perhaps if we were speaking about a global phenomena but right now in our country, in my particular state, hate has won in all political arenas without leaving even one I can depend on to challenge their power ... now or in the future. And their plans are clear enough that its foolhardy not to fear them.
While I'm depending on my social networks to bolster my mood up, even there I'm feeling the impact of the haters ... for instance, I've always enjoyed having an open FB page, but now I've made it private so I'm not as vulnerable to the magats or bots that seem obsessed with verbally abusing me, and I've had to unfriend some people who are gloating Trumpers. So while I'm rallying my circle of good people around me, I'm always aware that the haters have won.
Lauren
Level 8
Nov 15, 2024
7
I'm not a FB user but do get some messages mainly from other Agnostic.com members.
Being from Texass (Dallas) the state has mostly been Republican and when I was a kid my dad lost his job with Ling-Tempco-Vought after a democrat was elected and most contracts went to Democratic states (we moved to N. California). I'm a believer that geography often shapes the society one lives in and this is evident in the vastly different geographies between Washington and Texass.
Right now, the county I am living is very democratic and we are taking steps to solidify and increase our environmental and and social rules. Still, living on a 'real' island has its challenges.
@pedigojr An island may be the safest place for you to be in the coming years, and it keeps you away from the red pockets up there.
I imagine Abbott is staying up nights devising new ways to torture us, although the major cities here are blue so I guess we'll see how well we can fight back. I am only optimistic about an hour of each day.
Yes, like a nightmare; trully unbelievable!
@Lauren Right now I want to leave. Having to do a lot of maintenance alone is getting tiresome and I hate being alone. Right now I had to deal with a water heater (looong story) which has affected me mentally and physically. There are red pockets in our corner of the country (Silverotter is in one) but we are a very blue state and all our state politicians are democrats. It has been shown we are the bluest of all the states (in my mind it's due to the natural beauty of the place). Most everywhere has its positives and negatives and, so far, the negatives are winning.
@pedigojr I'm so sorry to hear about your troubles. I've always enjoyed my visits to Washington. I have extended family around Bothell and Seattle that turned red a couple of decades ago - so much so that we pretty much distanced ourselves from them altogether. I wasn't quite sure if it was just them and their friends, or the area in general. I'm glad to hear it was them, but sorry that @Silverotter has to deal with such hardships out her way. It seems truly miserable for her. It's a shame we can't corral them all together, isn't it?
@Lauren So you've been here so understand how important nature is to a lot of us. Unfortunately, these islands, San Juan Islands, are very attractive for people to retire to and our numbers are going up along with all the problems that more people on a set footprint bring.
People often do change their political leanings and its often due to ignorance. My daughter is married to a tRumper, which I don't understand as she is absolutely on our side. However, she had a lot of troubles in her late childhood due to a bi-polar mother and alcoholic naval (literally drunken sailor) stepfather - looong story). I finally got her to get therapy which she finds she loves so maybe things will change.
For me, personally, it's about having to deal with my property. On an island one has to be more self sufficient (which I am) but sometimes things happen that proves too much (falling trees, maintenance issues and on and on). A lot of people are dealing with this, because of their age and the increasing burdens and are changing their situations. There are apts. and condos here in the town. I am the only single person and am not about to sell this property to move into the village and pay rent or fees.
I would so love to be inspired by this but IMO it isn't realistic on any level.
annewimsey500
Level 7
Nov 15, 2024
8
What actually won was stupidity and ignorance...
Lizard_of_Ahaz
Level 9
Nov 15, 2024
8
Hatred wants us to believe that it has won. This is what the Trump Team is all about. They even go so far as to say it is the left that has all the hatred. How can this be when the left wants to include everybody and the right does not? We can have meetings to address the question correctly and not let them win. We can do this.
DenoPenno
Level 9
Nov 14, 2024
6
He did win in 2016 and we all (so we thought) we had seen who he really is. When I read that many Latinos voted for him despite his inhumane assaults on immigrants and his pledge to deport as many immigrants (legal and illegal) I wonder what's going on these Latino supporters. Also, a lot of young black males felt a woman should not be a leader and also voted for the POS tRump. Maybe this time when he's even worse than before and many will find themselves in a really tough place they will wake up but it may be too late.
One big problem, I see, is that many have said if he gets elected they will emigrate elsewhere. So then we become (political) refugees and will then be a source for pain for other countries.
Yeah, I’m sure the German people would have been very comforted by this spiel when the fascists took power. Hatred and big money did win.
“John Pavlovitz is an American former youth pastor and author, known for his social and political writings from a liberal Christian perspective. “
I don’t care how “liberal” his views, he still believes in the sky fairy which automatically debunks his ideas.
Killtheskyfairy
Level 9
Nov 14, 2024
9
Thanks, HC! I hear the words and struggle to believe that we can make a difference before there's too much damage to the earth, to animals and to people.
pamagain
Level 8
Nov 14, 2024
9
That damage has been ongoing an increasing for a long time. It is said the most beneficial thing one can do for the environment is to not have kids. Good luck with that one. With his pudgy, orange finger on the button many of us may not be around to procreate. My 2nd partner was an alcoholic and was constantly worried about 'hitting bottom'. Perhaps this is where we need to go to wake up. I did get an e-mail from the Calif. GOP complaining that the governor is trying to circumvent many of tRumps future policies and the e-mail was asking me to donate. It seems the whole west coast is trying to retain as much of our true democratic system as possible,
@DenoPenno It seems a lot has been donated to both parties and most of the non-corporate funding to the Democratic funding. Thanks to SCOTUS in Citizens United the corporations got into the election game but in this election it was all about who could make the most outrageous lies often and loud enough for the illiterati to vote for a convicted felon and thereby cutting their own nose despite their stupid faces.
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