America is at a crossroads, and what happens during the next 9 months or so will determine the future of this country (and the world) for years to come. The growing divide between the haves and have-nots is wreaking havoc on the body politic; the result is seen in the large numbers of disaffected Americans who are lining up in opposing camps. On the one hand, you have individuals who want to turn the clock back to an earlier time in America. For Black people, that earlier, “greater” time was a horror. Brutal slavery and the dehumanization that came with it, enforced by the Black Codes and Jim Crow, are still being felt even to this day. In addition, the candidate representing this camp actually wants to ban all Muslims from America. He also wants to build a wall separating the United States from Mexico in order to thwart immigration. This ridiculous notion has gained so much momentum that the U.S. Border Patrol has recently endorsed him, not realizing that it foolhardy to endorse a presidential candidate based on just one issue.
And then there is the misogyny factor. When is the last time you witnessed a male presidential candidate openly denigrating women? He has even talked about how unattractive a female candidate appeared to him; he also slung mud at another candidate’s wife, and has just said some other unbelievably backward things about women.
Moreover, this candidate has demonstrated shortsighted, knee-jerk responses to important foreign policy issues. It is a scary idea to think about someone so un-presidential and petulant actually winning the election and gaining access to the nuclear button.
On the other side of America there is an opposite scenario. One candidate who, if elected, would represent a whole new approach to American politics. There is also a seasoned female politician with a proven track record; a victory for her would see America with its first female head of state. Both candidates in this camp tout inclusion as opposed to schism, and whichever one wins will have to face the “dark side;” there will be a struggle for the hearts and minds of people in a battle reminiscent of the Biblical Armageddon. According to the Bible, Armageddon is the prophesied war that pits good against evil toward the end times. It is the ultimate battle that will determine the fate of the world before Judgment Day. During this battle the “Anti-Christ” will be defeated.
Today, if we think about the term “Anti-Christ,” it literally means opposing Christ, or being against Christ. If Christ is symbolic of love, then the Anti-Christ can clearly be seen as being against love, or as being pro-hate. When looking at the candidates in the upcoming presidential election, one party stands heads and shoulders above the other when it comes to policies that promote schism, that promote hate. Of course, life is not that simple, because there are those in both political camps who are loving or who spew hatred. But it is as clear as well water that the camp with the candidate creating the greatest schism has a huge number of followers who are demonstrating mindless xenophobia; they seem to disproportionately represent the “hate” camp. The opposite political camp talks about a tolerant America, one where the playing field is leveled so that people will have a fighting chance to make a difference in their lives and in the lives of others. Both camps think that they are right because that’s the way human beings roll. But in the end, after the smoke clears and a new president of the United States is revealed, the devil will literally be in the details, and the result will depend upon whether the people who care only about themselves outnumber and out-vote people who have a broader, more inclusive viewpoint. As the words from an old Civil Rights song go—-”which side are you on, boy, which side are you on?” A luta continua.
