It was 8am in the West Bank of Palestine, but it was 11pm in Arizona on the night of the elections and I NEEDED to find out what was happening in the United States. It was a very surreal experience because just a few days before, Israel had their 5th election in 4 years (and still got 71% turnout of their eligible voters) and the results took a pretty extreme turn to the right and radical nationalism; I was very worried we would see the same. While you all were sleeping, I was keeping watch over the results coming in and announcing the updates to anyone who would listen to me. Luckily the tour bus had Wi-Fi.
It says something that many of us are relieved that it wasn’t as bad as it could have been. And I am proud to be from the two most repeated words of the last week: “Maricopa County.” I am so proud of all of our UUCP folks who worked on #UUtheVote initiatives to make a difference in this election–well done!
Our citizens made a statement about conspiracy theories, hate speech, anti-LGBTQ and immigrant policies and extremism. But clearly, we are still a very divided country with millions of people who believe these extreme positions are desirable.
This Sunday I am preaching about Christian Nationalism, something that I’ve been curious about and exploring for quite a while as it has grown as part of our cultural and political narrative. It is important that we are aware of it and how we as Unitarian Universalists can offer a double antidote–to religious pluralism and progressive resistance. I hope to see you there.