Racism or Religion

 One of my friends is engaged in a heavy duty discussion/debate about which factors are causing the demise of democracy in America. In most cases I choose to be a fly on the wall and avoid any direct input into the discussion. But this morning we are faced with yet another grim headline in the article pasted below. This doesn’t answer the question of which; Racism, Religion or Capitalism? Personally I like capitalism as long as it’s not cruel. Capitalism has spread wealth and abundance to millions of people around the world. Obviously this is not a question of either or but how much of the combined negative effects of each. I have a personal theory I call the Barabbas Syndrome. That being, when the mob is given a choice between good and evil, they often choose evil. So it was with Jesus, Abraham, Martin and John. Kill first Honor later. And here we are today with Trump and Trumpsters. He is our American Hitler and he and his ilk are on a Mission from God to rid the world of its dark invaders. I find their holier than thou piety fascinating and frightening. Fascinating because they have defined their mission as Good and Justified at minimum. Frightening for the very same reason.

The Right Wing Violence Problem

I am not equating Trump with Hitler. In the world of evil, Hitler has no equal, but Trump does use the same playbook to gain and consolidate power. Hate and blame; gays, immigrants and liberals… Promote misinformation and outright lies while defiling our free press. Personal Intimidation and control of the courts. It was Hitler’s codification of his evil quest to rid the world of Jews that facilitated the intricate organization of the Holocaust. He recognized the deep seeded fears and herd instincts of his fellow Arians and tapped into it turning many ordinary people into heartless killing machines. 

How and why did ordinary people across Europe contribute to the persecution of their Jewish neighbors? 

Certainly Racism, especially acting out in the forms of White Supremacy and Nationalism is a major problem. The simple phrase America First sounds reasonable enough until you feel it’s arrogant sting. Religiosity, overt acting out of religious symbolism, puts its emphasis on claiming a personal Savior rather than the practice of Christian Values. I referred earlier to my current effort to role model after Jesus. To love my neighbor, turn the other cheek and not live or die by the sword. I think it is the combination of these morally corrupt renditions of quasi religion and national pride that are contributing to our demise. As far as what history will tell us, it all depends on who write it and the authors will be those who emerge victorious. Might Makes Right. Just ask our Native Americans. Eventually the arch of justice prevails with valiant efforts to tell a more accurate truth but as we see now, it is quickly labeled (Woke), vilified (Fake News) suppressed and replaced with a more self gratifying story cultivated by the ruling class. Will murder, as perpetrated by Putin in Ukraine, ultimately be exonerated as national unification? We celebrate Sherman’s March to the sea as the determining victory in our own Civil War. Will murder, as perpetrated by this crazed gunman below be exonerated or excused as the wanton act of a loner or the spirited act of  a movement pioneer?

Is it possible that a violent wacko plainly guilty of mass murder could somehow be hailed as a brave defender of the Constitution and second amendment? Read this article posted on Sunday May 15, 2022 again in 5 or 10 years and see how it compare to future current headlines.

10 people are killed and 3 are wounded in a mass shooting at a Buffalo grocery store.

BUFFALO — A teenage gunman entranced by a white supremacist ideology known as replacement theory opened fire at a supermarket in Buffalo on Saturday, methodically shooting and killing 10 people and injuring three more, almost all of them Black, in one of the deadliest racist massacres in recent American history.

The authorities identified the gunman as 18-year-old Payton S. Gendron of Conklin, a small town in New York’s rural Southern Tier. Mr. Gendron drove more than 200 miles to mount his attack, which he also livestreamed, the police said, a chilling video feed that appeared designed to promote his sinister agenda.

Shortly after Mr. Gendron was captured, a manifesto believed to have been posted online by the gunman emerged, riddled with racist, anti-immigrant views that claimed white Americans were at risk of being replaced by people of color. In the video that appeared to have been captured by the camera affixed to his helmet, an anti-Black racial slur can be seen on the barrel of his weapon.

The attack, at a Tops Friendly Market in a largely Black neighborhood in east Buffalo, conjured grim comparisons to a series of other massacres motivated by racism, including the killing of nine Black parishioners at a church in Charleston, S.C., in 2015; an antisemitic rampage in a Pittsburgh synagogue in 2018 that left 11 people dead; and an attack at a Walmart in El Paso in 2019, where the man charged had expressed hatred of Latinos. More than 20 people died there.

In the Buffalo grocery store, where four employees were shot, the savagery and planning were evident: Mr. Gendron was armed with an assault weapon and wore body armor, the police said. And his preferred victims seemed clear as well: All told, 11 of the people shot were Black and two were white, the authorities said.

“It was a straight up racially motivated hate crime,” John Garcia, the Erie County sheriff, said.