To tell you the truth, I'm a bit embarrassed to wear my campaign tee shirt for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz.
I'm not embarrassed about my support for these candidates for the USA's highest offices, and my intention to vote for them on (or, rather, before) election day, November 5. Choosing them has been part of my observance of "sober hope," as I'm about to explain.
Instead, I cannot help being sad that, among their campaign's several tag lines ("We're not going back," "we're turning the page") is this stark set of three words: TRUTH HOPE DECENCY.
That last word refers to the direct contrast between their candidacy and that of their principal opponent. Over the years, I've said enough about him in this blog (for example, last week) and I don't plan to say any more today. If I can't convince my own beloved relative, quoted last week, to change her mind, then I doubt very much that this modest blog post will change any other minds. But it's a sad commentary that a low-bar word such as "decency" even needs to appear in a presidential campaign tagline.
So this week I'm simply going to explain my endorsement of Harris and Walz as an expression of sober hope. There's more to it than simply opposing the alternative.
- Yes, both Harris and Walz seem "decent." They're not perfect, but they're also not likely to embarrass themselves or their country with blatant corruption or petty cruelty.
- I have enjoyed watching the enthusiastic crowds drawn by Harris and Walz in their campaign stops. But star quality, which both Harris and Walz seem to have (based on their own personalities and merits as well as a contrast with hardworking but uncharismatic Joe Biden), is not enough to earn our votes. And the other team is also capable of bringing out crowds of cheering people. However, I will not discount the evidence that millions of donors and potential voters seem to have shaken off their political passivity and found hope in the Harris/Walz message.
- I would not expect instant miracles from a Democratic victory. It's true that both Harris and Walz have executive and legislative experience, and have been able to attract good teams to help run their organizations and implement their programs. As I've said before, if the winners of an election were merely five or ten percent more competent than the losers would have been, that could still save or improve the lives of many thousands of people worldwide. And this year, the competence gap seems very large.
- I expect that the priorities of Harris and Walz, who are both Christians, would align as much with the values of capitalism and USA-style imperialism as they would with the Gospel. Regardless of her private beliefs, Kamala Harris would have little room to maneuver with respect to Israel and Palestine, for example. (Oh, I hope I'm wrong!) The Pentagon will still account for nearly half the military expenditures of the whole planet. And even where Harris's heart is in the right place, our dysfunctional Congress and our compromised Supreme Court may frustrate some or all of her best plans.
Making a choice among imperfect candidates in a presidential election is not placing U.S. citizenship above the claims of Christian discipleship. Making the best selection I can is an attempt at faithful stewardship and care for neighbors, in hope but not illusion.
If you are a voter in the USA, and are undecided about this year's presidential race, I hope you will prayerfully consider voting for the Democratic candidates, even if you then spend four years protesting their inadequacies. Given the level of polarization and mistrust in our country, they would need our prayers as well as our protests, our support as well as our vigilance. No outcome of this year's election would guarantee national healing, but a public commitment to TRUTH HOPE DECENCY would be a good place to start.
More thoughts on keeping hope sober.
Why Billy Graham's granddaughter Jerushah Duford is voting for Kamala Harris.
My copy of Alexei Navalny's autobiography Patriot just arrived. Here's talk-show host Stephen Colbert interviewing Yulia Navalnaya on her late husband and his book. I plan to post a review of Patriot as well as Sarah Rainsford's Goodbye to Russia in the next few weeks.
Cheyenne McNeill in The Guardian writes about American evangelicals deconstructing their religion. You probably already know most or all of what the author covers, but I rarely see a treatment as thoughtful as this in a secular newspaper.
Raúl E. Zegarra remembers his friend Gustavo Gutiérrez.
"The City Gent" writes about the place where we go to meeting when we're in London, and the immediate neighborhood. And a few weeks earlier, he wrote about the nearby Bunhill Fields Burial Ground, which we pass through on our way to meeting.
If you'd like a guide to London's Quaker historical sites, this map on the Bunhill Fields Friends' Web site may serve well.
Here's a repeat announcement: In November, Friends Peace Teams are celebrating their 30th anniversary with an online Global Gathering 2024 with a staggered schedule to accommodate diverse time zones. Theme of the gathering: "Justice and peace are possible! What sustains our faith in justice and peace in the face of violence and war?"
Imelda May, "When It's My Time."
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