A friend sent me the short article excerpted below, which is drawn from a website called Patheos (http://www.patheos.com). Patheos is described in Wikipedia as "a non-denominational, non-partisan online media company providing information and commentary from various religious and nonreligious perspectives,....the largest English language religion and spiritual site in the world." This brief commentary offers a useful reply to a question I am often asked: What can ordinary folks like us do in response to the manifold catastrophe of Donald Trump's presidency?
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Given what we know of Trump and his administration, I believe that we must start seeing resistance as a spiritual practice. It must be a daily practice. It is our spiritual responsibility to stay informed. It is our faithful duty to stay vigilant. It is our moral obligation to make our voices heard and to share with those most in need the access that our places of privilege offers. We must stand up not only for our own rights and interest but for the rights and interests of others. We must promote equality, justice, and love in our every action, but not fall victim to the false perspective that to do so means we do so timidly and with trepidation.
Resistance must become our spiritual practice.
- Contact your representatives on a daily basis. Let them know your position on current issues and encourage them to support their constituents rather than Big Business and Big Oil.
- Speak out public on issues on injustice. Blog, write lop-eds for local papers, or make social media posts promoting better ways forward and encouraging others to join in making resistance a daily practice.
- Volunteer locally and particularly at agencies that may have their funding cut under the new administration.
- Do not become complacent in the face of “alternative facts.” Confront them actively.
- Share resources like countable.us and indivisi
bleguide.com widely. - Be aware of where you get your news. Focus on reputable news sources.
- As much as possible avoid the lazy approach of littering the presentation of your position with name calling. In doing so you are only appealing to to those who already agree with you and distancing those who might have been convinced otherwise.
- Contribute to organizations and even individuals who are working to aid the resistance , as well as organizations like PBS and NPR who may be losing their funding.
- Attend every march and demonstration you can.
- Promote and lift up those who are putting themselves, their careers, and quite possibly their personal welfare on the line for the sake of stopping draconian legislature and executive orders.
- Share articles (like this one), meme’s, relevant quotes, and other social media content that moves the conversation forward as widely and as frequently as you can.
Resistance must become our spiritual practice. Repeat that to yourself. On a daily basis.
Resistance must become our spiritual practice.
Resistance must become our spiritual practice.
Now go and do likewise.