We stopped at our favorite local orchard to get some apples and Asian pears and ended up lingering because the owners insisted on talking politics. It didn’t take long to figure out where these folks are at, so, personally, I wasn’t that interested in hanging around and engaging in a back and forth.
But we ended up exchanging thoughts for ten or fifteen minutes, not accomplishing much but at least walking away still on good terms, I think. They now have a pretty good sense for where we’re at, and we now know the same about them.
What sticks with me is the fear of what the election outcome may mean for the country. These folks see it in terms of Armageddon if Kamala Harris prevails. I guess I‘m not as convinced things will take such a ghastly turn if that’s the outcome. If Trump prevails, they’d likely breathe a sigh of relief, but also acknowledge that more than half the country will be upset, just for different reasons.
Later in the day, I happened to watch a podcast involving John Oliver and some NY Times staffer in which Oliver echoed a prevalent feeling—a disappointment and puzzlement over how things can still be so close. Yesterday at the orchard we got insights into how this is possible: they obviously get their news from Fox or one of the other right wing networks, and they see things through the lens of a certain biblical inerrancy, along with prophecy and Old Testament “wisdom.”
It makes me wonder how things would be different if we could take Scripture out of the equation.
It also makes me crazy to think that Donald Trump is viewed by many as some sort of savior. He deserves no such standing. The orchard owners are smart, savvy, kind, and thoughtful people, but they have a massive blind spot, in my estimation. They’re most likely going to vote for Donald Trump because they see some sort of positive connection between him and the Bible, or they’re just die-hard Republicans.
They’re going to, perhaps reluctantly, vote for the guy who uses people and doesn’t really want the job. For the guy who’s so far gone that he’s buying his own delusions of competence and intelligence and “protecting women” and a biblical mandate and all the rest of the insane proclamations he’s been making for nine years.
So, I guess our encounter at the orchard turned out to be something of a revelation, or at least a confirmation.
3 Cents' 