White male dominance in North America is nearing the end. Some of this is just demographics. By the middle of this present century white people will no longer be the numeric majority in the United States. It is also a pivotal cultural shift. Over seven decades ago I was born into a world defined largely by white men. The world in which I live now has changed.
Impending death, whether in a creature or a collective mentality, can bring dying gasps and the last spasms. Sometimes these can be violent. A being near the end of its life experiences the fight-or-flight impulse in its most raw form. When a way of life faces mortality, violence can take many forms: verbal, legal, physical, emotional, social, economic, political, etc.
A waning white male world struggles to find someone or something to fight. In the last decade, whoever “the enemy” is kind of depends on what week we’re in…immigrants, Islamic people, Iran, trans people, Antifa, “libtards”, communists (apparently somebody still has the McCarthy era playbook), “furry” airline pilots, Canada, socialism (whatever that means), a low-testosterone military, universities….It would be comical if it wasn’t so sad and dangerous.
We see the highest level of desperation to protect and preserve a worldview that increasingly is exposed as the unjust entity it is. It’s not just about making sure Cornell frat boys don’t have their promising futures ruined. It’s not just about hyper-intensive efforts to make the public forget that the Epstein files have not be fully released as mandated by Congress. It’s not just about victim-shaming to keep sexual violence sufferers silent. It’s not just about “meritocracy” which is a white-washing of entrenched systemic inequities. It’s not just about US citizens of color fearing the presence of masked troops in businesses, schools, and homes. It’s not just about “legal” methods to make sure the wealthy stay wealthy and immune to accountability. It’s not just about men treating women’s bodies like property. It’s about deeply entrenched laws, practices, mores, and theologies developed to undergird all of this.
And when the legal, practical, moral, and theological foundations shake, that’s when we find out who and what the real “god” is. People can cloak it in all the “God and country” language they want to. The real object of worship is the idol of keeping white people, especially wealthy white men in the fast lane and in control. The foundation under this idol is cracking, and no amount of spackle or tuckpointing will save it. Thus the death throes…
The ripple effects of this will come to all of us. There already here. This can cause anxiety even in those who hope for a more just and equitable world. It’s rough now, and it may get rougher. Here’s one thing that helps me: “God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea…(Psalm 46:1-2.)
God is with us. Even and especially in the midst of this.
I’ll see you around the next bend in the river.
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