“Many people–many nations–can find themselves holding, more or less wittingly, that “every stranger is an enemy.” For the most part this conviction lies deep down like some latent infection…when this does come about, when the unspoken dogma becomes the major premise…then, at the end of the chain, there is the Lager.” ~ Primo Levi
I’d just read the headlines about Trump’s rally at Madison Square Garden. I’d just unwillingly digested into my spirit the hate-speech against Puerto Ricans (and more), the uncanny resemblances to another rally there in 1930, the fear-mongering that passes for political rhetoric today. “For the most part this conviction lies deep down like some latent infection…when the unspoken dogma becomes the major premise…then, at the end of the chain, there is the Lager.” Ooph. Welcome to Monday morning, fall of 2024. [Image: Monozigote, Wikimedia Commons]
Contrary to my first association as beer, “the Lager” is shorthand for Arbeitslager, the German of which should make you nervous. Arbeit means work. Those deported and held in such places used the shorter word, Lager, as shorthand for all that dehumanizes and exacts cruelty into the world. Levi’s work noted that when the Germans finally fled, leaving the prisoners to face the Allied Forces whenever they might arrive, they began to share food with one another, to care for one another in ways very few did before the Germans left. The Lager had finally been broken. Prisoners began to be human with one another again, in the loving, humane sense of human. Who of us may find themselves in deportment camps? I found myself pondering as I listened to clips of the rally...
But more importantly: What will it take to break the Lager finding an increasing hold on hearts and minds in the American public today? I won’t and don’t demonize Donald Trump here, because he’s not actually that interesting. What is of note is how we are collectively allowing all this flame-throwing of such fear and hatred to gather as much momentum as it has. How have we collectively lived into “every stranger is an enemy”? How do we begin to alter course? Can we, regardless of our politics? [Preliminary YES: There are several organizations beginning that work, which helps: Braver Angels, Starts With Us...]
I have lived into it by avoiding walking in my own neighborhood where I see more Trump than Harris signs. I am literally, viscerally, nauseous with “too much Trumpism,” so I walk elsewhere. I don’t chastise myself too much for this because I’ve learned to honor my body’s triggers, which make me a bad conversation partner with anyone “culturally Republican” or a “low-information voter” who simply doesn’t want to be bothered with our collective life today, even though we make each other's lives possible, interdependent, needing to rely on one another. I get how folks eschew and avoid politics today, but can we at least talk about how we commit to a better, more humane collective common life? Can we begin to relearn all that we've forgotten? I honestly wonder some days, like today.
Because in my refusal, I implicitly empower precisely the opposite of what I desire for our country today: neighborhoods where human beings are there for one another, regardless of politics, seeing neighbors not as strangers who are enemies but as possible resources, companions; communities where I can speak openly and not be silenced or disdained for my woman’s body’s experience; self-reflective companions seriously interested in spiritual growth that challenges one’s assumptions instead of reifying and confirming only previous certainties of static/orthodoxies that have harmed and wounded many of us for centuries.
I have supported the political campaigns of my choice-candidates–national, statewide, local. I have attended Peacekeeper and Election Poll Monitoring trainings, so to be civic-responsible in this election season. I have even voted across my party for the candidates who have proven themselves faithful to our city, our district. I am practicing seeing every stranger as ‘divine spark’ and not ‘enemy,’ and yet I still hurt. I still fear, trying not to digest toxicities I cannot process but also trying to stay informed with information from multiple sources. I see who perhaps over half of us are willing to stomach in order to get their own economic scarcity pie or their own control of traditional-dogma or their own refusal of others unknown to them. Mostly, I feel alone. Unmoored. Incredulous but persistent too. Tenacious. Practicing hope amidst waves of hopelessness.
I want to see my neighbors as those who have my back, who will be there for me when I’m hurting, who will struggle alongside me in becoming more humane–perhaps especially to those who have lost their humanity to hatred, greed, and power. I don't want a government that promises deportation, pointing the finger at "the enemies within," refuses of democratic processes when "the other" wins. And I try to see the pain that is so deep within so many of us that a possible/near-majority is willing to unleash forces to destroy the federal government. Lord knows I'm not a big fan of organized institutions--I work in and for the church, for Pete's sake--but I also know human collectives need strong institutions to rein in our worst proclivities.
I recognize at least a bit of how hard it is. I can’t even walk in my own neighborhood to see and be seen, to even say hello. I guess that’s my first step to take, then. Today, I will go for a walk in my neighborhood, practicing seeing human beings as neighbors, as community, as those who hunger for being seen, belonging, safety. What we direct our attention to will grow. The wolf we feed will become stronger. Let me direct my attention to my neighbors, communities, strangers who could become friends, being the neighbor and companion I wish to encounter.
I wonder if I will get better at this…with practice…
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