Today was to be our first prayer vigil of the 2021 Idaho Legislative session. . . and the beginning of the 8th year of these vigils. It was a sunny, cold day. The promised rain never materialized. The noon hour came and went but we weren’t there in our usual place on the Capitol steps.
On Monday, the Idaho Legislature convened and the Governor gave his address. There were protesters, the same group that forced their way into the House chambers and broke a window during a special summer session. As usual, they were mostly unmasked and some were carrying guns. Their protest? Our Republican governor put minimal restrictions on our state to slow the coronavirus. They were in the halls and also in front of the Capitol.
A friend told me she wasn’t coming to the prayer vigil for fear of being harassed. I doubted that they would return while we were there. And then a couple other women said they were worried about safety. After the insurrection at our nation’s capitol, the FBI is warning about violence at all 50 state capitols in the days leading up to the inauguration. But Idaho? I looked online for more specific information. Finding none, I contacted someone who has connections with law enforcement at our capitol. She contacted the community safety coalition of which she is a part to ask for advice. Their response: Stay home! It is not safe to be at the capitol during the next 7 days and maybe longer. So I cancelled today’s prayer vigil and the one planned for next week.
What has our nation become? We sit at home, afraid to go out. Afraid of this virus that is ravaging our
country and the world. Afraid of the
right wing fanatics who are running around with guns screaming profanities and “Trump!” And of course they won’t wear masks. Our democracy was shaken last
week. Rioters desecrated the seat of our
government. Five people died. They threatened our leaders and some might
have been killed if they had been found.
After these insurrectionists were removed, a large number of Republicans
still raised objections during the counting of the electoral votes. These objections to a demonstrably fair
election, based solely on the lies of the President, were another attempt to
overthrow an election and our government.
Where does this lead us?
Today the U.S. House of
Representatives voted to impeach President Donald J. Trump for the second time,
a first in our history. It is uncertain
what will happen next. More information
is coming out about the insurrection each day.
Arrests are being made. We just
have to wait and see.
There are large numbers of
Americans who have been living in a fantasy of the President’s making, with the
help of his enablers. They actually
believe the election was stolen from Trump when it is he who is trying to
overthrow a legitimate election. They
will only believe him, the con artist from New York. These people apparently want an authoritarian
government.
We hope that changes will come
with a new president, but he has a huge mess to clean up. How do we unite when people are living with
different realities? There is so much
anger and hate coming from Trump voters.
How do we build trust between people?
I’m afraid it will take a long time.
Our prayer vigils will begin as
soon as it is safe. We have a lot to
pray about.
Written on 1/13/2021
No comments:
Post a Comment