Politics – Thoughts of Rob

Active Shooter

An original poem. Bar the doorsEveryone under your desksBe stillQuiet nowQuiet Hide where? Where tanks rolland bombs falland fields burnand flies gather? Hide under desks? There’s no school leftno hospitalno homenowhere to hide where pipes run dryand shelves are bare,where bodies are maimedand children starve Don’t call it genocide,someone might notice Quiet childrenPleasePlease be quietContinue reading “Active Shooter”

The Empire Strikes Back

I started writing this in response to the news that the Republicans will have a majority in the House of Representatives. So, it’s a clean sweep: the Presidency, the House, the Senate, and of course the ongoing 6-3 revanchist majority on the Supreme Court. Come January, the Republicans will be able to start implementing theirContinue reading “The Empire Strikes Back”

When We Fight About What Jesus Would Do

I heard a sermon once a few years ago, in a United Methodist congregation that was living in a state of unacknowledged denial about the depth of division within that congregation, within the United Methodist Church, and within the United States writ large. Something about the sermon didn’t sit right with me, and in dueContinue reading “When We Fight About What Jesus Would Do”

Brief Thoughts on Gender

“Masculine” and “feminine” provide a script that says, here are the social roles you perform, here are the family roles you perform, here’s the power and respect you get (or don’t), and here’s a grab-bag of gender-linked personality/hobby/skill things you get to choose from to finish filling out your character sheet in the RPG ofContinue reading “Brief Thoughts on Gender”

Soft Tyranny

I remember when George W. Bush talked about “the soft bigotry of low expectations”. I think we should consider the applicability of a similar spirit to a new category. I think America might have a problem with soft tyranny. We don’t get dragged out of our homes in the middle of the night by theContinue reading “Soft Tyranny”

Certain Death

Between the COVID-19 pandemic and the US election, 2020 has given us a lot of food for thought. I think it has shown us the power of certainty, and maybe even moreso the power of the need for certainty, as a force in our lives. We’re not living in an era with a high toleranceContinue reading “Certain Death”