An Obadiah Slope column
Democracy lives: As I Left the school this week after a volunteer Scripture teaching lesson (SRE in NSW, RI in Qld), I realised that an election was afoot for the school SRC with an impressive array of posters. Obadiah has blurred the candidates’ faces. When young Mr Slope was in primary school, he hand-drew all the copies of his how-to-vote cards. This new generation is so much more sophisticated.
Bifurcation: Obadiah used this word to describe how the internet seemed to be after that other election. Christians, it seemed, had neatly separated themselves into two camps: those on the right rejoicing and those on the left mourning. Both groups are entitled to their political views, but what disturbed Obadiah in particular was that the two groups seemed sealed off from each other.
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Not listening: the Democrats have nothing to learn from the Trump victory, according to some lefties. Here’s how one of them responded in the SMH comments section: “Instead of blaming the Democrats constantly can we just call it for what it is? Pure ignorance voted for Trump. It’s not the democrats’ fault the electorate are uneducated.”
This comment was in response to Maureen Dowd’s piece, reprinted from The New York Times, which suggested that political correctness, which James Carville called “identitarianism” in the column, cost the Democrats votes.
Dowd pointed to the work of another newspaper: “A revealing chart that ran in The Financial Times showed that white progressives hold views far to the left of the minorities they champion. White progressives think at higher rates than Hispanic and Black Americans that ‘racism is built into our society.’ Many more Black and Hispanic Americans surveyed, compared with white progressives, responded that “America is the greatest country in the world.”
Dowd reported, “Gobsmacked Democrats have reacted to the wipeout in different ways. Some think Kamala did not court the left enough, touting trans rights and repudiating Israel.” which takes us back to the SMH commenter.
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The dots are not for joining: This has been a week of anniversaries as well as the big event of the Trump Victory.
The Berlin Wall came down on November 9, which was also the anniversary of Kristallnacht, marked inappropriately by Arab Netherlanders chasing and attacking Jewish football fans in Amsterdam. November 11 is armistice day when the meat grinder of the War that was alleged to be the war to end all wars ended.
How do you measure them against the Trump win on November 6?
Answer: You. Can. Not.
Obadiah thinks each year on armistice day of those like his Uncle Wallace, who served in WWI, then endured the Great Depression (rescued from tramping country SA selling goods he made himself), and then WWII and life as a soldier settler on parched ground. His family in England has sent him the money to return in the 1030s. The family story is told that my parents put off their wedding for two years to pay for it.
That man lived a chunk of history, but at least he lived it rather than being crushed by it.
Some rejoice at Trump’s victory, but others shudder at what it will bring. At this time, let us honour the great generation who were the parents of those of Obadiah’s age. They endured so much. If the tragic view of Trump is right, our children will require their resilience.
[UPDATE – a reader suggests a fuller description would be better. Here’s a BBC report: “Maccabi Tel Aviv fans had arrived in the city for a Europa League match against Ajax and footage was widely shared the night before showing a group of fans climbing up a wall to tear down and burn a Palestinian flag.
“An Amsterdam council report said taxis were also attacked and vandalised.
“Emine Uğur, a well-known columnist in the Muslim community, says underlying tensions surrounding the war in Gaza meant that the ensuing violence was “a long time coming”.
“She speaks of a lack of acknowledgement of the pain felt by communities affected by a conflict that had left many without an outlet for their grief and frustration.
“The flag-burning incident as well as anti-Arab chants were seen as a deliberate provocation.
“But then messages calling for retaliation appeared on social media, some using chilling terms such as ‘Jew hunt’.
“On the evening of the match, a pro-Palestinian protest was moved away from the Johan Cruyff arena, but it was in the hours afterwards that the violence erupted.
“The 12-page report by Amsterdam’s authorities describes some Maccabi supporters “committing acts of vandalism” in the centre.
“Then it highlights ‘small groups of rioters… engaged in violent hit-and-run actions targeting Israeli supporters and nightlife crowd” in locations across the city centre. They moved “on foot, by scooter, or car… committing severe assaults’.”
Should we have called the protestors Muslims or Arabs? Obadiah is not sure – both descriptions have been objected to. Perhaps the most neutral term is “pro-Palestinian”]