Growing up in Northern Virginia, you lived within the shadow of Washington, DC. So many of my friends had parents who worked in the city, in government, military – somehow connected to the running of our country. Our field trips weren’t like other cities where you went to the zoo or the fire station – we went to the White House, the Capitol, the Library of Congress.
I remember one such field trip in 3rd grade to the Capitol.- we were walking through the corridors when suddenly our teacher shushed us and directed us to stand back against the wall in a single line, quiet – giving room for someone to walk by. That someone was Lady Bird Johnson and her entourage, a pill-box hat upon her perfectly coiffed hair. I remember being in awe. At 9 years old, I innately understood that I was in the presence of someone special. Lady Bird Johnson was known for her graciousness, dignity, and charm and we saw it that day. At the time I was not aware that she was also a political force who advocated for environmental protection, women’s rights, and the poor – something we are in critical need of today.
The “someones special” in Washington seem few and far between in our current reality. The shadow of Washington, DC is a different one than I lived in. Rather now, it is a darkness looming and seeping into the crevices and bowels of our inner workings. It’s not even hiding – its darkness visible, crippling, and crumbling pillars of good, foundations of ethics, obliterating entire divisions with no regard for the damage in its wake.
What I grapple with most is this is being done under the guise of light, of faith, of religion – and yet it is insidious and evil. They have conflated God and government, love of country over love of our neighbor. Christian Nationalism has gripped many in our country in its grasp and has hoodwinked them into believing what they stand for is necessary, good, and what God would want. In their wake, they are betraying the principles of morality, ethics, compassion, and love. In their wake, they are othering entire populations of people, people their God commands them to love, to welcome.