Eric's Sunday Sermon; Of Trump and Sanders and The Rest of Us

You say this is not a sermon. Good for you. It has a purpose. I hope it gives pause to think. Try not to argue with it but rather contemplate it. It reflects on our own self.

Truly an amazing juxta positioning. We look at Trump and Sanders. Notice I did not say Trump verses Sanders. No I am not going down that road. Let us look at what Sanders and Trump have in common. I have a wonderful 30 year old son and I credit him with teaching me much over the thirty years. He is adamant that Trump is a vehement hate monger like a Hitler and that Bernie only wants what is best for all of us except those he targets as bad. And of course those that he targets are bad in my son’s eye. My son is passionate. Need I mention he is a San Francisco Bay resident and an artist for a living. So I will constantly be thinking of him and his positions as I write this.

We as a species want so badly to say how horrible other people are. I wish it were not so because most really are not. Why must we attack a position instead of just promoting one? Our ideas should be better because they are better not because another’s is bad. Attraction to a position rather than defilement of the opposite.

I have been alive and conscious of my surrounding well into 5 decades. I am youngest of six so I was more yanked up than raised up. My opinion meant nothing in the family setting for 2 of my decades, and that carried on through custom to the rest of my decades. A fact of life of a big family. So I was raised being told what to think. And not a word what I thought. In this kind of situation you read by empathy and discernment what is expected and act accordingly. And so we look at what Bernie and Donald want and we find pretty much the same thing.

That must sound strange to politicos and hyper little followers of one or the other. “But he is a heartless capitalist” or “he is a bleeding heart liberal”. Great hyperbole and fun for the media and social media and sound bites but divisive.

We do love here and we judge only insofar as we discern not so far as to pass judgment. It is so easy to fall into the trap of I hate and make delineations and differences. But for me I look for the variety for beauty and the similarity for harmony. Wow these two are the same.

Let us break down some issues it will be fun. First let us get rid of the obvious. Both of these men are extremely well achieved and very bright. Both of these men want to be President of the United States. Both these men have a passion about what they think is right. Both these men are well educated. Both these men love family. Both these men love the United States of America. Both these men are mature over 60 years of age. Both these men have some religiosity. Both these men have wives who are not running for President of the United States and therefor take somewhat of a backseat. Both these men were born white and in the United States of America. Neither of these men know how it is to live in poverty. Neither of these men have faced a life threatening disease and survived. Neither of these men have physically fought for our nation as soldiers, sailors, marines or airmen. Neither of these men fought in Vietnam. Both profess to believe in God. Both men have a driver drive them places. Neither man rides a subway to work. Both men appear in reasonably good health. Both men are winners.

Wow I thought that would be short but all of the sudden I saw two men very much alike and a whole lot like me on a different scale. I would invite either over to a dinner and enjoy their company while I imagine they would enjoy mine. I would trust my 6 year old son to either of them. I would ask either of them advice. Holy cow. I kind of like them both. But I now have two buddies that are very much the same and yet very different. Guess what I have four children and they are very much alike and yet very different.

This feels kind of good so let us venture into something different. No not differences just some issues.

Illegal is illegal and should suffer the consequences.

Both men have told us that illegal conduct should be punished. Both men were asked if violations of the law should have legal consequences and both agreed that it should. That is cool. One was more of a civil disobedient guy and the other a corporate disobedient guy. One got “detained” and the other got bankrupted. But they both stood tall and took the consequences like a man. (they just don’t happen to be women”) Yet they both bounced back on their feet and carried onward and upward. That is awesome American. They both look at setbacks as stepping stones to better.

Children are precious.

There is no way someone can convince me that either of these men do not love children. I was waiting for some child of Trump’s to come out and say he was an abusive type dad the way rich people quabble. But none have. Bernie just kind of radiates good uncle status.

The status quo of the parties stinks.

Both these guys in their own way have fought the big political party machines. Both have eschewed money that would make them beholding to favors. That is so bitchin cool. It has not happened in my decades of life where it was espoused and then those espousing it rose in the ranks. That gets me excited about both candidates. They are not already bought by special interests. And both these guys are party outsiders and doing it with the muscle of charisma and position. Hooray for both of them!

Immigrant problem

Good for both of them. They both recognize the current system is not working and needs an overhaul.

Taxes

Both agree that taxes need to be adjusted and that the current system is lacking.

Hey whoa there do not get mad at me. I just took the time to point out the similarities. All the hate this and hate that and blame this and blame that does not corrupt the fact that both men have a vision for the country that is not totally opposed to one another.

Back to my elder son and I. The government is already socialist as it is so huge and is involved in so much of our lives. Democratic socialism is not a bad thing in and of its self as long as it demands that the democratic part takes front and center stage. Pure capitalism does not mean the ruin of the working class as long as the democratic part remains in full force and effect.

So there I am a preacher man. I cannot condemn one and vote therefor for another. I just do not get to judge in that way. Oh sure Bernie seems to preach more love, hope and communal living. And Donald seems to preach more revolution and confrontational report. I do not buy into their differences. My children are all different and I love them all differently but the same. I love America and our differences different but just the same.

Conclusion in Sermon

We do a whole lot of fighting. Most of us fight within our own minds. So we look for points of contention. We like to think the devil on our right shoulder is fighting with the angel on our left shoulder. Our worlds are built on confrontation and dispute. I am sorry to tell you that love is built on the notion of finding similarities and not differences. Sure celebrate diversity but concentrate on sameness. I am sorry to burst your political bubble but Bernie and Donald share more than they are different. If that saddens you, then look to why it does. As for me – I love them both.

This is an unpopular idea but it is worth noting. Politicians point out the differences in each other. They pay people to do that for them so you think you are getting a clear choice. But in reality we do not have that big of a choice. That does not sadden me or cause me depression that I really do not have a choice, that it is rigged. It makes me happy to know that people are really not all that different. And the vast, vast majority of us are good.