By Pastor Rasheed Z Baaith
(“Blessed is the man who remains steadfast…God will honor him…) James 1:12
There are some serious possibilities that may happen as a result of this election. One is the possibility of Trump losing but refusing to leave the Oval Office. There is the possibility of Trump supporters demanding a recount, taking their refusal to accept his defeat as being legitimate to the Supreme Court. An even more dangerous possibility is extremists on the left and/or the right instigating violence in the streets of America. And of course there is the possibility of Biden losing.
And what if the United States Supreme Court, now heavily stacked in favor of Conservative causes, agrees with Trump and nullifies the election results if Trump has lost? What do we do then? How do we and should we react?
First of all we need to remember what Winston Churchill said and what he said was ”Fear is a reaction, courage is a decision.” We have to refuse dread or fear if things go unexpectedly bad. As a people we will then have to decide on a new strategy. Disappointment is acceptable but surrender is not.
While we may be put in a situation we will not like, it is not new to us. I cannot remember a time when we were not in a struggle or a time when American institutions, in particular courts, did not do all they could to alter change, stop social momentum and legalize injustice.
Those efforts slowed us but they never stopped us. Neither will anything Trump nor his minions do hoping to de-legitimize the results of this election. It’s not that I believe Trump will win the election. He won’t. It’s that I believe he will refuse to leave office.
I think he will attempt to tie the election results up in court for as long as he can. And we have to decide our response to that madness. Demonstrations are warranted but we’ll need more. We have to execute demonstrations for a number of reasons. One is our young people will certainly mobilize to do so and two it will not be a time to be quiet. It will not be a time for ease and comfort; it will be a time for daring and enduring to paraphrase Churchill.
Our response if this happens cannot be emotional or poorly thought out because the time will be revolutionary in more ways that we can imagine. It will be a time for deep, original thinking. That’s something not many of us want to participate in.
Martin said it best, “Rarely do we find ones who willingly engage in serious thinking. There is almost a universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”
If things go wrong, we will need the powerful thinking we can do. Plus some.
