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The British writer G.K. Chesterton observed that the problem when people lose faith is not that they then believe in nothing but that they will believe in anything.
Sadly, it seems too many of our fellow citizens have lost faith in a fully participatory democratic process with equal rights for everyone. They have turned instead toward conspiracy theories, hateful disinformation, and a campaign to gain and hold power that I think profoundly violates our democratic values and practices.
Led by former President Donald Trump, too many Republicans seem committed to self-serving falsehoods — e.g. that the 2020 election was “stolen” — as well as attacks against factual
understandings in science, history, and current political issues. How can a party so deeply immersed in untruth presume to exercise national leadership except as a power grab for their own benefit?
Reasonable political discourse becomes impossible when one side advances spurious charges and calculated lies. One of Trump’s enablers, Steve Bannon, described the strategy for corrupting public understanding: “Flood the zone with [expletive].” So much for mutual respect and truthfulness.
In the face of such relentless, offensive, and undemocratic conduct it is all the more important that we keep the faith, realize the extent of the threat, protect the best of our democratic traditions, and strive to assure that every person has the right to participate fully in our shared democratic experiment.
Jim Matlack
Camden