The drama that ensued when I posted photos from the recent Women’s March to my social media wall was more than I was prepared for. An effort to connect with a historic moment and share some glimpses of democracy in action instead provoked hostility on the part of a few acquaintances who did not appreciate the event or its significance. Aggressive expressions of opposition continued for several days and took a turn for the personal, leaving me paranoid, hurt, sleep-deprived, and defensive, as well as several friends poorer once all the dust had settled.
If I ever believed in the worth of pursuing common ground with fundamentalist Christians or fervent supporters of the current administration, I have come to know without a doubt that those attempts are futile. The hard right exists in a bubble of its own design, a realm of delusion in which the inhabitants believe they are the chosen and all others be damned. There is no wiggle room in the manifesto, no measure of doubt or compromise or alternate perspective. The doctrine forbids deviation, even in the face of blatant lies.
If the Christian Nationalists have their way, the progressives will die in the Lake of Fire and the Christian soldiers take back their U.S.A. The new government calls this “deconstructing the administrative state,” while the skeptics and resisters call it terrifying, fearing the end of liberal democracy or the very planet itself. The stakes are high; the stakes are all. Will We the People emerge victorious from the war ahead? Will we survive the billionaire’s war, the unholy war? All reserves are necessary, I cannot waste my heart on fruitless arguments with unreasonable people who don’t have my survival in mind. They would eradicate me and my kind. With this in mind, I block, I unfriend, I lock down. I delete. But because I keep this voice intact, I am not shut down. I persist. On goes the march.
Photo: Official program – Woman suffrage procession, Washington, D.C. March 3, 1913. Cover of program for the National American Women’s Suffrage Association procession, showing woman, in elaborate attire, with cape, blowing long horn, from which is draped a “votes for women” banner, on decorated horse, with U.S. Capitol in background.