Why should I fear when evil days come?

Why should I fear when evil days come,
    when wicked deceivers surround me ...
    those who trust in their wealth
    and boast of their great riches?

No one can redeem the life of another
    or give to God a ransom for them ...
    the ransom for a life is costly,
    no payment is ever enough ...
    so that they should live on forever
    and not see decay.

For all can see that the wise die,
    that the foolish and the senseless also perish,
    leaving their wealth to others.

Their tombs will remain their houses forever,
    their dwellings for endless generations,
    though they had named lands after themselves.

People, despite their wealth, do not endure;
    they are like the beasts that perish.

This is the fate of those who trust in themselves,
    and of their followers, who approve their sayings.

They are like sheep and are destined to die;
    death will be their shepherd
    (but the upright will prevail over them in the morning).

Their forms will decay in the grave,
    far from their princely mansions.

But God will redeem me from the realm of the dead;
    he will surely take me to himself.

Do not be overawed when others grow rich,
    when the splendor of their houses increases;
    for they will take nothing with them when they die,
    their splendor will not descend with them.

Though while they live they count themselves blessed ...
    and people praise you when you prosper ...
    they will join those who have gone before them,
    who will never again see the light of life.

People who have wealth but lack understanding
    are like the beasts that perish.

... the Land of the Free 2023

America, the land of opportunity; a noble nation setting the example of true freedom, God’s gift to the world ...

... or so many have said.  People in the United States now find themselves in a struggle, a scourge of irrationality, manufactured deceptions, and a contempt for truth that has been decades in the making. It follows the decline of an involved citizenry and an increasing distrust of government. We’ve watched as ideological extremes have brought hostility and division and a plague of disinformation. 

White nationalism has returned along with fear mongering, unchecked bigotry, and an emboldened culture war that violently looms over us. Our collapse into irrationality shocked the world, and it still watches, wondering what effect it might bring. Our mocked democracy weakened as our leadership moved on to language empty of any meaning. Our historical memory of governance, of ethics, of justice and responsibility, all discarded. With little opposition, power players took on the workings of a dis-information machine characterized by a disregard for the truth, often accompanied by primitive taunts and threats from the highest office. 

What we are witnessing is not simply a political project. Objective truth is viewed by many as a liability, and ignorance as a virtue. Common sense education is similarly regarded with disdain. Words are reduced to noise. Traces of critical thought persist only at the margins of the culture as anger becomes the primary organizing principle of American society. Moral values have been replaced by simple competition, division, and personal interests. 

We watched as false accusations were made by those knowing that the public would easily be seduced by emotional exhortation and sensationalism, all of which mimics the celebrity culture and reality television.  

State and federal courts dismissed as unproven more than 50 lawsuits of alleged electoral fraud presented by the president and his allies.  There was no evidence.  U.S. election security officials (representing the investigative work of thousands) have said the election was “the most secure in American history”, yet with our ever-increasing flood of information and our over-stimulated lives, it appears we no longer have the time to mature into informed thought. Half of us chose to accept the false claims while ignoring the reasoned analysis and evidence. 

Change continues. It has a price. Truth and objectivity are gone from public discourse. Quite simply, the US is a house divided and partisan disagreements run deeper than ever measured. At the personal level as well, we are unreasonably divided … willing to abandon decades of relationship.  Even the church finds itself wounded, broken ....

Can we live in this world without being shaped by it?  Must we allow ourselves to be dragged down in the quagmire?  How might we choose a higher standard than this which we've seen?  What specifically is the right goal?

Furious Freedom