United We Stand, Divided We Fall
OP-ED BY DR. ROBERT KENNEDY Today, we are facing what is being characterized as one of the most significant divides ever seen in the United States of America. Some historians say it seems to parallel events just before the Civil War with the great debates over the Confederacy or the Union. Some who experienced the 1960s say, it parallels the marches as the Civil Rights Movement sought the freedom of Black Americans.
Others say that it is now worse because the President and some on the so-called “radical” right and “radical” left are stoking the fires of division by their words and actions. Such attitudes can potentially break out into violence that is so tragic and challenging to control that America might become a police or militarized country.
The use of the Insurrectionist Act might seem a far cry, but what is seen in dreams can become a reality. To remind anyone who might not know:
· The Insurrection Act was passed by Congress in 1807, empowering the President of the United States to deploy U. S. military and federalized National Guard troops within the United States in particular circumstances, such as to suppress civil disorder, insurrection, and rebellion.
· The Act provides a “statutory exception” to the Posse Comitatus Act of 1878, limiting the use of military personnel under federal command for law enforcement purposes within the United States.
· Before invoking the powers under the Act, 10 U.S. C & 254 requires the President first to publish a proclamation ordering the insurgents to disperse.
This is why the attorney general went out to order the police and the national guard members, on the night of the protest, to remove the protesters using tear gas, pepper spray, and rubber bullets, before the president could go out for that photo op with a Bible. And although the attorney general and the president have received some criticism since, no one has attempted to impeach them. In reality, subtly, America is teetering on the brink of a dictatorship with divisions so deep that it will take a divine hand such as it came to the hands of the Union Army in Atlanta in August 1864. The Confederate Army, then, had all the advantage, but as some religious historians have noted, it was not so much the genius of Tecumseh Sherman that caused the Northern army to gain the victory, “It was the hand of God.”
Here is what I believe. Once again, in this nation, we need God’s hand to deal with the political, economic, relational, and cultural divisions that we are now experiencing. While the president and many of our politicians are un-doubtly using the divisions for their political advantage, we are conscious that if we get caught up in such divisions, we will not survive for long. If you are one who seems to be denying the realities or pretending ignorance, I beg that you admit or see the realities as to what is happening about us. Please open your eyes because there is no way that we will be able to live in this division.
Do I need to make you aware that demons live in division? Or let me say it more religiously, “The devil loves division.” According to the Biblical record, there was “war in heaven.”
I do not have space to repeat the details here, but here is how it is introduced in Revelation 12:7-9: And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels and prevailed not; neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceives the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him (KJV).
Read the full story in Revelation and the rest of the Bible and convince yourself or ask God to convince you that this is real history. This mess of disunity in the United States of America and around the world did not start yesterday. It has been around for a long time, and the devil and his angels are using it to destroy all of us.
But the point I have been making from the initial point of our reflection is that we are not going to survive this way. We cannot live in chaos. This is why God created the cosmos. (Genesis 1:1). Our world has been messed up by the forces of demons (Genesis 3).
This is what biblical history states. Whether you accept the biblical history, it does not matter. Whether you blame the devil or some oppressive political leader or some narcissistic persons for all the disunity we are facing now, might be a fact of interest. The reality is that we are in a mess. And we cannot survive.
Jesus was quite clear on this, and that is why he prayed so hard in his garden prayer that his disciples would be united (cf. John 17). Among the Beatitudes he said, “Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (cf. Matthew 5:9, cf. John 14:27).
Yes, Jesus knew that for our world to survive, we have to build unity, for without unity, there is no possibility for our survival. Before I conclude the reflection, might I appeal to your hearts by listing a few suggestions so we can help build this unity that we now seek?
1. We need to ask God to help us take away the high walls of prejudice in our hearts.
2. Admit the reality that as religious as some of us are, we might share the structural racism that is being spoken of. If it is impacting us at all, let us ask God to help us discern it and get rid of it.
3. Stop the “name-calling,” the “labeling.” This is what we hear from some of our politicians, “The Radical Left,” “The Marxists,” and the rest of prejudicial terms we use that might help us win an argument but will not build the unity or Union we seek.
4. Stop projecting on others who we are.
5. Learn the power of forgiveness. Yes, we have been wronged, but we “Make a mountain out of a molehill too often.”
6. Learn to respect one another. We are God’s children together, regardless of our color.
7. Let to pray for God to bind us together.
“We are stronger together,” is not a phrase that we hang as a sign in our offices or our homes.” It is a practice we should adopt. As a minister who has gone to many homes to help partners reunite, I am always amazed to see the plaques they have in their homes speaking of the ideal of unity that they have for the family, and yet they are “fighting like dogs” as has been said.
Unity is built on humility. Let us ask God for some of this humility at this time.
