The only thing I will say about this election is that we Americans may need to remember the lesson taught to King Croesus as written by the ancient Greek author Herodotus:
“None may escape his destined lot, not even a god. Croesus hath paid for the sin of his ancestor of the fifth generation: who, being of the guard of the Heraclidae, was led by the guile of a woman to slay his master, and took to himself the royal state of that master, whereto he had no right. And it was the desire of Loxias that the evil hap of Sardis should fall in the lifetime of Croesus’ sons, not his own, but he could not turn the Fates from their purpose; yet did he accomplish his will and favour Croesus in so far as they would yield to him: for he delayed the taking of Sardis for three years, and this let Croesus know, that though he be now taken it is by so many years later than the destined hour. And further, Loxias saved Croesus from the burning. But as to the oracle that was given him, Croesus doth not right to complain concerning it. For Loxias declared to him that if he should lead an army against the Persians he would destroy a great empire. Therefore it behoved him, if he would take right counsel, to send and ask whether the god spoke of Croesus’ or of Cyrus’ empire. But he understood not that which was spoken, nor made further inquiry: wherefore now let him blame himself. Nay, when he asked that last question of the oracle and Loxias gave him that answer concerning the mule, even that Croesus understood not. For that mule was in truth Cyrus; who was the son of two persons not of the same nation, of whom the mother was the nobler and the father of lesser estate; for she was a Median, daughter of Astyages king of the Medians: but he was a Persian and under the rule of the Medians, and was wedded, albeit in all regards lower than she, to one that should be his sovereign lady.” Such was the answer of the priestess to the Lydians; they carried it to Sardis and told it to Croesus; and when he heard it, he confessed that the sin was not the god’s, but his own. And this is the story of Croesus’ rule, and of the first overthrow of Ionia.
The Persian Wars, Book 1 - Herodotus
The lesson? Looking past the obscure names and archaic language the point King Croesus learned was that the fate of his kingdom was decided long before he was born as punishment for the crimes of his ancestor. There was little to nothing that could have been done to change his fate, or the fate of his kingdom - the sins and crimes of his ancestors needed to be answered.
A similar lesson is taught in the Christian Bible through the fall of the Kingdom of Judah in punishment for the sins of King Manasseh, son of Hezekiah.
1. In his days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up, and Jehoiakim became his servant three years: then he turned and rebelled against him.
2. And the Lord sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it, according to the word of the Lord, which he spake by his servants the prophets.
3. Surely at the commandment of the Lord came this upon Judah, to remove them out of his sight, for the sins of Manasseh, according to all that he did;
4. And also for the innocent blood that he shed: for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; which the Lord would not pardon.
2 Kings 24:1-4
4. And I will cause them to be removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manasseh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he did in Jerusalem.
Jeremiah 15:4
In the Bible, King Manasseh performed sins and crimes so heinous that his own repentance, and the repentance of many of his people, was not enough to persuade God to spare Jerusalem the punishment for those crimes. Even though those punishments came some generations later, they still came, severely - according to the Biblical tradition.
At some point we have to ask ourselves if our nation, America, has performed sins and crimes so great that no amount of effort to redeem our great nation will ever be enough to save her from her fate, a fate shared with Sardis and Jerusalem - a fate likely sealed long before many of us were ever born.
I don't want anyone to attack or be attacked, I just don't have hope that our nation can survive the weight of its own history - a nation that has happily elected a monster to the Presidency and again happily chooses corrupt and vile persons to enable that monster in every stage of government in every new election. As a nation rooted in oppression, slavery, theft, genocide, and war - our ancestors may have made the bed of doom that is our fate - but we are the generation cheerfully laying in that bed, rejoicing in our ancestors' sins as we lead ourselves into karma's inescapable grasp.
Sure, some good souls try to resist, attempting to revive America as a moral, upright, and just society, but all our efforts seem to fall on deaf ears and uninterested minds. The Midterm Elections of 2018 cement the idea that Americans enjoy the corruption and evil that Trump brings with him - if that's true, then the words of King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon ring true as well:
27. And if the time comes that the voice of the people doth choose iniquity, then is the time that the judgments of God will come upon you; yea, then is the time he will visit you with great destruction even as he has hitherto visited this land.
Mosiah 29:27
To be clear, I am not advocating any action against the Trumps, the United States, or anyone else. In fact, the opposite - if our nation's soul truly cannot be redeemed, Trump himself will lead America to ruin, spiraling in self-destruction and corruption; while nothing or no one can stop it - the consequences will sort themselves out, without any intervention from those wrongly convinced of their own righteousness. Frankly, if you think you're righteous or good enough to punish others on God's behalf - you're simply not righteous or good at all, so don't do it.
America was the world's Great Experiment; an experiment in self determination by popular vote, a test of the morality of human-kind - if she has indeed failed beyond redemption I pray the world will rebuild her better, an America that truly welcomes the poor huddled masses of every sort and strives to ensure true equality among all who live. Until then, the righteous may be forced to wait in the shadows for a darker fate.
The road to hell is paved with the best of intentions.
Happy Midterms.
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