In 1953, playwright, Arthur Miller, wrote a play which he title The Crucible. It was set in Salem, Massachusetts in the late 17th century when the colony was struck with terror over witchcraft which, frankly, didn't exist. While the play was, on the surface, an historic piece, it was, in reality, a comment on the "witch hunts" of the McCarthy Era.
Like their Puritan forefathers, the House Unamerican Activities Committee brought a different type of terror in its hunt for communists around every corner. They ruined many people's lives, reputations, and careers, particularly in the entertainment industry. Innocent people would name other innocent people to placate the committee, which had far more authority than the Constitution allowed. People became paranoid and afraid of their shadows. Saddest of all was that Senator McCarthy and his cronies firmly believed they were right and were doing a service for America. It was a dark day in our nation.
We have a similar crucible occurring today. The deeply ingrained hatred of President Donald Trump by the outspoken liberal community has produced a witch hunt to remove him from office since the day he was elected. It rivals in every way the days of Senator Joseph McCarthy and Judge John Hathorne. (Hathorne was the only judge in the Salem witch trials who never repented of the role he played in the hanging deaths of 19 innocent people. He was an ancestor of American novelist Nathaniel Hawthorne, who added the w to his name to distance himself from a progenitor of whom he was ashamed and disgusted.)
We can now add new names to the witch hunter list, including Representative Nancy Pelosi (D-California) and Senator Charles Shumer (D-New York) Like Judge Hathorne and Joseph McCarthy (R-Wisconsin), these two individual pot-stirrers are responsible for creating a divisive atmosphere of hatred and even violence based on "evidence" that is as threadbare as any Hathorne or McCarthy tried to use. It is tearing this nation (and the Constitution) apart in a way not seen since the Civil War. In fact, one might say we are experiencing a true Civil War as opposed to the War Between the States in the 1860's.
I don't know what the answers are. Trying to talk reason to people who have lost all reason is futile. Like any other prejudice, such attitudes are completely irrational. If one tries to talk rationally to an irrational person, blind with hatred and false information, it will drive you crazy. The only things I can do are to:
- pray for this nation and its duly elected president
- study the issues and vote wisely
- stay away from argument on social media.
You can declare your testimony of Constitutional America when appropriate, but avoid contention. Own your opinion as your own. Walk away from arguments that cannot be won. Remember, you don't have to attend every fight to which you are invited!
Returning to the theme of the House of Israel and the fall of Judah to Babylon, God called the Prophet Ezekiel saying,
Son of man, the house of Israel is to me become dross: all they are brass, and tin, and iron, and lead, in the midst of the furnace; they are even the dross of the silver. (Ezekiel 22:18)
We, as a nation and a people, are in the crucible. If we stay close to the Lord, we can emerge as silver and not dross.
© Dr. Kathleen Danielson, November 2019
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