election

“Being in history” is literally an impossibility, or at least an oxymoron. Ordinary humans can only really be in the present.

The whole world is now witnessing major political shifts amid continued decline of confidence in institutions, massive migrations, and widening disparities of opportunity and resource between north and south and between the privileged few and the great majority in every nation.

Let us consider the main competing narratives that are already emerging.

We say we are free, but more of us feel alone, afraid, angry, despised, and powerless.

From 1960: "When one considers the popular vote totals, the wisdom of the voters was a less important factor than the luck of the distribution of the votes in various states."

Jesus is really on nobody’s “side.”

This year’s long presidential campaign has felt considerably longer because of the many endorsements, retracted endorsements, suspended endorsements, resurrected endorsements, and counter-endorsements.

The choice of the next president must be based upon the candidate’s ability to frame new policies to fit new situations within the context of the broad generalities upon which agreement is so complete that one must listen closely to detect the differences in emphasis.

I joked with my classmates that if we really wanted to bar membership in groups that inhibit faithfulness to the gospel, we should forbid membership in the Democratic and Republican parties.