Red and Blue and Purple Too (take 3)

Howard Thurman writes about two alternatives faced by the Jewish minority of which Jesus was a part - to resist or not to resist. He then writes of secondary alternatives to these two. #1. Imitation - which can fall under the general plan of nonresistance. He notes that Herod was an excellent example of this solution. #2. Another form of a nonresistance pattern is to reduce contact with the enemy - keeping one's resentment under rigid control and censorship. He notes that all imperialism functions in this way. Subject peoples are held under control by this device. #3. Resistance - to which he notes that even nonresistance is a form of resistance. He then really focuses on the Zealots as an example of this - a form of fanaticism. Then, Thurman notes another way. #4. The Kingdom of Heaven is in us - as the alternative Jesus brings. He quotes Vladimir Simlhovitch to flesh out this point. Jesus had to resent deeply the loss of Jewish national independence and the aggression of Rome...natural humiliation was hurting and burning. The balm for that buring humiliation was humility. For humility cannot be humiliated. ...Thus he asked his people to learn from him, "For I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."

What I like about Thurman is he keeps moving with his images. For example, if #4 was to be all that which was said, it would be - in my words - religious bullshit. It could be the opiate - the doormat ready to be stepped upon. But, No! In fact, he recognized that such language and imagery became that used by the powerful and the dominant as an instrument of oppression. He goes on to write: Wherever his (Jesus') spirit appears, the oppressed gather fresh courage; for he announced the good news that fear, hypocrisy and hatred, the three hounds of hell that track the trail of the disinherited, need have no dominion over them. 

God's Reign or the Kingdom of Heaven is a life - a life within all of us - a life that is meant to come to life right in the middle of all the violence and crap of the day - a life that is contrary - a life that sides with those whose lives are usually taken from them or shaken down as though they mean nothing. I hear this vision Thurman notes to be a vision of transformation. It is not a vision of a life that comes to all after our life is over. It is the power that resists all the powers that make the world - their world. So when Jesus walked along the way - he was walking within God's Reign - as God's Reign. Then to make a more powerful position of resistance, he invited others to follow in that life. In that invitation comes the power of resistance that is available to those pronounced and treated as the least and those who stand and live and love and share life with them.

When I use the phrase Read and Blue and Purple Too, it is a simple reminder that those who rule - those who stand within the halls of power - those who understand quite well how to keep the divisions of our lives alive and well, will not be those who walk in the way of The Kingdom of Heaven that is in us. Oh, they may talk well of such a Reign - but it is used to unleash those three hounds of hell in order to keep in power those who hold power and cause others to run for their lives. Thurman lifts up a resistance that is a life that pulls us into a contrary position and actions.  It will not be found within the labels of Red and Blue and Purple Too - not even Green. It will be made available as we become vulnerable to all the powers within lives that do not go along. This is not mere protest - this is not rioting - this is not violence in any form. Rather it is the action of those who touch and heal and eat with and walk with all those folks we read about in the gospels. The note we must hear at this point is that those situations in which Jesus walked - are not distinct to that time and his life. We are not called to merely study them. We are invited to walk in that same way.

The complexity of our day - in so many ways - makes it difficult to walk humbly with our God - to resist the deep need to win or be called right and good and in power. Yet, whether Red or Blue or Purple, if we say we are followers of Jesus (people who live within the Reign of God in this day) no side can own our hearts or lives. We must do what I hate and fear - risk being left out and not in control of the day. Yet, what we may gain is the wealth of life that comes when we step down from our desire to win the day and turn to walk humbly with any who are left behind. It is there - the place we do not want to be - that we begin to change - see with new eyes - speak in a new voice - let go of the life we are absolutely sure we must save. Then within the embrace of those crowds of people who longed for healing and touch and food, we find ourselves full and healed and open to face the powers of death - for they cannot take away the life we are invited to share with all people without the need for Red or Blue or Purple Too.
TRRR

Red and Blue and Purple Too (Take 2)

Howard Thurman notes, 'It cannot be denied that too often the weight of the Christian movement has been on the side of the strong and the powerful and against the weak and oppressed - this, despite the gospel.'  

We have all had the opportunity to live within and through times that can be set up as politically Red and Blue and Purple too. In our country, we are obsessed with saying that we are a Christian nation. Yet, that claim does not follow the way of Jesus. It is not a statement about how the broken are healed and the enemy loved - even unto death. It is about power. It is about giving validation - even a blessing - to the mechanism of violence that becomes us - defines us - preserves us no matter what the cost will be to others.

Within the days leading up to and entering into the new configuration in the House and Senate, there has been a disturbing mix of memes going around on Facebook. The ones that have been able to pull my strings are the ones in which the person who is posting wants a response to the use of different religious books for swearing in ceremonies. Usually there is an air of disgust that a book other than the Judaeo/Christian Bible would be the book upon which someone would pledge to uphold the constitution and carry out the duties of a government official. I always look at the comments in those posts. It is as though the use of a Quran means that the persons entering their office will eventually become a traitor or try to overthrown the country. Really!?

I find it more devilish that many politicians use the Bible as they book upon which they will make their pledges and promises. I use devilish in the sense of evil - in the sense of being an act of disrespect - in the sense of being an apostasy. I'm not saying that a religious person who faithfully engages in the life that their faith tradition teaches cannot be in politics. Rather, I find it morally reprehensible that one would think that their pledge of allegiance to the country will be better fulfilled if they say some words with their hand on a book. My Facebook encounters seem to forget that a person does not even have to swear on a religious book in court - it is unnecessary. We swear to the air - to the world - to the cosmos - to ourselves and those in the room that our yes will be yes and our no will be no. There will be no need to fudge. A book used in the pledge does not make one holier than others or more truthful or more trustworthy. I mentioned in a comment that if I had to make such a pledge - I would bring out my Calvin and Hobbes Anthology. I think I would do that so that any and all holy rollers would endlessly question my actions and motives and wonder about my sanity.

To be quite honest, I have a number of friends and acquaintances who love Calvin and Hobbes and they would understand the importance of using the Anthology as a way of mocking the state of things and also alerting folks to how the world may become different. And that, is why I do not want Bibles or Holy books to be used for a holy photo op that insults any and all faiths. We are not invited to swear to God to make our country be one that ceaselessly pursues justice. When we say we are a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or a Hindu or whatever faith folks claim to be, we are to come to life within the teaching of those faiths. Screw the book - be the followers. Unfortunately, we have turned the image of the country into one that cannot function without a specific religious imprimatur to which we say we adhere. And yet, that is and always has been a lie. Our nation - any nation - falls flat when placed alongside the character of faith teachings. We have the good fortune - some might say we are blessed - to have a country that does not rise or fall because we say we identify with the teaching of a certain religion. In fact, to claim to be a Christian nation is to say that we are willing to act contrary to the teachings of Jesus and the prophetic line from which he lived. We need only look around. Thurman said it well in the opening quote.

I love to see people of faith take the risk to live and speak and engage the world out of their traditions. What I see as that takes place is the appearance of lives dedicated to a crazy notion that all people are created equal. That is not a principal owned by one group of people. It is the wonder of humanity making incarnate the creativity of life needed to transform everyone. I don't care what your faith tradition is - I want to be a witness to how you help take us all into a new life in which all people - means all people, and hatred and violence toward others is the manifestation of the lowest form of being human. And therefore, we are needed to offer ourselves to those who are filled with hatred and violence so that all will experience what I usually call the Peaceable Reign of God - or - as MLK, Jr. often called - the Beloved Community.

So, rather than bitch about people who may be different - rather than fear that which we do not know - rather than live and think as though we are hiding behind a wall that will save us, do this: if you are a Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Atheist, Christian - let it shine, let it shine, let it shine. That's how hope works. We begin to see the reality of promises that the present powers of the world never attain. It may be that our critique of those who hold power may not be about whether or not they are like us - but how they embody the best of a humanity led by a spirit of peace and love - for all.
TRRR

Red and Blue and Purple Too

  None of us are meant to be observers as the world moves through today and into that which will be. We are to be participants. You may not agree with this, but we are participants even when we sit back and let ourselves merely look on or simply bitch and gripe about the world as we hold it out at arms length so that it will not touch us and we will not have to touch it. When I encounter people of various faith tradition a common thread that is woven into all of our lives is the necessity to have our lives become a part of the fabric of the society in which we live. It does not mean we work to transform the culture or society into our kind. Rather, there are foundational ways to be vitally concerned and a part of our communities. It would be easy to simply say we are invited to love one another - without boundary - without bias - without partiality. But those words, unfortunately, get blown off too easily. The infectiousness of sentimentality within the rubric to love has made love an indecency - for it has become the means to war, tribalism, and the need to destroy the other out of love of our own. What a shame. I must say that the call to love that comes from people outside of a faith community can be powerful and yet, it too, can be nothing more than an sentimental familial journey.

I may be one of the slowest readers in the world. Then, if you throw on top of that the fact that I must read early in the day or else I will fall asleep within moments of a few turns of the page - I can be pathetic. I say this at this point of this blog because I have been doing some of the best reading of my life within the past few years. It is theological and biblical - but it makes my heart stir and my mind work to bring words to life. And yet, I want to read novels. Harry Potter had me for years. John Irving can still grab me - though at times it takes too long to flip my switch. So, in this time of retirement yearnings, I looked up at the books I still have from my years of being a pastor. I gave away many - yes many - of my books. I kept ones I knew I would read again or use as a reference for myself or those few that I had only dipped into for a brief moment. Yesterday I looked up from watching some news and saw a very thin book. At the top of the binding it said, Thurman. As I am doing now, I smiled. It was Howard Thurman's book Jesus and the Disinherited. When I started to flip through the pages, I was glad my wife was not near by. For throughout the book I had marked it up without any regard for the conservation of yellow markers or marginal comments. It was then the I was a bit shaken - but that was good. What a foundational book for me. The book was published in 1949 but he had been writing decades earlier. Even the new 'theological' stuff I'm reading has not stirred my soul like my first review of the first chapter - actually the Preface.

But let me go back to my opening concern about love and engagement and that which I would consider the basic gift of our humanity - keeping our eyes open for the well-being of all. Anything less than that is sheer violence. I for one can be one hell of a violent person. Fortunately, I have voices all around me that hold up visions of peacefulness and the common good of all and the need to never forget those who are too often forgotten within the world I occupy. Let me step back a few sentences. Hell is the violence of this world of ours. Hell  takes on so many faces, we often do not see it sitting at the bar stool next to us or the Thanksgiving dinner or our favored groups or the news we watch or the fear brewing in our hearts or the anxiety blowing in the winds of change. To keep things as we want them, in voice and act and gesture we let ourselves lean into the violence of separation, accusation, condemnation, and self-focused love.

Though I do not read as much as I would like - I read. I take a look at how this side and that side argue. I endure the endless ways everyone seems to attempt to make themselves shine and make sure the other is diminished. I am so sad to hear the violence. It comes from all sides. For example, I am one who strongly supports and even started my career as a pastor in community organizing. It is an important way to be connected to the community in which one lives. In Detroit, that meant a mere section of a big city. It meant I learned so much from neighbors. But I also learned that just like so many ways we move through life, we build an us and a them. Yes, even the most well meaning people know how to be violent at some level. One day at a meeting of about twenty five community members, there was some discussion about including a predominantly Chaldean neighborhood into our community organization. For a few moments, I sat back like a young child eavesdropping on a wise adult conversation that was beginning to implode. There were those (white and black) who were saying they worked with them and - they smell. Hmmm. Then the elder African American member of the board started laughing - one of those deep Heh-Heh-Heh laughs. When faces turned his way he said, 'Do you hear what we are doing? We are describing them in the same way (then he points to some of the white members of the board) they used to talk about us.' Everyone looked around and joined his laughter and follow with a vote to expand the table. The community was not miraculously healed - but, we saw and heard the movement of a humanity that was considering how truly human we all can be - even if it was just in one act of solidarity mixed with laughter and action.

Red and Blue and Purple Too will be my way of talking about the way we continue to be a violent culture and the call to be something new. Some of that will have to do with how we must face the lies that come from the two political parities that attempt to run our country. You may have noticed that both parties have a long history of promises and none of them are kept. Even prophetic voices fall to the side as the mechanism of the way things are marches on under banners promising new life and better times. Unfortunately, over the change of powers and words and parties, the violence of the culture persists.There is no trickle down. There is no program for the hungry and insecure. There is no action to expand the middle class. There is absolutely no action to see to the well-being of the poor. There is no mutual respect for people of all backgrounds. Even when folks attempt to talk of compromises by using words like purple to describe a political reality - purple is nothing more than nothing more.

So, while the same violence of our cultural leaders owns the day - what are we to do - what can we do? I'm one who needs to maintain an imagination and have others expand that imagination. I am one who also needs someone to help move my ass into action that will never forget the least, the lowest, the left out. For  those of you who consider yourself bothered (even oppressed) by changes in society and feel threatened by how the world is moving in directions you may not like, I may not be writing for you. I hope I will be drawing into question the violence we have at the core of how we move through the day and how that movement is a hell of a way to live.
TRRR

It is really quite a Lame duck - Ohio at its worst

Last week I was standing on the steps of the statehouse listening to words of hope in a time when I see that a minority has more say in our lives than the majority. It is a time when a few are able to install - as truth - a lie. When this cracked system is allowed to codified as the rule of the day - a lie, the majority is raped. That may be a strong image, but as history shows us, women - the majority - face the fear-filled power of men that cannot stand up to the nurturing and life-giving power of women. Men attempting to exercise an exaggerated masculinity - a possessive machismo - do so at the expense of turning their backs on the image of God into which we are all created. For without a respectful, loving, and equal commitment to the welfare of the other, the image of God is left concealed.

I use God language here because those folks who want to command control over the life choices of women have become masters at using the violence of religious words and images to design their kind of a world. It is my contention that this world they seek to create is not at all a reflection of God's reign of peace and justice that brings hopefulness to all and healing without partiality. I have read through the pamphlets folks attempt to hand out to people arriving for care at the Planned Parenthood clinic where I volunteer as an escort. I find their picking and pecking of scripture to be masterful. They attempt to sew together words of love and words of utter condemnation as though love and condemnation belong tightly wrapped together. It is a lie that has a long history among religious folk. Their notion of love, though, is not love at all. For it thrives on punishment, threat, shame, guilt, and the never-ending story that demands that you must have the correct ticket to ride - or to hell with you.

I find it confounding that those who like to take command of heaven and hell and act as the self-empowered stewards of those domains are only able to do one thing - embody a living hell that they attempt to make the mandatory way all people are to live. When folks play the game of heaven and hell, a hellish life wins the day. Oh, that life is painted as an orderly and controlled way to bring about a world of love, but, unfortunately, hell is the controlling power. When that power controls the day, there will be no creative love - there will be no conversation - there will be no give-and-take - there will be no room for forgiveness - there will be no kindness without limits. There will only be a pride-filled gathering of self-righteous folk who thrive on claiming to have the power to condemn others. What a hell of a place to be. Promises of a reign of peace and love are hung out to dry and die in order to keep the hellishness of fear in power.

As I was standing on those stairs I thought, 'What would a follower of Jesus be doing here when fear attempts to reign and condemnation seeks to control the day through laws of the state? I think they would listen to those being condemned and lean in to hear every story and hold the hands of the meek and honor the boldness of those who do not fade in the face of threats and stand in awe of those who persist to make shalom reign and resist the hellishness that comes during a time that is rightly labeled - lame duck.
TRRR

The character needed to be a real character

It is important for all folks to stop asking Will it affect me?' or How will it affect me? as a way of gaging how or if we will stand with and alongside others as we take our place in the ever-present task of making the world/neighborhood/city/country a better place for all. Rather, it would do us well to consider how we will be a part of a life that works and stands and lives for all. That demands that we avail ourselves to those who are not us. It means we do not shy away from people with whom we have no similarity or connection - even those we fear and despise.

I have been reading some bits of history (rare for me) and listening to podcasts that focus around the character of some of the folks in our country who stood within the circles of the great ones. It is so interesting to hear that they could be buttholes like any of us. Some had their biases. Some lived within lives of privilege. Some were self-consumed and unable to empathize with those unlike them. But then, they were moved to see that which was other than the life they had and wanted - and they saw the worth of those others - the value of their lives as part of the whole of us. They had the ability to live with a vision in which the concept of One Nation - indivisible - was a vision into which they knew they had to move their lives. There could not be an us and a them if we were to be this people who some folks called blessed. It is important to note that differences may exist and they must exist if we are to continue to grow and be transformed - blessed.

Now, for me, being blessed is not magical term. It is not a greeting or a send off. It is a character. So for me, blessed is not a religious term. It is a term full of vision. It is the shape of what is possible when people of character actualized the fullness of a humanity that leans into the well-being of all - and those people of character also understand the importance of all. A blessed community or a blessed country or a blessed family is one in which walls and borders and well-drawn lines are dropped so as to allow the blessed to side with those folks who may be unknown - strangers - outsiders. A community of character is made up of a community of characters - odd balls - who will become available to others without making their every move and decision on the basis of how their actions will benefit them first. We are blessed - we are characters - when there are needs and we step in to fill them - without a payback. We are blessed  - we are characters - who see how others unlike us are still a part of a greater us. We are blessed - we are characters - who step into and expect to step through our fears no matter how those fears are made to sound and look as though they are a real threat. We are blessed - we are characters - who let go of the need to defeat the other but wonder about the ways we can be a reconciling power with them.

I wonder what it would be like to live in the middle of a community of characters. As All Saints Day approaches, I was thinking of Bishop Oscar Romero. Had he not become a real character and simply stood by and with the powers of the day, he would have never seen the majority of people in El Salvador who were poor - who would become his teachers - who would inspire his day-to-day actions and enrich him with a vision for life rather than coins put in the coffer of the cathedral. Characters cannot be erased - though some folks find it necessary to try and do just that. Characters - the blessed - persistently open doors and reach across lines and risk touching and standing alongside the likes of them and those - and then, quite miraculously, their character changes - it is transformed - they expand how they characterized themselves. They now become a part of a universal character - a blessed mess of folk - who no longer go to war with that which they fear but are able to give their lives for the well-being of those they fear so that a new creation will begin to be exposed right in the middle of all the stuff we may consider the shit-of-the-day.

How will we become the characters that disrupt the flow of the day? How will we bless the day by being people who walk within the vision of life that humbles itself and therefore opens us up to be those strange characters who welcome the world of other characters we have yet to experience? So, look for characters - look for the odd-balls who seem to be willing to give life to others without any reward - look for lost souls who may be the ones who surprise us by helping us build and shape and give life to us. Ah, blessed are you.
TRRR

Beware: we often make the monsters that try to devour us

So, I must admit, I write in my books - extensively. I know it is not right on so many levels - but I cannot help myself. Don't worry, if you lend me one of your books I will not write in the margins or underline stuff along the way. That would just be wrong. Since I have turned to Kindle for some of my reading, there is no fear of me marking things up - no margin notes - no comments - no political or biblical or theological points and counter-points. I go back into those books I mark up in order to find quotes that disturb and those that inspire. My book reading memory is one that places points of interest on the page. So if I remember that there was a really inspiring or troubling piece in a book, I usually am able to flip through the pages looking for - let's say - something on the bottom of a page on the right. It doesn't always work.

I also take notes as I read. This is especially the case if I know that I will be using the material as an important go to on certain subjects. Most often it is when I think a theological point or a biblical reference used in a unique way will help me deal with something in the social, cultural, or political world around me.

So, here's what happened today. I was listening to several people discuss the Cruz/O'Rourke senatorial race in Texas. One of the people on the panel referenced the Trumpian insults thrown at Cruz during the 2016 presidential election. They were awful - remember? Trump's personal attacks on appearances and rumors and caricatures were called out by Cruz as being disgusting and cheap and unfit for someone running for president. In that day, these two republican candidates looked as though there would never be any reason for them to entertain the other's company - let alone share the same stage - ever. But, then we are in a new election cycle and it appears as though Cruz is not a sure bet to remain as a senator from Texas. Even the thought of him winning by a slim margin has created a degree of fear and trembling from the Cruz campaign and that of the national Republican party. All that anxiety over a possible defeat is quite normal. Many politicians on both sides are going through some of that in these day prior to the midterm elections.

Yet, in the midst of this situation of fear and trembling, there has been an erasure of differences. It has been happening ever since the 2016 election of President Trump. The bitter, biting warfare between Trump and Cruz that raged as they both sought out the office of the President, has been put aside. No reconciliation. No repentance. No agreement on truthfulness. Their differences have been put aside as their mutual desire for political self gain can be reached - it is as simple as that. As one writer noticed, their desire has reached a crisis stage. Now, here is the quote that has ignited my rant today: distinctions are blurred - human identities melt together - and, monsters appear. When that happens (and it happens on all sides of our culture/politics/religions) the powers that cluster together and form their bonds do so in order to preside over a sacrifice - a lynching - a way to win the day and make sure it is done at any cost. Therefore, values fall to the side - decency descends into the abyss - hope is abandoned for the order of the day even when it is fueled by fear. Rather than look to our better angels, we settle for our common demons that are able to infect us so that we do not seek justice, honor truthfulness, and work for the well-being of all.

When monsters appear, the least among us are devoured. Those of wealth and influence and power need not fear - monsters align with such people - monsters are controlled by such people - monsters give birth to such people - monsters are the incarnation of such people who must devour others in order to keep themselves alive and well.

In an anxious time when the voices of threat and humiliation and degradation and untruth become the pattern of the day, there are always signs of hopefulness. There are people who step up and laugh at the monsters. There are those who point out that the monsters have no clothes. There are those who insist on truth-telling even when monsters call them lies. There are people who speak and act off-script so that monstrous acts are exposed. There are people whose vulnerability gives a witness to the life where monsters have no power. Remember, monsters do not exist - unless we let them. That is why a parent will accompany a child and open the closet door or check under the bed or go into the dark basement. Monsters need darkness to be able to get away with murder. Unfortunately, monsters often create the darkness that helps them thrive. Yet, I rant.
TRRR

The Lynch Mob always starts with Voices before Actions

If a group of people act out in non-violent ways, is that group a mob? I tend to associate a mob with stuff getting broken - damaged - destroyed. When I think of a mob, I think of a group that whips up chaos. This is not the chaos that often accompanies change or the creation of something new. The chaos that comes out of acts of creativity is temporary because it is moving into something new - a new creation of sorts. Just think of a new team that has just come together to play ball together. At first, no matter how good the players are, there will be some chaos until all the variously gifted players engage in a give-and-take that helps produce a unit that can and does work together. We will begin to see a sense of order or, better yet, relationships that honor the others in a respectable manner.

A mob whips up the kind of chaos that attempts to rule by force - force directed at  others - forced used for ones own well being - force that will try to destroy that which is different or that which simply appears different. The mob will turn to violence in order to have the world be as they would like it to be. The violence will be directed toward those and them - outsiders. Now it may appear that I am merely talking about physical violence that is perpetrated against the other. Not. The language of the mob seeks to destroy or harm or discount the life of the other - in some way. I immediately thought of the mob that yelled out 'crucify him' before anyone even picked up the spikes and the cross beam for the lynching of Jesus. Eventually, a mob uses words to create an atmosphere within a group that is able to move the mob to acts of violence that bring their words to life.

When I think of a mob taking shape, my anxiety level increases. It is so easy to sense that something is about to happen and it is not a celebration of life. Rather, the mob will not and cannot coexist with the life of others - those who are different from the direction they want to go. There is no ability to call for acts of reconciliation. Even dialogue, that may be the gift needed to create mutual respect, is taken off the table. We are left with curses - threats - insults - ridicule - foul language. Having said all this, there is still no physical violence that is associated with a mob. But just wait. There can be a deliberate act of violence - something small. There can be an act of mistaken identity. There can be a word - a label - a trigger that is pulled. Then, the mob morphs into that which we know as a classic picture of how a mob begins to rule the moment. We all know some of those characteristics - they are constructed from fear and envy and desire that is willing to turn the moment into warring madness.

As of late, I have been shaken to a greater degree by the language of our President. He looked at the many women and men who protested around the hearings of now Justice Kavanaugh. He has freely used the word mob to describe them. But not just that. He now uses mob to describe those people who may hold a contrary view to his side. He even demonizes the media as the ones who stoke the fire of this mob to which he refers  There are so many other ways to address or describe those who do not go along with our choices and opinions. To call them a mob is to pull back the hammer of a gun and make it easier for someone to pull the trigger and fire. He is setting the stage for violence to be nurtured and more accessible. It is a quite, brilliant move. The violence of those who are not included in his branding of a mob will be considered a violence that is righteous and good and a saving power. Saving America from those not like us becomes a tribal cry for a limited view of reality. In the past few weeks we have moved away from those people being people of a different race or culture or religion or gender to also include those  people who do not go along with his plans. There have been many historical examples of such verbal condemnations that have led to a variety of lynch mobs allowed to express their violence as they please.

Along the way, we must remember that there really are mobs that form and know no other way to be involved with the society than to take parts in acts of violence. When the President calls one group a mob and he is citing their peaceful protests as examples of mob behavior, it takes very little to tie the acts of violence of a group like Antifa to the many and massive expressions of peaceable protests. That is disturbing. I have heard people say that the protests against this Trump era are fueled and backed by acts of violence - even if it is not backed by facts. With great awe and respect, I look to the teens of Parkland and the women of the Women's March and the people who raised their voices around the Supreme Court nomination. I also know of groups forming who intend to speak out and act out within non-violent protest in the upcoming months. If those voices allow themselves to become full of nothing but hate and violence-filled rhetoric, we must be willing to call them out and press for acts of nonviolence, truthfulness, and reconciliation. But I rant.
TRRR