Let’s not mince words:
Each of the presidential candidates is focused on a particular quality in the 2024 election:
Republican Candidate for President, former President Donald Trump is focused on fear.
Democratic Candidate for President, Vice President Kamala Harris is focused on joy.
I’ve decided my focus is on faith.
What is your focus?
It is a spiritual principle that whatever we focus on brings more of that (but also whatever we resist persists).
While much has been written about Trump’s focus on fear and Harris’s focus on joy, I’d like to tell you about my focus on faith: faith in the American people; faith in the divided system of government; faith most of all in the power of collective consciousness and what else is possible?
For me, the demonstration of President Joe Biden removing himself from the race for President was a result of a collective focus on faith, a new consciousness asking the question, what else is possible? That occurred. Because it occurred, it gives me faith in the possibility that even where I most fear Harris will not deliver, a collective focus on faith can make a difference.
Let’s take Harris’s position on the role of the US in the atrocities in Gaza. A recent opinion piece by Hala Alyan, a psychologist and Palestinian American, in The New York Times, August 28, 2024 “‘the Voters Kamala Harris Leaves Behind” raises several very important questions about the Harris campaign and the Democratic Party’s failure to prioritize cessation of the atrocities in Gaza as a goal of leadership. She, like many people who are outraged that the U.S. government is funding, building, and providing weapons that are mass killing civilians in Gaza, suggests clinging to a group of “the Uncommitted”– a group that promises to withhold its vote until the Vice President changes her public position on Gaza–perhaps not only calling for a ceasefire but being willing to embargo further arms until the ceasefire is negotiated.
While I understand and often have advocated withholding support until the politician commits, it doesn’t seem likely to work this time. Theoretically, there should be massive leverage to use this tool, particularly in the large Arabic community of Detroit in the key state of Michigan. However, since Harris and the party have clearly placed their bets elsewhere, the strategy seems unlikely to achieve its intended goal.
A better strategy this time around might be believing that Harris will deliver a new reality in the region and supporting her in winning so she can do so. My personal strategy is to laser-focus on the quality of faith. I had faith that we’d have a different possibility for candidates this fall, and now we do. This reality bolsters my stubborn (relatively unsubstantiated belief) that President Kamala Harris, the American people, and the world will bring a spirit of what else is possible to the Israeli and Palestine people. I don’t know how this happens, but I believe that there is a timeline up for selection where the struggle for peace and self-determination for the Palestinian people is coming to an end and a positive conclusion. The false dichotomy of either Israel having total dominance in the region with full and “lethal” support from the United States or unleashing total hell is winding down. The false paradigm of a “two-state solution can’t work so nothing can work” is also done.
In place of FEAR (False Evidence Appearing Real), today I plant my faith in a new idea for the region that was historic Palestine and historic Israel.
I plant my faith in a peaceful region that works for everyone who lives there.
Where Jews and Muslims can practice their religion or culture and live in peace.
I plant my faith that Vice President Kamala Harris will allow, welcome, cultivate, and incorporate new thoughts, new ideas, and new possibilities in that region.
I plant my faith in the collective laying down of arms and embracing of love and understanding.
I have NO idea how this occurs. I agree that it makes no sense and seems improbable in the apparent and historic reality but I also didn’t know how it was possible that the presidential race would change.
I know that it didn’t seem possible that slavery would end in America or that the Berlin Wall would fall, immediately before they did.
I destroy and uncreate all the false thoughts, beliefs, opinions, and conclusions that have ever held in place this apparent nightmare in the world and place myself in the faith of something new coming into being.
By the way, In 2019 I wrote what I’d like to call a comprehensive analysis of the crowded field of candidates on their ability to use the power of their word. At the time I rated Donald Trump very high on the use of the power of his word as a candidate and generally but low on the likelihood of governing to create a world that works for everyone. I stand by that rating.
Back then, as it happens, I rated Kamala Harris almost as high as Donald Trump on her ability to employ her word, particularly as a candidate, and rated her much higher than Trump on the possibility of grounding her word in the words of a world that works for everyone.
You can revisit that period piece below.