By Morgen White | FāVS News
Editor’s Note: Recently, FāVS asked readers to answer a survey that supplied us with topics that you found of interest. This article was an attempt to respond to this reader’s suggestion: “How to ease our anxiety and resist the immoral and dangerous presidential administration in ways that are healthy, yet impactful.”
Rev. Todd Eklof has been the Unitarian Universalist Church of Spokane minister since 2011. Earlier this month, Eklof amended and presented a sermon from John Dietrich called “Nationalism and Internationalism.” Eklof chose the sermon because although the original was first preached over a century ago, he believes the content is still relevant to today’s current political climate.
“It’s interesting that in this certain Dietrich sermon, which was given first in 1919, he uses the term, you know, America first in the derogatory sense,” Eklof said.
Dietrich was the only minister ever excommunicated from the Dutch Reformed Church for his radical views. He later moved to Spokane, where he served in the First Unitarian Society of Spokane and began identifying as a humanist. Influenced by his liberal congregation’s emphasis on reason and science, he helped shape modern religious humanism.
Political Anxiety
Eklof compares the idea of needing to focus on humanism to the America First slogan. Marjorie Taylor Greene called Donald Trump the ‘founding father of the America First Movement’ at the Republican National Convention in July. Trump first used that slogan during his 2016 campaign and has continued describing his agenda with those terms throughout both presidential terms
“We have a leader in the country right now that I think wants to focus on the United States at the expense of everyone else, including people who have traditionally been allies with this country, and that’s not good for them, and it’s not good for us. It’s not good for us as human beings, because we’re not healthy and whole if we’re not recognizing our relatedness to the world that we’re part of,” Eklof said.
The Sunday of Eklof’s sermon, congregants chatted before settling in as the service began with welcoming words and music. Eklof then stepped to the pulpit, provided background on Dietrich and remarked on the sermon’s timeliness.
“This conflict between the nation and humanity is real and especially at this moment when we are called upon to adjust the interest of our country, at some sacrifice, perhaps, to the interest of the world at large. We are beginning to feel the pull of that beautiful ideal of devotion to humanity, and yet our feet are set firmly upon the foundation of national patriotism,” Eklof preached.
Eklof said that during difficult times there are upticks in church attendance, whether in person or on the virtual stream.
“I think these are people who are not looking to escape reality, but are looking to be able to deal with reality as it is. But I think there’s an awful lot of people in the world that would prefer a more delusional escape,” Eklof said.
Unitarian churches have a deep history tied to social justice, which means that sermons are often intertwined with activism. While UUCS is not a place for delusional escape, many consider it a place for those seeking connection and interested in aiding their local community, especially during times of political anxiety.
Karen Dorn Steele is a member of UUCS, and a retired investigative journalist. She says that taking part in activism and protests is what helps her deal with political anxiety.
“It’s not a Republican versus a Democrat thing to me. It’s the fact that the institutions, our major institutions, from the courts to Congress, every institution is being threatened by this administration,” Steele said.
Steele is using her voice through writing, work within UUCS, and going to demonstrations with her husband. She says it’s important for elected officials to know that many people don’t support what the Trump administration is doing.
While action is how some are managing, for others surviving each day is all they feel capable of doing right now.
Lynn Jinishian says she’s dealing with her anxiety day by day. She says following the news only makes it worse, so she’s asked her husband to only keep her up to date with what’s most important to know.
Although Jinishian is avoiding news media, she’s embracing community and reading nonfiction novels. She says she’s trying to listen to other perspectives and learn how to be OK with people who think differently from her.
“I think right now for me, I need to rise above politics. I do that by reading a lot of books, nonfiction novels that are related to what kind of a world I want to see,” Jinishian said.
Tom Mosher has anxiety about the effect on democracy and social programs, but he isn’t letting those feelings take over completely. Mosher says his main focus right now is his wife, who has advanced Alzheimer’s. He is also the president of the board of trustees for UUCS, and is supporting around 30 different organizations financially with a small annual contribution.
Mosher says connecting with like-minded community helps push through negative feelings.
“After every service for the last three or four months, there’s a group of people who talk about their concerns and issues and get some support from people who think the same way, and then are encouraged and embraced emotionally,” Mosher said.
Local groups have formed across the country, some focused on emotional support, and others to take action. The United Church of Moscow, is one example. They have hosted three ‘United In Community’ meetings to bring people in the Moscow area together to discuss democracy.
Dale Gentry has a background in psychology and special education teaching. He’s also the chair of the elders committee at the The United Church of Moscow, which has been without a pastor for almost two years. This has led Gentry to take on additional responsibilities, including adjusting Sunday programming.
“It’s been a little bit of an evolutionary process to get where we are, but we now have a mostly regular pattern of two worship services a month and two Sundays where we do something called Faith exploration. The focus of that faith exploration has been on justice. We had sessions on racial justice, climate justice, and economic justice,” Gentry said.
Although Gentry can’t pinpoint the exact moment which led to the community events, ultimately the small church came to the idea that ‘Dominionism is an attempt to thwart democracy,’ and the congregation wanted to bring the local community together to discuss the topic.
Gentry says that the church community has already felt the effects of the new administration in Idaho.
“We have folks in the church who have relatives who are part of the LGBTQ community, and at least in two instances, they had family who’ve had to move from one place to another for their own safety. We have members who have lost their jobs because of these massive job cuts, and it’s not only the individual that’s affected, but it’s the work that they do is affected. An example I would give is decimating the forest fighting capability in the northwest. That’s a big issue to face in the coming months,” Gentry said.
Gentry admits that there’s been times where he has felt hopeless, and that there’s nothing that he can do. Gentry says that he’s realized that you can’t do everything- just do something. His ‘something’ is educating himself; Learning about dominionism and theocracy, and educating others.
Gentry isn’t the only faith leader that recommends finding ways to keep pushing forward. For those who are feeling political anxiety, Eklof recommends focusing on actionable items while living your values and using humor to release tension. He said that most people focus their energy on the things we don’t have the power to change, when instead the energy could be put into where folks are able to make a difference.
Eklof says it’s like, “Picking up the one starfish that’s on the beach amongst the millions that have gotten washed up on shore, and putting it back in the water. Whatever it is that you feel, that you can do to make a difference, that’s where your energy should go, and that’s where I think you will have some sense of agency and purpose in the midst of all of this.”
Eklof also says to find ways to get in touch with your humor, not because the situation is funny but because, “It allows us to deflate some of that anxiety by shrinking things down to a more manageable concept.”
Gentry says that although their church is small he thinks that the congregation’s mindset is united.
“As individuals, we can’t do it alone. We have to band together in whatever groups we find work for us to promote the kind of actions that build a better community,” Gentry said.
