Losing faith in systems, not in humanity: A call to keep fighting

By Sarah Henn Hayward | FāVS News Columnist

I confess, I haven’t been writing lately. Writing has always been clarifying and therapeutic for me, but watching the horrors unfold from the Trump presidency has left me speechless. 

I’ve become a bit cynical, wondering what good it does to speak out. No one will change their mind because of my Instagram post. My Republican representative is not going to vote differently because I pleaded with him to save Medicare and Medicaid, to fight for the environment, to stop the transfer of wealth from poor to rich. 

And my Democratic senators, while voting along my values, keep playing by the same rules in the same system. I urge them to think outside the box, to mix things up, to change the playbook. And I feel sure that those emails fall on nervous, fearful, crippled ears.

Because times have changed. The old assumptions, the former expectations and norms, no longer hold. The Rose Garden has quite literally been paved over.

And yet, I recognize my privilege in throwing up my hands. For the folks getting their social security net ripped away, getting kidnapped by ICE, losing their jobs without cause and being told they no longer exist — the fight must continue. 

Nihilism has never suited me

When I became an atheist, I turned to new philosophies to create a moral framework and guide for my life. I knew of other former Christians who became nihilistic and thought that nothing could matter without a higher being of some sort overseeing the universe. 

But I quickly rejected that. I can acknowledge that the universe is pointless and random and still decide that my life and my experiences are meaningful. There doesn’t need to be a higher being — intelligent, loving or even vengeful — to make sense of the world. Things happen to us and around us due to countless factors: other people’s choices, socioeconomic systems, geopolitical events, natural phenomena, biology and pharmacology. 

I don’t believe that there’s a bigger purpose to it all. But we get to choose how to deal with the randomly good and randomly bad things that come our way.

And the things coming down the pipeline in America are decidedly bad. 

At least from my perspective. I know of Republicans and Trump voters who are over the moon, or at least approving, of the recent turns of events. Who believe that DOGE’s actions and the Big Beautiful Bill will clean up corruption and streamline the government. Who trust that Trump’s most outlandish statements are just that — bluff and swagger meant to stir the pot. 

Time will tell

My atheism brings me comfort in these stressful times more than Christianity ever did. When I was a believer, I would witness an awful event and wonder why God didn’t do anything about it. Yes, people give God credit when things go their way. 

But how many young believers or their children died long before their time despite the prayers of hundreds? How many systemic issues — genocides, war, racism, ableism, classism — have ruined people’s lives without pause? How much abuse, corruption and harm was God willing to sit back and watch?

I feel weirdly comforted by the idea of an impersonal, unconcerned universe. With no one watching, there’s no one with whom I’m disappointed. 

Humans evolved into complex social apes with great capacity to love or to harm. And we’ve done both throughout our existence as a species, and probably even before. Nothing we’re seeing in society today is a new threat. There have been wars and genocides throughout the ages. The rich have robbed the poor time and time again. The U.S. today reminds me at times of the 1920s or 60s and at other times of the French Revolution. 

None of what we’re seeing today is new.

And in those dark times of the past, the light eventually broke through. Because humans have also always been bold, brave, dogged problem solvers. There have always been bands of people fighting for a better world. And no matter how ugly and how hard things got, they kept going. And eventually, the war stopped. Feudalism ended. The oligarchs were overthrown. Slavery was outlawed. Jim Crow was revoked. Native boarding schools were shuttered.

A dear friend recently reminded me of my power

Being a Native woman herself, she is acutely aware of the differences between our voices. Native women in America are among those resilient, relentless problem solvers. They have suffered unspeakable horrors historically and continue to go missing and be murdered without justice at alarming rates today. 

They’ve been pushed off their ancestral lands, had their culture stolen and beaten out of them and lost much of their ways of life. And yet, they are still here. Speaking up, raising resilient children and working hard to make the world safer and kinder for them. I am in awe of my friend. 

And she knows that I, as a blond-haired, blue-eyed white woman, will always have a greater audience than she could. That I can get a book published with no connections or business in that world. That I can talk and people will listen. 

And so I am trying. I will keep writing to Congressman Baumgartner and voicing my concerns. I will keep reaching out to Senators Murry and Cantwell to encourage them to keep fighting. I will keep educating myself and my kids, doing my part to raise the next generation with empathy and love in action. 

And I will keep treating those around me — regardless of who they voted for and what they’re hoping for America to do — with respect and decency, knowing that like begets like. I will keep laughing and celebrating the small things in defiant joy. I will keep caring.

Cynicism and nihilism won’t change the world. Showing up, acting with intention and treating the world the way I want it to be might just move the needle forward a degree. 

All I can do is try.

The views expressed in this opinion column are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect the views of FāVS News. FāVS News values diverse perspectives and thoughtful analysis on matters of faith and spirituality.