by Jenny  Blanchard

President-elect Donald Trump has issued more than 100 threats to investigate, prosecute, imprison or otherwise punish his perceived opponents. The U.S. House of Representatives gave the president-elect a powerful tool to accomplish that goal.  On Thursday, Nov. 21, the U.S. House passed legislation in the form of H.B. 9495 that would give the Treasury Department unilateral authority to strip the tax-exempt status of any nonprofit it claims support terrorism.

This would be a dangerous piece of legislation in any administration. It could be used to arbitrarily target nonprofits, including news outlets, universities, and humanitarian aid organizations like OXFAM , and civil society groups – even our own congregation. It expands the sweeping powers of the executive branch to stifle political dissent; in short, to silence the voices of anyone the President perceives as an enemy of the state by labeling them as terrorists.

For a long time, when I learned about people’s history, I never understood how groups of people would be fighting each other when they clearly were both affected negatively by the same larger force.  Unfortunately, I feel like I have gotten a real front row seat to it in the past 10 years.  We’ve gone through a whole decade of social unrest due to various factors. When one topic takes the stage for a moment, somehow the discourse becomes…”yes, but…”.  Of course, if they keep a group of people fighting amongst themselves, then they never see the forest through the trees.

Project 2025 is an in depth roadmap that was created by the Heritage Foundation which is a conservative “think” tank. I will read to you a small paragraph on page 451 under the chapter of Health and Human Services.

Goal #3- Promoting Stable and Flourishing Married Families
Families comprised of a married father, mother, and their children are the foundation of a well ordered nation and a healthy society. Unfortunately, family policies and programs under President Biden’s HHS are fraught with agenda items focusing on “LGBTQ+ equity”, subsidizing single-motherhood, disincentivizing work, and penalizing marriage. These policies should be repealed and replaced by policies that support the formation of stable, married, nuclear families.

Working fathers are essential to the well-being and development of their children, but the United States is experiencing a crisis of fatherlessness that is ruining our children’s futures.  In the overwhelming number of cases, fathers insulate children from physical and sexual abuse, financial difficulty, or poverty, incarceration, teen pregnancy, poor educational outcomes, high school failure and a host of behavioral and psychological problems.  By contrast, homes with non-related “boyfriends” present are among the most dangerous place for a child to be. HHS should prioritize married father engagement in its messaging, health, and welfare policies.

In the context of current and emerging reproductive technologies, HHS policies should never place the desires of adults over the right of children to the biological fathers and mothers who conceive them. In cases involving biological parents who are found by a court to be unfit because of abuse or neglect, the process of adoption should be speedy, certain, and supported generously by HHS.

Everything intersects in this one “goal”.  All the homophobia, transphobia, misogyny, and if you listen closely, racism.  So as we move forward, instead of saying “yes but…” let’s start saying “yes….and” because that is what they are

by Brian Dugas

Last week I spoke to you about the possibilities. Well, the impossible has come to pass. This country has made it’s bed, and we will see how well we can lie in it.  The entire world will be impacted by this decision, but it will be up to our local communities to come together and make it through the upcoming dark times.

I’d like to read you a poem by Mikko Raima:

It’s when the earth shakes
And foundations crumble
That our light is called
To rise up.
It’s when everything falls away
And shakes us to the core
And awakens all
Of our hidden ghosts
That we dig deeper to find
Once inaccessible strength.
It’s in times when division is fierce
That we must reach for each other
And hold each other much
Much tighter.
Do not fall away now.
This is the time to rise.
Your light is being summoned.
Your integrity is being tested
That it may stand more tall.
When everything collapses
We must find within us
That which is indomitable.
Rise, and find the strength in your heart.
Rise, and find the strength in each other.
Burn through your devastation,
Make it your fuel.
Bring forth your light.
Now is not the time
To be afraid of the dark.

As a congregation we have some decisions to make, where we will stand and where we will draw the line. I have spoken to our President, Isaac, and they will be discussing this at the upcoming board meeting. If you want to have a voice in that decision, you are invited to join them on November 19th at 7:00PM.

If you're not afraid of the dark and want to awaken your hidden ghost, please join us at the Social Action Committee meeting on Tuesday, November 12th at 8:00PM.

by Brian Dugas

Undoubtedly you all know that next week is a very important week, with the elections on Tuesday. I can't remember when an election has seemed to be more important.  My relatives and I have had many discussions around why this is so. Their point is that the oligarchy and corporate interests are in control of our government, and both parties are complicit in the current system. So why vote?

I do think that it is time for changes to our government so that it better reflects the needs of the American people, but it is important to have the right people working on the changes. This time, those people need to be representative of all of the groups of our society that make up our unique culture and I think we have learned from this election,  they need to be caring, kind, and able to cooperate with others with opposing views.  I certainly hope that there are still people like that in our government.

Back in the day, when you could trust a poll, the Pew Research Center was one of the more trusted sources of information that I can remember. I wanted to share with you the results of their polling for the 2024 election.  They asked people what was most important to them, and these are the results for what is “Very Important” on the survey - the average of D and R.

#1 The Economy                                     81%        D68%    R93%
#2 Healthcare                                         65%        D76%    R55%
#3 Supreme Court appointments    63%        D73%     R54%
#4 Foreign Policy                                   63%        D54%    R70%
#5 Violent Crime                                    61%        D46%    R76%
#6 Immigration                                      61%        D39%     R82%
#7 Gun Policy                                          56%        D59%    R53%
#8 Abortion                                             51%        D67%    R35%
#9 Racial and Ethnic Inequality        37%        D56%    R18%
#10 Climate Change                             37%        D62%    R11%    

Tops for Republicans: The Economy, Immigration, and Violent Crime
Tops for Democrats: Healthcare, Supreme Court Appointments, the Economy, and Abortion

It’s interesting to see how the current status of political decisions in America affect these polls.  For example just 35% of Republicans consider Abortion as being very important, while 67% of Democrats do. I'm sure it's not all that important to Republicans since the overturning of Rowe V Wade, and it’s equally very important to Democrats who now have to again fight the battle to establish women’s reproductive rights.  And I won’t even mention Climate Change at the bottom of the list.


And of course this survey does not take into account those very important issues that we all know are just lurking beneath the surface: Voting rights, LGBTQIA+ rights, Gender rights, Christian Nationalism, White Supremacy and Fascism just to name just a few.

The bottom line is that next week we will have the answer to the direction this country will be taking for the next four years. As a congregation our path based upon that election might be very clear, or very convoluted.  I do know that as one of the few liberal churches in the Wyoming Valley we may be at the forefront of the social upheaval occurring across the country whether we like it or not.  It is important to remember that we will determine our way forward together, and that as a community we are strong enough to weather the coming storms.

Next Sunday I will once again be doing the social action minute.  I hope that I will have positive news to share with you.  If not, our work truly begins as we determine our best way forward. One thing for sure, as Ben Franklin famously said after the signing of the Declaration of Independence “We must, indeed, hang together, or most assuredly, we shall all hang separately”.

So Get Out and Vote!