The greatest challenges are to live up to the words in the Constitution and Declaration of Independence and treat all ethnicities with justice and equity and without prejudice. The mistreatment of all people of color historically and in the present day has been a deterrent to the actual realization of a true Democracy.

Civically engaged. Registered to vote. Educated in the history of our republic and representative democracy. Morally engaged. Honesty.

Trump’s crypto-fascism poses an immediate and grave threat. One senses the Germany of 1938, ’39 – mobs encourage by Hitler to break Jewish shop-windows = “MAGA”! – When was America great? Before Civil Rights gave Blacks the right to vote? When Native Americans were subjected to genocide? Before women could vote? Trump would return us to a horrific past.

A good citizen speaks out and cares about democracy for everyone. A good citizen takes time to understand the full history as it really is, and then faces that history head one with all its complications and imperfections – not so we can deny the difficult and cruel parts of our history, but so we can learn from our mistakes and fight for justice, and make a better tomorrow for our children and those who will come after.

I have been going around PA and NJ giving Civic Saturdays on how the power in democracy grows when we are able to work in community with others on issues that are important to us. Each meeting begins with the reading of a document or speech that has had an important part in the development of our democracy. The last Saturday service used a speech given by Carie Chapman Catt. Then there is a sermon on democracy. It’s a sermon because we are talking about how we believe in democracy and the ways that it works for us and gives us the power to ensure that our government is of, by and for us, the people of the United States of America. In November’s Civic Saturday, the sermon was about how life experiences prepare us to appreciate democracy and help us understand how important community is in making democracy work for us. After the sermon, we discussed the aspects of our belief in democracy and how the sermon affected them.