Recently I was asked to talk with a college student from Cambodia who had expressed interest in my field of research. During our conversation I learned that the student’s education is organized and funded by She Can, a private American foundation based in the nearby town of Tiburon, California. This foundation annually recruits and sponsors about 15 high school students from three developing countries that are emerging from devastating conflict, and that have few women in leadership roles. (The othe countries are Guatemala and Liberia.) The students get a full scholarship to a US college, and are assigned volunteer mentors who advise them on careers and host them over school holidays. The students pledge to return to their home countries for at least 3 years after their US education to contribute, in the manner of their choosing, to building better lives for their fellow citizens.
Faith and doubt
I have always believed in the basic goodness and wisdom of the American people. This belief is reinforced by everyday stories like the one above, but has been severely challenged by the rise of Trumpism. Yes, there has often been greivance and demagoguery in our politics. But the elevation of an avatar of narcissism, arrogance, and nihilism to the highest office, twice, feels new. The coming inauguration will showcase that challenge. How to maintain our faith?
The nature of faith is explored in a superb film released in 2024, “Conclave“, directed by Edward Berger. In it, Cardinal Lawrence (played by Ralph Fiennes), as Dean of the College of Cardinals, is in charge of the running the election of the next Pope. He gives a brief speech to kick off the Conclave that stuns his audience. He argues that the enemy of faith is not doubt, but certainty. Faith requires some struggle with doubt – or it would not be faith. His speech spoke to me about our current moment.
A spiritual test
By managing how we direct our attention, we can mitigate our doubts. As recommended in my first post, The Day After, you can control the degree to which the news cycle, with its bias for negativity and sensationalism, enters your psyche. Turn it off so that it cannot control you and sap your faith. Look around your communities and you will find much to uplift you. There are many persons and organizations like the foundation described above, quietly exerting American “soft power” around the world – using our priveleges, education, and economic dynamism as a thing to be shared, both with our own citizens who may be disadvantaged, and with those of the rest of the world.
The challenge of Trumpism is less political than spiritual and moral. It is cynical and speaks to the lesser angels of our nature. Keep your faith even in the face of doubt. Identify wise, unselfish leadership around you, and join it. Eventually integrity just might return to Congress and the White House.
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