In my 3 August 2015 blog, I wrote about the Dark Side that is hidden in everybody. It’s a side that I don’t like in myself and I fight it, every single day. Perhaps the collective of bare individual dark sides is something we refer to as Evil. July 2016 has been a terrible month so far: Dallas, Nice, Baton Rouge, Würzburg, Munich, Kabul and yesterday Ansbach. The July 2016 terrorist incident list on Wikipedia is even much longer as most incidents didn’t even reach us.
On 21 July 2016, Donald Trump held his humble acceptance speech. A NYT article referred to him as the Dark Knight (IMDb) given the dark and gloomy nature of that speech. The word Knight is utterly misplaced in his case. Many people see Donald Trump as some kind of Lord Voldemort. There’s something very wrong in that analogy. Lord Voldemort had a vision, brains and guts.
If there’s any resemblance with a Harry Potter character then it’s clearly Peter Pettigrew. Peter Pettigrew talks a lot, brags a lot, and is basically a repulsive and unreliable character.
The Dark Lord did however attend Donald Trump’s convention, and even gave a speech that did not attract much attention. He Who Must Not Be Named is also one of the scariest persons I have ever noticed.
There’s another analogy between the Trump campaign and Harry Potter. Tom Moe, a retired Air Force Colonel, was recently speaking at an event in Ohio. He paraphrased a quote from Protestant pastor Martin Niemöller, taken from his lectures after World War II. (eg, FB, Washington Post)
Tom Moe: “You might not care if Donald Trump says Muslims should register with their government, because you’re not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump says he’s going to round up all the Hispanic immigrants, because you’re not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump says it’s okay to rough up black protesters, because you’re not one. And you might not care if Donald Trump wants to suppress journalists, because you’re not one. But think about this: If he keeps going, and he actually becomes president, he might just get around to you. And you better hope there’s someone left to help you.”
Our fear of the Dark Side usually prevents us from taking a stance. Some may even embrace the Dark Side, like the Munich boy was celebrating Anders Breivik‘s 2011 Norway attacks. Opposing the Dark Side may even result in a revenge-retaliation cycle. I have zero admiration for Ted Cruz but his appeal to voting in accordance with your conscience should deserve respect. Booing him off the stage for that advice implies that Trump fans subconsciously know that they’re morally wrong.
Obi-Wan Kenobi: “It takes strength to resist the dark side. Only the weak embrace it.” Darth Maul: “It is more powerful than you know”. Obi-Wan Kenobi: “And those who oppose it are more powerful than you’ll ever be.” (Quote from “Star Wars: The Clone Wars” The Lawless, IMDb)
Doobie Brothers – Jesus is just alright (1972) – artists, lyrics, video, Wiki-1, Wiki-2
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