Using drive-in at the bank – Other errands – A new business venture – Beneficial effects of the rain – A pastor praises slavery – Effects of slavery on slave-owners – A mega-church to rival Apple – A startling admission from President Trump – Evening statistics
Errands have piled up, and today, with its uncertain weather, seemed like a good time to perform them.
Ordering new checks from the bank has become more complicated. Formerly I simply walked in (the bank is less than ten minutes from my house on foot), sat down with one of the marketing representatives, made the order, and saw the representative log the request into his or her workstation. Now the bank office is closed to walk-in customers, so I had to use the drive-in instead. It is less efficient, since my bank office has only a single line for cars. I also had to supply a voided check to enable the drive-in operator to find my account, and I was glad that I learned about this requirement beforehand; if I had not, I would have driven and waited in line to no purpose.
The REI outlets are now open again, so I was able to pick up some supplies at the Fairfax store and thus was spared the drive to the one at Woodbridge. Other errands involved shopping for food and over-the-counter pharmaceuticals such as insect repellent and sunscreen. I am glad to see that all of the stores now are requiring face masks on anyone who wishes to enter. Some stores also have an employee keeping count of the number of people who enter so as to enforce the maximum occupancy limit.
In the course of my errands I noticed that a new food market store will be opening this coming Wednesday. It is encouraging to see that people are embarking on new businesses under the current circumstances. Although this particular venture seems a bit strange to my mind; the location is less than a mile from Wegman’s and less than half-a-mile from Aldi. And it is right next to a Walmart as well. One has to admire the management’s self-confidence. This store is one of a chain called Lidl, which is opening several other new locations this and next week in New York and New Jersey as well.
The recent rain has lowered the temperature to the extent that I was able to mow the lawn without ending in a state of exhaustion, as would have been the case if I had attempted it earlier in the week when the thermometer was nearing 100 degrees. (As I noted yesterday, the temperature in the area where I was hiking was considerably lower.) Also, there now was a sufficient amount of grass to mow. Over the past week the grass grew so little on account of the long drought that it was not worth the cutting.
If anyone doubts that one cannot serve both God and Mammon, the doctrines of our megachurches should convince even the most disbelieving. Louie Giglio, the pastor for the Passion City Church in Atlanta, has publicly described slavery as a “white blessing.” He is not only wicked but foolish. As Frederick Douglass repeatedly pointed out, the influence of slavery was every bit as disastrous for the slave-owners as for the slaves. One of the most chilling passages in his autobiography is his description of Sophia Auld before and after she became a slave owner:
“She had never had a slave under her control previously to myself, and prior to her marriage she had been dependent upon her own industry for a living. She was by trade a weaver; and by constant application to her business, she had been in a good degree preserved from the blighting and dehumanizing effects of slavery. I was utterly astonished at her goodness. I scarcely knew how to behave towards her. She was entirely unlike any other white woman I had ever seen. I could not approach her as I was accustomed to approach other white ladies. My early instruction was all out of place. The crouching servility, usually so acceptable a quality in a slave, did not answer when manifested toward her. Her favor was not gained by it; she seemed to be disturbed by it. She did not deem it impudent or unmannerly for a slave to look her in the face. The meanest slave was put fully at ease in her presence, and none left without feeling better for having seen her. Her face was made of heavenly smiles, and her voice of tranquil music.
“But, alas! this kind heart had but a short time to remain such. The fatal poison of irresponsible power was already in her hands, and soon commenced its infernal work. That cheerful eye, under the influence of slavery, soon became red with rage; that voice, made all of sweet accord, changed to one of harsh and horrid discord; and that angelic face gave place to that of a demon.”
We like to think that if we had been transported back into the ante-bellum South and reared there we would have had no difficulty in perceiving the evils of slavery and would have revolted against it. But suppose you are presented with a set of several human beings over whom you have absolute power and who are regarded as chattel in the eyes of the law, over whom you have the authority to assign any labor that you find personally inconvenient and to punish them with the utmost rigor if they do not perform these tasks to your satisfaction – and suppose, likewise, that all of your childhood mentors assure you that it is your right, even your obligation to behave in such a manner and that encouraging any kind of independence among these possessions of yours is a sign of perversity. How many would be able to withstand such pressures?
The results of such an upbringing were what might be expected. The majority of slave-owners were honestly bewildered to learn that there was any controversy about slavery at all; some few grew up to be troubled by the idea of slavery and strove to make the best of existing circumstances by treating their slaves as indulgently as they could, disheartened by a lifetime of perpetual compromise; others become enthusiast partisans and fiercely opposed anyone who questioned the institution; but people who, like the Grimké sisters, voluntarily gave up their slave-owning status were very rare indeed. It would be pleasant to think that I would have had the strength of mind to flee from the society of slave-owners, settle in a Northern state or Canada, and live on my own without depending on domestics; but I fear, I very much fear, that in all likelihood I would have ended up rather like Mrs. Shelby in “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” living the indolent, luxurious life of a plantation-owner and salvaging my conscience by striving to treat dependents with all possible decency, supplying them with comforts, encouraging them to read (on the sly, of course, because that was illegal), treating their marriages as if they were valid sacramental contracts (which also would have been in defiance of the law), wearing myself out in a continual struggle to make the state of affairs tolerable, and in the end realizing that such an attempt was hopeless.
Returning to the Passion City Church, it seems that its congregation size is about 6,500, that it engages in video productions and music CDs that are marketed at huge profits, and that, according to one reviewer – a very enthusiastic one, who writes without a hint of irony – “Even the back office space is of a quality that would not look out of place in Google or Apple’s global headquarters.” I suppose one should not be surprised. Religion is a business. It has always been a business.
Our President has actually shown a tiny bit of self-awareness by stating that he often regrets some of his tweets and notes that, before the days of instant publication on social media such as Twitter, you had the opportunity to reflect on what you had written before deciding whether or not to release it. That actually is quite a reasonable observation. One would think that this realization would prompt him to hesitate a little before issuing his numerous pronouncements and perhaps tweeting rather less often; but so far, up to this point, that has never happened. I suppose I am condemning myself out of my own mouth, since I am now posting my journal entries to Facebook on a daily basis; but I do go over my entries before posting them and I like to believe that I’m a bit less impulsive than our august Commander-in-Chief.
Today’s statistics as of 8:00 PM – # of cases worldwide: 15,930,021; # of deaths worldwide: 641,842; # of cases U.S.: 4,247,553 # of deaths U.S.: 148,452. Another undesirable record has been reached: we had well over 75,000 new cases today. Also we’ve had another day with more than 1,000 deaths. Russia, similarly, has achieved a milestone it would rather have avoided: its case count has just surpassed 800,000. South Africa’s case increase today is nearly 14,000, its largest to date.