I’m writing this on a beautiful autumn day in northern New Mexico, with the mountains and piñon trees outside my windows as companions and witnesses.
My animal family surrounds me, and I am deeply aware of my relationships with the wild ones who share this land with me: birds, insects, rodents, coyotes, bobcat, fox, snake, and others whose presences and names I do not yet know.
I listen to my neighbors’ horses whinny in the distance.
I feel the ponderosa pine tree in my yard begin to prepare her body and her energy for the coming winter.
And, in my heart, my body, and all of my senses, I’m also deeply aware of the energy beyond my home, this land, my neighborhood, my community, my small and peaceful place in a “blue” state in the American southwest.
It’s not news to anyone that here in America, we are approaching another election. I know that many of my readers live in countries outside of the United States (and how grateful I am for that, and for your perspectives and energy), and I also know that what happens here in this country reverberates throughout the world.
This election is unlike any other in my lifetime, and I’m writing this with an acute awareness of the life and world-changing importance of what happens in my country, not just for Americans, not just for the human species, but for all species, for our planet, for multi-species communities everywhere.
Normally, I avoid talking about politics in my work. My unstated policy has been to create a large tent: anyone who is interested in learning more about interspecies relationships, connections, and communication, and who is sincerely devoted to the path of spirit and heart that this work requires, is welcome.
However, I do have other, stated policies in my work and business. I am actively committed to creating a community of respect, tolerance, and dignity for all life. I have an explicit policy for all of my programs which states:
I am committed to creating a community which honors each person as an individual and is inclusive of people of every race, class, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, and ability.
I will remove anyone from my programs who does not adhere to the basic principles of respectful communication and honoring the dignity and divinity of each person.
It’s my responsibility to not only state what I promote and stand for, but also to be clear about what I will not accept in my life, my work, my communities, and in our world.
And so, in this election cycle, in this crucial and critical time for our country and the world, not only am I publicly and explicitly supporting Kamala Harris for President of the United States, I’m asking you to join me in explicitly saying no to, and setting a clearly articulated boundary of what we will and will not accept and tolerate, by rejecting the MAGA/Trump policies, words, and actions of cruelty, fascism, authoritarianism, violence, narcissism, and greed.
Do I agree with all of Kamala Harris’ policies or everything she stands for? No.
But do I trust that she has the important qualities we need for leadership here in America and around the world?
Unequivocally, yes.
Empathy. Compassion. Kindness. Strength. Wisdom. Clarity. Intelligence. Sanity. Experience.
Do we cultivate and embrace cruelty, or do we cultivate and embrace kindness? This is the fundamental question.
Who do we choose to be, who do we choose to become, as individuals, as communities, as a global community?
We cannot say that we support animal welfare, kindness to animals, respect for the Earth, the trees, the water, and all life, and simultaneously support cruelty to other humans. It is not congruent.
Cruelties such as:
- Women bleeding out in parking lots because they cannot receive the health care they need
- People who are hungry, thirsty, and desperate for safety and a better life being left to die in the desert or to drown in rivers
- Children who are sexually assaulted being forced to give birth to a child
- The multiple cruelties of demonizing and dehumanizing other people and weaponizing their lives for political gain, whether by ethnicity, national origin, religion, immigration status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic that is different than the dominant white male paradigm
- Military veterans who were wounded or killed in service being denigrated as “suckers and losers”
- Public servants, including election workers, members of congress, the former Vice President, and the capitol police being threatened and violently assaulted on and before January 6, 2020
- Federal emergency management workers being threatened with violence as they work to bring desperately needed aid to people who survived the recent hurricanes and devastation in the southeastern US as a result of baseless conspiracy theories and lies
I could go on.
As Kamala Harris says,
“The true measure of the strength of a leader is not based on who you beat down; it’s based on who you lift up.”
I grew up in a fundamentalist, christian cult with strong influences of christian/white nationalism. I know firsthand how these systems work; how the intergenerational trauma and abuse they promote often creates an ongoing legacy of violence and cruelty.
We see these systems writ large in our country now, with influences in our governments, courts, schools, and communities. The Project 2025 playbook details the next phases of this authoritarian, fascist cruelty in stunning detail.
As I read excerpts of this document, I was reminded of my childhood education in the fundamentalist cult, and the methodical and calculating infiltration of these ideas over decades into all of the systems of our government. We are seeing this play out now on the national and global stage, not just here in the US, but all over the world.
*If you want to know more about this systemic, calculated infiltration of white christian nationalism in America, I highly recommend these books:
- Confronting Christofascism by Carolyn Baker
- Strongmen: Mussolini to the Present by Ruth Ben-Ghiat
As I sat to write this post, I asked myself:
What can I do in this time? What is important, what is mine to share, to give, to do?
I can’t change people’s minds. If you’re in the MAGA/Trump cult, your mind is made up, you’re under a delusional spell of mind control and fear, and nothing I say will change that. If and when you’re ready to leave, you’ll come to that realization on your own. You might consider unsubscribing and unfollowing because you’re not going to find anything that you resonate with here. You can’t love animals and trees and plants and the Earth, and simultaneously promote systems of cruelty, hatred, and violence in the world. It doesn’t work that way.
But if you are an American who is on the fence, or considering sitting this one out, fed up with the “whole system”, I invite you, no, I implore you to reconsider. Please get involved. Please cast your vote, use your voice, in this election, not just for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz, but for all politicians down ballot who promote these broad coalition ideals of tolerance, kindness, respect, decency, and sanity.
We can disagree on policy, we can have robust conversations about what we care about and our ideas for creating a better country, but we can also agree on the fundamental conditions of freedom that allow us to disagree, to be conservative, liberal, or anything in between, in a context of respect, peacefulness, rejection of violence, and respect for foundational principles of democracy.
Please don’t fall for the deception of “third party” candidates in casting your actual vote. Listen to their viewpoints if you must, but use your power as a citizen to prevent the cruelty and insanity of the MAGA/Trump cult from ever being in power again in this country.
Our lives, the lives of our families of all species, the future of our children, grandchildren, the animals and plants and trees and forests and mountains, are at stake.
