Lord of the Flies

| 6:00 pm EDT August 14, 2022
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“Lord of the flies,” first published in 1954 by Nobel-Prize-winning author William Golding tells a grim and horrifying story indeed. A group of British boys are stranded on an uninhabited island. Many of you know the story. The group begins to turn on each other as paranoia, group-think, and evil run rampant.

In a way, what we’re witnessing in these times with the GOP is not so different. Think about it. In Lord of the flies, one of the main plot points is the hunting of “the beast.” This beast does not exist, but some of the boys slowly begin to believe he does. The group begins to splinter into factions, some believing in the beast, even making an offering to him, while others know there is no beast, but they’re outnumbered.

As time goes on, the beast-believers’ actions become more ritualistic, more darkly evil, until tragedy strikes. In our world, Donald Trump is “the beast.” And it is the Republicans, whom, like the boys-turned savages on that island, will not let go of their fevered and frenzied devotion.

Lives have already been destroyed because of the feral and disgusting devotion of the GOP to the monstrous person of Trump. This week, a Trump devotee attacked an FBI office on Ohio. This likely would not have happened if the GOP would have just tamped back the rhetoric.

But they seem no more capable of doing that than the boys on that island were of policing themselves.

This is because the GOP has given themselves to the beast. They defend the beast, lash out at those who call the beast out, and worship the beast. Their actions are of mindless animals who no longer have it in them to demonstrate critical thinking skills. That is why they must never EVER hold power again.