Editor’s note: This blog post by AU President and CEO Rachel Laser originally appeared in the November 2024 issue of AU’s Church & State magazine.
As I write this, the November election is weeks away. I obviously cannot say yet what the results will be or how they will impact church-state separation, religious freedom and their many connected issues. Uncertainty and fear abound. But for all of us, I think this can — and must — also be a time of hope for a better future. Believe me, I understand this is a big ask. Hope doesn’t come easy these days.
I was reminded of this during a recent meeting of AU’s leadership team where we were making post-election plans. As we listed many different possible challenges that could arise and discussed strategy, priorities and capacity, I felt a sinking energy in the room. We already face so many challenges across the states, in the courts and in Congress prior to this election cycle. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed in a way that leads to despondency.
Sometimes I have thought to myself that despair is afflicting mostly older people. Recently, I shared this hypothesis with a group of undergraduates when I taught a class about church-state separation at American University. Afterward, one of the students emailed me and gave me permission to share her thoughts about hope: “I find myself feeling more despair than hope, which is unfortunate, and I’m unsure how to remedy this. You mentioned several times that ‘we’ are larger and stronger together, but the opposing side is corrupt, vastly wealthy, and does everything in its power to silence our voices. What can we do, especially when the Supreme Court seems increasingly aligned with the opposition?”
Hopelessness is understandably plaguing many of us across different age groups these days.
So how can we remedy this?
Leaders of movements that inspired millions to act during dark days have a lot to teach us on this subject. When Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. famously reminded people that “[t]he arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice[,]” he was creating a positive mindset that is a necessary part of hope. Hope requires believing that things can ultimately improve, even if it doesn’t happen in your lifetime.
But that isn’t the only key to hope. In Nelson Mandela’s autobiography, he writes: “Part of being optimistic is keeping one’s head pointed toward the sun, one’s feet moving forward.” Being hopeful involves acting: directing one’s gaze upward and feet forward.
To me, hope is an optimism that you decide to hold and be part of creating. It is the action of envisioning a better world and taking steps to make it happen. It is believing that you can be part of meaningful change, no matter how you contribute.
In the speeches I have been giving around the country, I often end with historian Howard Zinn’s beautiful reminder to choose hope:
“To be hopeful in bad times is not just foolishly romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion, sacrifice, courage, kindness.
“What we choose to emphasize in this complex history will determine our lives. … If we remember those times and places — and there are so many — where people have behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act, and at least the possibility of sending this spinning top of a world in a different direction.”
When I emailed the student back, I acknowledged her justifiable feelings of despair. But I also reassured her that even the billion-dollar Shadow Network we are fighting cannot withstand the force of people uniting across differences to support America’s core values. And I shared that over the course of my lifetime, millions of people in the Civil, Women’s and LGBTQ+ Rights movements have acted magnificently and bent the moral arc of our country toward justice. I included links to AU youth programs she could join.
What if every one of us chose to believe in the power of our own voice? What if we chose to believe in the power of coming together with others to accomplish change? And then, made a plan, no matter how small, to start somewhere. One great place to start is by supporting Americans United as generously as you can and getting your friends and family to do the same. Join our webinars, take the actions we connect you to and come to our Summit for Religious Freedom this April. Hope is a practice that we can get better at together.
