There comes a time when people on the spiritual path have to say what they see. That time for me is now and it has to do with what is happening to our country, indeed in countries all over the world.

What I see is that the Republican Party is a dangerous cult promoting autocracy and authoritarianism. They scream so loud that it is blood-curdling. Meanwhile, the Democrats, as usual, are too polite, dull and a day late and a dollar short.

In times like these, anyone in America who sees what is happening and condones it is a danger to our democracy. The media are trying to warn us, but too many people tune politics out when they should be educating themselves about the peril that our democracy is in.

Anyone voting Republican is voting for autocracy. If they win, our democracy will die. Right now they have taken the right for women to have abortions and there are more restrictive rules coming down the pike at the Supreme Court.

Trump likes Putin and his ilk. The global trend is towards autocracy. Democracy lacks the will to overcome evil with good, although they are trying. It may be too little too late. Biden wasted time pushing his Build Back Better program when he should have been warning the nation about the coming plans of the Right.

Trump taught Republicans to attack, lie and then attack and lie some more. We have heard all of the lies. His is a party of white supremacy, much like the South in the Civil War. Our nation is going backwards.

I just had to get this off my chest. In these perilous times, democracy is on the line all over the world. And it is the right thing for me to do to write about it. The bottom line is that evil is on the ascendancy worldwide. God help us all.

Vicki Woodyard