OEP COVID Meetup #11 - Preparing for Chaos

Join us for an #OEPCommunity Meetup focused on how people of faith can prepare for the potential of post-election chaos.

These check-ins, a series of events initiated as people began to stay home due to COVID, are relational meetups with a theme. In each gathering, we welcome new and returning friends and seek to build community, conviction, and capacity. These sessions are not "webinars" - they provide a time for relationship and conversation, with focused content that we engage together.

On October 23, we will discuss the present U.S. circumstances in the lead-up to the November 3 election. How can people of peace, committed to justice, personally prepare for possible violence, confusion, and chaos?

Time: 3:00-4:30pm Eastern time. Click here to see the start time in your time zone.

It’s likely that results will not be clear on election day and possible that confusion will be sown to intentionally undermine the election results or to grab power. In the words of Daniel Hunter:

People who do power grabs always claim they’re doing it to save democracy or claim they know the “real” election results. This doesn’t have to look like a military coup with one leader ordering the opposition to be arrested. We can know it’s a coup if the government:

Stops counting votes;

Declares someone a winner who didn’t get the most votes; or

Allows someone to stay in power who didn’t win the election.

We will spend time considering our own responses to the pledge circulated by Choose Democracy:

We will vote.
We will refuse to accept election results until all the votes are counted.
We will nonviolently take to the streets if a coup is attempted.
If we need to, we will shut down this country to protect the integrity of the democratic process.

Advance reading: Daniel Hunter, “10 things you need to know to stop a coup” and "What’s the game plan if Trump really does try to steal the election? 7 tactics to stop a coup"

What to expect in the call: