How I Lost My Conservativism and a Lot of My Religion, Too: Part 5

So...let's talk about the election, shall we? I am no longer conservative, and all my friends know I voted for Hillary. But now you know a little better why.

And I know a little better that it is time to stop thinking I am "wrong" or have veered off the chosen path and don't deserve to have a voice anymore. I have studied. I have thought. I have prayed. I have worked to be a loving and empathetic person. I have fully experienced both sides of the liberal/conservative Ferris wheel. I have something to say.

I have a few thoughts for my Bible-believing friends who believe God intervened so Trump would win and somehow save the world. "We fasted and prayed for this," they say. "Hillary was for abortions!," they say. And they believe deep within them that Democrats, and Hillary Clinton in particular, are truly evil, the instruments of Satan to bring about the downfall of America and Christianity.

The rage...the rage I feel when you blame this travesty on God....

First, AIN'T NOBODY TAKING ANYONE'S GUNS!! I don't care what anyone says, what anyone wants...your right to bear arms is protected by the Second Amendment, a historical document that has stood and been the pride of all America for well over 200 years. Do you know how difficult it would be to change the Bill of Rights?! No bi-partisan Congress has the power to do it unless almost all of it agrees, and I am SURE it doesn't. NO EXCUSE FOR VOTING FOR YOUR GUN OVER YOUR NEIGHBOR.

Second, I DON'T KNOW ANY CANDIDATE FOR PRESIDENT WHO HAS EVER PERFORMED ANY ABORTION, LET ALONE A LATE-TERM OR PARTIAL BIRTH ONE. I do, however, know candidates who stand for a woman's right to choose. I have many Christian friends who believe a woman does not have a right to choose once she has made the choice to conceive. But maybe we could talk about that for a minute.

A few years ago, I was in the throes of a deep, dark, suicidal depression. I shunned the light of day, barely left my bedroom, and spent the nights crying and clinging to a razor blade and a bottle of brandy, wondering how many more miserable nights I could fight the urge to end it all. The very thought of bringing another human being into the world, with all its evil and suffering, could bring me to despair. (No, I was not pregnant; but I thought about these things anyway.) That was the first time I could ever empathize with someone who might choose abortion over giving birth. After all, isn't it better to give your child into the hands of Jesus (if you believe that) than into the maw of a vicious tiger?

Please don't stop reading now thinking I am pro-abortion. I think there are many preferable options to abortion. BUT I CANNOT CONDEMN SOMEONE WHO CHOOSES IT, based on despair. And I cannot always be the judge of what might cause that despair. Therefore, while I do not advocate FOR abortion, it is NOT the primary issue I look at when deciding on a candidate. (Though, granted, I am sure not all decisions for abortion are made because the pregnant woman despairs. However, that is just one consideration with which a thinking and feeling person might empathize.)

You want another? Okay. A person is judged for having an abortion, but don't forget, often she is judged even more harshly simply for being pregnant. How could she have been so loose, so irresponsible?! What a shame for a kid to be having a kid. Oh, look - another mouth or two for Welfare to feed.

There are plenty of great programs to help mothers with children - they provide great tax deductions, some offices (and even high schools) provide daycare for children of employees(/students), and scholarships for single mothers abound. Not to mention, many people would love to have a baby and can't, so why not put that child up for adoption? (PS - have you ever looked into an adoption? They are completely unaffordable for the average person/family, and the red tape is more than daunting.)

Oh, and the foster care system. Well...we won't even really go there. I so respect and appreciate people who do foster care and give themselves to father and motherless children who need them. But. There. Aren't. Enough. And the children are often carrying around hearts with invisible but gaping wounds, because foster care simply isn't the same as being loved and cared for by one's own family.
NO EXCUSE FOR VOTING FOR YOUR OWN MISUNDERSTANDING OF DESPAIR/LACK OF OPTIONS OVER YOUR NEIGHBOR.

So why don't we just get down to it? You likely voted for Trump because you don't like the Democrats' platform - the platform that stands for EQUAL RIGHTS FOR EVERYONE - regardless of race, religion, age, sex, gender, or sexual orientation. You don't think people different from you should have the same rights as you, for whatever reason. By "same rights," I mean the rights that are foundational to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness - rights to work without arbitrarily losing one's job because of a difference of personal beliefs; rights to marry the whomever one chooses and loves; rights to worship the God beloved by one's soul (or not worship an unbelieved-in god, as the case may be). Just because people do things differently doesn't mean people aren't very much the same in what they want, what they love, what they need. By voting against the rights of others to do things THAT DON'T HURT YOU AT ALL(!!!!), you ARE telling them, "I am more important than you. You don't deserve to be here. You are less than human." If you feel, and vote based on the feeling, that others do not deserve the same rights as you, I declare to you that you fall into the same moral category as an abusive parent who tells their children every day that they are trash and will never amount to anything. Whether you realize it or not, your actions, your condescension, conjure the same emotional scars on real, live human beings.

NO EXCUSE FOR VOTING FOR YOUR OWN FEARS AND PREJUDICES OVER YOUR NEIGHBOR.

I do not want to throw out a bunch of Scriptures here (for one thing, the post is long enough already). But let me just remind you of some basic Christian teachings:

As Much As Possible, Live In Peace With Everyone.

God Loves The World And Created Everyone With FREE WILL. (Stop trying to make others' decisions for them.)

Love Your Neighbor.

DO NOT FEAR.

Welcome The Stranger.

Provide For The Poor. (Leaving a few extra crops in the field for the refugees...that's in several Old Testament Books.)

You say you love America and want to make it great again. America is great because it is more. We were taught in elementary school that it is the great Melting Pot, a beacon of light and welcome to people from all lands seeking FREEDOM from oppression and a right to live as they see fit, with equal opportunities as all their neighbors at making a life that will bring them happiness.

Despite all this, you think God helped your guy win. You think God put His vote in the American election for a guy putting down women, people of color, people of latinx heritage, Muslims, and people with disabilities, among others. You say he didn't spew hatred, but how can you even say that?!!!! You say I only say that because it's what the liberal news media told me. But I WATCHED IT AS IT HAPPENED!! If you didn't believe it, you could see it from the way the people at his rallies - the people who elected him - your preferred neighbors (let that sink in for a minute) - behaved, beating elderly people, bullying, calling names, and calling for white supremacy. What small, scared people.

He's not going to protect your guns any more than Hillary would have, because no one can take them.

He's not going to protect your money anymore than anyone with an ability to budget would, unless he does what he did with his taxes and just refuses to pay what is owed, or cuts out the meager programming available to help your struggling neighbors.

If you think Christians have become an oppressed minority, look at this election. The liberals did not vote Trump into office. Stop licking your imaginary wounds and do what you say you are called to do. LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR.

Comments

  1. Trump was the favorite of Putin, Kim Jung-un and KKK. That should make some alarm bells go off. It was quite a shock when I woke up Wednesday morning, and heard in the news that Trump actually won.

    I have read some reasonable arguments why Trump won. For instance that the American working class lost the trust in the politicians, who have done nothing for them. But to claim that God wanted Trump to win, that's not sane (why not Ted Cruz or Ben Carson?). If this was the case I would say that the Lord works in bizarre ways. I can't imagine any president candidate more distant form traditional Christian moral and traditions than Trump (married 3 times, "grab them by the pussy", etc.)

    I think many Americans should read less of the Bible, and more of Descartes and Hume, and really think critically through all the weird things they believe in.

    Fortunately, many young Americans seem to have voted for Hillary Clinton. This gives hope for the future. I wish Bernie Sanders was 30 years younger >;)

    Cold As Heaven

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    1. I agree with everything in your comment! Everyone was shocked when Trump won - those who voted for him and those who voted against! And Bernie was my first choice. :)

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  2. This is worth a thought: I've read the whole series, saw how you progressed from one thought process to another, by listening to the thoughts of others and being more open than you'd been previously. But in some respects, you traded one sheltered way of thinking for another. You can't really decide who deserves condemnation based on your current thought process. But that's what you're doing, same as you ever did. That's not what God would do. The whole point Jesus tried to make was that as times change, our understanding of the world broadens, that the "other" becomes "us" the less we allow circumstances to define them. I don't remember Jesus condemning even his executioners. Maybe you can point out a passage?

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    Replies
    1. Thank you for taking the time to read and comment. I realize my words here are passionate, but I wished to vocalize an opinion from me, one of the "others". I want trying to condemn, as I realize I am not perfect by any means. I wanted to give people another perspective, and yes, I was angry because of some of the smug posts I had seen crediting God for Trump's win. And just because you asked, Jesus did call out those who oppressed others - the Pharisees, the money-changers, etc.

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    2. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  3. Have you ever thought about publishing an ebook or guest authoring on other sites?
    I have a blog based upon on the same topics you discuss and would
    love to have you share some stories/information. I know my viewers would appreciate your work.
    If you're even remotely interested, feel free to send me an e mail.

    ReplyDelete

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