The Vote

My heart has really been heavy lately and I just feel the need to speak on some of the reasons why.  Our nation is in what seems to be a civil war right now.  It’s not the North vs. the South, it’s the Democrats vs. Republicans.  This is so frustrating to me and has really had a toll on my emotions lately.  Right now, my beliefs most closely align with the Democratic party.  One of my biggest struggles is that a lot of my friends and family do not and that has really put us in some hard conversations and some pretty negative feelings with each other.  I don’t necessarily claim to be of a certain party.  I vote based on the issues at hand.  I am not married to a party.  I’m willing to cast my vote on the issues not because I have committed to a certain person or group of people. 

Over the last four years America has not had the beliefs of “let’s work together and make America better.” It’s been “Us vs. Them.”  Christian Conservatives vs. The Liberal Snowflakes.  As a Christian, it truly saddens me that many of the Republican friends and family of mine have resolved to this idea.  It is also truly saddens me with all the name calling and hateful comments.  I also love Jesus and want more than anything for the world around me to know him.  Just because I don’t vote like you doesn’t mean that we don’t share similar beliefs. 

I feel like I can’t have a real conversation with people about the issues that are at hand.  When voicing my beliefs regarding politics, I am often attacked.  People that I have gone to church with, people who claim to know and love Jesus have behaved in such hateful behavior towards me because they believe differently than I do. Someone once told me that they are voting for Trump, because they refuse to vote for the Devil.  So not only am I a liberal snowflake, now I’m also a Devil supporter. The demeaning and hateful comments bring about no fruit.  I refuse to be defined by shallow and untrue statements and assumptions.   

My intentions are to never shame or belittle anyone.  I do often post news articles sharing information that is actually happening in America and some people become very aggressive with their hateful comments.  Like I stated above, I never do this to shame anyone or hate on a political party but I absolutely believe that we must be aware of what is going on in our country.  EDUCATION is POWER.  KNOWLEDGE is POWER.  How can we fix this broken world if we refuse to acknowledge the injustices that are taking place right here on our own soil? We have to stop sticking our heads in the sand and pretending everything is ok.  It may be ok for you and me right now, but it’s not OK for a lot of people.  As followers of Christ, it is our duty to speak up for the oppressed, take care of the weak and mistreated, and hold our leaders accountable for their actions.  How can we make the world a better place when we fail to do these simple things?

One issue that I know is a hot topic for Christians when it comes to voting is abortion.  Republicans are traditionally known for being “pro-life” and Democrats “pro-choice.” I wish things were that black and white but really they aren’t. There is so much messy grey area in all of this.  I absolutely hate the idea of abortion.  It is a sad, unnecessary (in most cases) loss of life that I truly believe grieves the heart of God.  BUT when you say that you are Pro-life, shouldn’t that mean that you are Pro- everybody’s life?  What about the precious children that are STILL locked in cages at the border.  Are their lives also not important? Does America locking children in cages and separating them from their families not also grieve the heart of God?  If we are pro-life, shouldn’t we also care about the vulnerable, and at-risk people whose lives are in danger because we as a society think this pandemic is some type of hoax? “I’m healthy, I should be fine even if it is real.” People refusing to wear a mask because it infringes on their “God given American rights,” but we lack the care and responsibility to just care about our neighbors and sacrifice just a little for them.  Where is our compassion?

The Republican party has been in the White House for the last 4 years and guess what? Abortion is still legal.  You can still get one. The issue of abortion and preservation of life has been such a selling point for them every time there is an election.  They’ve had the ability to make changes and still abortion is legal.  If you are voting solely on the issue of abortion here is how you can make a real tangible difference.   Donate your time, money, and resources to pregnancy resource centers.  Check on the single parents in your life.  Give of your time and resources to help those parents who are struggling.  Offer to watch their kids when you know they just need a break.  Be an encourager and let them know that they are not alone.  Be a shoulder that they can lean on when things are tough.  Raising kids is not an easy thing and I can’t imagine how difficult a decision it must be to decide to go it alone with no support.  Be the support.  Be the first… the first to offer to bring them a meal, the first to encourage, the first to acknowledge that having a baby by yourself is hard, the first to tell them that they are doing an amazing job, the first to tell then that it gets better and that they can do it, the first to tell them that you are there for them.  Just because I vote Democrat does not mean that I don’t grieve for every baby’s life that is lost and for every would have been Mother that has to live with that devastating decision the rest of her life. 

Let’s talk about Gay Marriage.  Maybe your religion disagrees with it.  That’s your right to believe that.  But as a Christian, we have been called to love our neighbors no matter what walk of life they are in.  Jesus doesn’t say “love your neighbor if you like them, or love your neighbor if they live like you, look like you, or love like you.  Jesus himself hung out with all sorts of people.  People whose lifestyles he didn’t necessarily agree with, but he loved them anyway.  So if you believe the misconception that the Republican party will get rid of gay marriage and therefore get rid of homosexuality, that is two completely different things. 

Let’s talk about this pro-life thing a little more.  Do all lives matter? Do all children’s lives matter? Then why in the world are we still locking innocent children in cages at the border? Let’s talk about this a little deeper.  I hear the argument a lot that the kid’s at the border’s parents broke the law and therefor they deserve the situation they are in.  So with that reasoning, should we also put all of the American children who have parents serving time in prison in cages also? I mean, their parents also broke the law? Why should it be different- because they are American citizens? Doesn’t everyone deserve life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.   A lot of these people are running from very terrible, unsafe situations and are desperately trying to give their families a better life.  We say that we would do anything within reason to protect our children yet when someone from a different nationality does the same, we treat them as criminals. How can we rationalize in our heads that our children’s lives are more valuable than someone else’s.  I’m not saying by any means to have open borders.  I’m saying that without a question these people at the very minimum should be treated as fellow human beings.  They are being deprived of sanitary living conditions and basic care.  We have turned a blind eye to the evil that is taking place in our own borders because it’s easier to stick our heads in the sand and pretend it’s not really happening.  Someone else’ own personal hell doesn’t have to be real or exist because it’s too hard to admit that we don’t think it’s a problem.  Not my family. Not my friends. Not my fellow American… not my problem.  Do those desensitized beliefs not also grieve the heart of God?

 For if you truly amend your ways and your doings, if you truly act justly one with another, if you do not oppress the alien, the orphan, and the widow, or shed innocent blood in this place, and if you do not go after other gods to your own hurt, then I will dwell with you in this place, in the land that I gave of old to your ancestors forever and ever.
Jeremiah 7:5-7

Thus says the Lord of hosts: Render true judgments, show kindness and mercy to one another; do not oppress the widow, the orphan, the alien, or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.
Zechariah 7:9-10

Alright, let’s move on to morals, ethics and the Constitution.  Without saying “well so and so did this”, or “so and so did that”… Answer me this… Is it ok for the president to break the law? Is the President above the law? If your answer to this question is yes, then I really have no argument with you.  What is right is right.  What is wrong is wrong.  It can’t be ok for one person and not another.  It can’t be ok, because well “everyone just treats Trump unfairly…” I firmly believe that when you break the law, whether you be a beggar on the street or the president of the United States of America, you should absolutely be held accountable for your actions.  We all know there is such a double standard here in America and that’s not how things actually work, but morally I believe that’s how they should. When you allow someone with so much power to become lawless, and unregulated, you are opening the door for a lot of trouble.  The manner in which Trump conducts himself is embarrassing to me as an American.

He has constantly demonized anyone who doesn’t fall into ranks with him.  He doesn’t like what the media says about them.  The media is now the enemy.  He doesn’t like what science is proving, science is the enemy.  He doesn’t like climate change, it’s fake news.  He doesn’t like that the numbers show he’s failing as a president, fake news. He doesn’t like the protests against police brutality.  Black Lives Matter Bad.  Praises the KKK and claims that some of them are very upstanding people. He is demonizing teachers and putting people in charge of the department of education who profit from the defunding of the public school system. So many school shootings, and he demonizes the victims speaking out for gun control.  Gun control bad.  NRA good.   He won’t admit the pandemic is real and calls it a hoax for months.  Now there are thousands of dead Americans and it’s not his fault.  He doesn’t like that people think he mishandled the pandemic. Now the CDC is bad.  Now the white house controls what the American people get to see regarding how “great America is doing at beating this virus.” Secret unidentified police are attacking peaceful protestors and throwing them in unmarked vans. There is no accountability. No responsibility.  THIS MAN IS DANGEROUS. The Holocaust didn’t just happen one day.  It was a gradual process.  We look back in history and wonder how such horrible things could have been allowed… could have been tolerated.  It started with complacency. Little by little things got worse and worse. If more people would have stood up, spoken up, rose up, do you think it could have been stopped?  Now is our time as a nation, to rise up, speak up, and stand up against the evils we have allowed to creep in. 

Fake News.  Every time I hear someone use this phrase as a defense of some sort I want to pull my hair out.  Every time I hear this phrase, I literally imagine a five year old holding their hands over their ears saying “I can’t hear you.”  Just because you disagree or don’t like what you hear, doesn’t mean that it’s not real and not happening.  You just don’t want to acknowledge it as so.  We can’t just live in some lala land pretending that all the crap going on around us in the world is not real and not our problem. 

I do not hate Republicans.  That is not the point of this post.  Like I said before, I have many people in my life who I love and care for dearly who support the Republican party.  I just often feel so attacked and demonized for my own beliefs by those who think differently.  I often feel stuck in this weird, well I’m a Christian and all the other Christians seem to be voting for Trump so am I the crazy one? I’ve heard lots of people use the reasoning that we prayed for Trump to win and God answered our prayers.  To this I have to say that even in the Bible people asked for not great things and God gave them what they asked for.  Even in the Old Testament people asked God for Kings.  God gave them those kings.  Those kings treated the people badly and didn’t always follow God.  God has given us this thing called free will. Free will allows us as human beings to make our own decisions… even if those decisions are stupid.  Stupid decisions usually come with consequences.  Not because God wants to punish us or give us what we deserve, but because like the loving father that he is, God corrects us so that we can do better and learn from our mistakes.  AMERICA, we CAN do Better.  We can learn from the mistakes we have made.  We can ask God for forgiveness for our bad decisions, from our pride, from our self-absorption, and our lack of love and kindness that we have shown our fellow man.   Let our prayer be to not make America Great, to not make Trump great, to not make ourselves great, but to be humbled before the Lord of all creation so that we would become small and his name great. That we would love our fellow man no matter how they vote or what they believe.  I pray that there would be reconciliation in our families and friendships that have been torn apart by politics. Let the enemy not destroy us from within but let us be united in love and for the mission that is to reach the world for Jesus.  Let us proclaim the name of Jesus above any other name.  Above any candidate, above any political party.  Let us always remember that evil will bring division, but love unites.