To all my Christians who voted for Donald Trump I pose the simple question of why? Scrolling through my Facebook during the election I recall seeing posts about fighting abortion. Girls I went to school with who had kids of their own and in what they deemed safe relationships were the main ones posting such statuses. Trump was the answer to the issue of this immoral act, murdering babies. Innocent children who did not choose to be created. Hillary , Bernie, or all other democrats justified this criminal behavior. They normalized it. But Trump? Trump would be America’s saving grace. Bringing back Jesus to the White House as Vicki Yohe so delicately put it. And I wonder how? How is Trump bringing Jesus back into the White House? When was Jesus ever there or when had he ever left? To insinuate that President Obama exiled Jesus from the rulings of the country are laughable. Was Jesus there when our country, founded on “Christian” principles, invaded other countries, stole from them? Was he there when the Declaration of Independence was penned and signed on a desk in a country that didn’t believe that liberty and freedom were for everyone? When the the Statue of Liberty was erected as a beacon of freedom, hope for arriving immigrants? In waters that washed upon shores soaked in blood, splashed in by women and men who thought themselves superior for their porcelain skin. More pure. True Americans unlike those filing off boats from other countries forgetting that they were descendants of sailing ships, disease blankets, and war. Laughable. Now the time has come and they have gotten the president they have asked for, fought for, voted for and he has turned away and evicted those who have much more in common with his voters than they will accept. And silence. Only to raise their voices in anger at the protests, the “immaturity and fragility” of those who march in opposition. But quiet none the less.
Let me be clear I don’t go by pro-choice or pro-life. I’m not trying to be Raven Symone with the whole “I don’t believe in titles” stance. But while I don’t personally support abortion, I realize it’s really not my business to tell another woman she has to have a child she does not want. I don’t know her circumstances to tell her what to do. I know that the pulpits cry out that it’s not her choice, it’s God choice. But in all honesty everything we do on this Earth is our choice. If it weren’t, God would take the time to convert every single person to Christianity, but he doesn’t which should speak volumes about the amount of choice we have in our lives. And I must ask what other assistance does this pulpit offer to these women they attempt to force children on, not in the name of Christ but as punishment for their choices. Will they fight to clean up the foster care system which offers little hope to the kids who are pushed from home to home? Or add programs to schools to assist young women with childcare as they go through their classes? Help them get better paying jobs to afford clothing, diapers, and food, since breast milk will only sustain for so long? Counseling and legal aid for victims of rape, incest, or assault in which they are not blamed and their attackers are rightly punished? Teach their sons the definition of consent and not dress him in a well pressed suit and tie for his court case, cry about HIS future, and yell “Amen!” when he claims that she wanted it? Whisper amongst themselves about her clothing choices and her intoxication or her “negligence?” I remember someone said that they care about the child until it is born. What do they have to put on the table other than their demands? It’s as though “help” is a word that is foreign to them until they are the ones in need. Until they feel that they are the ones being attacked. And that help came with a touch of bronzer and a baggy suit, said “Make America Great Again” and they thought he was help personified. Forgive his “locker room talk” because they expect such things from men. Nobody cares about him grabbing a vagina that isn’t attached to them. Ignore his hateful followers who carry swastika embroidered flags, spit on people of color, advocate murder and assault, and grasp at the fragile strings of white male superiority. Never question why such a crowd stand behind him.
A young lady at work told me that she planned to vote for Hillary until abortion became a subject. Then she switched over to being a Trump supporter. I wondered how she could forfeit every other platform she had on the grounds of a right to choose. As she sits at home watching the news, hearing of the immigration order and the healthcare repeal, does she feel regret? The decision to build a wall that is to be funded by her money. A wall that will not aid in keeping murderers, terrorists, or rapists out, as he believes. It’s simply throwing the baby out with the bath water. Preventing those who have hopes and dreams of receiving education in America, raising a family on our sinful soil, attaining the ever allusive American dream. Fleeing from war torn countries with their children swaddled on their backs. Trying to escape violence and poverty that moves from doorstep to doorstep until it finally reached the threshold of their homes. Another young lady I went to college with has just left the country to do missionary work. She praised the victory of Trump. Launched her own social media campaign during the election. Only to leave this country to help the exact people that Trump’s executive orders seek to exile. To take the Gospel to a lost and dying world as she carries in her heart the admiration of a man who seems to hold no consideration for that world. The irony. Part of the church has it’s own alternative facts, I suppose.
They’ve started a whole twitter that posts screenshots of Trump voters tweeting their regret. Not because of all the hateful speech Trump has made during his campaign. Not because of the groups he has excluded. But because they feel attacked now. They feel the way that many of us who voted against him felt. It’s their healthcare being threatened. It’s their money that is to be used for the wall. It’s them. When it was us, it didn’t matter. Only after their votes have been cast and their ballots counted have their eyes been opened. And yet for some reason the evangelicals still hold on, grasping to the hem of the jacket of his suit like the hem of Jesus’s robe.
I’m not writing this so that people can agree with me or argue with me. I’m honestly just writing this because I’ve banned myself from Facebook so I have to vent all my frustrations out on this blog. But I’m upset. I have a right to be upset. This doesn’t mean I don’t want to live in America. It means I want to matter in America. I want the marginalized to matter in America. How can the same Christians who voted for him now sit silently as he, his administration, and his followers act out in hatred and childishness? It frustrates me. And I pray daily for Trump and his administration. I want him to succeed as a president because I prefer the pilot not crash the plane that I’m passenger of. But do you really expect us to pray silently and ignore whats going on? To just accept the status quo? I can’t even address everything that’s running through my head because then this post would be six pages long. So I did leave some things out which is lucky for whoever stuck through to read this because you had to suffer less. But I can’t think about the people whose visas mean nothing now. Who have to pack up and leave. I can’t think about people waiting to fly to safety who now receive the news that they are not welcome. I can’t think about people who suffer at the hand of terrorists in their own lands who live in fear daily. Actual fear. Not the exaggerated fear that Fox news or CNN perpetuates. Out of all of the attacks in America how many have been from outside terrorists? And of all the people who die at the hand of terrorists, how many are Americans? This country needs to accept that the most common violence in America is acted out by Americans. To think that the running slogan is “Make America Great Again” and the people who are being sacrificed for this “greatering” are the ones who think better of America than we often do. I think about what this country is built on, really built on, and who built it. I think about the natives who were mercilessly murdered or forced into reservations in a land that was theirs. I think about that stupid pipeline. How the protesters were treated like dirt, shot at, violated, sprayed with water, attacked by dogs. Having their heritage transformed into a costume that the hipsters wear to Coachella or a halloween party. I think about islamphobia. How it’s seen as okay to carelessly call people ragheads and criticize their attire. Blame them for 9/11 and target them. Talk about the way they smell (yes I have actually heard people talk about people they think are muslims having a particular smell), interrogate their families, and cry for their deportment. Ignore that many fought on the front-lines in the war and serve in the army to protect a country that thinks they should all be blown to shit. I think about black people. My mom’s elementary school used to receive bomb threats after integration. Emmett Till has been all over Tumblr lately. His mom described in graphic detail the condition of his body when it arrived back in Chicago. What his murderer said about making him an example. And I just feel so overwhelmed. And the church always wants to go on the defense, screaming about being under attack all because prayer was taken out of school and Starbucks did some gahdamn red cups or people want to say Happy Fucking Holidays instead of Merry Christmas. And they forget that at one point Christians everywhere were being slaughtered for their Christianity. Read “Foxe’s Book of Martyrs.” That’s what an attack on Christianity really looks like. This “opposition” today is nothing compared to that back then. Christians in America are safe. Other countries still kill Christians. People are afraid to be caught with a bible in some countries. To think that American Evangelicals truly feel under attack is showing the fragility of Christians. And if they really feel like Christianity is under attack this strategy they are choosing isn’t sufficient. First of all the bible predicts attacks on Christianity anyway. It’s not like this is an off-guard thing. The bible also predicted that there would be false prophets. Hmmm. Regardless, this world is still suffering. This world still needs Jesus. And being a light to the world and a proper ambassador for Christ is what will help heal it. Not voting against laws or for a candidate who claims to stand on the platform of Christianity. By the time shit hits government level, its too late anyway. What is the church doing in it’s own neighborhoods to help people, to share the gospel? If there is no solid foundation there then laws sure won’t help to spread the love of Jesus.
And when Jesus finally does come back (because as of late I feel like the Mayans should have been right about 2012. I’m trying to be optimistic but some of this stuff is ridiculous). I wonder how many people will not make it to heaven NOT because of “the ways of the world.” But because the church did not provide any light, hope, or appeal. The church didn’t stand for those suffering. The church didn’t help feed or clothe the poor. It sat idly by because it felt like the changes in the law they thought important would be the beacon of Christianity that this country needs. Would be the humbling that God desires. But it’s not. It’s akin to the Pharisees desire to uphold the old covenant by way of looking to the law for salvation instead of letting God’s grace transform them spiritually. I’m just asking that someone help me understand this whole thing.
Yes, this post was all over the place. I’m feeling too many things at once. Plus, I was frying okra while typing this (just to add a touch of humor to such a bleak post). And no…I’m not about to proofread….
black sheep white wool 