We Are Called To Love, Not To Judge

I know all of the things that some people care about won last night, but all of the things that I care about didn't. The stocks plummeted and the bond yields skyrocketed, by the way. The house and senate are republican and the president is republican. There will be no checks and balances and Trump will be free to do what he wants. We took a few steps forward over the last 8 years and now we all better be prepared to take 20 steps back as Donald J. Trump says he plans to spend his whole first day signing documents to undo everything that President Obama has done over the last eight years. I’m scared because in the next few years I'll be bringing children into this world and into this country, and now I have no real knowledge of the country I'll be bringing them into. And I'm most scared that my biracial little brother is going to have to grow up in an even more bigoted, segregated, white privileged world. As if the area I grew up in and still live in isn’t rich and white enough, we had to give it a boost of confidence like this to help out.

On November 9th, 2016, I woke up sad. As I lay there waiting for my alarm to actually go off I thought about some things that I care about. I thought of all of the Muslims who now fear for their lives even more than they did after the original 89% increase in violent crimes against Muslims since Trumps campaign began. I thought about the African-Americans who have already been targeted by the KKK and other white supremacists, and about how scary it must be to wake up knowing that we have a president that is supported by these groups. And I thought about my aunt and her wife and all of the other same sex couples who just got married this summer and now who's marriage will be just a piece in Trumps puzzle of signing away Obama’s achievements. I thought about the LGBTQIA community as a whole and how misrepresented they will be in the government now.

And finally, I thought about the white Christians. I am a Christian, and I voted for Hillary. I've had people tell me how horrible of a Christian I am because I believe that everyone deserves their chance to be accepted as who they want to be. Forgive me if I'm wrong, but as a Christian we are called to love everybody. We do not have to agree with their actions, but we must love them as God loves us. I believe that we shouldn't outlaw abortion. It should be anyone's choice to do what they want. "GASP!" I'm a fraud right? I'm not a Christian if I believe abortions should be legal. I'm not a Christian if I believe Transpeople should have rights. I am not a Christian if I believe that the LGBTQIA community should have rights to love who they want to love and that same sex marriages should be legal. Well I have news for all of the "Christians" that have told me that I am not a Christian because of all of those reasons: you are not called to judge me. I will continue to call myself a Christian, and we will both answer to God later. You, for judging me, and me, for loving everyone equally.

I will not change my beliefs and morals because they don't align with your idea of a Christian. I am afraid to see the consequences of a Trump presidency on how far we have come in being accepting and inclusive of everyone in our country. And I am afraid to see what becomes of my religion as people become less and less accepting of others who call themselves Christians. I can tell you though, I will stand strong in my beliefs, and I will defend the people who are attacked for we are called to love, not to judge.