To some people who are on the same boat as me, it might seem pretty obvious.
Yes, you can be a Democrat and a Christian.
As a matter-of-fact, my church back home and a majority of its members voted Democrat in the past elections.
As a proud northerner, it might come as no surprise to those who don't come from this part of the country that I am so "open-minded". But really, I'm not. It's not open-mindedness when I choose to support LGBTQ rights. It's not open-mindedness when I choose to vote Democrat despite their controversial stance on abortion, as many on the opposite side often argue and use as their focal point of criticism.
The answer is, I'm not being as "open-minded" and as liberal as I seem – nor is the Christian minority that votes Democrat like me. God taught me to love everyone regardless of their sexual orientation, their religion, or their political views.
The Bible says "Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself," truly, if we reject, ostracize, and spew hatred upon those who are not like us as our current President does by vilifying immigrants and refugees, and banning those who do not fit his heteronormative vision of a man and a woman from the military – are we truly living up to the Great Commandment?
I don't think we are.
And just like that, I refuse to support a party that backs a man who has almost twenty accounts of sexual assault against him. A man who has generalized that all Mexicans, like me, are rapists and drug dealers. A man who refused to condemn the neo-nazis who killed a woman in a violent and hateful protest, and instead, claimed that there were "very fine people" on both sides.
A man who has been sued by the Justice Department for racial discrimination dating back to the 1970s. The list goes on, and on, and on. Our President, and as a result the party that supports him have shown that they are just full of flaws as they criticize the left of being.
My response to the latter is that Christians must work to remove the stigma associated with being either a Democrat or a Republican. I have my reasons for not supporting President Trump, and the vast majority of Christians that voted for him have their reasons for doing so.
The solution to all of this? We need to stop basing the quality of other people's Christianity based on their political views.
