On November 8th, Donald Trump was elected President of the United States. Minorities, Muslims, LGBTQ+ folk, and women were, to a certain extent, understandably concerned and shocked. Most Third World countries uneasily hoped for good relations. Vladimir Putin hoped for improved relations- which I believe is important now. NATO countries, particularly Germany, are concerned about improved relations with Russia. There are protests, riots, and a surge in white nationalist activity. Where Trump can be more progressive than the usual Republican Party line, he will potentially be blocked by the social conservatism of Mike Pence and the people that got Pence into office. On account of his past policy decisions regarding LGBTQ+ folk, calls to suicide hotlines have doubled in recent days.
Right wing online news sources are portraying college students and their protests as crybabies for even peaceful demonstrations. The reality is that Hillary's camp fell victim to a certain amount of hubris. Clinton had an inability to connect with blue- collar workers, particularly in the Great Lakes region, where for so long, steel production that had fed so many generations of my family had been the backbone of the economy prior to global free trade deals. Now it's just healthcare with primarily foreign doctors, foreclosures, and failing startups. Economic nationalism consequentially had its allure. This cost her where she thought she was certain to win. What concerned me about her, to tell you the truth, was her campaign posters that proposed reinstating the draft for the purposes of getting at Russia, and gearing that towards women in particular.
On my social media timelines, I have noticed the posts of my more liberal friends, and they have meandered into not atheism, but anti- theism. To that, I have this to say: if you say that there is no God because Trump won the election, that is evidence that you used to believe in a God that gave you what you wanted when you wanted it, which is a version of God that many, but not all, conservative Christians push. You are not woke, but blind. At least in this regard. If there is no God because Trump won, do you want to tell Dietrich Bonhoeffer that how he resisted Hitler was in vain? Do you want to tell Maximillian Kolbe that his work, his standing up for his beliefs and his people in Auschwitz, was all for naught? What was the purpose of Sts. Stephen, Andrew, Peter, Cecilia, Lawrence, Agnes, Maria Goretti, and countless others in the Catholic faith? What about the 21 Copts that were recently sainted by Pope Tawadhros II because they were beheaded by ISIS? Believers, now is the time not to be the Lion (as you as well as ISIS portray in your respective artwork), but to be the Lamb; and to reflect on the archetype of the willing sacrifice. Even after all the things I've seen in religious organizations, I still involve myself. Now that is love.
Before we ate of the tree of knowledge and suffered the curse of toiling fruitlessly on this Earth and the curse of bleeding, what were we? We were all created in God's image. We all have that inner light that George Fox (founder of Quakerism) talked about. Hindu gurus speak of this same light. The point is, deep down we know what is right. Why do we need a government to tell us what that is? The mission is bigger than politics. Shame on us for that distraction. But there is a better way. In spite of social media, there is a lack of prosocial behavior in general, regardless of politics or creed. We need to do better. We need to be better neighbors. Pray that God gives you eyes to see and ears to hear where his justice needs to invade and souls to claim for him. The world is depending on it.
