ELECTION AND NEIGHBORS.

I like being liked. “We need to talk” is one of the most horrifying phrases in the english language to me. I hate conflict with the burning fire of a thousand suns. I absorb things. It’s why I’ve mostly stayed out of politics and anything that might create waves and might have anyone say something mean to me. I’m just not that tough. HOWEVER, I’ve been on quite a journey. I can’t begin to sum it all up in a singular blog. I feel like that particular journey gives me experience to be able to share, and to possibly be a bridge for others who are somewhat like me.

I know I’m still young, but I have been aware of elections and presidents since Bill Clinton. I have voted in the last 4 elections. So I’m not totally new here. I always believed in policy. Policies were the most important thing. It always seemed pretty black and white to me. I was conservative, so I voted Republican. I didn’t even really have to consider the Democratic nominee because, well, they had all the wrong policies. In 2016, I felt a small shift. I have previously blogged on why I voted for Donald Trump and you can read that here. I really didn’t want to vote for either of the candidates. It wasn’t as clear as it always had been. Also, yes, I know third party is technically an option but I’m not getting into that right now. In the end, I went with policy. I thought Trump was a terrible person, but I really thought they all were so it was what it was. I’ve seen articles recently about why Christians are voting for Trump. Sayings like “I don’t like what he says, but I can’t argue with what he does.” Policies. I’ve been told by Christians that the only reason I don’t like Trump is because I’m being lied to by the media. As if I am incapable of doing my own research and/or simply checking Twitter to see what inflammatory, insane thing the PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES has thrown out there. I digress.

Here’s what really shifted my heart. Jesus. Not the Bible, not policy, not my church, not abortion, not safety, not terrorism, not any of it. Jesus. I just finally stepped back and considered what might be important to him. I always assumed that’s what I was voting for. I never really questioned it. But I stepped back. I traveled the world. I talked to people. I listened. And I realized that I had been taken in by an America-centric, Western Christian mindset. America first, America best. What is best for America? Jesus was about love. Jesus was about others. Jesus was about laying down his life. Jesus was about rendering unto Caesar what is Caesar’s. The American dollar, the Constitution, the border…none of it bears the image of Christ. None of it holds any weight when you’re operating through the lens of Love.

When it comes down to it, people matter more than policy. Things aren’t black and white. There is so much grey, and the older I get, the more I can sit in that. How do I love my neighbor? How do I lay my life down for them? How do I lay my freedoms down for them?

If you feel trapped by policy still, I have grace for you. I do. It took me a while too. But if you are vocally supporting Trump as a Christian, I beg of you to reconsider. One of my pastors once said “What does love require of me?” and I think, in my immensely humble opinion, that love requires me to put my neighbor over what policies I think might be best for the country. Before you point to the list of his “accomplishments for minorities”, listen to minorities. Do they feel loved? Do they feel safe? Do they feel that Donald Trump emboldens racism that is affecting them in their daily lives? Because I bet you that your minority neighbor doesn’t care if he has “appropriated more money than any other president to HBCU’s.” I think they care that after white supremacists run them over in a car, the president says “There are good people on both sides.”

I have been listening and I am telling you, your neighbor feels unloved. What you decide to do with that is totally up to you. If you think that the policies you hold dear are better for them in the long run, I can’t really change your mind. But I am asking you to consider what I’m saying and to remember that if you are in a position to vocally support Trump, you are not the one in danger of feeling unloved and living the repercussions.