You will rarely see me choosing to discuss anything political or even sharing my political beliefs. That is because, simply put, I hate politics. I am not ashamed of my political beliefs, but rather I know that political discussions often dissolve into voices of hate or in the very least a lack of tolerance for other people's beliefs. I have lived long enough to know that each person is unique and even people of the same beliefs have different reasons for their beliefs. As a general policy I don't discuss politics, but I am breaking my silence today.
The amount of discord in this country after the election last week is just shameful. Regardless of your political beliefs, each election some people get what they want and others don't. That is true of each election from the beginning of time. This fact should remind us that we are all different and that we aren't always going to agree, but disagreement is not a reason for destruction. I know people will argue about the popular vote vs. the electoral college and the fairness of the election process. Certainly there is something to be said about the process, but the process is what we have. If you are upset about the process then work to change the process rather than to demonstrate your frustration with self-destruction.
Our American democracy is not perfect, far from it, but what process is? Nothing is perfect and no matter how upset we become it isn't going to be perfect. Again, regardless of our political beliefs, we all are going to experience feelings of frustration or unrest in the face of politics. The way I see it we can use our frustration to bring about positive change or we can self-destruct. The original founding fathers knew that united we stand, but divided we fall. Division in a house is the fastest way to make a house fall. Nothing illustrates this more than the Civil War. Our country was greatly divided and brothers fought brothers over their beliefs. The blood bath that ensued was awful and entirely unnecessary. I believe that some of the soldiers fought a war they didn't believe in because it was expected of them. Some people had the courage to stand up and fight for what they believed in despite everyone around them fighting against them, but as noble as we want to believe we are, most of the time we give in to the opinions of people around us.
Let us not be divided on the outcome of the presidential election, but instead come together and stand up for what we believe in. Please don't stand up and voice your frustration in self-destruction, but rather stand up and demonstrate your beliefs that others might see and take you as example. Be a beacon of light to a world darkened by conflict. Stand up, continue to be kind regardless of the person or their beliefs, and demonstrate God's love to everyone.
Even if you are in favor of what happened in the election, most likely you are not in favor of everything, and you have the opportunity to show Americans are able to come together, even in the face of disagreement. I know some people are thinking. "That's all fine and good, but how do you do it?" We are able to come together in the face of agreement and exact positive change by living a life that is reflective of the the life of Jesus. In Jesus' day Rome was in charge of His country and the Pharisees took advantage of Roman rule to distance themselves from the people. The bulk of the people were probably not in favor of the Romans or the Pharisees, but that was the life they lived in. Obviously, they didn't have a democracy, but I'm not sure it would matter if they did. The point is that the people had very little rights, their lives were not great, and they were surrounded by corruption. The people could have chosen to destroy their homes in response to their new rulers, but all that would accomplish is homelessness. I'm not sure what would have happened if Jesus hadn't come along, but because He did, we have an example of how to respond in the face of adversity.
Jesus did not respond with violence because those who live by the sword die by the sword. Instead He challenged the rulers of His day and through His words and actions demonstrated the way people should live. He was kind to everyone, not just those who were politically powerful or religiously clean. When Jesus looked at people He saw their hearts and their potential rather than their sin and their flaws. We can look at the people around us and see them as Jesus sees them, His children, whom He loved enough to die on a cross for. That means we need to look beyond their beliefs, beyond their gender, beyond their race, and beyond any other factors that might keep us from demonstrating God's love for them.
I will readily agree that this isn't an easy task and that even when loving all of God's children, we should be cautious lest we fall victim to something awful. Yes, we are all God's children, but evil has possessed some to hurt others and cause unspeakable things to happen. We are responsible for ourselves and ought to live righteously in our relationships with others regardless of who they are. This can be done in little actions like holding a door open or larger actions like standing up to defend the rights of someone too small to fight for themselves.
Jesus taught His disciples and His followers that they were responsible before God for their actions and these actions included their relationships with one another. He expected them to sacrifice and give up aspects of their life in order to help others. That was true whether the person was sick or hungry. He helped everyone and we ought to do the same. United we can stand together, preserve a country we love, and enact positive change through our actions.
