At the risk of offending, I believe that following Jesus is political.
Dear Friends and Family Who Cast Your Vote for Donald Trump on 11-9-16,
Some of us have talked about our differing politics but I write this letter about something bigger than politics. I hold sacred assumptions about you. Because I have known you and loved you for a long time, I trust that these things are true:
- You love Jesus.
- You love your country.
- You want to do the right thing. (The right thing = The loving/fair thing)
Some of you have explained to me that you voted for Trump for the sake of the Supreme Court. Some of you said that you couldn’t bring yourself to vote for Hillary Clinton and I have trusted that that had less to do with her gender than her politics.
We have mutual friends and family who could not vote for Hillary Clinton, but they also could not vote for Donald Trump. They wrote in their preferred names knowing that those write-ins would not win, but at least they could live with themselves.
We are now living in a world with a President whose behavior should not make us proud as Americans. It’s behavior that’s disturbing if we are serious about following Jesus. This was true prior to the election but it’s even more true now.
I love you and I have no idea whether or not you regret your vote. But my hope is that you will take responsibility for your vote. My hope is that you will stand up for people in public if you witness seeing something as disturbing as what our President has said and done in public. My hope is that you will offer your hand to those who are in trouble through no fault of their own. Or even if their trouble is self-imposed, who hasn’t made terrible choices in life?
My hope is that you will educate yourself on what’s true and what’s not true. For example:
“If you’re on food stamps and you’re able-bodied, we need you to go to work.” (President Trump’s budget director, Mick Mulvaney) Note: According to the Department of Agriculture, 44% of those reliant on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program – aka food stamps – have jobs. They simply don’t make enough money to buy food for their families.
I know you have compassion for vulnerable people. I believe you believe that hard work should be rewarded no matter a person’s race or creed. I trust that you are against bullying and arrogance. I hope I am not coming across as bullying or arrogant here because that’s not what I want to do. I don’t know how to ask this of you in any other way. Please speak up for the poor, the sick, and the disenfranchised. Please consider the plight of refugees in the name of Jesus who was himself a refugee in Egypt.
Sounding self-righteous here is not my intention although I probably sound self-righteous. I love you and treasure you. And I also want you to share your thoughts with me about how we might work together to fight racism and sexism and hatefulness. Donald Trump is a child of God, as we are. But we have got to work together to be the people God created us to be, even if it means standing up against this President.
Thanks for reading this. Jan
Video from yesterday’s NATO meeting. The man shoved aside is Dusko Markovic, the PM of Montenegro.
A Church for Starving Artists 
Jan,
Thank you for once again speaking the words I have been trying to articulate.
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Compassionate and heartfelt plea!! Thank you.
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I fall in the “other” category (my historical presidential voting record is split) and though we sincerely have never discussed, I am sure I am married to a man you would write this letter too… the assumption that individuals who voted for Trump don’t stand up for the poor, feed the hungry, fight racism, fight sexism or hatefulness is frustrating to me… Our political system is broken and extremely vulnerable (whether Trump or Hillary was elected) — the election of Trump definitely shows this more than the election of any other person could have… people from ALL parties are elected for all the wrong reasons. People should be elected for showing their ability to collaborate and work together for the good of we the people. I am saddened by this election — I am also a kinder and better version of myself because of this election.
I am going to post this response though I often have written and deleted anything regarding politics on any form of social media etc. political thoughts are extremely hard to fully express or not offend. I appreciate Jan’s outright admission that she might sound arrogant and self righteous — I know this is not her intent, she is an amazing person/leader. We need to give more people from both sides of the aisle more benefit of the doubt. Our system makes us choose… the system puts the line in the sand not the people.
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Thanks Liz. This is exactly my point. I am trusting everyone to have the best of intentions.
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Thank you for those words Jan. It is sad that I am embarrassed for our country. I would feel that way if any president of our country acted that way, no matter which political party he aspired to. I’m not sure how this behavior will be changed and I think I need to do more than just pray about it, but I must admit to not being sure what to do. He was not my candidate and it is hard to even say that he is my president.
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