Election Reflection

 How do I feel about the 2024 Presidential Election?

To say that I am pleased with the outcome of this recent election would be a gross understatement. But it is essential that I offer the reasons why I am pleased. A cursory look at the legacy media in the US today would leave one thinking that because I voted for Donald Trump I am by definition a White Supremacist (Nazi?), hate Women (Misogynist), am Racist or Fascist, and by inference, that those who voted for Kamala Harris are somehow not any of these things. I could debate the validity of these claims one by one and argue that the opposite is actually true, but that is not my purpose here.

Then what did I vote for?

I voted for policies that I believe strongly in.

I believe that without a sound and aggressive defense of our borders, we are not a sovereign nation any longer. For this I am labeled a racist.

I believe that we should have an overarching emphasis on economic and energy policy that benefits the American People (ALL of them). For this I am labeled a 'climate denier'.

I believe that our endless involvement in military conflicts around the globe that I do not believe have any benefit to our people or security is wrong, and serves only to enrich a few at the expense of the rest of us. For this it is said that I want Russia to succeed.

I am opposed to abortion, all abortion. I believe that we do not have the 'right' make a 'decision' that is going to take the life of a human being. That being said, I believe that the Constitutionally correct solution to this entire debate is for individual States to govern their respective populations according to prevailing will of the majority if citizens. Further, I do not 'hate' or 'disown' anyone for differing with my view on this (unless you believe that sucking the brains out of a child as they are being delivered in the name of 'women's rights', in which case your a demon and I don't want you around Me or my children!). For this point of view I am said to hate women and want them dead or in slavery.

I believe that our federal government has become bloated and in too many instances corrupt. I believe that entire agencies should be eliminated and others severely downsized. I believe that the Congress must pass legislation precisely defining the roles and scope of these various agencies to reign in the bureaucratic 'deep state'. For this I am labeled a Fascist, though no one seems to actually know the definition if this term and throw it around as calmly as saying someones name.

How did we get here?

Geologist's have been noting recently that our planets magnetic poles are in the process of reversing right now, an event that has happened numerous times in our planetary history. It would seem from the rhetoric being produced from both sides of the political isle that our political 'poles' have shifted and reversed as well. As a teenager growing up, the left in the US was anti-establishment, anti-war, anti-taxation, anti-big pharma, pro-first amendment, and 'can't we just get along'. Now it is the Democrat party pushing money for Ukraine, government involvement is every aspect of our lives, demanding we all take an experimental drug or lose our jobs, endlessly insisting we identify ourselves by race or ethnicity, and even calling into question the idea of unlimited freedom of speech.

The Kennedy family have been devoted Democrats for ever! Now Robert F Kennedy Jr. can find so little in common with the modern Democrat party that He has chosen to endorse, support, and work within a Republican administration. And he has been welcomed with open arms along with other former Democrat politicians and business leaders. The Republican party, which has been characterized in the past as being 'exclusive' (a characterization I would strongly differ with), is now clearly the party of economic, intellectual, racial, and religious unity. The doors are wide open and anyone is welcome to the table.

So where does this leave us?

The other obvious takeaway of this election, from a quick browse of social media and the legacy news, is that the left is completely unable (or unwilling?) to come to grips with, or accept the results of this election. After 4 years of howling about the election deniers and prosecuting J6 participants for calmly strolling through the capital rotunda, the left is on a collective rant. Women shaving their heads and urging women to divorce or refuse intimacy for 4 years in protest. Videos are rampant of these same individuals crying hysterically or screaming at the top of their lungs about how this could have happened.

It could be argued that if the tables were turned we on the right would be acting the same way, though in 2020, that was not the case. While upset about the outcome, we did not scream and cry or try to exact retribution. We calmly and legally worked to try to have our point of view heard and get an honest investigation into whether the irregularities we observed were legitimate. Instead we were shouted down and every social media platform then in existence canceled anyone who dared question the election. Any individual unfortunate enough to have been in or near the capitol building were swiftly rounded up and are, even today, still sitting in jail and prison. They were not allowed bail in many cases and not even one has been found 'not guilty' in the subsequent trials. Let that sink in, we have actual, legitimate, 'political prisoners' inside the borders of the United States of America.

Ultimately, all of this stems, in my opinion, from the increasing self-isolation of many members of our society. While predominantly on the left, even some on the right surround themselves with only like minded 'yes-men', creating for themselves a political echo chamber wherein only their own opinion is heard. Without any exposure to opposing views the world becomes a 'fantasy realm' where their own belief system is not just correct, but absolutely dominant. So much so that something as normal as an electoral loss simply 'breaks' them. Unable to reconcile this disruption in their perceived reality, they just become unhinged.

Is there a Solution?

This kind of divide seems insurmountable, and on a macro level it may well be. But in our local communities, families, and congregations, it is not. But it requires that we be willing to step out of our echo chambers and accept that underneath this layer of political identity lies a real identity, one that exists independent of our desires for our Country as a whole. Our true identity is that we are all creations of the same God. We share a heritage that should allow us to differ in our beliefs without hating and denigrating those with whom we differ.

I absolutely oppose pretty much all what Kamala Harris had said and done over Her political career. But I do not hate, and will not shun you, just because you voted for her and disagree with my point of view. I don't want to live in an echo chamber, always hearing only my own words reverberating back to me. I am able to have my beliefs challenged by those in my circle of friends because I am confident in those beliefs. I am also humble enough to know that I am not always right and hearing opposing views might help me to refine my beliefs in a positive way. How can we ever really have true beliefs if we are never exposed to a diversity of thought in order to form our own beliefs.

Does this mean that I am going to stop expressing and acting upon my beliefs because you disagree with me? No! But at the same time I do not expect you not to express and act upon your beliefs either. Lets just not destroy families, friendships, and religious affiliations just because we don't agree on which candidate best fits our political point of view.

In the end, I know that I will never persuade you to see my point of view by yelling at you and demeaning your point of view. And the reverse is true, that you will not change my mind by calling me names and screaming in your TicTok video about how demonic and evil I am. In our personal relationships, lets have confidence in our own beliefs and discuss them when we feel it appropriate, all the while agreeing to disagree. Meanwhile we can watch a game together, enjoy a barbecue, hang out and be friends. It's not all politics all the time, life is far more than that. However unlikely is seems, as friends, we probably agree on more things than we know. As I noted at the outset, if your point of view (and inability to rationally discuss it) are so extreme that I find it toxic to my well being or my family's, I'm out, we can't be friends. But as of now, no one in my circle of friends reaches that threshold. I enjoy a wonderfully diverse group of friends with widely varying opinions, but at the end of the day we are friends first.

None of this means that I will stop posting online and blogging about what I see on the political landscape. Nor does it mean that I will always be 100% civil and nice in those interchanges, I am passionate about my beliefs and I am human. My point here is directed toward how I intend to interact in my personal connections within my local community, family, and church. Ultimately anyone willing to discuss, without personal attack and denigration, the issues of the day can expect the same in return. Attack me personally, with malice, and I will respond in kind, and in volume.

If it is true that “all men are created equal” and that “they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights “, then we ought to be able to sit down, equal in the eyes of God, and discuss how best to accomplish His purposes for His children (whom we all are) on this earth and in this Nation “Under GOD”.