We All Belong

 

Every day that I travel to and from church, I pass a flag flown by one of the neighbors of the church. The flag says: Trump 2020 Make Liberals Cry Again. The other day, my husband pointed out that particular flag and expressed his dismay over how anyone could have pride in that. My husband’s words have been lingering in the back on my mind. And today they emerge as a blog.

Trump 2020: Make Liberals Cry Again. Are liberals not Americans, too? This promotion of Americans are on two different teams at war with each other is tearing our country apart and allowing sin to rule our nation.

It is one thing to call out bad behavior or bad policy, but to personally attack people in the hopes they cry is un-American. If you don’t like the specifics in the Green New Deal, by all means criticize it, but do not attack Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for being dumb, uneducated and a little girl. If you do not agree with how Gretchen Whitmer is handling the pandemic in her state, then criticize the safety protocols. But do not engage in chants to “lock her up.” These personal attacks are not how people of integrity conduct themselves.

Now, we cannot expect all people everywhere to behave in certain ways on either side of aisle. But we can expect the people we elect to serve the people, to be people of integrity, people who serve all Americans, not just the ones who aren’t liberal.

I understand the desire to elect someone who is not a politician and to crave a new way of running the government. I agree that there should be a lot of changes to how our elected people serve their constituents. In my opinion, there should be term limits, there shouldn’t be a two party system, there shouldn’t be a monetary requirement to get a name on the ballot, elected officials should not need to spend the majority of their time soliciting donations to stay in office, and there should be no room for companies to use money to get their agenda pushed forward. But Make America Great Again or Keep America Great, isn’t changing anything, it isn’t moving forward. It is actually looking backward. It is saying that the corrupt ways of the running the government in the past is how it should be. And what has been revealed by Make America Great Again is that corruption is dominating.

If you boarded the trump Train because you wanted to feel like you belong to something great or to feel connected with others to fight against a common enemy, may I remind you of Romans 15:5-7. “May God, the source of all strength and encouragement, enable you to live in perfect harmony with one another according to the Spirit of Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and one voice, you may praise the God of our Savior Jesus Christ. Accept one another as Christ accepted us, for the glory of God.” (Priests for Equality. The Inclusive Bible. Sheed & Ward. Kindle Edition.)

You belong in Christ Jesus. You belong to God who gives you breath. You belong. We all belong. All of us.  And we should all be fighting against the evil in this world. Not one another.