So many people have been hurt by the toxicity in our country. Minorities, women, Muslims, Catholics, Jews, LGBTQ people, and so many others have been made to feel less than human or that they do not belong here. We have been hurting one another.
We watched political leaders mock people, and we joined in. We laughed when a Black congresswoman was mocked for her hair and eyelashes. Then we laughed when she mocked the other woman’s appearance, and we repeated what she said over and over. We celebrated meanness. We followed the example of a leader who used social media to make fun of people, and before long, we were doing the same thing.
Just because we believe, vote, or live differently does not make us enemies. We seem to have forgotten that. As a Christian, I have to ask how we became part of this. Nothing in the Bible justified us treating people this way. We can stand by what we believe without being cruel. We can disagree with people and still love them, listen to them, and care about what happens to them.
How did we get here? I think there are many reasons. I do believe the left went too far left, and some people, including people who were not Christians, turned to the right hoping to bring some balance. But then the right went too far right. Now people are turning back to the left, and I am wondering if we are going to keep going back and forth between extremes. How do we find some balance?
And we cannot leave race out of this. President Obama’s election broke a barrier that had been there since this country’s founding. For so many of us, it was a moment of hope. But I also believe that seeing a Black president and more people of color in leadership stirred up fear in some people about the place whiteness had always held in this country.
That does not mean everyone who voted for MAGA had the same reasons. But we have to be able to talk honestly about that fear. People of color having opportunities does not mean white people have to be erased. There should be room for all of us to grow and lead. Why should someone else getting a chance mean that we are losing ours?
I am excited about the blue wave. I just hope it will not become another tidal wave, because MAGA felt like it almost wiped us out. So many of us were hurting and wondering whether we even belonged in our own country. I do not want us to turn around and make someone else feel that way.
Can we listen when people tell us something has gone too far, even when it is our own party? Can we admit when someone we voted for is wrong? Can we stop making excuses for behavior we would never accept from the other side?
I want us to address racism and the ways people have been hurt. I also want us to do that without deciding that another whole group of people is now the enemy. I want Christians like me to feel welcome here, along with people of other faiths and people who do not believe at all. We should all have the freedom to live according to our beliefs while respecting that same freedom for others.
I hope we have learned something. I hope we can work together and make room for people who do not think or live like us. Can we really allow all of us to pursue life, liberty, and happiness?
And now I am wondering if we will get the Kennedy Center back. That was my happy place!
