The Following

     I've been thinking a lot about how I want to vote this election, something I've never really had to do before.  I've always known what I believe, known what I value, and in the past, it's been easy to just pick the party the more closely matches those values and check the box.

     Not this election.

     This election is about the lesser of two evils.  I think most people agree with that.  And I understand if you can overlook a lot of bad things about a candidate because there's something you just cannot accept about the other candidate.  I get that.  I understand people who say that the Supreme Court vote is too important to cede to the other party or who say Person X has done something I just cannot accept in a president so I will vote for Person Y to keep them out.  I understand that point of view perfectly and I commend people for voting their conscience.

    I'm not one of those people.  And frankly, I think my point of view is perfectly valid too.  I'm not a lesser of two evils kind of girl.  I've never believed in doing things "for the greater good." And I'm tired of being told that it will be my fault the other candidate wins if I don't vote against them.

     As a Christian, I want to vote the way Jesus would vote.  And I've been thinking a lot about in the Bible how Jesus could have just compromised a little, tiny bit with the Pharisees and he would have had so many more followers.  If He'd just agreed to be king.  If He'd just denounced the Roman Empire.  If He'd just kept quiet when they all came to hear him speak and not said the thing about being the bread of life.  But He didn't.  Because He couldn't.  Because Jesus was not about compromise.  He was about holding his ground even when every single follower deserted Him.  And it looked like He lost when He hung on that cross.

     Turns out He didn't.

      That's how I feel about this election.  I feel like I'm being told, "Just overlook this..."  "Just do this because the alternative is worse.."   And I can't.  I don't blame people who can and I think they make valid points, too, but I can't.  I know all candidates are sinners and flawed and imperfect, but I can't.  I can't and I won't and I will not feel guilty or inferior for holding to my convictions as strongly as others hold to theirs.

     Because, you see, when it comes right down to it, I don't think it matters so much who is president.  I'm more concerned about who are the president's followers.  The president is just one person.  And we are the country of "We the people" not "I, the president."

     Don't get me wrong.  I understand the power of the presidency, the power of one man to make a difference.  But here's the thing.  One man never makes a difference.  It's a strange sort of tension in humanity, the tension between one man and every man.  I think it's supposed to be that way, a tension that goes back to Adam, in that we are all dead in sin through Adam and yet all guilty of our own sin, all saved through Jesus, and yet each man responsible for accepting his own salvation.

     Yes, Martin Luther hung 95 theses on the church wall, but it was thousands upon thousands of Catholics converting to Protestantism that made them more than just a piece of paper.  Churchill's speeches riveted a nation, gave people the resolve they needed to keep fighting, and yet, if no one had listened, they would have been just words passing by.  The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. is nothing without the people of Birmingham refusing to get on the bus, Patton lost without his army, every leader just a voice in the wilderness until someone chooses to follow.

     It goes the other way to, you know.  Everyone knows about Adolph Hitler and World War II, how he killed 6 million Jews.  But the truth is, he didn't  In fact, I don't know that he ever killed one.  It wasn't him out in the streets breaking glass on Kristallnacht; he didn't build the gas chambers, perform the experiments, or empty the ghettos.  It's easier, safer, to think about one evil man taking over the world, but the sad truth is Hitler had followers, people willing to overlook evil, even to actively participate in it.  Without them, he's just another crazy person making idle threats.

     And that's the thing about this election.  The president matters.  He or she can do a lot of good or a lot of evil.  But the president doesn't matter.  It's the people that matter.  Will we follow?  The presidency is just a reflection of the country.   Are we as a society who we want to be?  If the next president makes changes that I find egregious, offensive, unacceptable....is it really the president making those changes?  Or is it just that the president acts on what the followers demand? 

     My vote will not decide the presidency.  My vote will not help to prevent "that other, worse person" to become president.  But I hope my vote will matter.  I hope it will say: where you lead, I will not follow.   I believe in a nation where the content of your character is more important than the R or D behind your name, your actions are louder than your words, and you have been measured and found wanting.

 I believe in a better America, and I do not believe the road there is by keeping Clinton or Trump out of office because I believe that losing with integrity is actually a victory in the long run and winning without it a great loss. 

    Because in the end, Hillary Clinton will not destroy America.  Neither will Donald Trump.  The rest of us might.



   

To a Fellow American

     Dear Fellow American,

          I was watching one of the Republican primary debates the other night, and the moderator asked a question originally posed by you: As a Muslim woman, is America still a good place to raise my children?  And immediately, they were off to the races, arguing over immigration and ISIS and building walls.  And I was just so saddened by it all, because in the midst of all that pandering, no one bothered to remember the person who asked the question.  And I wanted so much for someone just to take a moment to address you, to talk to you, to calm your fears or at least consider them rather than just use your question as a springboard for an agenda....I wanted someone to hear you.  You've been on my mind for a week now, and so I'm writing this to take a moment to share with you what I wish someone, anyone, had bothered to say.

          First, I want to tell you, that in the deepest convictions of my heart, I truly believe that the answer to your question is a yes--yes, America still is a shining beacon of hope in the world and a safe haven for you and your family.  For, after all, in this country, no one will ever deny your daughter an education, force her into a marriage, or consider her a second-class citizen.  In this country, she can go to bed at night and dream of becoming anything she wants, doing anything she dares with her life, and there is at least a chance, however small, that those dreams can become realities.  Here, your son can watch democracy unfold right in front of his eyes and learn that, however messy and ugly the process may be, people can settle their differences at a ballot box rather than with bullets. 

         However, while I do still believe in the promise of America, I also do not want to dismiss your fears, discount your worry.  I know that some Christians, trying so desperately to obey God's first commandment, "Love your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your mind," too often forget the second, "Love your neighbor as yourself."  I know that some people confuse a legitimate fear for their safety from the actions of radical Islam with unfounded antagonism for anyone Muslim.  And I know that some people just have hearts filled with hate.  I cannot imagine what it must be like to face sidelong glances, hurtful comments, to know that when many people look at you, they cannot see past the hijab to our shared humanity.  And I hope you know how deeply and truly sorry I am that, in an attempt to keep our country safe, we too often forget that hate cannot drive out hate.  Only love can do that. 

         I want you to know, fellow American, that you are in my prayers, that I share your concern for our country's future and want this country to continue to be a place in which people feel blessed to have the opportunity to raise their families.  And finally, I want you to know, that while I think you asked the right question, I also think you asked the wrong people.  People across this country are starting to rally behind a candidate, prepare for an election, and don't get me wrong, I think it's important and I too, will engage in the process.  But, in the end, the promise of America lies not with politicians, but with people.  Presidents can have a great impact, the policies they help to enact can change the country, but in the end, what will make the difference for your children, will not be the R or D after the next president's name, but instead, the child who befriends your daughter at school, the teacher who puts extra effort into helping your son learn to read, the neighbor who mows your lawn or brings over cookies or just remembers to wave and say hello.  Regardless of what happens in this election, it is up to each of us, as Americans, to make the answer to your question a resounding yes.