(un)complicated God
About a week before that terrifying drive, I was minding my own business, sitting in church. I think maybe it was during the time in our service where we pass around the microphone and let people share their prayer requests. I can’t be sure.
Let me just pause here. Because I’m about to talk about “hearing” or “sensing” or “understanding” that God was “saying” something to me. All of those words fall flat, I know. In fact, “God” doesn’t even really seem right. “God” feels like a placeholder for the real thing. The real being. So, I just want to acknowledge that. And I want to recognize that I have to use some kind of words to convey an idea, and I know these words don’t quite capture the Truth. As great as language is, it’s incomplete, isn’t it?
So, there I was, sitting in church, minding my own business when I suddenly had the sense God was telling me to vote for Donald Trump. And here’s where I need to say that I’m pretty sure God doesn’t care about this (or any) election the way we seem to think he does. It’s not that God doesn’t care. I just don’t think he sees it the way we do. So, when I say God was telling me to vote for Donald Trump, it wasn’t as if God was saying there was a “right” choice and a “wrong” choice for president.
It’s never that simple with God.
Wait. That’s not true. Once we’re clear about where God is leading us, most of us feel sort of like, “Oh! Absolutely! That makes total and complete sense!” Of course, before we get to the place where we can see where God is trying to get us to go, it feels all complicated and messy and foreboding.
God’s not as complicated as we make him. He’s more complicated, while simultaneously being less complicated. The best way I can sum it up is to say that God is both/and. We’re the ones who are either/or, and that’s a big part of why we think God is so complicated — because we’re using the wrong filter. I’ve found that anytime I’m feeling like I’ve got to choose either/or when it comes to loving people and being for them, I’ve probably left God out of the scenario.
“Prove It”
I don’t need to tell you I was not happy with the possibility that God might want me to vote for Donald Trump. There’s no need for me to go into all of the whys here. Suffice to say, I had made up my mind and my mind did not include me voting for Donald Trump, in any way, shape, or form. However, there have been times I’ve done the opposite of what I sensed God was asking me to do, and that has never worked out well. So, I told God he was going to have to prove it. I might even have said to him, “Prove it.” The rest of the day was uneventful. No signs. No more interruptions from God. I went back to my regular life.
Then came that drive I’ve told you about. It rattled me. And, I was rattled that I was rattled. The Trump/Pence billboards and my reaction to the billboards really got under my skin. I was freaked out by the signs, and I was freaked out by the fact that I was freaked out. I reached my destination — a women’s retreat at a beautiful venue with absolutely perfect weather. The building where I was staying had a deck that overlooked a pond and, after I’d gone through all of the greetings and settling in stuff, I slipped out onto that balcony and leaned on the railing with my chin on my hands. “WHY am I so rattled?” I asked God.
The wind was blowing steadily and the surface of the water in the pond rippled constantly. Overhead, the leaves rustled in the breeze and, once again, I sensed that God was asking me to vote for Donald Trump. “Are you serious?” I asked it out loud. Inside, my heart felt locked against my ribs, afraid to beat for fear I’d have to follow through. “I’m telling you, God, if that’s what you want from me, you’re going to have show me.” And, just like that, the surface of pond became smooth as glass and the leaves in the trees stopped their rustling. “Good grief,” I thought to myself.
“I don’t want to,” I said to God. “I will if you tell me I have to. But I don’t want to.” (I was too scared to say, Make me.)
So, you know how you go to a retreat like the one with the pond and you get a gift bag and in that bag is a bible verse or a prayer or a poem or something? And you know how the organizer of the event tells you the prayer team has been praying for you, long before your arrival? And you know how they tell you your gift bag and its contents are random and they had no idea who would get which bag and its corresponding bible verse or prayer or poem? Well, I opened my random gift bag and read its random prayer, which said:
God will help you turn away from negative thinking and judgment. He will let you not follow old voices, old hurts. Let those go & believe forgiveness is the path of righteousness.
I kid you not. I stuck the prayer in my bible and went on about my business. But first, I said to God, “Seriously?”
Not Just For, but With
When I left the retreat center, the navigation system on my car took me home a different way. I didn’t have to drive through that tunnel of Trump/Pence billboards, and so I totally forgot about even considering casting my vote for them. I was back to my original plan.
Then, a few days later, and just a few days before the election, I was driving home from the gym, listening to the Hamilton Original Broadway Cast Recording when I suddenly sensed, yet again, that I was being asked to vote for Trump. “FINE!” I shouted, out loud, releasing the steering wheel for a second or two. “ALRIGHT THEN! I’LL DO IT!”
Ugh.
And just like that, I knew I didn’t have to vote for Trump after all.
What God was working out in me was a willingness to be for the people who were going to vote for Trump. Not because of who they were going to vote for. But rather, because of who they are: people, made in the image of God, and immeasurably loved by God. I needed to not only be for them. I needed to be with them. I don’t need to agree with them to be with them; to be for them. I don’t have to agree with them to love them. God is working us toward one another, and we’re all going to need sacrificial love — not agreement — for that.
(little g) god, or God?
Now, I recognize these are words. I am writing these words after the fact, and I acknowledge their inadequacy. I did not vote for Donald Trump. That day, after I shouted my reluctant obedience at God, above the Hamilton soundtrack I had blasting in my car, I felt completely released from having to vote a certain way. In fact, I am confident God cared not one iota about who I voted for. What God was after was my heart. Not my vote. But it cost me something. And that’s the part which is really difficult to communicate here. Because what God wanted me to do was to stand for — and with — people who might not do the same for me. I don’t believe Donald Trump is God’s choice for president, anymore than I believe anyone else is his choice. I really don’t think God is as invested in our election results as we like to think he is. We’re worshiping at the feet of the wrong god if he’s so small as to be constrained by who is or isn’t president of some particular country.
We’re not here to be right. We are here to love the people right here in front of us. All of the people. When our systems (or their results) pit us against one another, or make us choose one person or persons over others, those systems are revealing their inadequacy and the brokenness of the people who constructed them. The Kingdom of God is open to everyone. Jesus died with his arms wide open, and with words of forgiveness on his lips. The Holy Spirit broke through language barriers with tongues of fire, and continues to lead us closer and closer to one another despite our stubborn resistance. We’ve been trying to make the Gospel conform to the image of our broken, dysfunctional, either/or, power-hungry systems. But God keeps gently reminding us that we’re looking through a clouded glass and we cannot see clearly on our own.
Can you be for the person on the other side? And, more than that, can you stand with her? That’s what God was asking of me. At first, I wasn’t ready. And, I’ll admit, because of my regular person-ness, I still have to work at it. Hard.
So. That’s my story. Well. It’s not the whole story. My intent was to keep all of this to myself. And then, I sensed God telling me to tell it. That’s the whole story. There you have it. In the past, I’ve tried not doing what I thought God wanted me to do, and that hasn’t ever gone very well.
I mean…I was almost afraid to read this, but thought to myself surely not.
One thing I continue to admire and respect you for is that you DO what God tells you to do. You are obedient. YOu want to please and serve Jesus. This article was further proof. I love you Deidra Riggs.
Well, I don’t know. You make it sound much better than it is; better than it feels.
I’m intrigued by what God’s got up his sleeve. I’m fascinated by the way he sees the world. He has shown himself to be trustworthy, and to be honest, I can’t even believe I just said that. I don’t usually feel like I trust him. I often feel very suspicious of God. But, when I take stock of where he’s led me and what he’s taught me in the process, I have to say, he’s always come through, even when experiencing the worst grief, loss, and disappointments. That’s not to say he kept all the bad stuff away. He did not. But he was faithful to me in all of it. He never left my side. That’s saying something.
I am also intrigued by what God has up his sleeve as well. I got a nudge yesterday that this could possibly make us better Christians and better Americans and Just better people. It will not be easy. During this whole process, I have been dealing with bullying and verbal abuse from men in my past and it caused a reaction in me I had not expected. My own father was sending me scripture on why I should vote for somebody I thought was attacking me and so so many people. But like a good daughter I read them (gritting my teeth) I thought, is all of this bringing me closer to God? I realized I needed some healing. And what does that look like, do i need to forgive all over AGAIN, I asked God? I am determined to have all this deepen my intimacy with God and frankly, make me a more compassionate American and person of the world. I arrived at a place of peace yesterday as i realized that all of this has made me examine my own heart. Guess what? God loves me if I am the most liberal Christian around, who knew? And now my job is to love everybody else. I will add that I think i have stood by as people without voices have not been heard. I want to stand up and pay attention and not just go about in my own little world.
I just want you to know that I’ve had the same thing happen to me (not related to voting), meaning, I sensed God asking me to do something again and again and again, and once I got to the point of saying “OK I’LL DO IT,” he released me to do something else.. Just know that you’re not alone, and God is good.. and yes, he is after our hearts.
Did you see “The ‘Other Side’ Is Not Dumb” by Sean Blanda on medium.com? http://bit.ly/2eMhFKk One of my oldest online friends shared an excerpt from it and I asked her for the full piece. It’s piercing, convicting (though not faith-based), and ultimately challenging and formative (one can hope). There’s incredible temptation to reduce political conversations to the one or two points we hold most dear, and then dismiss anything (anyone!) who doesn’t agree. My heart, like so many others, is grieving; and it’s much less about the person elected and more about the circus we’ve watched play out over the past year. Shame on all of us–we each bear a responsibility in shoving stuff into the divide, and now to pour love into those places would be winning.
I’m probably not making sense :). But I love you and this post, and I’m thankful for you obedience and authenticity in sharing this because you listened and heard.
xo
Robin,
Thanks for sharing this piece. And I think you are right about the “incredible temptation to reduce political conversations to one or two points we hold dear, and then dismiss anything (anyone!) who doesn’t agree.”
Life, politics, and faith is more nuanced and complicated than that and requires much prayer and listening to God to discern what step to take. Thanks for sharing.
These are odd, challenging times, for believers (and maybe everyone). So glad Blanda’s article was of interest. My knee-jerk response isn’t (honestly) to understand “the other side,” but how lovely to find the means of grace and love to hear others with respect.
Deidra-
This! I love this…I teach American Government and Constitution to a group of High School students. We have been discussing things like this. I have been praying for them to see that differences can be more than a division, but a way to see more of God. I have been avoiding reading people’a comments and commentaries because they are just hard to read…especially the words from believers to other believers. And I wrestled with the vote, until we walked in the polling booth. But I love this both/and concept He has lead you to think through. These words ‘omniscient God ‘ (omnia/omnes in latin is all, it encompasses more than…) have been in my journal a lot lately…the omnipresent God, who sees us from our ending and our beginning, (psalm139) He can lead us through those unseeable moments ….because He is. (Heb 11:6)
Thank you for sharing this. Thank you for shedding grace.
Blessings,
Dawn
D,
Thank you so much for this. I spent most of the day after the day after the election with so much anger and sadness. The following day was much of the same except that we were driving into rural Missouri to a family wedding. I was dreading it post-Election. I came into my time here like a porcupine with my quills out and ready, “Say something I dare you,” my heart said. I was so sure of my “right behavior” and “right vote.”
But then I got here, amidst this group of kind, loving people some/many of whom voted for Trump. And I’ve been working towards reconciling it to God ever since. One person here said how much they hated Trump but voted for him anyway because the “lifelong politicians” have never been on the side of the working poor, (the group they are a part of).
This is so much more complicated than the “good people” vs. the “racists, homophobes, etc.” It’s so much more than the “educated” vs. the “uneducated,” (which has always felt like an elitist statement any way). The systems of power are just not “for” so many people.
I am still sad about the turn out of the election. But I’m trying to humble myself, love anyway, and get to work for the good of everyone. (I’m not exactly sure where to go with that last part yet…). And perhaps if Hillary would have won, I would ave just sat back and not been as inspired to work as hard for the people around me as I am now.
Those were brave and wise words and exactly what I needed to hear to come to grips with our country’s choice for president. Thank you!
I love this… we are all in a season of challenge… I think we have an amazing opportunity to let the Holy Spirit come and search us and try us … I want to see the reality of my heart … for me to walk in His Love and with His heart … my heart needs to be willing to be stretched so more and more of Him can have freedom to move …
I love your hard wrestle… I love that God invites us to wrestle… and He’s not after “results” …He is for our freedom. Thank you for sharing and for being vulnerable!!!!
Thank you so much for this. I have been struggling with anger toward people who voted for Trump. Your words convict, help, encourage, and bless me. I am grateful.
The struggle is real, sister. I think it’s necessary to be angry for a bit, if that’s where your heart is. That whole, “be angry but do not sin” thing is a serious journey, and it changes our hearts. But, we have to be angry for the lesson to take root in us. Angry…but without sinning because of it. Angry…yet compelled by love.
Thank you for sharing… great reminders in a time of legit confusion and brokenness, fear and concern over all this mess… that is what God often asks of us and it is often HARD because it does cost us something, sometimes something big… but he is sovereign, he sees the bigger picture, the one he intented, the most ultimately beautiful one that, in the long run, leads to true reconciliation ( instead of politically correct tolerance) …. Lord, help us to follow after you… help us to love even those who might not/ do not love us back… help our hearts to not grow bitter, help us not grow weary in this endeavor… help us to see all your children through your eyes… thank you Deidra for sharing this… time to buckle up again, the road will likely be treacherous but we have God as our guide, we will make it through one way or the other for His glory…
We are tracking today, sister. I love learning from you. And also, I just plain love you. No matter what.
When I graduated from college, I started working as a case manager for (mostly gay) clients who had HIV/AIDS. They knew I had gone to school at the fundamentalist Christian university across town and they were scared of having to trust me to help them. They would come to me in groups (rarely alone) and grill me about my beliefs, most certainly about whether or not I thought homosexuality was a sin. It is easy for me to get bogged down in
details when I feel cornered like that, so I was so very grateful when I *heard* God give me the words, “I don’t have to agree with anything you do for you to be emotionally safe in my presence.” Of course, I had to live those words for quite awhile before I gained much trust from my client group, but that was the message they neede to hear from me the most. I had never heard anyone say anything like that before, so I was quite surprised when it felt like God was pushing those words out of my mouth. I needed to be showing God’s love instead of interviewing people to see if they were “righteous” enough to receive help from me or anyone else. God grabbed me up from the judgmental landscape I had grown up in and plunked right down in the middle of a place called “These Are My People And You Need To Be Loving Them.” It happened so fast that my head was spinning. Those were some of the best words that ever came out of my mouth. “I don’t have to agree with you…” I just have to love love love.
DePidra, I love you so much. I am sorry, but this made me laugh a little. The end result was profound, but getting there was a giggle. I could hear your voice as you rattled on about being rattled and somehow you were right here with me, talking with your hands and being animated all over. I love it when you do that. Makes me miss you more and less at the same time. Xo C
I love that you shared this, Carolyn. These words, especially: I needed to be showing God’s love instead of interviewing people to see
if they were “righteous” enough to receive help from me or anyone else.
God grabbed me up from the judgmental landscape I had grown up in and
plunked me right down in the middle of a place called “These Are My
People And You Need To Be Loving Them.”
Let’s make it so.
Deidra, if you say we should, then we shall. Lead the way, please, Sister.
Powerful, beautiful words. We must try to put Him above us, and the whole of the kingdom above ourselves. Sitting here trying to be hopeful and confident we can all stand together and share God’s love.
I could say so much about this but as you’ve mentioned, it’s all inadequate. The most succinct thing I can say is Thank You, Deidra. I needed to read this and I thank God for your struggle to obedience and your willingness to be vulnerable.
Let’s keep reaching across the table and feed each other.
I often forget how God is into process. We are so into outcomes, attempt to tie life in up in bows. Not God. He is The Potter, always shaping and remaking. All day on election day, I “heard” him saying to me, “Go buy a field.” I knew he was referring to the story in the bible where Jeremiah bought a field with an army sitting on it. It didn’t make sense to do that since God had clearly told him that destuction was coming for the nation. I didn’t buy any land on Tuesday but I did reach deeper and trust more, to invest my life in making the place I live a better place. It is wild isn’t it that God cares enough about our transformed lives that uses all things to be speaking to us so specifically in the midst this storm? Thanks for using the words you have to share the process you are living. You are beauiful and brave.
A few weeks ago, I had a dream that I was turning into stone. It was a weird, super vivid dream that seemed important to remember and process. I realized that my heart was very hard towards people expressing support for Trump. I think God was trying to tell me the same thing, not to vote for Trump, but: “We are here to love the people right here in front of us. All of the people.” Thank you for sharing your story.
Deirdra, as usual, you have a gift for conveying the nearly unconveyable, with your words. I am deeply touched by what you’ve written here. And I understand what you’re saying, and believe it. And I truly do not hate the good people I know who voted for Trump. I DO hate the things that are happening today, post-election, to black women in my neighborhood (a friend’s wife accosted in the name of Trump as she was putting her 3-year-old child in the car, and told that f-ing a white man wasn’t going to keep her or her child safe.) I hate seeing the swastikas painted on storefronts on the anniversary of Kristallnacht. I hate reading that Latino children are afraid that they won’t be able to attend their kindergarten class tomorrow because they fear they will be deported. I hate thinking that my daughter, herself once the victim of male sexual harassment at her college, now has a leader who not only condones such behavior, he boasted about it. I know I am not telling you anything you don’t already know. My question is this: there are those who at this point are exercising their constitutional right to peacefully march and demonstrate their fundamental belief that Donald Trump is not fit to be president. (I’m not talking about the violent protests, here.) These people are marching and also signing petitions to gain the attention of electors in the states that allow “faithless electors,” who can change their vote in the electoral college if they feel conscience bound to do so. There is a petition online that can be signed by citizens. For those in states who allow faithless electors, we can write to our congressmen. All this to say, I feel that we are still at a point where as Christians and citizens, we can, without violence or hatred, still make a stand against evil. I know that historically the “faithless elector” has not made much of a difference. But isn’t that what we are all about? Standing up for that tiny ray of hope and truth until there isn’t any chance left? And after that, in love, to continue to reach out to help those who are hurting. But right now, there is still a chance, and I think we are not acting out of hate to act on it. I don’t have your gift for words and I am not normally a person who writes about political things, so I’m sure I’ve made a hash of this comment. Thanks for your heart and your example. So very much.
Hey, Leslie. I hear you, friend. There are so many layers to our current situation. I don’t have anything against the protesters — either violent or non-violent. The way God led me to consider loving those who voted for Trump did not cancel out the other things he’s taught me: Do Justice, Love Mercy, Walk Humbly With Him. Those are also Truth.
Yes. However you feel led to protest, I support you. I am with you. My encouragement is to make it a protest fueled by love, and not anything else. I don’t know if I’m making sense. The bottom line is, again, both/and, not either/or. We’ve been duped into looking at everything as if it’s black and white. People were told they had to choose between abortion and equal treatment of people of color (just one example), when that has never been the truth. We are both/and people.
That was a wonderful answer. I love your explanation of God as both/and. Thank you for your heart and your wisdom and your example. Much love to you❤️
I am relieved to hear of your struggle too. I did vote as other Christians had persuaded and now I wish I had voted my gut!!
Oh, oh, oh – this is hard to read. I can only imagine how hard to live and to write!! Thank you for all of it, the living and the telling. I absolutely agree that results are not what God cares about so much as process. Yet even as I write those words, I know that’s not the whole truth, either. God DOES care about results because God cares about justice as well as mercy. So help us, Dee, to hold both truths: to love and listen to those with whom we disagree BUT to also acknowledge that they may very well have contributed to what could shape up to be one of the worst seasons ever of injustice in our history, one that that brings with it boatloads of mercilessness. One of my grandsons just voted in his first election. He is heartsick at these results, as is our entire family. Is there space to grieve? I hope so.
Yes. It’s both/and. Not either/or. Justice AND mercy. Together.
Goosebumps the whole way through this. Needed it so bad. Thank you.
I wept when I read this and felt something relax in me. Thank you. It’s been a painful week because I voted for Trump. This was not a casual decision. I’ve done a lot of reading and listening to both sides. As I read people’s responses to his election, it became very painful to me because there are beloved people in my life who say he’s the worst thing and I worried that I’d lose people because of this election. Being shunned by a community can be extremely painful. I do see things more conservatively than nearly all of my friends and can’t fake my beliefs. So your post was a great comfort to me. Thanks be to God I have been honest with some of these friends and they have reached back to me, not rejecting me because I see things differently. The peace of the Lord be with you always, and especially as you prepare for the publication of your very important book.
My conversations with you over these past few months have been truly transformative. I know you voted for Trump, and I want you to know that doesn’t change our friendship. Not at all. Our conversations helped me to see who you are, and I know you didn’t arrive at your decision glibly. Thank YOU for being a comfort to me, through the writing of ONE. You’ll see your name in there. <3
Thank you for your kindness and open heartedness, for hearing me and not judging. Thank you for receiving what I had to offer. I am deeply honored.
Oh my gosh, Deidra…how your words cut to the heart of the matter. “We’re worshiping at the feet of the wrong god if he’s so small as to be constrained by who is or isn’t president of some particular country.” This sums up for me my bewilderment at the response of so many believers who are devastated and grieving about the selection of our next President. While I’m (beginning) to understand some of that grief (and I have more work to do in that) your words are a good reminder about where our hope should lie. Thank you.
Yes. Do press in to the devastation and grief of those who bewilder you. We all need to do that. Strangely, that’s where the answers lie. Jesus did it first. He left his comfortable place and came to be with us, knowing we’d lynch him, and one another. We don’t get to police someone else’s lament. We are called to mourn with those who mourn. It’s harder than it sounds. At least, it is for me.
What a powerful post, Deidra! Thank you, for sharing it…especially in this post-election time of polarized divisiveness and fear…
Deidra: This is so true: “What God was after was my heart.” I so appreciate how you struggle, dialogue with God, and then share your process with us. Thank you! Trump’s words and actions grieve my heart and yet God calls me to pray for him (1 Timothy 2:1-2). Obedience costs but not as much as disobedience.
You know God hasn’t called us to understand everything. Sometimes we have to acquiesce. Yes, I can stand with my sisters who voted opposite me.
Personally, it took about a day or so for the shock to wear off, but I too, have been by God in so many similar ways to identify with “the other” , so I appreciate your transparency, and also everyone else’.
Thanks for sharing , Deidra.
This is the best post election piece I’ve read. You always bring me to the point of tear-filled laughter leaving me lighter and brighter and a bit better person than I thought I was. As you said, words fall short of explanation; only resting in the ever loving Spirit of God bings the peace He promises. However, I must acknowledge that your words come closer to uncovering God’s mysteries than most others. I’ve always believed that scripture is still being written; when I need proof, I just point to you.
I can not thank you enough for sharing your story. I felt the same way (but ended up not voting Trump either). I to have felt this same way about being here to love and not judge the opposite side in more ways then just this election. I agree that we sometimes put God into the slot of Republican, Democrat or Independent and forget that God isn’t even American for all that matters. Whenever I box God in I start singing Natalie Grants song “King of the
World” to regain my perspective. This really helped me today. Thank you for you honesty.
I haven’t been to your blog in some time and decided to come looking for you to see what you would have to say about all of this. I remembered your series about race some time back and I participated in comments there.
In this election I found myself in the middle ground, unable to vote for either candidate. Since the election I’ve been listening and trying to understand the grief and fear of minorities while at the same time understanding why Christians I know voted for Trump. What a complicated mess. I thought your piece was beautiful and is exactly the way we should all respond – love and forgiveness. Thanks for sharing.
YES! I’ve been sensing quite similarly. It’s a profound time and it’s teaching us, ever more, to be willing to end our inner opposition to others. YES. With you 100%.
My response to reading this has nothing to do with the election. In fact, I’m glad it’s over and done. Now the Nation can get on with the business of healing- even a little healing will make everyone’s life better.
No, my response had to do with listening to God and having that honest gut reaction when He gets our attention- I’ve been extended an opportunity to possibly serve at my church. I’ve not answered because I wanted to ignore it as long as I could- I have all the usual excuses in my head- busy, grandkids, big house to clean, bible study to prepare for, and I’ve had a lot of seasons of serving in a lot of different areas. Yet, there that email sits and stares at me…. and those words on that blinking screen are His words and I know it and He knows I know it… and He reminds me of that moment when I realized a couple of years ago, that it was a battle of wills, and the audacity of my saying NO to my God- I mean how can I? How dare I? and the knowledge of my ignoring the email is just another way of saying NO. And, maybe He does want me to serve or maybe He is wanting me to see that I’ve been saying NO all this time, that I’ve dared to say NO to my God and my Creator….. thanks for your words of wisdom!
People who dismiss friendships with people who they actually see and know, out of loyalty to people (political figures) who they have never met and do not know, prove only one thing: that their friendship was not real in the first place. By the way, I’ve been on the receiving end of such dismissal. As for a lot of these comments, I will pose an observation. There seems to be a tacit assumption that if one voted for Trump there is something about that which needs to be explained or forgiven. But why? And why does there seem to be a corollary assumption that to have voted for Mrs.Clinton constitutes some sort of normal act that does not similarly carry its own problematics and moral ambiguities? Doesn’t the offer of forgiveness to the Trump voter constitute an implicit claim to moral superiority, and doesn’t that move dangerously in the direction of self-righteousness?
Exactly. I don’t get why people have to be angry or upset that they didn’t vote the way they expect where it should be understood if they voted for mrs clinton. This is what creates the divide. The isolation and the disappointment. What happened to the scripture luke 6:32? Do you just agree and love people that think the way you are? or do you even try to understand the other is coming from, and continue to love them inspite of this information you found out about them? (That they have voted a certain way that you didn’t)
The intensity and universality of hatred for president Trump is a bizarre phenomenon. It’s so unique that it constitutes, for me anyway, a mystery (especially in view of the messy alternative in the election of 2016). I suspect that some very powerful people who have their fingers in a lot of pies are very threatened by him. He has, for one thing, traveled in their circles and knows who, and what, they are (notice how he predicted, 5 years ago, what we’ve learned in the past few days re. New York’s attorney general). All of the prominent segments of society are pounding, attacking, ridiculing, insulting, slandering (legacy media, entertainment, hollywood, academe, public school establishments) the guy with a drooling frenzy. They act like people who are deathly afraid of exposure or of losing something. They remind me of characters out of Hieronymous Bosch’s paintings. He is the “anti-Obama,” who was coddled and protected by the same segments. This is not to say that he hasn’t invited some of it, but it’s all quite twisted, I think. The oddest thing, however, is the number of people who engage in it while considering themselves to be bastions against “hate.” It’s really a great time to be a theologian, I guess, meditating on the dimensions and depths of sin.