2024-11-06T00:00:00Z
It’s technically too close to call, but it seems very likely that Donald Trump will win this election. I wish to direct some thoughts at those who voted for Trump. As I share my thoughts, keep in mind that I didn’t get to vote this year (I don’t have an Ohio license).
I believe a good chunk of you voted for Trump for policy reasons. You either agree with Trump’s policies or disagree with Harris’ policies enough to vote for Trump. I hope you see the policy changes you’re hoping for.
I suspect a majority of you voted for Trump because you don’t like the idea of people who think differently than you. You just don’t like the Left. You were swayed by fear-laden, conspiratorial rhetoric against “the liberal agenda.” Your Facebook and Twitter feeds were full of posts about The Plandemic, election interference, and AI-generated stories about immigrants eating pets. I encourage you to get off of social media for a while. It will be good for your mental health.
A small minority of you voted for Trump because you don’t like the idea of people who LOOK differently than you do. You look at the immigrants and the gays with disgust. You will take to the streets with Confederate and Nazi flags strapped to the back of your truck, hoping that your black neighbors will be a little more scared to go outside. I have very little to say to you, except that God “denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female… and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile.”
Where did America go wrong to let the reckless hate of that third group foment? Did we not put enough money into education? Infrastructure? Welfare? Was it our economic policies? Or was it our single-minded, polarizing pursuit of political victory? Maybe that hatred has always been here since this nation was founded.
The Republican Party has a unique responsibility to answer these questions, because your victory this election cycle comes at the cost of all that is good in The Declaration of Independence. We can’t claim to believe that “all men are created equal” when the party in charge silently watches this hate grow for their own political advantage. We can’t invite the world to “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free” until our home is a safe place for everyone.
What can you do to invite a little more Christlike love into your community?
Stephen Funk