Part 1 - What story are we living?
As of November 15 at 12:17am (ET), the popular vote for president was 60,834,437 for Trump (47.2%) and 61,782,016 for Clinton (47.9%) (see CNN’s election results at http://www.cnn.com/election/results/president). The country is deeply divided. Everyone is saying this.
As I watched the election results on November 8, I became increasingly stunned. By the time Trump had clinched the necessary 270 electoral college votes, I sat in utter disbelief. For days I was in shock. I am finally feeling the shock subside, but as it does, other feelings are rushing in with great intensity. The easiest feeling to identify is fear. I am not alone. CNN’s exit poll results indicate that 56% of voters would be “concerned” or “scared” if Trump won (surprisingly, up to 34% of those who voted for Trump are included in this number).
One of the responses to the feelings of fear and uneasiness that some people are experiencing is validation. For example, many are wearing safety pins to communicate solidarity with those who feel unsafe. This is a silent yet powerful way to say, “I am safe: I will make safe space for you.”
Another response to the fear and uneasiness some people are feeling is to belittle or mock. As I scroll through my Facebook feed I see articles, blog posts, shared memes and comments that basically say, “To those of you who are crying about Trump winning, shut up and quit being a baby.”
Within my intersectional self, the strand of me that feels most immediately threatened and afraid is my sexuality. Again, I am not alone. 95% of voters polled are non-LGBT, and they were mostly split regarding candidate choice. However, though LGBT voters only made up about 5% of voters, 78% of them voted for Clinton. Again, as I scroll through my Facebook feed, my LGBT friends are expressing grief, fear and anger because Trump won. These are people who are living in a world where some are “weeping with those who weep” (see Romans 12:15 in many translations) by wearing safety pins, and some are “shaking their heads in mock lament” (see Mark 15:25-30 in The Message) by deriding the idea of needing a safe place.
When I first heard Trump was running for president, I thought it was a joke. When I finally heard he had won, that joke was no laughing matter. For many who are marginalized, a Trump presidency feels like a backhanded slap in the face meant to keep us in our places of oppression. Trump has spent his campaign mocking and dehumanizing so many of us, and that has been difficult to watch. That almost half of the country voted for this man who traffics in the marginalization of others is worse: it is gut-wrenching. Electing Trump is a vote for the marginalization and oppression of so many communities of people.
I think the statistic that hurts the most is that 81% of white evangelical christians voted for Trump. 51-62% of Protestants, Catholics, Mormons and Other Christians voted for Trump rather than Clinton (25-45%). On the other hand, non-Christian religiously affiliated voters favored Clinton (58-71%) over Trump (24-33%). Voters’ frequency of attending religious services correlates to Trump support: more regular attendance translates into more votes for Trump.
The Church is supposed to proclaim the “good news of the Kingdom” breaking into this “present evil age” (see Galatians 1:3-5). Living out that proclamation is supposed to be a “ministry of reconciliation” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17-19). Following Jesus should look like actually following Jesus: a life of counter-cultural welcome and inclusion, a self-giving love extending itself in working for shalom.
Two Sundays ago, just a few days before the election, the sermon at my home church centered on the teaching of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount that calls his followers to “work actively to create the conditions of shalom” (see Matthew 5:9). The lives of those who love Jesus and confess him as Lord are to be framed and characterized by “non-violent resistance of evil” and “creative initiatives of peace” (listen to Tim Geddert’s November 6 sermon at http://www.clovismb.org/sermons/).
So many people bearing the name of Christ chose Trump, a man who was reluctant to answer the question, “Have you ever asked God for forgiveness?” Trump, in talking about wrongdoing and forgiveness, said, “I don’t bring God into that picture” (during the 2015 Family Leadership Summit in Iowa). This statement indicates a foundational problem within Christianity: God has become something we add on as a compartment of our lives instead of laying down our lives in order to join God’s life. In narrative terms, we write God as a supporting character into our story instead of giving up our story in order to accept our role in God’s story of new creation. When we “accept Jesus,” we should be doing more than acknowledging some statement of doctrine - “I believe that Jesus is the Son of God and died for my sins” - we should be wholly transformed (see Romans 12:1-2). That transformation begins with a total worldview shift (“the renewing of your mind”) and through a new pattern of life produces the fruit of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23). Instead of new creation breaking in with light, so many have experienced the threat of increasing darkness.
Brothers and sisters - faith is not a compartment, one sphere of life containing many spheres. Neither is politics compartmentalized. Both permeate every aspect of being human: living in relation to self, others and the earth is shaped by one’s guiding narrative of faith expressed through politics (the way we make decisions and order life for each group within a society). Every preconception, attitude and action weaves together to fashion a pattern of life, and every pattern of life reveals a story playing itself out in our hearts. What story are we living?
**Note: I have been struggling to organize my thoughts and articulate them since the election. Today I decided that instead of trying to capture everything all at once, I'll share my reflections in parts. I hope to have the next part posted soon.**