Election Week 2020

 I feel like this is a week I need to blog as this election is probably one of the biggest of my lifetime.  So far the polls have Biden ahead but that was the case in 2016 also with Clinton.  Suffice it to say that I overestimated 'Merica in 2016 and I won't do it again in 2020.  I hope Biden wins, but I suspect Trump will stay in the White House another 4 years.  If it's close, it'll be like the "hanging chad" fiasco in Florida, and his hand-picked Supreme Court will likely rule his way.  And let's not even mention all the voter suppression going on in communities of POC.  It's ridiculous that many Texans, Georgians etc have to stand in line for hours in order to vote during a pandemic. Perhaps it's just a self-preserving thought process so that my hopes for this country aren't shattered again.  Perhaps it's because I know so many Trump supporters that continue to support him despite:

• Mexico didn't pay for his wall - in fact, there is very little of his promised wall (which I was never for)
• Over 500 refugee kids separated from their parents
• His promised medical program that never got rolled out despite having the Senate and WH for 4 years
• His history of racism - Condemning the Central Park 5 who served years in prison despite them being innocent, his promotion of the stupid "birther movement" claiming Obama isn't an American citizen, calling Neo-Nazis "very fine people" (imo anybody who loves Confederate statues is a racist as they care more about the loser slave-loving Confederacy than they do about actual living people or the people who died for the Union and to end slavery), made it sound like refugees are rapists and gang members, continuing to call COVID-19 the China Virus despite knowing it impacts the way Asians in America are treated, etc.  I could go on and on but it's fruitless because they will always defend him.  And as I now know, even if they consider themselves to be "not racist," him being a racist is clearly not a deal breaker to them.
• His disparagement of military leaders.  The GOP is supposedly more pro-military and "patriotic" than Democrats.  They decry athletes protesting peacefully by kneeling during the anthem, yet they're okay with him talking smack about those that served the country (calling them suckers and losers) for decades like John McCain who was once the GOP nominee for POTUS.  They are willing to overlook that he dodged the draft like a coward with "bone spurs" and none of his kids ever tried to serve anybody but themselves. He's even tried to block immigrants who served in the U.S. military a path to citizenship.
• He has paid very little in taxes, as little as $750/year.  While it may be "legal," it doesn't make it right.  Slavery was legal once too.  People are so impressed that he didn't take his presidential salary (other Presidents have done the same), but ignore the fact that over $1 Million of taxpayer money has been spent at Trump properties.
• His continuous "downplaying" of the virus which has now killed almost a quarter million Americans and is surging again across the country.  He caught it himself and, of course, got the best of care and recovered... yet STILL encourages large crowds of people, many maskless... and he mocks people who are wearing them.

Here's what they like about him:

• He cut taxes.  The problem is that it also added to the deficit and the biggest beneficiaries (large corporations) continue to layoff workers and send jobs overseas.  Also, taxes are not a bad thing to me if they provide services and infrastructure.  As Jesus said, "Give Caesar what is Caesar's."  There are a lot of Christians out there who don't even tithe their 10%.  So it's no surprise that many of them also will try to cheat Uncle Sam like Trump does.
• The economy - Republicans conveniently forget that the Obama administration handed over a pretty good economy. Also, Obama's last three years saw more job growth than Trump's first three years.  I'd also like to add that other countries who have handled COVID better are also getting their economies up and running faster than the US.  Trump downplayed the virus because he didn't want the stock markets to suffer - in the end, he could care less about lost American lives than his "economy."  The shame of that is that, because the US is doing so poorly with the virus under his "leadership," we haven't been able to reopen as quickly as others.  How hard is it to be a role model and ask people to wear masks?   It's really annoying how people that are against a woman's "right to choose" can't even put on a friggen mask (but that's another subject that I'll hit on next).
• Supreme Court justices - There are "pro-lifers" who vote on this single issue alone.  They ignore the fact that abortions happened when it was illegal too, and that they will continue to happen whether it's legal or not. I happen to believe that the best way to reduce abortions is to provide better sex education, contraception and social services for struggling families (who do want to keep their children).  Nonetheless, if your biggest thing in 2016 was SC justices, Conservatives now have a 6-3 majority on the court... so you can vote on other pro-life issues (beyond the womb). 
• You can say "Merry Christmas" again? I don't know what other people's experience is, but I live in liberal California and have never felt that I couldn't say Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, etc.  This is just a bogus argument to me.  There is no "attack on Christianity."  To me (and I'm a Christian as the title of my blog says), it's the other way around.  Christians are attacking the right for LGBTQ people to be married, use the restroom (which has stalls btw), etc.  Nobody says atheists, Buddhists, etc can't be married - so why can't LGBTQ?  I live by this: Love God and love my neighbors.  If my neighbor is atheist, Buddhist, Christian, whatever - I love them.  And for those folks that say, "God created Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve..."  I say, "Yes, he did create Adam and Steve... just as he created Abraham and Sarah who shared the same father."  A lot of people think incest is "yucky" but apparently it was okay for Jews at that time.  My point is this - those were culturally different times when I guess that was okay.  By the same token, I'm not gonna argue with same-sex people getting married.  It doesn't bother me at all.  If anything, it bothers me that it bothers other people.
• He's cut back protections for climate change, air, water, etc.  Conservatives call it regulations, liberals call them protections.  It's no use arguing the finer points cuz nobody ever changes their mind.  My opinion is that God created the world and asked people to take care of it (Genesis 1), so I prioritize caring for God's world and environment. We have enough brains in the world to use solar, wind and other sources of energy that He provides... whereas oil is a finite substance that we need to drill the earth for.  And let's not even start down the trail of wars fought over oil.
• Middle East "Peace" - Again, this is more smoke and mirrors as the "peace" was merely formalizing ties between people that weren't at war.  I contend that there is no real peace until Palestinians and Israelis are at peace. As my friend and pastor the Rev. Dr. Larry Jay said: "When it comes to Jerusalem, I really don't think God cares whether it's Israel's or it's Palestine's.  Theologically, the temple was destroyed, thus making Jerusalem's spiritual significance void as God's Spirit technically withdrew from a building made of hands to a building found in the hearts of people.  Thus, I don't think it's important and that it's all politics.  Conservative Christians may state that the Bible says Jerusalem belongs to Israel.  But the Bible ultimate says that God does not live in a temple made of stones but in a temple made of flesh.  Ultimately, I believe it is none of our America Christian business.  There are more important issues our world is facing and starting a war over land should not be one of them."
  

I know nobody reading this is gonna change their minds.  This is just a reminder to me so I can look back and remember exactly what I was thinking during Election Week 2020.  As mentioned above, I'm preparing for another 4 years of Trump.  I won't be rejoicing if Biden wins, but I will be relieved.  I'll take a moment to be thankful the country isn't in as sad a shape as I thought... But I realize that there is still a LOT of work to do to get it where it needs to be.  Win or lose, my focus will still be on BLM because fighting racism and injustice is a nonpartisan issue...  It's part of loving my neighbor which is admittedly difficult for me on some days.  Please pray that my heart doesn't get hardened by my witnessing of White Evangelical Trump supporters.