“We were all hoping it would make history, and boy did it ever. It’s official, America has elected its first criminal president before electing its first female president. What a day for proud felonists.” - Desi Lydic, The Daily Show
I was raised a Christian and I have spent my life caring about the world around me. From mission trips to the Peace Corps to starting a social enterprise, I care, and for the longest time I thought the reason that my deep care and love for humanity was because of my faith. But today, the label of Christian feels gross. Like Gandhi said, “I like your Christ; I do not like your Christians.” I’m ashamed to be lumped in with a group of people who actively go against the teachings of Jesus. I am not one of them and they are not like me. They do not care about the orphans, the widows, and the foreigners. Is this really all about abortion? Honestly? Abortion is never even mentioned in the Bible, except as a tool for a man who had accused his wife of cheating to force an abortion, approved by the priest. Watch Reversing Roe if you want to learn more about how evangelical christians have used this as a political tool to control the right. Jen Hamilton says this all way better than me. Watch below.
Israel says I shouldn’t get into conversations about faith and politics because they are not connected, but I think people vote with their values whether they want to call it religion or not. It’s just that in our country, we use religion to justify discrimination and hatred in the name of god. If Trump voters would just say, “I know the guy is a dick and doesn’t care about god or anyone in the 99%, but I think he’ll be better for the economy,” even though I do not agree that he’ll be better for the economy, I could support that choice because it’s honest and not hypocritical.
And frankly, 71 million people voted for a convicted felon, so let’s all agree, that none of this has anything to do with faith. The Bible says a whole lot of things against breaking the law and justice prevailing, but we suddenly don’t care about that. This has to do with white nationalism. Country over faith. Whiteness over anything else. And of course, a penis.
This is not god’s doing or the holy spirit ushering in a new dawn, but we might get to see the wrath of god, so that’ll be fun.
I care about my fellow humans then not because of my faith, but because I am human and I would hope that they also care about me. Clearly, it is a privilege to have the mental and emotional (and I’ll say it - intellectual) capacity to care about others, while most of the world is just trying to make it through the day. They are not able to think about the greater good, because they’re just trying to put a meal on the table and pay the rent. I get it. Sort of.
I’ve written before about my disappointment in the democratic party. It’s time to wake the fuck up. I attended a very helpful social justice call last night, put on by SURJ, and they encouraged us to not blame voters but to blame the people at the top that threw money at Trump’s campaign, and to blame the democratic party for missing the mark so poorly. And I agree, but still, white women what the hell are we doing?
I am disgusted. We are a racist, classist, sexist nation. I am ashamed to call myself American.
But the fight continues.
The somber day after the election in 2016, I made up my mind to quit my job and go all in on my business. I made the decision to focus on how I could personally make a difference in the world, even if it felt like the world was against me. I felt I had that responsibility.
As I watch my local liberal facebook groups quite seriously make plans to leave the state and the country, I cannot. The same fire I had in 2016 has only been reignited, and as Leo can attest you don’t want to see this mama hulk out, but I am absolutely ready to bring that hulk energy. It was fun to have a little hope since August and get on board with a joyful and ambitious campaign, but we are now facing our reality check.
As a social entrepreneur, 2 things stand out to me that may help us in 2026 and 2028. Get to know your neighbor better and follow the money. Besides the obvious hatred toward women and people of color, the right has been building their coalition since 2020, making inroads with young people, hispanic voters, and as always with white people. In a business term - they did their customer discovery. We did not. With a sigh of relief, we stopped trying when Biden took office. They got to know their customers, found out what they wanted, and messaged accordingly. We did not.
Uncle Bernie (who should have won the democratic nomination in 2016 and saved us all this misery) said it best.
Money talks. While Harris’ campaign far out raised Trump’s campaign from individual donations, outside money spent was almost double for the Trump campaign. Guess who wanted him to win… people with deep pockets.
I hope for all of our sakes that what the wealthy are after will benefit the people and that putting their money into Trump’s campaign truly will turn the economy around and we’ll all be able to buy less expensive eggs and gas. Doubtful, but we can hope.
But more than the cost of eggs, I care about our souls. I care about how we look at each other and how we embrace a conversation or fear wearing a Kamala t-shirt because we’re so anxious of the reaction of the people around us. I have always said to listen to people, ask them to share their stories, and to really understand what people are going through (I have a whole podcast dedicated to it), but I have to admit I haven’t done a good job of that with my own people. I’m part of the problem, assuming that people see the same way that I do and want liberty and justice for all. I take for granted that people are good and want what’s good for everyone. Maybe they don’t, maybe they don’t know any better, or a scarier guess is that they’re just brainwashed (listen to podcast on disinformation).
Showing Up for Racial Justice is an organization that targets white people and teaches white people how to organize our own to be better allies, because we are critical in the fight for justice and equality. If the outcome of this election upset you, will you pledge to do better? I know some of us just want to hide under a blanket for the next 4 years, but we’ve been doing that since 2016. No one is coming to save us. If you have the privilege like I do to care about the world beyond yourself, do something with it. The world needs you. It’s time to rise up.