I cried when I found out that Trump won the presidential election. I quickly searched the internet in hopes that it was all an awful joke, and then I cried.
I know it sounds mellow dramatic to some of you, but I truly am afraid of him as our president. It's not that he is going to build a wall or destroy the economy, the president only has so much legal power with the way our government is built. What scares me is that he encourages multitudes through fear and hatred. He has the ear of every American, of the world really, and he whispers in our ears all of the reasons we should separate from the other, all of the irrational fears that our lizard brains respond to so quickly.
In my travels I have seen the destruction caused by hateful people in power. Genocides in history, many of which are very recent, have always been triggered by someone being in power who expressed fear and hatred of a certain people group. Whether its the Jews, the blacks, the women, or the educated... when we live out of this place of hate, people are killed and nations tumble. Maybe it won't be so bad for us, I pray that instead this is a wake up call for why we need more love in our world. But it's still a scary thought. I live in a country that went through a genocide only 40 years ago, and the story already sounds all too familiar.
This has really affected me the past couple days. I haven't been able to sleep, I've been on the edge of an anxiety attack. But I realized something recently...
There is a woman here who I look up to and admire so much. She is beautiful from the inside out. She loves the other, she gave up her comfortable life to move to a country where she could spread love more effectively. She handles conflict with grace and humor, she meets difficulties with poise and love. She's amazing, and I aspire to be like her someday. I recently came to say hello to her and she expressed how upset she was by some of the social media surrounding Trump's win. She was in favor of Trump, she expressed that this doesn't make her racist or hateful or corrupt. She talked about how she is living in an extremely corrupt and dangerous country by choice, that doesn't make her and her family corrupt or evil.
And you know what I realized? I realized that good people voted for Trump.
Not all of them, many Trump supporters have voted for him out of hatred. But I think some did it out of pure intentions, whether it be their upbringing, circle of friends, level of education, whatever it is... There are good-hearted, loving people who voted for Trump.
So instead of focusing on my anger and fear, I'm going to focus on my love for people, Trump supporters or otherwise. Because if I live my life out of anger, I'm no better than Trump is. I can still grieve what is happening to my home country, but I will not be controlled by it.
One of my favorite bands has a song lyric, "If it's us or them, it's us for them". Trump and some of his supporters live in an us or them world. They live in the mentality that if we don't destroy the minorities, they will destroy us. It's a deadly and scary way to live. It's tempting for me to hate the other, to hate republicans, conservative Christians, and womanizers. But I will fight every day to do the opposite, I will seek to see these people for who they are at their core, for the goodness inside of them rather than their prejudice. This doesn't mean to live naively and it doesn't mean I have to be happy with corruption and hate, but I will not fight fire with fire.
Imagine growing up with incredibly rich, powerful, and hardworking parents. Suppose you were only praised for your success and ability to find power. Your parents send you away as soon as you are a teenager, they send you to a military school in the hopes that you will become disciplined and successful. You fight your whole life for wealth, for power and the approval you never fully received. One day, you become the most powerful man in the country, in the world maybe. Then you wake up and realize you still aren't enough for the fatherly affection you have fought for your entire life. The father that isn't even alive to see your "success".
I'm not saying we should all love Trump and fall at his feet. But I have come to believe that the most disgusting, hateful people are just children. The pimps, the dictators and abusers of the world- they are all just frightened children fighting to be loved.
Good people voted for Trump. Good people voted for Hillary. Good people will be hurt because of what happened here. Let's choose to love all of these people. Let's see this as a reason to wake up and decide to care for the other.
If it's us or them, it's us for them.