How one voter for President Trump suggests we move forward

Guest article by Craig Walter

Pru recently asked me if I would share on her blog some insight into why I voted for President Trump to have another four years. The truth is, I’m not sure that matters a whole lot because it would not convince anyone that I am right. What it likely does, is inspire a list of responses of why I was wrong. In fact, in this era of politics, a vote for President Trump inspires responses that might refer to me as a racist, homophobic, misogynist, greed-monster who only cares about making the rich more wealthy. So what value would there be in telling you I am none of these, nor are most of the 70+ million people who voted for President Trump? In my opinion, the real issue is what do we do with the space between us?

There is an old Jewish Talmud that says, “If the house has fallen, woe to the windows.” It’s the idea that we are all connected together, that no matter how different we are, we will rise together and we will fall together. America has always been a divided nation, it’s actually how the founders set it up, to create an environment that would support division, respect division, and thrive in the midst of division. Yet perhaps we live in times that could not have been foreseen by the founders; a time when there is no longer a fair and just media (accept for the media that takes the side we are on) and a time when social media has poured fuel on the fires of division that are having profound consequences. It was interesting to watch the Netflix documentary “The Social Dilemma” which illustrates so well how all of us, no matter how far left or how far right, are almost willingly being manipulated by organizations who are making huge amounts of money on our divisions.

If you are a Biden supporter and you expect things like climate change and immigration and racial tensions to suddenly get solved, I believe you know you will be left wanting. Just as supporters of President Trump have been left wanting, as have supporters of Obama, Bush, Clinton, and so forth. The hope for this country is not in our Presidents, and definitely not in Congress (LOL), or even the Supreme Court. So what can each of us do? Here are a few ideas:

(1) Go make a friend of someone completely your opposite when it comes to politics or religion (might be both) and become their friend. Not to convert them to your thinking but instead to understand them and genuinely be their friend. Most people on both sides of the aisle are pretty good people with well-intentioned beliefs and you might find you have more in common than you ever thought possible.

(2) If you are a news junkie, balance your intake with news from the other side. Not to shoot flaming arrows at the other side but to actually consider their perspective. Now, I say that with caution, because the truth is 99% of the news sources on all sides are overwhelmingly biased, so it gets harder and harder to find the truth. But at least this will help you see there is another perspective. And don’t just do this for a week or two, do it all the time, make it part of your news intake. I have been doing this now for about 5 years, and it has been very helpful. I never pull up Fox News without also pulling up CNN. Both are insanely biased but at least it gives me a glimpse of what is important to either side. Truth is, on a personal level, I have reduced my news intake over those years about 90%, and it’s about the best thing I have ever done.

(3) Similar to #2, stop getting your news and information from articles and posts on social media. Social media platforms intentionally show you the stuff that fits your belief system and we are probably all guilty of consuming gleefully crap that fits our paradigms. We all need to try and think for ourselves and not let big corporate media control how we think and what we see.

(4) Lastly, I will just say to try and not participate in any conversation that tears down the other side. Have compassion for the other side, just like you would love for people to have compassion and understanding for you.

Craig Walter, Christ Community Church

Note from Pru. Thanks to Craig for writing this piece. As regular readers of my newsletter will note, Craig’s thoughts for moving forward are an expansion, of what I wrote in last week’s newsletter “With Malice Toward None”, with a welcome addition of practical advice. This is a convergence of great hope. If we see that people on both sides of the election think we need a similar approach to healing our nation, that means the doors are open and we just have to walk through.