It's NOT Just Like 2008 & 2012

I’ve heard some of my Republican friends say today, “I know exactly how the Democrats feel, because it’s how I felt in 2008 & 2012.” The reality is though, that for many, this is an altogether different situation:

• There are women who have been sexually abused, who feel like this election has told them that the actions of their attacker didn’t really matter…

• There are African-Americans who feel like this election has told them that their country would like to undo the progress that’s been made over the last 150 years…

• There are legal immigrants and their children who feel like this election has told them that they are not welcome in this country, the country they call home…

• There are people with disabilities who feel like this election has told them that they exist only to be the butt of other people’s jokes…

• There are people of certain religions who feel like this election has told them that the protection of the law afforded by the first amendment doesn’t apply to them…

Now you may disagree with how these people interpret the results of this election--that's certainly your right. The fact remains though that this IS how they interpret them. And the feelings they have as a result are very real. And they are very different than the feelings you had in 2008 & 2012.

If you are a member of the GOP, your candidate won the election and you can be happy about that. But (especially if you are a Christian) please show some compassion for those who are not just sad to have lost an election, but are hurting at a very deep level as a result of it. 

Often Republicans are caricatured as mean, hateful, backwards bigots. Take this opportunity to prove the caricature wrong. Only then can we even start to think about what it might look like to move forward together as "one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." Wouldn't it be great for those to not just be empty words, but a national way of life?