USA: PLEASE SKIP THIS POST . . .

. . . if political disagreements could end our friendship.

No, really. I mean it. If a post about voting preferences might damage our relationship as fellow human beings who would otherwise choose to love one another, you should probably skip this one.

I recommend you close this post now and return next week to my regularly scheduled programming related to travel and faith. By next week, I will most definitely have the update you are looking for related to what is happening with Walter, our big yellow adventure truck whose batteries are currently damaged—perhaps catastrophically—and whose heating systems are still not functional. You won’t miss anything of our Nomadic MidLife travel story by skipping this post.

Nothing of consequence has changed since last week’s post:

Our current reality, Part Two

We are still living in a storage unit, trying to figure out what is wrong and if it can be fixed. There’s nothing new about our travels this week, friend. Just move along.

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You’re still here.

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You’re staying, despite my encouragement for you to go?

Ok, then. Here we go.

Before I begin, I promise you this:

• I value people for more than just their voting preferences.

• I respect people who genuinely, passionately believe something—even if it is not what I believe.

• I appreciate people who are willing to study and learn from multiple perspectives, then engage in peaceful civil discourse on controversial topics.

• I admire people who are willing to risk rejection to express an unpopular opinion because they believe so strongly it needs to be heard.

That said, I feel the need to do my little part, however insignificant, to sway the vote. It would be easier to just leave it alone and let happen whatever happens. My actions here likely won’t change anything anyway, so why bother? The fact that I am writing this despite the rejection I might face (on top of all the rejection my husband and I have already faced) . . .

Dumpster diving in the alley

. . . despite the readers I might lose, despite the potential hit to my subscriber base here, I feel compelled to speak out about this election cycle. For some of you, my words here will be too much. For others of you, they won’t be enough.

Remember¹ a couple thousand years ago when Jesus of Nazareth was executed by the Roman Empire at the insistence of a Jewish mob and the disciples hid in fear for their very lives?

Remember when, a few days later, it is reported that Jesus appeared to them, very much alive, hung out with them privately and publicly for forty days or so, ate meals with them, and told them not to be afraid, but rather to go to the ends of the earth telling others what they had seen?

Remember how Jesus warned them they would be persecuted and even killed for proclaiming this miraculous Resurrection as true?

Remember how, one-by-one, they were willing to suffer horrific deaths rather than recant their story?

Remember how, historically, the Church has revered them for that, respected them, counted their stubborn insistence as an indicator that the story of the Resurrection must have been true, or they wouldn’t have been willing to die for it?

It’s kind of like that. Well, sort of like that. Ok, it’s vaguely reminiscent of that. Obviously, the consequences of me speaking my mind here are not nearly as dire. At least not yet.

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And you’re STILL here.

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Here I am in 1976, all dressed up for our nation’s Bicentennial celebration, as well as with some toy cars I played with as a child.

I was raised in a solid Christian home, attending Evangelical churches faithfully throughout my life. I have been on staff at a Baptist church. I attended and graduated from a Christian university that requires an additional 30 units of Bible credit on top of the regular course of studies. I have been a missionary. I married a youth pastor and we raised children in the Church. I was listening to contemporary Christian music way back when it was still poo-pooed in the Church for having a “secular” drumbeat. I have even stood on the roadside in those nationally organized silent rallies, lamenting the loss of lives to abortion. I have lived shoulder-to-shoulder for most of my life with conservative Evangelical Christians, most of them Republicans. I have counted myself among them and voted consistently Republican for the vast majority of all the elections of my lifetime.

(I suddenly feel like the Apostle Paul listing off his credentials as an upright Jew before going against the Pharisee flow and preaching the divinity of Jesus of Nazareth.²)

But much of that changed about a decade ago.

When Donald Trump began to express serious political aspirations and changed his long-held political affiliation to Republican, looking to court the conservative Christian voting bloc, I sat up and paid attention. I had studied enough political science in college to see he meant business and knew how to get what he wants.

I watched in awe as Trump positioned himself as the second savior of the American Evangelical Christian community. He deftly found footholds among the faithful, always with one finger to the wind to ascertain which direction the conservative breezes were blowing. Through these careful calculations—despite his blatant moral deficiencies—he climbed higher and higher into a position of power, frequently stepping on the upturned faces of anyone in his way.

Just exactly as he’d hoped they would, huge swaths of Evangelicals cheered and laid prayerful hands on him and covered their bodies, their cars, and their homes with his campaign advertisements.

It was a classic case of the powerful promising power to the powerless in exchange for their unflinching loyalty.

Trump’s tactic of rewarding loyalty and bludgeoning opposition with lawsuits and public retribution was effective. He was a strongman, a grown-up playground bully with a media megaphone and a bottomless bankroll. I would have expected his persona and methodology to be offensive to my fellow-Christians, but to my amazement, many seemed to buy in.

“The time for ‘turning the other cheek' has passed,” one such close connection of mine claimed. “It just doesn't work anymore. It’s time to fight for what is ours.”

Even when he said things that sounded reckless, dangerous, violent, and discriminatory; his faithful followers found ways to twist them into positives.

To be fair, not all Evangelicals found Trump’s ways attractive. A few saw through his carefully constructed facade from the start and opposed him. Some noted that he was a flawed hero, comparing him to characters in the biblical narrative who God used despite their shortcomings. But, in order to get the legislation they thought their faith demanded, they held their noses and voted for him again and again. They seemed to believe the kingdom of heaven would further advance on earth if they could only get a person into power who would stack the Supreme Court in their favor—a majority of justices who would predictably lean hard toward conservative Evangelical Christian preferences at any cost. They shrugged at the idea of partisan judges.

If Trump (and the Supreme Court) was for them, who could be against them? The whole scene reminds me of the ancient Israelites pining for a strongman king like the other nations.³

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If you’ve read this far, you might as well keep going.

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I believe Donald Trump does not actually care about these issues that he uses to rile up the conservative base. I don’t believe he is concerned with preserving Christian values or protecting any particular way of life. From what I have studied and witnessed over the past decade (actually for the past several decades), I believe Donald Trump only cares about accumulating his own power and wealth, and he will pursue his goals by whatever means necessary. I firmly believe he has successfully manipulated the conservative Evangelical Christian voting bloc in order to achieve his own success.

For so many dozens of reasons that I will not spend words on in this post, I do not believe Donald Trump is a good choice for us, for our nation, for our Christian faith. I am highly concerned about what he will do if elected to a second term.

I can already see the exasperated “but what abouts” forming on the lips of so many of my friends and family. I hear you, and I can only offer this:

I have seen so many in Christian circles preach their faith that Donald Trump, despite his awkward lack of morality or human decency, is God’s chosen deliverer to save babies, save the economy, save Christians from having to learn to live out their faith in a changing world, and somehow save our nation. They are quick to point out that God has used unlikely vessels many other times throughout history.

But couldn’t that same faith that God works in mysterious ways be applied the other direction? Couldn’t we trust God to be enough without Donald Trump in office? Couldn't we uncover the truth of who he is—an empty promise of vain political power and the anthesis of who Jesus called us to be—and say NO, even if that requires actively voting for his opponent instead?

Doing so would require faith that God is still in control. It would require trusting God to advance His kingdom through us, through our faithful witness as we live out our beliefs with truth and grace, rather than trusting in government interference. We would have to commit to actually going into all the world with the love and teachings of Jesus, rather than seeking to simply legislate our way to morality. It would require believing that God, embodied by his followers, is enough for this broken world.

It is my firm belief that we don’t need a second savior. We don’t want a person in office who will continue to bully, discriminate, litigate, and retaliate to serve himself. The United States as a nation won’t thrive by replacing the blind justice of the Constitution with a panel of judges who hand down decisions based on personal opinions (and behind-the-scenes promises of earthly reward). May we never be so desperate for power—power the Bible never suggested we should even seek.

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This past week, the reminder was passed on to women that they have every right vote differently than their husbands—even if they must do so secretly. What is marked privately on a ballot, after all, remains confidential.

The Trump team and its faithful followers exploded at this, going so far as to call such behind-the-back actions rebellion, akin to an affair, a betrayal of the male headship God intended. Good Christian women should vote as their husbands do, they reminded us, menacingly.

Wait, what? Wasn't that issue settled more than a hundred years ago with the 19th Amendment? Is THIS another backwards step toward making America somehow great again? Yikes.

When I taught American Government to high school students, I maintained an impartial public presence within the school setting. As hard as they tried, my students could not tell what my political affiliations might be. I insisted my job was to teach them how to think, rather than what to think. I wore purple clothing—a mix between the two opposing team colors—or I wore red and blue in equal measure.

But I am no longer an impartial teacher, careful not to indoctrinate students.

I voted for Kamala Harris. Not because I think she is the best person America could find for the job. Not because I am a Democrat (I’m not). Not because I agree with all of her policy positions. Not because I think she alone can make the United States of America a better place.

I voted for Harris because I want the election to be swayed convincingly, overwhelmingly, beyond all reasonable doubt, away from Donald Trump this time.

I do not trust him and his ambition. I do not believe he cares about all Americans, or even most of them. He has made that abundantly clear. I do not want to see this vain, crude, divisive, and blatantly authoritarian man rewarded with another term with which to pursue his darkest desires. I do not want to see followers of Jesus continue to place their trust in a person who I believe with all my heart is a charlatan on a quest for wealth and power, far more power than a democratic form of government should ever tolerate. I do not want to see the people of God bowing to the government in exchange for political favors.

I understand many of you have already cast your ballots.

But some of you have not. Some of you are still planning to vote, either absentee or in person, today or tomorrow. Others of you had planned to quietly abstain this year.

If you are reading this before the polls close Tuesday⁴, there is still time. No one has to know how you vote. If you have been hesitant to vote for Trump but feel pressured to do so; or if you had planned to just sit this one out, let this post encourage you to change your mind.

I am asking you to join me in actively voting against⁵ Donald Trump. In so doing, we are sending a definitive message: Donald Trump is NOT who we want for President of the United States, and God’s kingdom will certainly NOT falter if Kamala Harris gets elected.

Thank you for reading to the end. If you still wholeheartedly disagree with me, that’s ok, at least in my book. We can still love each other. I don't view you as an enemy. You needn’t try to Red-Rover, Red-Rover me over to your side, though, as my ballot has already been cast.

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Next week, regardless of the chaos in the news, I promise we will get back to Walter, the big yellow truck, and his people, a middle-age, monogamous, minimalist couple setting off to travel the world as nomads, seeking to learn from the beautiful places and beautiful people we encounter.

Until next week,

Sherry

P.S. Please don’t sit this election out. He needs to be stopped.

1. The story of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus has been referenced in many historical accounts but is detailed in the Biblical accounts of the first four books of the New Testament, called the Gospels. Here is one of those accounts from the book of John.

2. Here’s Paul listing off his credentials to establish his credibility in the New Testament book of Philippians, chapter 3

3. Here is the story of the ancient Israelites asking for a strongman king—and God giving them what they wanted. It’s found in I Samuel, chapter 8.

4. Here is the info you need to find when and how you can vote in your state.

5. Exercising your right to a creative option like abstaining, voting for a third-party candidate, or stubbornly writing in another name, will not help defeat Donald Trump this year.