Oddly enough, many highly successful people who influence the world in beautiful ways are Narcissistic in nature - people like Steve Jobs. Not to mention, New Yorkers have the best backbone out of anyone I’ve ever met. In 2016, I voted for Pres. Trump’s policy measures over personality. I didn’t think those particular traits would specifically have an influence on the country. I was overdone with Pres. Obama’s Leftist politics and even his lies. Many people warned me that Pres. Trump was a textbook Narcissist, but I didn’t really care.
Let’s just say I care now.
Individuals in my Religiously Conservative Tribe are among the most selfless people in the world. I love them dearly and see them giving their time and lives to build others. But unfortunately, I feel like religious and political conservatism have come to be blurred into being believed it is the same thing, when in reality it is not.
There is Religious Conservativism and there is a Political Conservativism. Many people conflate the two. However, Political Conservatives have been arguing for policy values in a way that exposes a culturally greedy, self-serving nature (not quite like Jesus advocates for) but they do it emphatically and in the name of following God, swaying with their advocacy a large population of the Religious Conservatives for votes and donations, whether or not what they’re saying is actually true or even entirely congruous with their religious beliefs. My heart literally hurts because of this dynamic that exists in the religiously-infused rhetoric in the Conservative Right of American politics.
With that important distinction being made between the different definitions of Conservatism and the tactic used to sway the one group within the demographic I belong to, I am sincerely grateful for Pres. Trump’s service to our country, but I cannot vote again for this man.
I have been studying more in depth about politics than I ever have in my entire life. I have been trying to justify the choice to cast another vote for him. But his macro-level vibe is guiding the micro-level actions, words, and reactions of the entire USA (as if the behavior is appropriate).
His persona is having a mirror effect.
As a leader, he brings out the inner narcissist in our circles and in our lives. He does. I have seen it. And it’s not just in the world around me, it’s all across the USA (and yes from both Left/Right sides).
It is a valid criticism that the very things that many Conservative Republicans look past in Trump, they look down on other populations for (speaking generally of course). It’s hypocritical.
Hearing this kind of assessment HURTS. I know because I used to fight against it. At a Conservative’s core (both the religious and political) is a heart that loves everyone so deeply. It’s a heart that motivates one to fight with passion. But sometimes in the fight for “what is right”, a Political Conservative can become the very thing they’re fighting against.
Manipulation and control is the cause they’re fighting against—fighting to protect their loved ones from such a thing, but when a particular issue regarding their stance is questioned, that’s typically when the Conservative Right pushes harder than ever to explain (or yell louder) why they’re “right”. So instead of the passion for freedom and the love for fellowmen, ALL that comes out is that they only care about “being right.” Not about discussing solutions. Not about recognizing flaws in their own ideas or their party’s plans. Not about participatory politics. Not about bipartisan efforts. Not about correcting past mistakes our country has made against marginalized populations. Not about recognizing different experiences as valid. Not about working for mutual respect and understanding.
The fight might have started caring about people, but in the end the defensive nature turns the dynamic from being solution-based to being hurt and angry. That’s when “being right” turns into the biggest issue. Then to protect themselves, this is where the Politically Conservative Right population starts to affect the Religiously Conservative population by using God in order to sway people to follow them politically.
It is okay to be an individual who is both Politically and Religiously Conservative. It is NOT okay to weaponize God against other Conservatives or Liberals in order to stop discussion about solutions and win a battle about being the most correct with overzeal. Political discussions need to be solution-based and not ego-based. If religious ideals motivate you, that is fantastic, but it is not okay to use religion to manipulate others. It is not true that God only speaks to people who are on the Politically Conservative Right.
It’s a very assuming statement to tell everyone else that they have to listen to you politically because God has spoken to you and if they don’t see everything exactly the way you see it, then you’re against God. This moment right here is the place I spoke of earlier where manipulating comes into the picture even tho it was the cause that was initially the very thing the Conservative Right was fighting against.
So here we are with only a few days before the election. A couple months ago I was thinking of voting again for Trump. Last week I ordered 10 Republicans for Biden signs. About 5% of me was still thinking about voting for Jo Jorgensen until a couple days ago.
My kids keep asking me about the election.
One of my kids said about Biden: “Stuff that old geezer.” Hmmmm...where is he getting that from? What kind of political tactics is he listening to?
I told this child that these types of statements are not appropriate.
Another one of my children asked me who I was voting for because someone he respects said that Biden is for killing babies.
So we talked about abortion:
I cannot handle abortion. It is a genocide on the unborn. It is.
I also feel like abortion has become a buzz word to pit us into a space where we have to choose one of two undesirable candidates without thinking. I am sad for all of the unborn babies' lives that have been sacrificed. I also think the topic of Abortion becomes the quick stop-to-thought on the Conservative Right because abortion is wrong and they cannot vote for a baby killer and so because of that they don’t even mind or even talk about horrible things on a larger scale, and in some ways worse, that are happening DUE TO Conservative Politics. But we can never ever get around to speaking of those terrible things because we could never vote for a baby killer and that’s where the conversation ends.
I still have to ask, however - what about the other genocides that are also happening now? There is a genocide on our trauma populations, like on our foster and adopted kids. There is a psychological genocide happening to the kids who are not being treated properly and it renders them helpless later in their lives because we ignore it—some of these kids are the children of parents trapped in racial systemic injustice within our prisons. And so what about the racial hierarchy affecting our prison populations, and the real-life hell we’re inflicting on the living?
What about the dehumanization at our borders and the “human trafficking” of immigrants CAUSED BY OUR IMMIGRATION LAWS, and perpetuated sadly our wall (the one we voted for as Republicans)? What about the women and children who get caught in our horrific legal system seeking asylum and get stuck on that other side of the wall just to be kidnapped for ransom, raped, and live in squalor while they hope and pray for the American Dream that never comes? What about the women and children who thought they could find safety by fleeing violence, just to get caught in a hell that AMERICANS don’t care about because anything they have ever heard about migrants coming to America is that they are “illegal” and that they’re going to steal all their jobs?
Like really? I cannot believe I used to advocate for this kind of thing. To think that someone who could find the will to live thru the hell at the border for months and years—to think that kind of a person who is a fierce surviver wouldn’t have the potential work ethic to stimulate the economy? What kind of crack were we smoking?
What about the way THIS immigration situation alone contributes to a woman feeling like she might need an abortion? Who is killing babies now? Is it just the Left’s fault that this exists? Or is the Right complicit, too? What about these people being left homeless to be raped at the border who are now without papers because their terrorizers took their Visas and tore them up just so they can be trapped legally and labeled “illegal”? Are these illegal immigrants being raped by Border Patrol? Yes, some of them are. But “be afraid of the migrants”, because they’re “illegal” is what fuels the Conservative Right in their policy measures.
I advocate for following the law, but why, in the name of Conservatism do we have to be so hell-bent on keeping our laws exactly as they are and referring to them as instituted by GOD? In America, WE are the people. It’s okay to talk about changing our laws. WE, the people, instituted the laws. Are we calling ourselves infallible Gods? It’s OKAY to look at the systems we have and quit criminalizing normal people who just happen to be in a sucky social class of society. Let’s stop blaming all the pain we put living people through onto the shoulders of God. Let’s take responsibility for what we have done and actually work together to reform.
Let’s get off our high horse of Conservative Republicanism and realize we are part of the problems, and that we have CREATED many of the problems!
Some of these points were in the conversation with my other son and he said, “Oh, I get it - people are saying one side is voting for a baby killer, but the other side is doing something just as bad.” He is only eleven and he can see it.
And so for these reasons and more, yes, I am seriously considering voting for the Biden/Harris ticket. And no, I am not a baby killer.
I don’t approve of killing babies.
I do believe that tending to the needs of our trauma populations will decrease the amount of individuals who feel pitted against a wall who feel that they have to seek out an abortion.
I do not feel like the Conservative Right cares about those trauma populations as well as they could - they care about the bottom dollar for taxes only and pray the abundance in reduced tax will magically make people more selfless and that they will donate more to the impoverished. But here’s the trick, donating wealth does not solve poverty - poverty is so much more. Our populations in poverty need so much more care and concern than wealthy people handing $20 out the window to the homeless man on the street. Our communities in poverty needs people to give their lives to serving them, people who are trauma informed, people who understand grief, people who understand that their existence in that social class is not always due to their own choices. But instead of being those people who religiously say they believe in “succoring the weak”, we’re screaming politically rabout how God told us to vote for a particular politician - guess what - that politician is even further removed from caring about the people in our own backyard.
These issues I speak of do get perpetuated by the Right screaming that they’re right. No, the Left is not blameless in the mix. But the Right thinks all the blame is on the Left, and that is not true.
Before anyone on the Far Left gets confirmation bias after reading my post, I have 4 final points to make:
Individuals voting 3rd party for someone like Jo Jorgensen have my utmost respect this election. I wish the rest of the world could be as amazing as you are. I wish that I could be that amazing this year, but for the deepest reasons connected to my vote in this election cycle, I feel that to reflect my personal voice most clearly, joining the “Republicans for Biden” movement is a more accurate depiction of how I feel than by voting for Jo. In my Utopian world, I wish the Left/Right DIVERSION could be forgotten and we could all be more authentic and forward thinking like you. It would be amazing for the majority to say “to hell with this two party method and manipulation from both sides” and find something a lot better in the middle.
I am not voting for Trump, but I have a dear DRAG QUEEN friend who is. He, along with 50 of his “Gays for Trump” friends who recently assembled in Beverly Hills, CA will be also. I seriously ADORE the man behind Lady Maga, I am a “top fan” of his actually, and I respect his platform. He is an influencer in his LGBTQ community but also adhere’s to Conservativism that he was raised with and to stand against the nastiness in the Far Left that can manipulate and control others. His voice happily proclaims that you can be different, you don’t have to fit into stereotypes, and we can all coexist together. For many of the same reasons this man is motivated to do what he does are the same kinds of reasons I am a Conservative Republican voting for Biden this year 😁. I am doing the same thing as Lady Maga—I am RESISTING THE NASTINESS that has been magnified by the methods of the extremely Politically Conservative Right (and yes, that nastiness I have already said is magnified by our President’s personality and behavior traits that have become a catalyst for a great many not-ideal things these last 4 years). But I salute you Lady Maga for resisting the power and control from the extreme political Left, and YOU INSPIRE ME!!!!!. :)
(Screen shots used & shared from Lady Maga’s public page).Here’s a lovely reminder of humanity I saved from my friend’s post the other day. It encompasses the deepest message of the Republicans for Biden platform that I’ve seen this year - one of respect - one of turning from the nastiness that politics have brought upon us all, and focusing on more harmonious principles of respect for people who are different than you are:
(Picture found on FB)My dad is an avid Trump supporter. I have often said that in AZ he was likely was the man who singlehandedly got Trump voted in office with his political advocacy in 2016 alone. I just want to let everyone know I bought him his Trump flag and I’m proud of him for using it. It actually looks really nice hanging at his house. :) I want everyone to know I know my dad’s choices are based in his heart of hearts and truest passion—which includes ensuring his kids and grandkids have the best he can give them, even if I am not voting the same way he is this year.
To some individuals on the Conservative Right I might as well be the most Leftist Liberal known to man, and they could even say that with fear and disgust in their voice, disdain, shock, and they might worry about my soul even. I have already been called a lot of names for speaking up. But what’s funny is that Far Leftist and Liberal Democrats don’t really like me either - especially because I am applauding Lady Maga. Haha.
Whatever comes to our country and the world in the next 4 years, I’m praying it will be better than what we have most recently seen (especially regarding the hatred & polarization that has ruled our lives in 2020). Pres. Trump did inherit a problem, but he is a major catalyst in the continued polarization. Even tho I believe he is going to win another election I will not be voting for him. I wish my Conservative Tribe (the portion that likes to conflate religious and political conservatism as one and the same) would spend more time praying for the understanding of and protection for the people whose lives may be negatively impacted by another term with this president instead of actively trying to convert and pray for the souls of people who are not voting for him.
Don’t waste time worrying about me and whether or not Jesus can save my soul if I vote for Biden. I don’t attend the church of Politically Far Right Conservstive Republicanism—I go to one with a different name. Jesus is bigger than just the far right of politics anyway. Far bigger.
Care about the people in America who are literally in poverty, who are hurting NOW, and who may need even more real relief due to the political policies that are in place now and in the next 4 years. On Nov 4th don’t trust either presidential option to fix these problems and don’t think your job is done because your side “won”. If your side “wins” don’t think for one second that that must equate to mean you were "right". This is not about being right—propelling mankind forward is always a work in progress and requires solution based problem solving skills on a perpetual basis. Get over the right/wrong diversion of political propaganda. And if it’s something you haven’t done already, perhaps consider devoting part of your life to serving the marginalized people who are suffering from America’s political choices with as much passion OR MORE as the kind you use in campaigning for any given political party or candidate.
If there’s anyone else who feels like I do or who has other reasons for voting in a way similar as I am - let me know if you want me to help you get a Republicans for Biden yard sign. ;)
Comment if you’d like, but please try to leave the F-bombs out of your comments to each other if this post incites strong feelings (you know who you are). PEACE & LOVE, ALL Y’ALL! :)
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