I was mostly a Republican voter until 2015. Up until that time, on the few occasions I didn't vote Republican, I picked an independent party (which party I picked was different at different times). But in 2015 I felt I had no choice but to vote against someone who lashed out against good people and who made fun of people by groups. I didn't take other people's word for it; I listened to his own words, and I listened to them in context, not just snippets. For the first time, I felt I could not just vote for who I liked best among independent parties, but that I needed to vote for who I felt could actually have a chance of getting into office, and who I felt would do the least harm.
You see, I had been in a cult, way back in 1971, the kind of cult for which you would give up your job, your home, and most of your belongings (I did); the kind of cult for which some people left their spouses if they didn't agree or approve of the cult leader; the kind of cult for which some mothers left their very young children behind in order to join...and all in the name of God. In the candidate of 2015, I saw some of the same traits and methods as the cult leader I had followed - and had then left - so many years ago.
Yesterday, we commemorated the horrific events of 9/11, and well we should. I hope some day we will also commemorate the horrific events of January 6th, 2021, when some of our own citizens marched to our capitol building to stop the vote - a huge and integral part of our democratic process - and to carry out the admonition of our own president to "fight like hell because if you don't fight like hell, you won't have a country". Yes, I listened to him say these words in context, watching the entire video. Yes, he said that as part of his speech to the crowd before he said the much quoted: "Now, march peacefully to the capitol." That last quote was emphasized during the more recent campaign, as if the previous urging to fight had not existed.
But after becoming president again this term, he pardoned every one of the people who stormed our capitol, each one of whom had gone through due process before being convicted, a process which took years and in which each person got different sentences, according to their own specific crimes. Some of those crimes involved extreme damage to our police, the police who protected the capitol and our Congress people and our vice president. These police should have been hailed as heroes. But he pardoned every one of their assailants.
And now, he has immigrants swooped up without due process, detained and often deported, sometimes to countries they don't know with languages they don't speak. Taken without due process. Yes, everyone in this country is supposed to be entitled to due process. That's why our country used to be a safe country to visit; but now our tourism is dropping because some people from other countries are afraid to come here.
And so, through all this, after hearing the maligning of various groups and the horrible treatment that has followed the words, when I hear someone say that Democrats - in particular - are hateful, I would laugh if it weren't so serious. There are hateful individuals in every group, be it a political party or anything else. But calling out rhetoric - speeches and writings - that foment hate against whole groups of people because of their race, nation of origin, gender orientation, etc. is not, in itself, hateful. Calling out injustice comes from love...love of all creation, not just whoever happens to be privileged in a specific area or era.
