Here's Why We Celebrate Today

I shared an article on FB about Trump not taking away the LGBTQ's rights. In response a friend sent me this link:
http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/11/09/heres-why-we-grieve-today/

This is too long to share on a FB post AND I don't want anyone to say I was shoving my opinion in their face so I am posting my response here on my blog. That way you can keep on scrolling and/or click away if you don't like it or are offended. Let me be clear, my intent is not to offend! I personally don't know why everyone seems to get so offended so easily but that seems to be the case. I'm just voicing my opinion in response to this article. I understand a lot of people are grieving. I'm now taking the opportunity to share why I am "celebrating". I wouldn't really even call it celebrating for me personally. I'd say I'm more hopeful but I'd say Republicans in general are more in a celebratory mood and they deserve to be.

So here you go, my response is in red:

http://johnpavlovitz.com/2016/11/09/heres-why-we-grieve-today/

Here’s Why We Grieve Today

Here’s Why We Celebrate Today

I don’t think you understand us right now.

I think you think this is about politics. 

I think you believe this is all just sour grapes; the crocodile tears of the losing locker room with the scoreboard going against us at the buzzer.

I don’t think you understand us right now.

I think you think this is about politics. 

I think you believe this is all just a victory dance; the fist pumps of the winning locker room with the scoreboard shining for us at the buzzer.

I can only tell you that you’re wrong. This is not about losing an election.This isn’t about not winning a contest. This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.

I can only tell you that you’re wrong. This is not about winning an election. This isn’t about not losing a contest. This is about two very different ways of seeing the world.

Hillary supporters believe in a diverse America; one where religion or skin color or sexual orientation or place of birth aren’t liabilities or deficiencies or moral defects. Her campaign was one of inclusion and connection and interdependency. It was about building bridges and breaking ceilings. It was about going high. 

Hillary’s America was also about giving perks to those who pay. It rewarded dreamers who did not follow rules (the laws of American immigration) and allowed illegal immigrants to cut line over those who did try to obey the law. It supported women’s rights but not viable infant’s rights. Her campaign was shown to be one of secret supporters, manipulation, actors/rioters paid to cause dissent and discord against the opposition.

Trump supporters believe in a very selective America; one that is largely white and straight and Christian, and the voting verified this. America is largely straight and Christian and the voting verified this. Most Americans have never made any assertion otherwise and are trying to make it clear that they are tired of being told gender is fluid, pronouns are fluid, Christianity is wrong, the Constitution needs to be changed, and we are deplorable and uneducated for feeling the way we do. Donald Trump has never made any assertions otherwise. He ran a campaign of fear and exclusion and isolation—and that’s the vision of the world those who voted for him have endorsed. Donald Trump’s campaign was of safety. A border with immigration laws that would be enforced. Background checks that would be thorough and vetted. That’s the vision of the America those who voted for him have endorsed.

They have aligned with the wall-builder and the professed p*ssy-grabber, and they have co-signed his body of work, regardless of the reasons they give for their vote:

Every horrible thing Donald Trump ever said about women or Muslims or people of color has now been validated.

Every profanity-laced press conference and every call to bully protestors and every ignorant diatribe has been endorsed.Every piece of anti-LGBTQ legislation Mike Pence has championed has been signed-off on.
This is not about one candidate over the other.
It’s not about one’s ideas over another’s.
It is not blue vs. red.
It’s not her emails vs. his bad language.
It’s not her dishonesty vs. his indecency.
It’s about religion being weaponized.
It’s about crassness and vulgarity and disregard for women.
It’s about a barricaded, militarized, bully nation.
It’s about an unapologetic, open-faced ugliness.

Half of our country has declared these things acceptable, noble,American. 

This is the disconnect and the source of our grief today. It isn’t a political defeat that we’re lamenting, it’s a defeat for Humanity.

We’re not angry that our candidate lost. We’re angry because our candidate’s losing means this country will be less safe, less kind, and less available to a huge segment of its population, and that’s just the truth.

Those who have always felt vulnerable are now left more so. Those whose voices have been silenced will be further quieted. Those who always felt marginalized will be pushed further to the periphery. Those who feared they were seen as inferior now have confirmation in actual percentages.

Those things have essentially been campaign promises of Donald Trump, and so many of our fellow citizens have said this is what they want too.  

Half of our country has voiced that we are ready to make a stand against illegal immigration, about common sense genetics, about maturity and agreeing to disagree. We feel safe again because we are not having to pay our taxes to support people who do not belong here. Not because of the color of their skin or because of their religion but because they are here illegally. We feel safe again because we have a leader who isn’t being paid secretly from special interest groups or from foreign governments who, by the way, throw gay people off buildings and don’t even allow women to drive. We feel safe again to properly call people Him and Her, He and She, instead of having to call people a Ze or Zit. We feel safe in knowing our 2^nd Amendment rights will not be stripped. We feel safe knowing refugees will be vetted more stringently instead of allowing people in who openly state they hate our country and our own FBI states they cannot properly do background checks on all of them. This is what Donald Trump promised in his campaign and this is what so many of our fellow citizens want too.

This has never been about politics.

This IS about politics.

This IS about one’s ideas over another’s, the ideas of where America is headed.

This is about who will be appointed to the Supreme Court.

This is about more big government versus a smaller government.

This is about more taxes or less.

This is about more Big Brother or less. More gun rules or more enforcing what is already on the books.

This IS about her emails, her dishonesty, her lack of prosecution and the American people tired of the double standard.

This IS about the American people tired of the lies, the deceit, the behind doors politicking going on that affects our lives and the money involved.

This is about our money being wasted. Any money the government uses is OUR money. We are tired of it being taken and used and wasted without a say in it. We are tired of it being given to people who should work for it themselves and/or for people who don’t deserve it. If you are in America illegally, you DO NOT DESERVE MY TAXPAYER MONEY!

This is about mandatory health care that is outrageously expensive and was a bunch of lies from the get go.

It’s about overt racism and hostility toward minorities.

And it is not only that these things have been ratified by our nation that grieve us; all this hatred, fear, racism, bigotry, and intolerance—it’s knowing that these things have been amen-ed by our neighbors, our families, our friends, those we work with and worship alongside. That is the most horrific thing of all. We now know how close this is.

It feels like living in enemy territory being here now, and there’s no way around that. We wake up today in a home we no longer recognize. We are grieving the loss of a place we used to love but no longer do. This may be America today but it is not the America we believe in or recognize or want.

This is not about a difference of political opinion, as that’s far too small to mourn over. It’s about a fundamental difference in how we view the worth of all people—not just those who look or talk or think or vote the way we do.

Grief always laments what might have been, the future we were robbed of, the tomorrow that we won’t get to see, and that is what we walk through today. As a nation we had an opportunity to affirm the beauty of our diversity this day, to choose ideas over sound bytes, to let everyone know they had a place at the table, to be the beacon of goodness and decency we imagine that we are—and we said no.

The Scriptures say that weeping endures for a night but joy comes in the morning. We can’t see that dawn coming any time soon.

And this is why we grieve.

 Mourning is a process, we understand because we’ve dealt with it. You’ll go through the stages and you’ll survive. The good news is that “the winners” are better winners than you are “losers”. Notice the difference 8 years has made. There was no rioting, no burning flags, no disrupting the peace and blocking traffic, no shouting obscenities at high school and college campuses when Obama was elected president. There was fear but maturity.

Do some research. The media has clouded you with a lot of negativity. Go back and look at Donald Trump before he was a candidate. You will find many flattering and uplifting pieces about him as a businessman, about his dealings with people of color, homosexuals, etc. He is firm but fair. No, he isn’t the best example of a gentleman but can you say that Bill Clinton was, either? Can you say that Hillary Clinton is the best example of honesty and integrity? You’ll still need to be the parent in your home and teach family values, no politician will ever take your place. Stop buying into the hysteria and propaganda. Fear sells. Sex sells. Scandal sells.

Do you want kindness, acceptance, neighborhoods that are friendly and welcoming? Stay where you are and keep doing what you are doing. If you weren’t in enemy territory before you won’t be in enemy territory now. Your neighborhood hasn’t changed unless you as community members do. Eight years ago our neighborhoods didn’t change overnight, either. We learned firsthand that our friends were still our friends if we treated them the same. You’ll see the same thing.

Stop the fear-mongering. Take it one day at a time and you’ll be surprised at how resilient we can be.