Friday, November 9, 2012

Onward Christian Soldier


Most of us here in the U.S. know that Tuesday was a big night. Barack Obama was re-elected in a decisive victory over former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney as the 44th President of the United States. However, the fact that the Democrats came out on top isn't the topic of this post. What this post is about is the Republican response to their defeat. Specifically, Facebook Republicans. In deference to inoffensive Republicans everywhere (I'm sure there are some, somewhere), I'm giving Facebook Republicans their own category.

Within moments of the decision, angry Republicans were posting hateful rants on Facebook. Bad losers are nothing new. What struck me was how many of them were self-professed Christians. One of my "friends" posted this on her Facebook Wall: "I had no idea I lived with so many uneducated people. (We) are considering MOVING out of this F*CKED up place." (It should be noted that many respondents to her post inquired as to where she planned on moving.) She claims to be a Christian. And what I thought was, if these are the kind of Christian values Romney and Ryan were fighting to protect and preserve, thank goodness they lost.

Christians were calling their friends "stupid", "dumb" and "uneducated" if they voted for President Obama. Ironically, most of the vitriolic rants I read were stupid and dumb and appeared to have been written by uneducated people. And this is a generalization, but it didn't surprise me a whole lot that so many of the rabid Romney ranters didn't seem that bright given the states that many of them hail from. It seems to me that the hypocrisy of so many so-called Christians was part of the reason that their candidate lost the election so badly.

Things have changed in the United States over the last several years. As Al Cardenas, the head of the American Conservative Union and a longtime GOP leader, stated on pro-Obama cable news channel MSNBC, the Republican Party "...is too old and too white and too male". I thought that was an interesting observation. When the demographics were sliced, diced and digested, President Obama simply appealed to a wider group of Americans. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority in this country and the Republicans didn't take that into consideration. It appeared that Romney's message was almost exclusively aimed at rich white men and, oddly, working class white men. Well, it's not 1980 any more. America of 2012 is more of a melting pot than ever before. Our leaders need to acknowledge and address that. And at least one leader is.

I was going to post the following before the election, but I didn't get around to it. I'm going to post it now, after the fact, so take it for what it's worth. If Mitt Romney had become the President of this country, I would've been mortified. I'd have been outraged, disappointed, scared, and just plain sad. But I would've supported him and given him my loyalty freely because I'm a patriot and that's what patriots do. I most certainly wouldn't have called my friends stupid or dumb or uneducated if they hadn't voted for Obama. I have plenty of friends who didn't vote for him, and they're all bright people. (They're wrong! But bright.)

This campaign seemed endless and was filled with half-truths, out-and-out lies and no small amount of drama. Election night was exciting, boring, frustrating, interesting and, ultimately, amazing. Romney gave a short, eloquent concession speech (albeit, about two hours later than he should've given it), and President Obama's acceptance speech was heartfelt and inspiring. After so much hand-wringing and angst, it was indeed a joy to emerge from the morass of campaign ads victorious.

Facebook Republicans that are out there licking their wounds need to revisit what being a patriot is all about. In this country, patriotism isn't about ethnicity or gender or economic standing or sexual preference. It's about being an American. And, right now, I'm proud to be one.

16 comments:

  1. morning Steven. :)
    the time of crusades is way from being over.
    "crusades" like this serve a purpose: they shall "heal" my feelings of being devaluated, of being worth less than before, and pimp up my self-asteem again. Strengthening me and the group I feel I belong to.
    In former times to achieve that, christians were one of the first to kill so I'd say that is a kind of progress ;)
    Question is, does the strategy you describe really fullfill its purpose?
    Adding to that:
    Some years ago people might have thought that, but we are so willing now to go public with everything we think.... things we might have slept over for a night some years ago...


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Well, I'm definitely glad Christians aren't going around killing everyone that didn't agree with them like they used to.

      I think the recent election is proving that some of these right-wing Christian fundamentalists need to re-think how they do things; how they communicate their message.

      And I think you're spot on: Back in the day, if someone had something they wanted to share publicly, they'd "write a letter to the editor" of a magazine or newspaper and hope it got printed. Now people can indulge their impulses immediately by tweeting, pinning, or posting whatever they want, whenever they want. Interesting observation, @sorei.

      Delete
  2. Right on!

    Did you know that Romney hadn't even prepared a concession speech? He was so sure he would win. As out of touch with America as ever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I did know that! He'd prepared a 1000+ word acceptance speech and had even set up an 8-minute fireworks display in Boston to celebrate his victory.

      Oops.

      I'm glad the majority of America is as out of touch with him as he is with us.

      Delete
    2. Arrogance. It describes not only Romney but the entire Republican party. They didn't think they could fail. HOw could they fail? They were the chosen ones who had ruled the country since arriving to take it from the people who originally populated the land. I don't think it crossed their minds that minorities would unite and beat them. Can you imagine how many scared, white, Republicans are cowering in their homes now?

      Delete
    3. @Louis: @Christy, my girlfriend, and I were just talking about how many scared, rich, old white Republicans are probably scared that their status quo is getting rocked. It's about time. They need to realize that the White House doesn't actually have to stay white.

      Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

      Delete
  3. Good post! I saw a lot of that on my FB too and have to admit I wasn't surprised. I wish they had surprised me by not posting such awful stuff.

    Thanks to @Christy Knight for sharing this on Google+. Otherwise I never would have seen it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the kudos, @Sonja! I'm glad you found us in here.

      I really was surprised by some of the vile things being said on FB. I guess I'm a bit naïve when it comes to stuff like this. I just assume that everyone will try to behave the way I would. NOT!

      I hope you'll stop more often. ;-)

      Delete
  4. Just my 2 cents, but not ALL Christians are like that. (including Facebook republican Christians). At least, if they are TRUE Christians, living life for Christ, not just saying they are Christian for the status but not really believing. That's what we call surface Christian. Those are people who think they are, or maybe they just say they are for the status, but truly don't believe in their hearts. And they tend to ruin the name for the rest of us.

    While I was not happy about the outcome of the election, I did not say anything bad about it. First off, I never post about politics on my FB page. (I avoid it altogether). Secondly, I grew up with the phrase "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all". And I feel it holds true. The world certainly would be a much better place if people learned how to debate in a respectful manner, and I think that's a lot of what was missing during this election. Including in the ad campaigns from both candidates.

    I may not agree with the choice, but I accept it. Without hatred or name-calling. It's just really sad that people out there do that. :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hear, hear! I have friends that I believe are true Christians and would never stoop so low as to call their friends names because of an election. I was just really shocked and disappointed at how many did.

      I'm just glad this whole Presidential campaign is over. It was tiring and seeing block after block of hateful TV ads was depressing.

      Thanks for sharing your 2 cents, @Brenda! ;)

      Delete
  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey! Did you get my Google+ messages I sent you yesterday? :)

    ReplyDelete
  7. @Steven! I sent you 2 messages. Did you get them? Do you even check your blog anymore? Maybe you're not checking anything online anymore. What gives?

    ReplyDelete
  8. Patiently waiting for a new post. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know! I know! I've been mulling a few things over and hope to post something soon. I just have to wait for the right thing to coalesce in my brain. :-P

      Delete