The Empire’s New Clothes: How Racial Prejudice Has Evolved in the US.

A very important post to read!

Inauguration Day

This is how the Inauguration Day started for me:

I woke up angry.

I drank my coffee angrily.

I started to feel bad about being angry.

I went to work trying to suppress my anger.

Then I allowed myself to be angry.

It only started to turn around when I allowed myself to be angry. I allowed myself to feel angry at the people who voted for Trump. I allowed myself to feel angry about the Electoral College. I allowed myself to feel angry at the Democratic party for putting up a nominee who was sure to lose.  I allowed myself to be angry about all the injustices of the the country because of this campaign and election.  Once I let the anger out, I was ready for action.

I get why people voted for Trump. I don’t really quite understand it but I get it. Read this blog post by Beauty Beyond Bones. I do understand the part about your rights being taken away because of another group whining complaining.  Believe me!  But why turn around and vote for someone who is going to take our rights away to reinstate your rights and re-establish your comfort zone.  This is counter productive and once we get another Democrat President and democratic control of the houses again, it will go back to us again.  This constant tug of war is maddening.

Being a Christian, I get it.  It can be really upsetting how we can be discriminated against. But that does not give us the right to discriminate against others. Being a Christian, I also remember reading in the Bible about what it means to be a Christian.

“and everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.”
-2 Timothy 3:12

It is in our very nature once we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior to be persecuted. We are not of this world. We can not hope to have our lives to be made easier by anyone serving in a government office.  There are Christians in other countries who are being executed for just handing out Bibles.  There are Christians in other parts of the world that have to go underground in order to worship and read God’s Word. We have become ungrateful and spoiled.

And as I remembered this verse, I reached a conclusion. I do believe that God put this man into power for a test. Who do we put our trust in? God or Trump?

I have been reading my Bible a lot lately. It’s sad to admit that I read my Bible more in I feel troubled. I am grateful that I have the Word to give me solace but I should be reading it more.  I digress. That’s not what this post is about.  Anyways! I was reading my devotionals this morning and, of course, they are always something that I always need to read.

The first one was about abiding in God’s Love:

God’s love isn’t just a fact to memorize or a fleeting feeling. His love is here to stay. God’s love doesn’t just stay in the good times and leave when things are bad. God’s love always remains, so we should remain in His love.

Each of us can reap a greater harvest of Christian maturity when we press into God’s love. You will grow in difficult times when you abide in the amazing love God has for you.

From “Joyce Meyer: Promises for Your Everyday Life – a Daily Devotional”

This was a reminder to me that only should I always remember what God’s Love means but also how I outwardly project His love to others.

The second one was about emotions and how our lives are really not our own but His:

Although you belong to God because He created you and He pre-designed an incredible life for you, He has still placed the choice for that miraculous life in your hands. One of the most practical instances of where we choose God or choose self is in our emotional preferences and habits. You must give up your right to whine and pout and then wholeheartedly embrace the plan of God for your life, which is found in the fruit of the Spirit. You were created for good works and not for the works of the flesh or for the opinions of your emotions.

From “Holy Emotions – Biblical Responses to Every Challenge”

This one got me fired up! We all have the ability to lead extraordinary lives. We all have super powers. God has given us super powers. To uphold justice. To reach out to the weak and poor. To help the marginalized and minorities. I will help. I will help women, men, LGBTQ, Straight, Christian, Muslim, Disabled, Latino, etc., etc.

Anger is an important emotion. But what you do with that emotion is what matters. Right now, it should call you to action. A while back, there was a sermon at my church called “Ordinary World Changers” and I thought about it yesterday.  One of the questions our pastor asked was “What breaks your heart for the Lord?” Get angry! Get upset! Then get out there and do something!

This is not about me. It’s not about you. And it’s definitely not about Trump. It’s about God.

I will be a part of the Revolution for ALL people. I will be a part of the Resistance for YOU!

My favorite tweet from yesterday.

An Open Letter to My Fellow Americans

To My Fellow Democrats/Liberals: I understand that you are scared and uncertain what this presidency is going to hold for you. Trust me. I had a hard time stopping the tears on Wednesday. It’s scary for us. As a gay woman, I completely understand. The American people have elected someone that has shown very appalling behavior. We don’t know if our rights will be protected. We are afraid for our lives and safety as others have now put into action what the President-Elect has talked about during his rallies.

This is where I’m going with this: After I’ve dried my tears and let myself feel angry and hurt and disappointed, I started listening. I started to really, really open my ears. I started having a conversation with people who voted for Trump. Listening to why they did what they did. It really was eye opening. In our fight for equality and same rights as other human beings, we’ve stepped on people. We didn’t listen. Some of us have pushed their beliefs aside and told them that they are wrong. We call them bigots, racists, sexists… whatever other name we can define people that don’t have the same beliefs as us. We’ve been outraged at their religions and tell them to don’t get offended when we do.

There are some bad, bad people out there. There are some people who don’t want us to get married to whomever we love. There are some people out there that hate us for the color of our skin or for just being a woman. My plea to you all is to PLEASE PLEASE STOP CALLING ALL TRUMP VOTERS BIGOTS, RACISTS, SEXISTS, HOMOPHOBES, XENOPHOBES, etc., etc.

They are fighting just like we are. They want to be able to read their Bibles at school without ridicule. They want to be able to praise God and pray to God openly in public. They want what we want. They want equality. They want to not be bullied for their love. This is one of the reasons why they voted for Trump.

One of the campaign slogans for Clinton was “Love trumps hate.” But look at us… Hate is everywhere. It’s not just Trump supporters but it is also Clinton supporters as well. We have to love one another. No matter if they think that we are wrong. We must try to love the bigots. We must try to love the homophobes. We must try to love everyone of ALL religions. We must try to LOVE! Because if we don’t, we are no better.

We have to have an open conversation with each other. We can’t just keeping spewing hate and names back and forth at each other. We need to come together and understand why each of us is hurting, scared, or angry.

To the Republicans/Conservatives: I now understand why you voted the way you did. I know you’ve been silenced by us for long time. We thought of ourselves. I know you all aren’t all of those terrible things that I’ve mentioned above. I am willing to work with you all. I’ll even work with the ones that tell me that I can’t be Christian because I’m gay. I am willing to keep an open mind and see if Trump can do a good job. But if he tries to break down the rights that we’ve finally been given and worked so hard to get, I will fight to keep them. I will even help you fight for your rights when you think they are being violated.

I’m for equality for ALL!

These are just my opinions. I can’t make and I’m not trying to make anyone do anything. I am SO PROUD to be an American. We are already great and beautiful! We just need to open our eyes and ears and be more mindful of EVERYONE. I’m tired of being upset and angry. I’m going to turn all of those negative emotions and energy and use them for more positive energies and emotions. We need to unite together before the whole country implodes on itself. And also… stop losing your DAMN MINDS and stop burning the flag!

I love you all!!

Profile of a Trump Supporter — BeautyBeyondBones

I was going to do a cheeky post on Taylor Swift or something, but…I just couldn’t. As much as I realllly didn’t want to write about the election, ignoring the state of our nation right now just didn’t sit well with me. Scrolling through social media and watching the news today, there was definitely a […]

via Profile of a Trump Supporter — BeautyBeyondBones

For those of you who are too afraid to ask a Trump Supporter (like I have been), here’s a beautifully written post about it. Although, I do not agree with some of the points, it was written with compassion and intelligence.

Decision 2016

I am not a very political person.  I shock most Americans when I tell them I have never voted.  One of my high school friends who was very much into politics would always try to convince me to vote because it’s my right as an American.  But I’m not very well educated in politics and policies.  I don’t believe I should vote if I don’t know enough about the candidates.  I think that’s more dangerous than not voting at all.

I’ve never had a desire to vote either until this year.  Until we are STILL killing innocent people with senseless violence and I feel no one the government is doing their part.  I was raised Democrat but I wouldn’t say I’m a Democrat.  I’m in support of whoever supports whatever is important to me.  So I’ve been back and forth.  On the fence as to whether I want to vote or not.  Lots of different information coming from both camps.  One day, I will be all like “I CAN’T WAIT TO VOTE!!”  Next day, I’m like these candidates are in a circus and not the funny good vibes ones.

I came across a post from J.S. Park that really made me think.  It is entitled Seven Questions to Ask Before Voting.  All of the mudslinging and all of the insults and lies and corruption, at the end of the day, every voter should be asking these questions.  I’m tired living in a divided country.  I’m tired of us vs. them mentality.  Vote for the candidate that is going to unify us.

The President isn’t the one we should be trusting in anyways.