...In Regard to the 2016 Election

This is getting ridiculous.

The thing that kills me the most is the immaturity of it all. I see everyone – people my age to people three times my age – posting things like “If you don’t support my candidate, feel free to unfriend me” or just posting generally hateful comments about people who share different beliefs from their own…but last time I checked, there was nothing wrong with being friends with someone who has differing views from yourself. Last time I checked, there is not a single person on this entire planet whose beliefs will align 100% with my own (and if they do, you can guarantee that one of us isn’t being real with the other).

So what’s with all the hate?

In all honesty, I don’t care who you voted for, because that isn’t the issue at hand. The issue at hand is the hatred behind all of the motivations!

I get it. You want to get your say in and vocalize your beliefs and make it clear where you stand and make it known to everyone that you align with the party worth pitying (this goes both ways: the Clinton supporters can whine about the straight, white, Christian males like myself while the Trump supporters can whine at being unfairly stereotyped), but why is it so necessary?

It is in times like this that the phrase “Misery loves company” becomes blatantly true and ridiculously applicable, for people are seemingly so wallowed over in their own self-pity that they don’t care who they hurt as they succumb to some severe overreaction so long as they at least bring a few people down with them during the fall. Suddenly if we have differing beliefs we not only can’t be friends, but we can no longer associate with one another and my beliefs aren’t worthy of being stated, much less considered. Rationality flies out the window and chaos breaks loose, with more mudslinging going on between so-called “friends” than went on during the campaigns themselves or heck, during the obstacle races I run every week! (Get it? Mud + slinging? OCRs are “mud runs”? Sorry, my attempt at a joke.)

It is my belief that if we would fight FOR our relationships with one another as much as we fight AGAINST them, there would be a shock-wave of change through this nation. If we would focus on our similarities rather than our differences, we would be able to connect with one another in a way unseen by the American society and we would then be able to address those non-focal-point differences through a much more civil debate rather than through the immature, irrational banter that has become so common. amongst the American culture.

Perhaps social media is the issue, I don’t know. Perhaps it is our technology-ridden world that has made us so disconnected to the fact that other people are actual individuals and not simply names on the other side of the screen. We live amongst people who live lives just as vivid and complex as our own, people who wake up each morning with their own motivations, goals, plans, and incentives. Do I expect even my best of friends to have beliefs that perfectly align with my own? They will certainly reflect many of my core beliefs, yes, but certainly not all of them; that would be an unrealistic goal to set for them. But still, does that make me love them any less or think them any less a person? By no means! Why should it be any different for those we see on a day-to-day basis or even for the people you're friends with on Facebook?

Compassion is the key, my friends. Love. If we could love one another as we would prefer for them to love us, think of the ripple effect it could have through this nation! Do you like being called names? Then stop calling other people names! Do you like being singled out for your own beliefs and excluded from a group because you are of the minority opinion? Then don’t do that to others! Think of how you would want to be treated, then treat others accordingly. It's not a matter of beliefs nor politics, but of logic and morality. Spewing hatred logically doesn't make any sense.

Here's the thing: My issue isn’t with the election, because *SPOILER ALERT* whatever happens is a part of God’s plan whether that be for the better or for the worse when it comes to America. Sure, this election was a game-changer for this country, but it by no means changed God’s will or God’s overarching plan for any of our lives, so why should we let it affect our identities and our relationships with one another? This write-up would have been necessary regardless of who won the election, because the same hatred and immaturity would have likely been vocalized either way. The problem isn’t with our government or with our nation, it’s with us!

NOW LET'S BE HONEST...God wins in the end, so this election didn’t really change much, did it? He’s still King of Kings, He’s still Lord of Lords, and His kingdom is still coming (Heck, you might not even share my Christian beliefs, but surely apart from atheism every religion has at least some sense of this same security, right?).

So stop making excuses. Stop trying to justify yourself in your foolish actions where you feel safe-guarded by the barrier of a computer screen. Whether the election went your way or not, there’s no justifiable reason for you to be hateful. There’s no justifiable reason for you to tear others down. There’s no justifiable reason for you to be so immature. (Remember that this is all stuff coming from a millennial kid in the middle of his college career, so if he sees it as immaturity, you know it must be bad!)

We keep lying to ourselves by saying that America has a problem, but news flash: America is an inanimate piece of land that is incapable of having any problems outside of the agricultural scope of things. The problem we face is rooted in our own folly, so that’s where things need to change. Republican or Democrat, black or white, gay or straight, Christian or atheist, get past the differences. You don’t have to agree with one another or even support one another’s beliefs in order to express love and show care, so quit with the excuses. There is no excuse.

That’s all I have to say about that. Thanks for your time.