My voice is white, female, middle class American.  My voice is educated, privileged, heterosexual, cisgender, Southern, Christian, and young.  That is the only voice I have, so as much as I want to use it to represent black, Latino, LGBTQ, and Muslim Americans, it can't.  I can stand in solidarity and use my privilege to help make a safe space for those conversations.  That's all.  It feels like screaming into a void anyway, except for an occasional echo of rebuke, shame, and condescension. If that's the response my voice gets, can you imagine what others are experiencing? 

Logic often fails during periods of grief, so I hesitate to make the connection I'm about to share.  I pause and think about whether it really links up.  We can all be a little dramatic when we're upset.  I feel threatened, isolated, ashamed, devastated, angry, guilty, and indignant. These emotions don't produce objective calm thoughts.  Donald Trump is going to be our president.  I've been told by multiple people that it is disrespectful and hateful to label those who voted for him as racists, misogynists, and/or bigots. I changed my tune to one of condescending mercy to the point of only some of his voters being vile but the rest being motivated possibly by fear, anger, religion, frustration, ignorance, brokenness, and hurt.  We too, can love the sinner, hate the sin, right? There wasn't any room in my brain for a good, loving, compassionate, fair, sane, whole, confident, strong, intelligent human being voting to elect this man.  That is a fault of mine and I'm on my way to making space in my heart for this truth. I'm always saying that the world isn't black and white and people who act like they know all the answers are wrong and delusional.  I haven't gone that far in my indignation, but I've definitely claimed to know this is the WRONG answer.  This article is really helping as I read it, refuse to believe it, read it again, and repeat. https://www.currentaffairs.org/2016/11/what-this-means-how-this-happened-what-to-do-now

In the meantime, I'm still reeling. Did you, pioneers of the civil rights movement, stare in disbelief as your own loved ones threw rocks at children on their way to school?  Do you, families of remorseless sexual perpetrators, think that your loved one is well? Do you, brother and sister Arkansans, get sick to your stomach when you drive through Harrison and see KKK funded billboards and then worry if you offended a hooded one with your disgust? Have you, fellow liberals, watched friends and family who are poor, uninsured, uneducated, and economically hopeless rail for the past eight years against Obamacare and economic and social policies that seek to aid them first and above any immigrant then tried to give rationale, statistics, and historical data, only to come to the root of their problem which is that Obama is a black man? It's confounding.

The longer I sit with this unease, the more despondent I'm becoming.  I deactivated my Facebook account to protect myself and others from my temper.  My words should be contemplated and careful.  This is where I've painfully settled from my own lived experience.  America, you elected my abuser. I am one in four.  I stand with one quarter of women in our country who were sexually abused as a child.   I was four years old, I was five years old, I was eight years old, nine, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, and then I became a liability.  My step-father sexually abused me for the majority of my childhood.  He was acquitted because the court didn't believe my testimony; the mixed up, fearful, traumatized, and innocent recollection of a six year old girl.  My mother sat next to him.  I eventually lied to a judge and told him I made it all up so that I could go home.  He believed that. When I did get back home, the abuse continued.  I tried to tell my mother, but she didn't believe me.  I learned to use it to my advantage.  If he was in a bad mood, I'd let him do whatever he wanted while I pretended to sleep so that he wouldn't be mean to my little brother and sister.  I signed an affidavit when I was 17 swearing that he didn't do these things so he could get a job with state government.  When I was 24 I told the truth again so he wouldn't get custody of Freddie.  When my attorney asked me if I wanted to press charges for the years of abuse after his acquittal, I said no. My dad would have dated me too if he hadn't been my father, but since that wasn't acceptable, he took advantage of me instead.

It's taken a complete reformation of my heart, mind, and soul to become a feminist.  To become a Southern, white, female, Christian feminist.  I want better for all of us. Trump is a man who blames victims, marginalizes and objectifies women, and accepts and perpetrates the abuse of womens' bodies.  Electing him as president is a nationwide endorsement of this mindset and behavior.  He represents a lot more reprehensible behavior to people with other voices.  This is what he deeply and personally represents to me.  My dad makes a lot of money, he is successful, he is smart, he is mean and petty, he's easily jealous, he's brazenly honest but funny.  He is a deeply broken, perverted, sick, sneaky, intelligent, narcissistic man. His word was believed over mine. I'm drawing parallel lines here, do you see them?

There's no point in putting all of Donald Trump's quotes here because they obviously don't make a difference.  I'm trying to process the "Trump Vote = Molotov Cocktail at the Establishment" theory. I haven't yet gotten over how someone could sacrifice the safety and security of so many others though.  Trump has said that you have to treat women like shit, he refers to women as pigs, he has sexually assaulted women, he degrades women based on their appearance and their bodies, he bullies and intimidates women, he cheats on women, he feels allowed to grab them by the pussy without their consent because he is a star.  Plenty of men say and do these types of things, the awful ones. Donald Trump may not be a child abuser.  He would probably want you to use your 2nd Amendment rights to shoot anyone who harmed you or your child.  The point is that girls will be looking into a world where they have to grow up to be a "10" if they want their president's respect.  Little boys will hear his words and as much as you teach them that consent is mandatory before sexual contact, their president doesn't need it so why should they? Abused and assaulted women will watch their president blame them and belittle them as if their clothes, their profession, or their sexuality are a non-verbal indication of consent, "Oh, I bet she's never been grabbed before."  This is at the heart of my story and hurt.  I won't tell anyone else's story because I've lived my own.  My grief is valid and I refuse to continue feeling guilty and ashamed for how I feel.  Your grief is valid and you aren't alone.  Right now, half of my country looks like my mother the day I got up the nerve to tell her the truth and she grabbed me by the arm and threw me in the floor in front of my dad and said, "Guess what your daughter just said?" Half my country wants pancakes and to go to the movies and the mall, so I'll lay here scared and naked and close my eyes and pretend to sleep while he touches me.

Here's the deal though.  I forgave him. My faith gave me the strength to do that. I won't hold that burning coal in my hand.  I love him for all the good things about him, because the rest of the time he was just my dad.  He wasn't only a monster and nothing else.  Neither are you, America.  Trump, you aren't just this and I will forgive you.  My dad is also the man who gave me my education, my work ethic, and my ambition. I'm working through this.  Despite my forgiveness, I set boundaries so he couldn't hurt me anymore.  Eventually, when my kids came into the picture, I had to build a wall (can we get a little levity here).  Some people may find themselves on the southern side of my wall, but most will find themselves in here with me despite our equally unapologetic stances.  We are all going to need each other because even though you sat next to my abuser, you are a victim too.  Just as my mother was. I love her so much and now that I'm grown, I don't blame her and I can see so clearly why she made her choices.  She made a sacrifice for what she believed to be the greater good.  She refused to see or process the bad in him.  When she couldn't deny it, she weighed the cost of the alternative. She took his verbal, emotional, and physical abuse too so that her kids could grow up in a nice house, have groceries and decent clothes, go to good schools, and have a nuclear family.  It worked for awhile, but eventually it all crumbled.  We'll all have to be here for each other when it crumbles or we'll congratulate you fire-setters when it turns out the sacrifice was worth it and we are all prospering.  I'll be manning the special tent for the wounded, the hurt, the left-behind, the abused, the marginalized, the dead, the grieving, and maybe our country will experience true grace and they will forgive us.    

Q: I'm a strong Christian Human and I have some friends that I thought were pretty cool, but then I found out they are gay Trump Supporters.  How can I be a good friend and witness to them without condoning their lifestyle or being a total jerk?

A: That's a great question.  First of all, let's remember that casual friendships are fine, but there will always be a boundary between you because Christians Humans aren't to be yoked with unbelievers.  (Random Bible Verse Condescending Chapter 2:22) Keep your deepest friendships with people who support your faith and uphold your values.

The next important thing to remember is that you can be honest about your beliefs.  It isn't offensive to tell someone in a kind way that you love them as a person but you don't condone their lifestyle choices.  The Bible is very clear about homosexuality bigotry and its status as a sin.  You can love your gay Trump Supporter friends as valuable children of God but hate the sin itself. 

Some people will try and convince you that being gay a Trump Supporter isn't a choice, that they are uncontrollably compelled to feel this way. They'll argue that it can't be a sin if they were made that way.  You and I both know that God is loving and He would never intentionally create someone to be an abomination.  We all have a choice. Many pastors and theologians believe that if your gay Trump Supporter friends simply abstain from acting on their sinful desires that they aren't actually engaging in the sin of homosexuality Trump Supporting. You could talk to your friends about how they got into the homosexual Trump Supporter lifestyle and see if you could help figure out what led them astray. Maybe if they abstained for awhile and tried a relationship with the opposite sex people who don't watch Fox News, they would discover that they really are normal and go on to lead a happy life.

Finally, remember that it isn't our job as Christians Humans to judge or condemn.  Set the best example you can, love the person, share the gospel, be a light in the darkness.  God will separate the wheat from the chaff.  Their sin of homosexuality Trump Supporting is no greater than your sin of anger or a sharp tongue.  The best thing your gay Trump Supporter friends could do is repent of their sin and walk a righteous path. That option won't look very appealing to your friends if you rebuke them harshly.  Be strong and remember that you aren't alone.  It's ok to stand up for your faith and speak out against the sin of homosexuality Trump Supporting. Remember, you may be in this world       f#%$ing country, but not of it.