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Love Will Come Riding a Blue Wave

Love Will Come Riding a Blue Wave

Last updated on: August 10, 2018 at 8:30 am by Shane Phipps

Love Will Come Riding a Blue Wave 2018-08-10T08:30:48-04:00 Shane Phipps

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Just look at what we have become.

Every day, there is a new batch of viral videos all over social media that show bigotry, racism, and hatred being spewed from the mouths of angry, nationalistic whites who have been emboldened by the not-so-enigmatic dog whistle rhetoric issuing forth from the White House under that oh-so-catchy mantra, Make America Great Again.

I have written tirelessly about my growing uneasiness with the fact that so many conservative Christians seem to be willing to continue to stand behind the man who has created this vitriolic climate. It is a certainty that no true Christian would ever stand in the streets and scream at some brown skinned person that they should get out of our country. None of my conservative Christian friends would ever do that–I know it in my heart. Yet, those are the kinds of people with whom they have chosen to stand, consciously or not, in this pivotal moment in our history. For the life of me, I can’t understand that.

Recently, I have been noticing this social media post that has been shared widely.

“If Jesus showed up and ran for president in 2020 on the platform that human empathy and compassion [are] more important than personal wealth, do you think Trump supporters would call him a libtard to his face or just behind his back?”

This, to me, is just a brilliant post. It gets right to the heart of the matter. Any conservative Christian presented with this question should be stopped dead in their tracks because, let’s face it, if Jesus were running for president, this would be His message. Any understanding of the New Testament and the “words in red” would lead to that conclusion. Jesus spoke more about the pitfalls of valuing wealth over love than pretty much anything else. Yet, that has become a cornerstone tenet of the GOP. Couched in their call for individual freedoms and responsibility is a clear message, don’t put anything in the way of me getting mine. Empathy, compassion, and love are hard to find in the policies of the Trump administration. But, conservative Christian friend, if it means anything to you at all, I’m here to tell you that love is coming on the Blue Wave.

You have a chance to give that a chance. You have an opportunity to set aside your pet issues–even if only temporarily–that drive you to support only one party and vote for love this time. Try it and see what happens.

There are many millions of people in this country who are getting the wrong idea from you. Whether you realize it or not, many people think you hate them for who they are.

Refugees and undocumented immigrants think you hate them.
LGBQT people think you hate them.
People without healthcare think you hate them.
Women who are considering having an abortion think you hate them.
Minorities who are scared of a society that feels ever more hostile to them think you hate them.
People who believe what scientists say about our planet think you hate them.

I know you don’t really hate these people, conservative Christian, but many of the people standing beside you on your side of the political divide certainly do hate them. Do you understand the implications of that? Do you not realize that, since you are standing shoulder to shoulder with so many people who spout hate, you are driving the marginalized farther and farther from hearing and receiving the message of the love of Christ?

Does that make you cringe?

If Jesus were running for president on a platform that promoted empathy and compassion over personal wealth and everyone around you started calling Him hateful names, would you continue to stand next to them or would you run in the other direction?

Love is coming on the Blue Wave.

You still have time to catch it.

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