Thoughts on Trump's Presidency
I deactivated my Facebook account yesterday. Yeah, I know that's sort of alang-alang, but I couldn't bring myself to delete the account because my family actually has a group where we share personal prayer requests, brief life updates, and words of encouragement. One of the main reasons I deactivated my account was because of the wave of negativity and craziness of news regarding Trump's presidency all over my newsfeed. On top of that, I am going through a rather bumpy patch in my life right now. My days have been plagued with stress and anxiety since coming to the realization after a brief meltdown that I've been juggling too much on the daily. I kind of wanted to break away from that bubble of negativity. Unfortunately, I didn't realize that deactivating means I wouldn't be able to remain active in my family group page.
Deactivation is almost equivalent to deleting your account, except they keep all the caches despite being removed from the net. Kinda like you left the country called "Facebook" for a short soul-searching vacation lol. Social media and platforms IS the new world, only virtual. Anyway, I *suppose* I could just stop myself from scrolling through the newsfeed, but I get too distracted and kepo to be that self-disciplined. You know the saying, if there's temptation, don't fight it, just run from it.
I must say that I'm not a very political person, and I don't think I've ever been that interested in politics, but since Trump got elected as president, I couldn't escape the multitude of opinions, comments, headlines etc. pouring into Facebook and other social media outlets. Everyday, I'm seeing headlines of how ridiculous America has become and how we have a fascist president and we're doomed. That's depressing. I want to think that we'll be able to ride it out, I mean, the Republicans and/or very conservative Christians probably thought the end of the world was coming when a liberal like Obama became president for 8 years, all the while passing or pushing controversial and "biblically immoral" laws like same-sex marriages and abortion. They probably expected the rapture (I know a past youth leader of mine always brought this up when liberal rights were passed), yet 8 years later we're still here. So who's to say the Trump presidency wouldn't be the same?
Even so, I find myself getting upset, angry, or disheartened whenever I read a headline about Trump's executive orders, tweets, or media appearance. At the rate he's going, how can anyone think that he would be able to run a country truly in the interest of the American people? Do the people REALLY believe Betsy DeVos is suited to be Secretary of Education? Do the people REALLY believe that climate change does not exist? Do the people really believe that Trump will create more jobs despite climate changes because he CARES about the American working-class, not because he wants to line his pockets given that he hasn't fully divested his businesses? And then I get mad at the people who voted for him. What were they thinking? Why would they vote someone who obviously cares more about his own ego, businesses, and interests to lead a country just so they can bank on his "promise" to protect same-sex marriages and the unborn? But then I catch myself and say that there are also many others who probably look at me thinking how I am able to allow something so fundamental to the churches pass just so a greater number of people can go under welfare, have some form of "broken" health care like the ACA or Planned Parenthood, be let in from warring countries, and be lazy or whatever. Am I the deluded one who's believing the "lies" (as many Republicans on Facebook would put it) the democrats are feeding me?
I realize that living in a blue state definitely shapes my viewpoints to become more left-leaning. Having a Facebook newsfeed composed of a majority of democrats is not going to balance my perspective. Still, from listening (as objectively as I possible can) to the things Kellyanne Conway spews out during interviews, the Senate hearing for DeVos's confirmation, and the speeches Trump makes about himself, I am not convinced that Trump's presidency is truly for the greater good. But perhaps I just don't understand how politics work, and have been played into the democrats' rules of politics. Perhaps we do need someone who doesn't give two hoots about being politically correct and just bulldoze his way through the system. That ought to get rid of a lot of red tape. To be honest, I probably wouldn't mind a person like that if he/she can show that he/she is truly acting in the interest of humanity.
I also found myself getting angry at preachers who bad mouth democrats/liberals or any pushback from people who support the refugees. I get their argument is that we should help the people in our country first, but if we have the capability of letting them in at a much smaller price than what they're going through, shouldn't we? Aren't we called to also love our neighbors? Wasn't the Samaritan praised for helping the Jewish man who was attacked by bandits? But then I realize I fall into the trap of doing the same thing back at them. Just because their beliefs doesn't align with mine, instead of reaching out in love, I just get angry.
Being involved or tuning into politics as a Christian is a complicated topic. I don't think detaching oneself from politics entirely is the wisest or easiest thing to do, but I now see why a separation of church and state is necessary. I know some argue that we should've never done that because that decision supposedly oppresses the Christian faith and churches, but let's also not forget the darkness and corruption that happened when churches had authority over the people during the Medieval Times. Then there are some who argue that the separation was intended to give churches more power to govern their own beliefs so that agnostic leaders cannot influence the churches, but now the tables have turned and the court system is interpreting the law in favor of non-religious goals. See what I mean by it's complicated?
At the end of the day, we really should focus on the kingdom of God and not the kingdoms on this Earth. Yet doing the right thing is so hard when we get affected by the actions of the other party or if our belief system is challenged, myself included. I'm hoping the decision to abstain from Facebook and re-channeling the energy to devotions and prayer would give me more clarity and focus on the everlasting and not the temporary. In the meantime, I will lift up all the worries, troubles, and brokenness of this world to the Creator and trust that he is still here. Always has and always will be. Amen.
Oh, and if you're reading this post, May, you're probably the only reader who isn't from a strong blue state lol. So any perspective on the other side of things is welcomed and appreciated.
Deactivation is almost equivalent to deleting your account, except they keep all the caches despite being removed from the net. Kinda like you left the country called "Facebook" for a short soul-searching vacation lol. Social media and platforms IS the new world, only virtual. Anyway, I *suppose* I could just stop myself from scrolling through the newsfeed, but I get too distracted and kepo to be that self-disciplined. You know the saying, if there's temptation, don't fight it, just run from it.
I must say that I'm not a very political person, and I don't think I've ever been that interested in politics, but since Trump got elected as president, I couldn't escape the multitude of opinions, comments, headlines etc. pouring into Facebook and other social media outlets. Everyday, I'm seeing headlines of how ridiculous America has become and how we have a fascist president and we're doomed. That's depressing. I want to think that we'll be able to ride it out, I mean, the Republicans and/or very conservative Christians probably thought the end of the world was coming when a liberal like Obama became president for 8 years, all the while passing or pushing controversial and "biblically immoral" laws like same-sex marriages and abortion. They probably expected the rapture (I know a past youth leader of mine always brought this up when liberal rights were passed), yet 8 years later we're still here. So who's to say the Trump presidency wouldn't be the same?
Even so, I find myself getting upset, angry, or disheartened whenever I read a headline about Trump's executive orders, tweets, or media appearance. At the rate he's going, how can anyone think that he would be able to run a country truly in the interest of the American people? Do the people REALLY believe Betsy DeVos is suited to be Secretary of Education? Do the people REALLY believe that climate change does not exist? Do the people really believe that Trump will create more jobs despite climate changes because he CARES about the American working-class, not because he wants to line his pockets given that he hasn't fully divested his businesses? And then I get mad at the people who voted for him. What were they thinking? Why would they vote someone who obviously cares more about his own ego, businesses, and interests to lead a country just so they can bank on his "promise" to protect same-sex marriages and the unborn? But then I catch myself and say that there are also many others who probably look at me thinking how I am able to allow something so fundamental to the churches pass just so a greater number of people can go under welfare, have some form of "broken" health care like the ACA or Planned Parenthood, be let in from warring countries, and be lazy or whatever. Am I the deluded one who's believing the "lies" (as many Republicans on Facebook would put it) the democrats are feeding me?
I realize that living in a blue state definitely shapes my viewpoints to become more left-leaning. Having a Facebook newsfeed composed of a majority of democrats is not going to balance my perspective. Still, from listening (as objectively as I possible can) to the things Kellyanne Conway spews out during interviews, the Senate hearing for DeVos's confirmation, and the speeches Trump makes about himself, I am not convinced that Trump's presidency is truly for the greater good. But perhaps I just don't understand how politics work, and have been played into the democrats' rules of politics. Perhaps we do need someone who doesn't give two hoots about being politically correct and just bulldoze his way through the system. That ought to get rid of a lot of red tape. To be honest, I probably wouldn't mind a person like that if he/she can show that he/she is truly acting in the interest of humanity.
I also found myself getting angry at preachers who bad mouth democrats/liberals or any pushback from people who support the refugees. I get their argument is that we should help the people in our country first, but if we have the capability of letting them in at a much smaller price than what they're going through, shouldn't we? Aren't we called to also love our neighbors? Wasn't the Samaritan praised for helping the Jewish man who was attacked by bandits? But then I realize I fall into the trap of doing the same thing back at them. Just because their beliefs doesn't align with mine, instead of reaching out in love, I just get angry.
Being involved or tuning into politics as a Christian is a complicated topic. I don't think detaching oneself from politics entirely is the wisest or easiest thing to do, but I now see why a separation of church and state is necessary. I know some argue that we should've never done that because that decision supposedly oppresses the Christian faith and churches, but let's also not forget the darkness and corruption that happened when churches had authority over the people during the Medieval Times. Then there are some who argue that the separation was intended to give churches more power to govern their own beliefs so that agnostic leaders cannot influence the churches, but now the tables have turned and the court system is interpreting the law in favor of non-religious goals. See what I mean by it's complicated?
At the end of the day, we really should focus on the kingdom of God and not the kingdoms on this Earth. Yet doing the right thing is so hard when we get affected by the actions of the other party or if our belief system is challenged, myself included. I'm hoping the decision to abstain from Facebook and re-channeling the energy to devotions and prayer would give me more clarity and focus on the everlasting and not the temporary. In the meantime, I will lift up all the worries, troubles, and brokenness of this world to the Creator and trust that he is still here. Always has and always will be. Amen.
Oh, and if you're reading this post, May, you're probably the only reader who isn't from a strong blue state lol. So any perspective on the other side of things is welcomed and appreciated.
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