By Tim Spiess
November 21st, 2016
Some fear is reasonable, like walking along a cliff edge and having fear that one might fall off, or seeing a gorilla break a barrier in a zoo and head for you and your children.
Fear in the realm of political speculation, is seldom positive or helpful, and it is usually irrational and harmful. In general, fear is one of the biggest problems we as people grapple with. Fear prevents reason from working and prevailing, and when reason is put aside, fear becomes our master.
A great deal of fear is coming from those who claim they want the U.S. leadership to be “inclusive” and “tolerant”. These same people regularly accuse others of being “racist”, “bigots”, “xenophobic”, “fascist” and “misogynistic”.
The putting aside of reason and reasonableness could not be any clearer.
Here are the definitions of “tolerant” and “inclusive”.
Tolerant - Willing to accept feelings, habits, or beliefs that are different from your own. (Merriam-Webster)
Inclusive - Open to everyone: not limited to certain people. (Merriam-Webster)
In general, those who supported Hillary Clinton are those who are very upset with the election results and are the ones who ‘preach’ tolerance’ and ‘inclusiveness’ the loudest. And yet, they also are the ones who are calling other people “racist”, “bigots”, “xenophobic”, “fascist” and “misogynistic”. That is a pure contradiction and sadly, it is the end of civil discourse. How can you reason with someone who is screaming at you those condemnatory labels?
Let’s get this straight. It is bad to be a “racist”, which is someone who treats others unfairly due to the color of their skin or other such unchangeable attribute. It is bad to be a bigot, which is essentially synonymous with racist.
It is bad to be xenophobic (one unduly fearful of what is foreign and especially of people of foreign origin) unless of course the people of foreign origin in mind want to harm people who are different than themselves…say like Islamic jihadists. It is NOT xenophobic to think, ‘gee, these people who are quoting Muhammad to justify killing non-Muslims are dangerous and we should not welcome them’.
Fascism is a bad political philosophy (a political philosophy, movement, or regime that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition) especially when unreasoning patriotism or racism play a role.
It is bad to be “misogynistic”, that is to hate women.
The question is, is the president elect and those who he puts in the Executive Branch power positions really those things? Or is he just a traditionalist older person holding to a different moral standard (or a different understanding of what a civil society looks like) than the new moral standard that is being pushed and adopted by many in the U.S., particularly those who support the democratic platform principles?
I am the last person to claim that Mr. Trump is a person of outstanding moral character. His personal attacks of his opponents during the election cycle proved he does not have good character, and that should concern people. However, I don’t believe there is enough evidence to justly condemn him as “racist”, “bigot”, “xenophobic”, “fascist” and “misogynistic”.
A true racist or bigot (someone deserving of that label) would not be offering positions of power to the Ben Carson’s of the world. They simply could not do that due to their hatred based solely on one’s skin color.
A true misogynist would not be offering positions of power to the Laura Ingraham’s of the world, nor would he have a wife, or if he did have one, she would be severely abused.
A true xenophobe would work to restrict or cut off ALL immigration from ALL foreign nations. Mr. Trump has explicitly been talking about violent Muslim Jihadists from nations where many of those people dwell…he has NOT mentioned anybody else.
Finally, a true fascist would not seek to work within a democratic political system, but would seek to destroy it and put himself as the new dictator controlling all the government, not just the executive branch.
So, for people who are willing to listen to reason, the new President Elect of the U.S. – while he has behaved in an arrogant, insensitive and crude manner at times – has NOT shown clear evidence for all of the labels many are seeking to condemn him with.
What is really going on is the change of moral standards in the U.S. society. The traditional moral standards are being challenged and put aside for a new moral standard. Lead by the LGBT people and those who support their agenda, the new moral standard seeks to destroy traditional moral understandings of marriage, traditional gender roles, appropriate sexual expressions and child rearing.
Since the LGBT folks are seeking to destroy the traditional morals of the people of the U.S., they are anything but “tolerant” or “inclusive”. How is calling people who have a different view, “racist”, “bigots”, “xenophobic”, “fascist” and “misogynistic” a tolerant way to behave? And how is it “inclusive” to say that those who hold a different view are people of “hate” who need to be punished or ostracized?
Since the LGBT folks are not just saying, ‘please accept or accommodate us or these things we want for these reasons’, but rather are condemning others who hold a different view with all their fear labels, they are clearly both hypocritical and wrong.
Dear reader, politics is NOT going to solve the root level problems that are causing all the conflict and pain in the U.S. and around the world. Politicians and their policies are NOT going to solve the problem of hopelessness, greed, of suicide of drug use to numb the pain. Religion has failed as well and has often brought more conflict. No, what is required to solve the root level problems are faith in the right Person and the love, rightness and truth he brings!
"The love of most will grow cold..."
Please, be part of the solution instead of part of the problem...join the peaceful revolution!
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