It's about time for me to have that talk... the uncomfortable, "come to Jesus" talk that America desperately needs right now. I'm not talking about converting people either. I'm talking about the fact that America is headed in the wrong direction. I did not spend 3.5 years of my life, building good will and fostering good relationships with our Muslim brothers, to have it all undone by the Republican party.
Tell me, who is left that hasn't been alienated by the Republican party yet?
1. They don't support equal pay for equal work, paid maternity leave for new mothers, or women's rights to make decisions for their own bodies. That's over 158.6 million women (as of 2009).
2. They don't support immigrants, or "anchor" babies (which should be called US CITIZENS since that's what they are). That means 41.3 million current immigrants (as of 2013). Not to mention that if you aren't 100% Native American, that it means they would have sent your grand parents back.
3. They don't support the poor. That includes all 109,631,000 people in the US taking federal welfare benefits.
4. They don't support people who are sick/ill/in need of medical care. 133,000,000 people are estimated to be currently treated for chronic health conditions in the US (as of 2014 according to the NHC). That's a lot of sick people.
5. Despite the fact that our own Constitution swears to allow our citizens the right to personally choose or not choose a religion, and that that religion needs to be completely separate from our government, the Republican party doesn't support any diversity in religion in this country at all. That means the 23% of American people who self identify as anything other than Christian in this country are not important to the Republican party. So as of the 2012 Gallup poll, that would be approximately 72,243,000 people.
6. Black Americans have recently learned that the Republican party doesn't think that the "black lives matter" movement is even worth looking at. That's 41,700,000 black Americans that the Republican party doesn't think matter.
7. Jeb Bush recently made it clear that the Chinese people in America don't matter to the Republican party. That's 3.8 million Chinese Americans.
8. Donald Trump made it clear that he thinks Mexican Americans (including the 22.3 million citizens who legally immigrated and those who were born here) are not welcome in this country.
9. The entire party doesn't support gay rights, so that includes approximately 8 million people in this country.
10. The republican party pretends to care about veterans. But instead, the republican majority congress drafted the Veterans Choice Program in such a way to intentionally cut out medical care insisting they must live at least 40 miles "as the crow flies" away from the nearest VA facility to qualify, instead of 40 actual miles driving distance. There are 21.8 million veterans in this country. And their lives are more important than the $40 million that the Republican party valued more.
Jesus talked about the poor a lot. He talked about the rich a lot. Not one single Republican candidate is talking about anything Jesus actually supported and preached about. They are not talking about forgiveness, loving their enemies, turning the other cheek, caring for the poor or condemning the rich. All things you can find directly in the Bible. Yet the Republican party feels like they own the Christian vote. If you're really, truly Christian, you should be voting for the party that supports the poor, sick, and all people in this country.
Stop and think about who is left. If you're in one of the groups listed above, and intend to vote Republican, you're seriously throwing away your vote for someone who doesn't have your best interests in mind. America is supposed to be a progressive world leader on human rights; and yet, we have citizens who actually want to elect bigoted, racist, hate mongers to represent us on the international level. Why? Why would you send someone who hates other cultures, women and religions to represent us on the diplomatic level? Vote smarter, and stop letting the Republican party act like it owns the Christian vote.
We are not an "only child" in this world. We are required to share, play nice, and behave in a manner that is socially responsible. If children can get this concept, surely a country should be able to. Please, if you're reading this, make more of an effort to not support the political BS that is coming out of these peoples mouths. Support candidates that want to make a real difference in the lives of people in this country and around the world. People over parties. Speak up for rights and freedoms of all human beings. Let us truly be the land of the free and home of the brave.. because , as the great Dumbledore said, it takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. Friends don't let friends vote Republican.
