America’s post election search; what about the church?

Nov 14, 2016 Letters

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Dear Editor;
The recent results of the American elections came as a shock to so many humans on planet Earth the world over. To further compound this seeming tragedy, the results brought home in a seemingly inexplicable manner the unreliability of commentators and pollsters, and how woefully out of touch they were with the reality of how the majority of people feel.  Never in the history of America has a campaign been so acrimonious, and so deeply personal on both sides, not only between the candidates themselves but also between their supporters.  Personally the highlight or rock bottom of this campaign came to be recognized as the moment when Trump supporters were labeled “deplorables” by Hillary Clinton. Sad but true, it is difficult if not utterly impossible to get a mandate when such a direct insult is hurled at what turns out to be 58 million people. Game over—Hillary became a gross liability for the Democratic Party.
In his victory speech Donald Trump once again reiterated the usual political rhetoric about the nation needing to come together and also affirmed that he would be a president for the whole country. If previously there was any existing doubt that America was a divided country, waste no further thought, because, believe me the best has not yet arrived.
Strange as it may seem, Donald Trump was not elected as a Republican president, and his support among his fellow congressional Republicans is insubstantial to say the very least. He will be entering the White House as the leader of 58 million people, who consider themselves to have been voiceless in the wider political arena, and who will be waiting to see if he continues to speak to and for their priorities.  Then there were Clinton supporters themselves, among which contained a large number of folks who would have preferred the far more radical Bernie Sanders.
The ruling class failed to represent the people, and the land of the free was transformed to the land of the oppressed.  The people went to the polls to vote on the moral future of the nation. Taking this all into full consideration if anti-Brexit style protests continue throughout the land, it is not unreasonable to predict that there may be an AMEREXIT in the form of civil unrest.
America now finds herself in the lurch but where is the Church in all this? A Christian President with Catholic values survived the challenge of a Catholic Senator with anti-Christian values. Exit polls revealed that 81% of white evangelicals and born-again Christians cast their ballots for the Republican presidential candidate, the results of which were reflective of a deep division within the church. There were some who viewed the results as being an answer to prayers, while others saw it as God’s judgment. So within the Church brothers and sisters are now wearing new masks and are being seen as enemies of each other, a behavior which could further splinter the church.
Now Christians must be prepared to both submit and honor the new President irrespective of their feelings and collective angst towards him. The Biblical context is found in 1Peter 2: 13: “Submit yourselves to every ordinance of man for the Lord’s sake: whether it be to the king, as supreme.” These words were written by Peter, one of the greatest persecutors of Christians in all history.  For some this may be one of the most extremely difficult Scriptural passages to obey and may be easy for others, but nevertheless the command still stands today.
Far too much time has been wasted on negativity and the nation must move on to more productive pursuits. For a second night post-election protest from Philadelphia and New York City to Oakland and Portland, Oregon, anti-Trump crowds flooded the streets in anger. Any debate or talk about whether the President elect is racist or not is now beside the point. The true issue is the Church and the blatant fractures revealed by the recent results. Again the church has found itself in a lurch, and at stake here is the looming question of whether the church can truly surpass the predictable and destructive divides that humanity has built for itself.
On a Biblical note God did use the pagan King Cyrus, even calling him his anointed. Isaiah 45: 1. Let it not be forgotten that it was also suggested that God had also put outgoing President Barack Obama in charge also. Another presenting area of confusion also lies in the fact that the voters who had largely removed God and Christianity out of their midst, complained about Trump’s lewd comments towards women and the usage of explicit words and now wanted to judge him using Christian morality standards. The election is over, the people have spoken and life has to go on. The church is tasked to turn the hearts of the nation to prayer, for a peaceful transition of power. Christians should not be divided by politics or else we may soon be facing our version of AMEREXIT.
Yvonne Sam

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