Where to Move if your Candidate is not Elected

In this surreal presidential election many U.S. citizens are seriously considering leaving the country if their preferred candidate is not elected. Which begs the proverbial question: where does one relocate to?

Apparently Canada and Ireland are in the running.

Last March, following Donald Trump’s win in the primaries, @GoogleTrends tweeted that Google searches of “How to move to Canada” surged to their highest in Google history.

And the Canadians are ready for this influx of American refugees.

Cape Breton, an island off the east coast of Canada, awaits the pilgrims with open arms. The website Cape Breton If Donald Trump Wins assures all depressed voters that their idyllic haven will not discriminate on the grounds of political affiliation: “The truth is, we welcome all, no matter who you support, be it Democrat, Republican, or Donald Trump.”

And so do the Irish

We’ve always welcomed our extended ‘American family’ and tourists over the years. But now we invite all disenchanted U.S. citizens to come and live with the natives. Inisturk, an underpopulated island off the west coast, would gladly receive all Americans left homeless in the wake of next week’s election.

In an interview with Irish Central, Mary Heanue the island’s development officer commented, “I’ve heard there are quite a few people in America looking to move to Ireland and other countries if Donald Trump becomes president. I’d like them to know that we’d love to see them consider moving over here.”

She noted that, given the island’s current population of just 58, children in particular would receive close to one-on-one attention at the local public school.

On a more serious note

I’m a former priest of the Catholic Diocese of Oakland, CA. After three very full and rewarding years in ordained ministry, I took a one year leave of absence to re-evaluate my commitment to a single, celibate way of life. And to explore where I felt called to expand my spiritual consciousness. This leave of absence resulted in my eventual resignation from active ministry.

Before coming to my final decision to leave, I met with a few trusted mentors (also living the celibate way of life) to discuss my decision to move on. Two of them had wished my decision were otherwise, citing my gifts, strengths, and more liberal theology, as reasons to stay in ministry – even if this meant having intimate companionship “on the side” if I felt the need for that. “The church needs priests like you if it’s ever going to reform,” was a typical comment I received at the time.

Nonetheless, much as I loved active ministry as a priest, in deference to my own personal sense of integrity and honor, I chose to leave.

For those who are serious about jumping ship if their preferred candidate doesn’t win this election, the same moral dilemma applies: Do I stay in a country governed by an administration that violates everything I value and stand for? Do I leave (if I have the means) and start fresh elsewhere, leaving the nation of my birth to it’s own fate? Or disgruntled and demoralized as I may feel, do I rise to the challenge to dig in, dig deep, and draw from resources within and without to help steer the nation onto the moral path I still envision for it?

The answers to such questions may involve a compelling and rigorous examination of conscience. A deep listening to the wisdom of one’s own heart. And many consultations with mentors, family, and kindred spirits.

In the final analysis, we each have a role to play in the unfolding drama of our own making. However we react to the result of this election, it does not change the singular mission we have chosen for this lifetime. Nor does it change the requisites of what it means to be truly human. Whether we’re living on Inisturk or Cape Breton.

What say you?

Cover Photo: Pixabay

Image Insert: Wikimedia Commons