I’m having a very very difficult time accepting the truth of this meme. Maybe some of you in the majority feel the same way I do. Before Trump, I genuinely thought nearly all people were good people. As Tim Walz says, most Republicans and most Democrats are good people. I still believe he is correct, but the people in the 30 to 40% in the meme are not the people I want to admit. The percentage may be closer to 15 to 20% rather than 30 to 40%, or maybe this is part of my denial that I cannot accept is this high.
Living here in Texas, these are people who I have known all of my life, people who held my children, who signed birthday cards, people I worked with, went to church with, and who lead faith communities as clergymen and laity. They are predominantly the white conservative Christian community who turned out to be MAGA Trump supporters with unconditional loyalty. I say unconditional loyalty to the point of being ok with Trump doing just about any evil or dismissing everything he does as “fake news.” If you are not a Trump supporter who is willing to unconditionally accept or dismiss just about anything Trump does or says, this does not apply to you. Even if you voted for Trump three times, this still may not apply to you if you at least denounce some of his evil.
Coming to grips with the idea that this white conservative MAGA Christian minority actually wants or is ok with torture, murder, oppression, punishment, and deportation of innocent people just for existing has ripped my heart out. It’s a maddening kind of reality I’ve never experienced before. For those of you who were once more associated with this minority but completely disassociated yourself from this minority during the Trump era like I did, I am not sure what you are doing to cope with this reality, but this is what I’m doing.
I found a church community that is not only affirming of my LGBTQ+ kids but is all anti-Trump and actually doing good things to make the lives of the vulnerable better. Not only do I want to be around people like this, I want to do what I can to help them help the most vulnerable among us. I also have found mothers who fully-accept their LGBTQ+ kids and people who are not religious but are interested in serving their community. Finding these people and taking these steps were essential moves for me. Finding a new community did not fully-void the pain of discovering what 30 to 40% (wishing 15 to 20%) of the country wants, but it’s enough to cope and ride the pain of betrayal out until more time passes. If you do not have a community of people who are like-minded and/pr people of goodwill, I strongly recommend that you find this community for your own survival.
I don’t know if I will ever recover from this. Maybe it’s my penance for not understanding this about the people I knew sooner and for not understanding the lies of the right wing sooner. All I know is, the people I have in my life now are the people I look up to are good people. They want the best for everyone, and they care about everyone, even if they are of a different race, belief system, or walk of life. For God so loved the World, not just conservative white Republican Christians who place Trump over Jesus.
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