{"id":2524,"date":"2016-11-14T15:40:52","date_gmt":"2016-11-14T20:40:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/?p=2524"},"modified":"2016-11-14T20:08:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-15T01:08:50","slug":"i-voted-to-help-this-boy-and-my-friends-all-hate-me-for-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/mysticpost\/2016\/11\/14\/i-voted-to-help-this-boy-and-my-friends-all-hate-me-for-it\/","title":{"rendered":"I Voted to Help This Boy and My Friends All Hate Me for It."},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Follow Mystic Post on Facebook<\/span><\/a><\/h2>\n
\n

\"\"By Stephen Ryan<\/h4>\n

This horrific image of this little boy under siege in Syria inspired me to vote for Donald Trump. The election is over but it seems debris is still falling from the sky.<\/p>\n

My vote has really set a lot of hair on fire with some of my friends, and even with some of my relatives who are scheduled to come to my house for Thanksgiving. \u00a0But despite all the spin from both parties it turns out my vote was the easiest decision I ever made. My spiritual Mother was there for me and she offered \u00a0me her guidance.<\/p>\n

My spiritual mother is Mama Mary, the Mother of Christ, the Blessed Virgin Mary. \u00a0Over the years she has led many people back to Christianity. She converts people. Pope John Paul II \u00a0said \u201cFind Christ through Mary.\u201d Many people believe she is now appearing on earth in a place called Medjugorje. \u00a0 She is known the world over as \u00a0the \u201cQueen of Peace.\u201d \u00a0Her first words \u00a0spoken to six visionaries in 1981 were: \u00a0\u201cPeace, peace and only peace.\u201d \u00a0These simple words changed my life. And I am not alone. 4o,ooo,ooo million pilgrims have made their way to the small village in Bosnia. Most who go there come to find their lives change in a deeply moving way.<\/p>\n

Medjugorje has been called by Saint John Paul the Great as the \u201cSpiritual hope of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the election nearing, \u00a0I looked to the Blessed Mother as my moral compass and \u00a0I made my decision based on the issue of peace, \u00a0foreign policy, and war.<\/p>\n

Of course there were many important issues that Americans had to consider in this years epic presidential election. But for me my decision to vote for Trump was based on my disappointment in Ms. Clinton long term record of supporting Neocon foreign policies in the Middle East and her unwillingness to repudiate them.<\/p>\n

In the run up to the election people asked me who I was voting for. I said that\u2019s easy \u201cI\u2019m voting for Donald \u00a0Trump\u201d. \u00a0The universal reaction from my friends was a look of horror as if I had just told them I keep people chained in a hole in my basement.<\/p>\n

From that moment any opportunity to defend my choice was shut down. I tried to say \u201cLook, \u00a0the epic human tragedy in Syria is a direct result of flawed (evil?) US foreign policy of backing so called \u201cmoderate rebels\u201d to achieve regime change. Regime change policies, as we all know, had already tragically failed in Iraq and Libya. I want Hillary and her Neocon national security team as far away from the White House as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

But I could not get the words out. I would be shouted down with the \u201cBilly Bush\u201d club. To my friends the real epic human tragedy was Trump\u2019s private talk on the set of Access Hollywood. The bleeding boy in the ambulance be damned. Over time I was worn down. \u00a0I could tell if Hillary won the election \u00a0the killing would continue \u2013there would be no discussion. \u00a0Hillary Clinton \u00a0then would make her \u00a0triumphant rounds on the Ellen Degeneres Show and The View, everybody smiling, happy and laughing on TV while more boys and girls in Syria are rushed to hospitals to die alone because \u00a0their parents are already dead underneath a pile of concrete rubble.<\/p>\n

As I said, the choice was easy and today I am happy to read that real change may be on the way.<\/p>\n

\n

Why elections matter:<\/h4>\n

From the New York Times<\/a><\/p>\n

Donald Trump Likely to End Aid for Rebels Fighting Syrian Government<\/h4>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

WASHINGTON \u2014 President-elect Donald J. Trump said Friday that he was likely to abandon the American effort to support \u201cmoderate\u201d opposition groups in Syria<\/a> who are battling the government of President Bashar al-Assad<\/a>, saying \u201cwe have no idea who these people are.\u201d<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal that dealt largely with economic issues, including his willingness to retain parts of the Affordable Care Act, he repeated a position he took often during his campaign: that the United States should focus on defeating the Islamic State, and find common ground with the Syrians and their Russian backers.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had an opposite view of many people regarding Syria,\u201d Mr. Trump told The Journal. \u201cMy attitude was you\u2019re fighting Syria, Syria is fighting ISIS<\/a>, and you have to get rid of ISIS. Russia<\/a> is now totally aligned with Syria, and now you have Iran<\/a>, which is becoming powerful, because of us, is aligned with Syria.\u201d<\/p>\n

His comments suggest that once Mr. Trump begins overseeing both the public support for the opposition groups, and a far larger covert effort run by the Central Intelligence Agency<\/a>, he may wind down or abandon the effort. But there are in fact two wars going on simultaneously in Syria.<\/p>\n

One is against the Islamic State, in which the United States is supporting 30,000 Syrian-Kurdish and Syrian-Arab fighters, who last weekend announced they were opening a new phase of the battle, beginning to encircle the ISIS capital in Raqqa. There are roughly 300 United States Special Operations forces on the ground assisting these militia.<\/p>\n

The second effort is in support of rebels fighting Mr. Assad. The C.I.A. covert program is by far the largest conduit of support, providing antitank missiles to rebels fighting the government. That is the program that Mr. Trump seems most intent on ending. If the United States pursues that line, \u201cWe end up fighting Russia, fighting Syria,\u201d Mr. Trump told The Journal.<\/p>\n

The argument for ending the support may be bolstered by the fact that, as a matter of survival, those opposition groups have entered into battlefield alliances with the affiliate of Al Qaeda<\/a> in Syria, formerly known as Al Nusra. This has had the effect of allowing Mr. Assad and Russia to argue that they are attacking Al Qaeda, and the United States should aid them in that effort. Secretary of State John Kerry acknowledged that argument during his ultimately failed effort to reach a deal for a cease-fire and an ultimate settlement.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Follow Mystic Post on Facebook By Stephen Ryan This horrific image of this little boy under siege in Syria inspired me to vote for Donald Trump. The election is over but it seems debris is still falling from the sky. My vote has really set a lot of hair on fire with some of my […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2537,"featured_media":2481,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2524","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-medjugorje"],"yoast_head":"\nI Voted to Help This Boy and My Friends All Hate Me for It.<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Follow Mystic Post on Facebook By Stephen Ryan This horrific image of this little boy under siege in Syria inspired me to vote for Donald Trump. 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