This is it. We are less than 24 hours from our 2016 Presidential election and never has this country been more divided –at least in my lifetime. From the Huffington Post to major feminist publications online, the question they are all asking in my Facebook feed is “What am I going to tell my daughter or granddaughter if Trump is elected President? That it’s okay for men to sexually harass women?” Of course it’s not okay.
But the hateful and angry rhetoric about both candidates must stop – from social media to mass media. As parents and teachers, as active members serving in our own communities, we are going to teach our children that it doesn’t matter who is in the Oval Office as of November 8, 2016. Because it is neither the responsibility of Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton to teach our children morally responsible behavior. Our children learn their morals and values and behavior from watching and listening to the people who take care of them every day. If you don’t like the behavior you see in your child, it is your responsibility to address it, not blame politicians or the government. Granted, the government does have influence, but hopefully we have better role models within our own communities to point our children to and inform impressionable minds that we shouldn’t expect politicians as examples of anything.
We all need to step back, take a deep breath and ask ourselves where the root of our anxiety is. Christians choose to believe in the sovereignty of God. That’s what I choose as the root theme for almost all my posts. God knows precisely who will be elected to office and He is in control of the nation. I know precisely who I will vote for on Tuesday, but I will not lose any sleep – or move to Canada- if the candidate I did not vote for takes office. I choose to trust that God will appoint the candidate He deems worthy and that gives me peace.
Rather than engage in this ridiculous nonsense of throwing stones at both candidates, I choose to get on my knees and pray that my country will undergo a radical spiritual revival. America needs to wake up to the fact that we need God. It’s not a matter of Republicans verses Democrats, and it’s not a matter of electing a woman to the Oval Office; rather it’s a matter of which candidate will appoint the Supreme Court judges who will spend a lifetime (not a mere four years) behind the bench making decisions for the next generation.
Refusing to vote simply to protest both candidates is no excuse. Yes, we need a better system, but until one is in place, we must vote this way. So let’s take to our knees, then take to the polls, and then drop to our knees in prayer again and trust God for the outcome.