Presidential Election 2016
Congratulations to Republicans. Considering what was at stake (Supreme Court seats) they have obtained complete victory. This, however, was not a victory for me. I am liberal and reluctantly, a Democrat because much of their platform agrees with my beliefs and this is why I voted for Clinton. If you think I will talk about how stupid Republicans are, this will disappoint you. You need to understand that the Republican party are deeply associated with Christianity and it is a really difficult feat for anyone to break from that. Especially if your entire community and family are Christian. As for whether or not the Republican Party is actually “The Christian Party” that is a different story. The point is that is the common understanding. And this story goes all the way down to the very core of religion.
Now here is where I will talk about my own beliefs. People turn to religion because they believe it is God’s rules. They are rules above man and they are set in stone. From killing, to stealing, or to stone someone for adultery. If this was the case, then yes, we should ban gay marriage, prevent abortion, etc. Who would we foolish mortals be to question the will of God? There is really only one way to break out of this idea, and it is to question whether sacred texts (Bible, Quran, etc) are actually the word of God. Now I am writing this because I believe these texts aren’t the will of God. These were written by very well meaning contemporaries in that period of time who wanted peace and civility. These people were clever enough to say it is the word of God because it is a fact that people are far more likely to obey rules if there is punishment.
Here is a thought experiment, if you knew that breaking the law by speeding would give you a one way ticket to hell, would you do it? The answer is no. So then why do we people speed if it’s the law? It is unlikely you will be punished. Now I don’t want to encourage speeding so do take this as a thought experiment. The difference is that if it is a law by God we believe that we will always get punished sooner or later because we cannot escape the eyes of God.
Why is there Sexism? Why homosexuals are sinful?
Now, let’s get back to the idea that sacred text is not the word of God but is actually written by very well-meaning people way, way back. Don’t get mad at these people for saying we should stone adulterers or saying that marriage is only between a man and a woman. Understand that by today’s standards, many people in history even 2 centuries ago would be considered terrible. Now these sacred texts are from far longer than that, a period in time where men would indeed be considered superior to women. TANGENT AHEAD-> It is for a very simple reason. Power. It is an undeniable fact that men are stronger than women. It is only natural that men would be the dominant sex, after all, we are at our very core, animals. Now as human society develops and grows out of the caves. Humans can now defy natural selection. Gone is the need for strong, muscular, men to protect women. Our intelligence has completely eliminated the need for physical power, the one advantage that a male has. I believe no matter how intelligent we get, we will always have a lingering instinct that a male’s physical power will prove that they are meant to dominate. It is therefore necessary to become aware of this instinct and to use logic to overcome it. We do not live in a world where we have to go massacre another tribe by pure hand to hand combat and we need to use our intelligence to understand that.
My apologies for getting side tracked. The underlined portion above is just me going on a tangent of what I believe to be the history of sexism. To continue, these texts contain provisions for gay marriage and other offensive topics because the people who wrote it simply wanted to leave behind their legacy. What better way to do that than with offspring? Allowing gay marriage back then would mean that you will not have grandchildren, your legacy is gone. Allowing women to have sex as they please means there is a doubt that the children she bears may not even be yours. So it becomes necessary for these men who are in control, to write these rules in sacred texts.
It is a matter of Discipline
The above are my beliefs. Now here is my understanding of Republicans. There is a tug of war of sorts that goes on with Christianity. There is a side that believes in strict interpretation and another that believes in broad interpretation (my side). Strict is probably a better choice for a happier life in all honesty. Why? The slippery slope. Today, you go steal a candy bar from a store, perhaps in 10 years you will continue up the ladder to severity of crimes until you reach murder. I believe there IS a slippery slope and that’s why I cannot blame many Christians for choosing to strictly interpret the bible. It is a matter of discipline to them.
This is the root of the Republican Party and I don’t think it’s fair to dismiss them as stupid. Just as I as a liberal, would prefer to see almost any candidate get elected over a Republican (because of the Supreme Court Seats) they feel the same way. I think they understood that as well and knew this election cannot be lost to Democrats for those Supreme Court seats. Trump was pretty much voted for the very same reason Clinton would have been.
Now if we were talking about candidates, I would still pick Hilary because there is no concrete proof of conspiracy. When it comes to Trump, he makes clear remarks against women and minorities. I have spent my time listening to some conservative media and comments on the internet. Besides their repeated claims that Trump won because of God, I constantly see a comment that says: “Did you even read the WikiLeaks?” So that is what I did. Among some examples from conservatives’ sites, I looked at Podesta emails that were addressed to people who work for “mainstream” media, and a draft article of the New York Times. At first glance this does look extremely incriminating. But if you start to think of the fact this guy must deal with tons of emails and that these emails did not show concrete proof of corruption of Clinton’s campaign. To me, it was pretty much going into a house garbage bin and pulling out several sharp objects and saying that this proves that this was a crime scene weapon. It is “evidence” created from a bias that Clinton must be corrupt. Another thing to note is that Republicans say Clinton makes terrible decisions as Secretary of State. First, we have to consider that whether it is a bad decision or not is entirely subjective. Second, it isn’t really fair to compare someone who had to work as Secretary of State to someone who never held an office, making tough decisions and regretting it comes with holding a position in office.
Trump knew us better than we knew ourselves
1. We underestimated him thanks to polling. Example thought experiment: If I thought Clinton was a terrible person and I plan to vote for Trump, I will not go telling women about it because I do not want to have an argument about how racist and sexist I am. Therefore I will not tell the Poller I am voting for Trump.
2. Trump displayed his strengths better than Hilary did.
3. Electoral College favors Republicans.
4. Trump represents change from a 2 term president.
5. Trump has a clean slate for experience in politics.
6. Fear. It has been 2 years since the news of Clinton’s private server, they did not find anything but it heavily suggests there is something terribly wrong with Clinton. Even now, I do not trust Clinton because of this and the fact that at least half the country does think Clinton is untrustworthy.
Why I don’t want to consider myself a Democrat
The reason why I am hesitant to say I am Democrat or Republican is because I do not want to be associated with close mindedness. I believe we should try to consider each other’s point of view. Despite my bias, I really did try to give Trump’s rhetoric of a liberal media conspiracy consideration. I wanted to see concrete evidence why Clinton is corrupt and why Trump is our so called savior. I did not find anything to persuade me, whether because I am close minded and bias or because this is the case.
I was deeply disappointed in the results of this election but I must accept it. Violence and talks of assassination are absurd and only serves to humiliate the so called “open-minded” Democrats. It is why I do not want to call myself a Democrat.
The Electoral College favors Republicans
Lastly, I support the abolishment of the Electoral College. There is no other way to look at it than an ancient method of choosing a president in an age where modern technology did not exist. If there is a reason that the Electoral College should exist in this age, please tell me. I cannot think of any. Despite this, I know full well that there is no chance that this system will be thrown away any time soon.
My hope for a Trump Administration
I hope to see more of the recent Trump in his victory speech and visit to the White House than campaign Trump. It is probably Stockholm’s syndrome, but I am pleased that he did not make any crazy remarks.
