Are You Still Listening? (Two Weeks till the Vote)

Are you as sick as I am of the 2016 presidential election coverage? It's never-ending and the lows that our country has stooped to have forever changed our political reality. We know WAY more than we ever wanted to about everything the candidates have said and done and now we must choose between two sinners who have sullied the American dream of a melting pot where all nations can fuse into one under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all.

I've spoken about the glaring contradiction of this election where the people of America have actually stood together in droves at Bernie/Trump rallies to protest the corruption of Washington. However, it is now clear that Trump's authenticity is simply an acknowledgement that he is no better than the sleaze of DC. He understands the place because he is implicated in it. His words and actions are detestable to all and his rhetoric is tactless and divisive. The problem is... Clinton's rhetoric hasn't helped either, literally dividing the democratic party by fixing the democratic nomination against Bernie (with aspersion and media collusion), while labeling half the democratic party as basement-dweller-dependents and half the country as deplorable Trump supporters.

The renewed interest in our democratic process of a government "for and by the people" is now a cluttered mess of clandestine backroom deals, video taped hit pieces, extreme deafness and extreme segregation between "liberals" and "republicans" which don't even exist anymore because they're the same thing... corrupt. And worse, we're the ones who've believed the lie that our opinions (social media) give us higher ground than our neighbor who disagrees. In short, we've all become elitist in our positions and we've stopped listening to each other.

I feel like I have a unique perspective on this because I was educated as a democrat, attended a liberal arts college and was taught to keep an open-mind to all perspectives. My search for truth lead me to consume all angles of the diamond, people with ideas from every background and creed. I learned how everyone is shaped by their roots... how our perspective is sacred because it reflects our life experience. I learned to listen to opposing views and give the benefit of the doubt to others even when words came across aggressively or judgmentally. Liberalism taught me patience and generosity of spirit for all human beings and all ideas. But, I can't help notice one idea is unacceptable to my humanistic upbringing. The idea that is off-limits is exclusivity. Those who make truth claims of exclusivity are tolerated at best and branded hateful at worst. I notice my liberal friends stop listening if any idea is cast as exclusive. This is particularly challenging for me because I believe Jesus' words "I am the way" and that offends my friends. And yet, I can't help but observe the inherent contradiction, that my liberal education condemns exclusivity while embracing it by excluding Jesus.

That's why it was encouraging for me to come across audio of Michael Moore's one man show based on his new documentary Trumpland. Though he does not hide his implicit support of the democratic platform, he never shut himself off from listening to the other side... so much so that he includes their viewpoint and says it must be legitimized in the eyes of his fellow liberals--if liberalism is to be authentic to it's aversion to exclusivity. Basically he says, we can not simply call each other names when we do not like each others ideas. True liberalism is listening to others with generosity and graciousness so that we understand the heart of our brother rather than projecting our hatred of exclusivity upon him.

Though I may not like Michael's use of offensive language, I understand that it is for effect because we are too easily offended by words instead of listening to the heart of the other. The other is us and if we are to be united as a country we will need more and more listening to the opposing side of our opinion. We will need to refrain from casting aspersions, caricatures, and demonisations upon those who disagree with us because they are our brothers/sisters... human beings entitled to their ideas, their perspectives, and their vote.

Michael says this of those people who oppose his views during this election season, "They're not racist and rednecks, they're actually pretty decent people... and after talking to a number of them I wanted to write this..."

(WARNING :: If you are offended by cuss words or Michael Moore, you will not want to listen to this audio... you have been warned).



I haven't made my mind up yet about who I'm going to vote for because I am still listening. I have been offended by both candidates so many times I can no longer count. Honestly, I have gone back and forth because from week to week I'm appalled by one side or the other. The effect of this is extreme apathy and/or extreme partisanship. But, I am committed to listening until Nov. 8th because more will be revealed. I am also committed to embracing people who may disagree with me whichever way I choose because one exclusive idea Jesus taught me... people are more important than ideas and love covers all.