Why I think the way I think

10 October 2016

Well, this is not going to be an easy post to make. I want to explain why I think the way I think regarding certain life choices. So please stick with me as I try to explain this.

This start from the question from my nephew, asking why a certain political meme listing all of the faults that Mrs. Hillary Clinton has, while Mr. Donald Trump only has a single fault. To just think that Mr. Trump only has one fault is to ignore the transgressions that he committed in this election alone. I would like to include someone else’s commentary regarding his latest event regarding objectifying women as a sexual object (http://www.cnn.com/2016/10/10/opinions/religious-right-hypocrisy-over-trump-tape-barber/index.html), including this choice paragraph:

“When Trump promised a wall to keep out Mexicans, many who are now “outraged” cheered him on. When he pledged to ban all Muslims from traveling to America, they celebrated his defense of “religious freedom.” When he supported voter suppression laws that sought to abridge the right to vote for African-Americans, Latinos, and poor people, they stood with him. When he announced that he would repeal the Affordable Care Act, a move that would devastate the lives of many poor working women and men, they endorsed him. When he said he did not support making the minimum wage a living wage, they lifted him up as what America needed. When he announced an economic plan that would take us back into recession, hurting many working families, they declared him the one for the country. When he unashamedly vowed to block gun laws that would help keep assault weapons off the street, they applauded him. And when Trump mocked women, people with disabilities, and his political opponents, the religious right stood by their man.”

The only reason they supported Mr. Trump is because he decided at this time to be anti-abortionist, while Mrs. Clinton is an advocate. Mr. Trump is not a church-goer, does not appears to worship any particular religion, and does not practice any particular dogmas associated with any type of peaceful religion. But because he hit home with one major social conservative talking point, they are casting their lots with him. In fact, on my way to work here in Omaha, Nebraska, I saw a billboard proclaiming that all Catholics must not vote for anyone who supports abortions.

This is the problem with politics today — so many people are so single minded with certain issues, that they are ignoring their own religious leaders. Pope Francis clearly noted that while they are against abortions and birth controls for most cases, he wishes for his followers to not focus on that, and deprive the sacred tenet of helping the unfortunates.

I came from a family that has a lot of issues, but with people that are very much a true example of Catholics. I have a brother who I consider to be extremely dangerous to anyone’s wellbeing, that I actively resist all overtures on his part to “catch up on the news.” He is a pathological liar, a cheater, a thief, and does not care about anything but himself. But my father still keeps in touch with him. Dad continues to express love, to spend time with him, and put in the effort to ensure that my brother has a family. That is a mark of a true Catholic — where even the worst of the worst can be shown love in the ever so tiny chance that they will echo the love to others.

My mom, may she continue to rest in peace, was a person with a very strong sense of empathy. I learned and realized my strength in empathy and intuition only too late for her to help me better understand it. She succumbed to cancer only a few months later. She spent so much time helping others through her work and volunteer efforts. But she spent so much time on me, a Deaf child, ensuring that I have the same rights as a normal child have to get the best education we can and to be included in the world at large. She was not perfect, but she cared, like a true Catholic.

I also have family members that were supposed to properly handle the inheritance only to screw up the delivery to me the checks, forcing me to deposit a limited amount a week too late. But they “conveniently forgotten” to provide the final check the following year. That is one thing, but the way they guilted-tripped us in their bitter letter destroyed the goodwill I had toward them (never mind them patronizing me as “a special boy, now go away so we can talk and ignore you outright”). I am sure to this day they still think I spent the inheritance on foolish things. Well, it went to a friend of mine who was just a secretary in a very misogynist town, because I saw in her a strong potential to be more than whom she really is. The money was spent on her starting up a consulting business, and dragging her out of that town, where she continues to do amazing things in her corner of the world. Even if it have not been paid back, I do not regret this choice at all — for I made a huge difference in a person’s life. Because I cared.

I am friends with many people of all mixtures. I am not friends with them based on whom they are — gay, bi, straight, male, female, trans, White, Black, Hispanic, Asian — it does not matter to me in term of friendship. What does matter to me is how they are treated by others. I have a few family members who openly used racist terms to describe people they may have an issue with. They are so focused out of their own unfounded fears of “the others”, that they actively encouraged me to waste more money renting an apartment I barely lived in, because of them “Mexicans being everywhere” in the cheaper places. Well, guess what, I am living in a home in a neighborhood where White people are a minority, and the home values are going up, all while people of all types share a friendly “hello” to me every time I walk by during my exercise.

Well, not the kids — the kids needs to stop burying their nose in their phones and be a bit more polite toward others. Heh.

My son is dating a Hispanic woman, American born to a Mexican family, and I could care less. I only regret that I can’t help her celebrate her Quince with her family. She is a woman with her flaws, just as much as my son have his flaws too. They love each other, nonetheless, and I am proud of them.

The problem with our political system is that we are treating it like a sports game, not something that would affect us tremendously. One side would easily find plenty of flaws that the other side’s candidate would have. There would also be some third party advocates screaming about the flaws of the two sides.

I do understand some concerns — abortion is one of the subjects I understand very well. My wife is anti-abortion, and I am leery of unrestricted use of abortion — simply because we know of people who just abuse this right just to pop out an unborn fetus, only to go back to having unprotected sex with a wide range of random men, either for pleasure or for money. My wife and I agreed, it is a right that is granted to anyone who wishes to choose to use it, but it does not mean we will support it. We are very much aware of how bad things can get when you remove that right from women, one perfect example being El Salvador. One recent article illustrates this sad situation well: http://kristof.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/09/12/el-salvadors-abortion-lawyer

But we do understand why certain people can not justify allowing abortion. It is the same with gun rights, drugs, taxes, and even social reforms. There are strong opinions on both sides, and compromises have to be made.

So yes, I will debate with you regarding political talking points. Please do not think that it is me trying to convince you to agree with me (which would “result in a win for my side” — however stupid that thinking is). My debates with you are focused on not only understanding each other’s perceptions but hopefully finding out more about an issue we may have not even thought about before. The more we learn, the wiser we can get, even though we can never know anything.

So why am I so annoying regarding Mr. Trump this year? To me, he is my racist family member. To me, he is my pathological liar of a brother. To me, he is my woman friend who aborted too much. To me, he is my family members who think little of me being Deaf.

He is not my Jewish teacher who cares about her students enough to participate on Facebook deep in her retirement years to keep up to date with them, scolding them on bad grammar and curse words every once in a while. He is not my father who cares for his own son at the risk of his son hurting him. He is not my mother who volunteers. He is not my gay friends who are in a multi-decade committed relationship faithfully with each other. He is not my friend who openly loves and accept everyone, even though they eat meat and she opposes animal harms on moral grounds. He is not my son who treat his lover as an equal, even when they have some bitter fights. He is not my wife who loves me and try her best to be a wonderful partner for me.

Mr. Trump is the accumulation of the wide diversity of bad flaws, with very little redeeming values. He is an incredibly dangerous person who will hurt America in a likely permanent way. He is the classical Antichrist from the Left Behind novels. Only because he declared himself as a Republican at this time, does he get the support (and the hypocrisy) of the conservative voters. They only mark the “R” because they are a dutiful voter, willfully ignoring his own flaws and magnifying the flaws of the other side.

After all, President Obama has been turning out to be a good president for the past 8 years. But to the conservative voters, he is the worst president ever (which probably makes Former President Clinton a bit happy). The same will be told if Mrs. Clinton becomes president and just about every president after that.

If Mr. Trump was a Democrat, the same thing will happen, a whole pile of liberal voters will gleefully mark his name as their choice of President, and ignore all of his flaws.

It is not about who Mr. Trump is running as. It is who he is that I am strongly opposed to. I can not just stand by, and accept his flaws because they hurt me in a deep way, and they hurt people I care for in a deep way. That is never acceptable, and it is time these actions be completely rejected.

So what is the problem with that meme? “Saying bad words” is putting it too mild when it comes to Mr. Trump’s issues.

Any questions?