I have a liberal ‘friend’ on FaceBook. Well, I guess more accurately an acquaintance, I guess. She may no longer consider me a friend due to politics. I think this is a shame since intelligent discourse is at the heart of all matters political. It seems to me that people who lean liberal more often than not get downright mad when you disagree with them. I mean, ‘them’s fightin words’ mad.
I believe it is frustration on their part because they just cannot believe that anyone with a brain could disagree with their viewpoint. I get it, I feel the same way but it doesn’t anger me. It makes me want to prove my point instead of getting angry. Emotion shouldn’t have a place in politics, but of course it does. We have another situation like the one that occurred in 2008 with Obama. The difference is that it is at the other end of the political spectrum(sort of, Trump is more middle of the road than Obama ever was). The phenomenon is a cult of personality.
The people that follow Trump are more like a religious group than regular voters. I don’t say this in a derogatory manner. I find it refreshing that old republican farts can be this enthusiastic. After the last two presidential elections, I was beginning to think there was not enthusiasm at all left in the conservatives. They believe in Trump as some sort of political Messiah. Can you blame them? The usual slings and arrows that fell political candidates by the dozen seem to bounce off him and hit the person who sent the arrow at him. The usually omnipotent Media is stumped.
The Media and other politicians are scratching their heads and wondering how to bring him down. They won’t sway these followers. Just as Obama’s followers could not be swayed by common sense in 2008, neither will these be swayed. They believe that Trump is sincere. Something almost never seen in politics. Whether or not this bears out remains to be seen, but many believe he is the real deal.
Notice the wording….believe is the word I use. Politics is a religion of sorts. This is why it incites such raw emotion from people. Get a liberal and conservative in the same room and you had better hide the weapons, there’s liable to be violence. Surprisingly enough, from the many posts, replies and articles I have read, it seems the liberals are the more violent overall in their intense hatred for the opposition. They don’t just dislike Trump, they abhor him. They would cheer, I believe, if he was assassinated. The conservatives, minus the fringe lunatics, are overall just enthusiastic about their man. Liar seems to be the strongest word used over and over to describe Hillary Clinton. Trump has been called a monster, a sexist, a racist, an Islamophobe, etc. And try as I might, I cannot find real, concrete evidence in print, documented, that this is actually the case.
Perhaps the lack of concrete proof is what is firing up the libs. I think that surely if Trump was the racist sexist he is supposed to be, don’t you think there would be documentation other than liberal interpretation of a few speeches? He was accused of being a racist because of one of his earlier speeches, where he simply points out that Mexico is not sending us their best citizens. Somehow this got interpreted as ‘Trump hates Mexicans.’ Do you really think he would have been in business for over 40 years and hates Mexicans and is so vile to them that there wouldn’t have been at least one lawsuit? I mean, with his resources, he has a target on him to every lawyer around. Why no discrimination lawsuits? He’s a sexist supposedly as well. Where are the sexual harassment lawsuits? Surely by now the media would have dug up someone willing to jump on the ism bandwagon and call Trump out. Try though they might, black Americans can’t even find a speech that in any way is derogatory towards them. Here’s a clue—it’s because he is not a racist.
So tell a liberal to find proof of his racism, sexism, phobias, etc and they just repeat what they heard on the evening news. Even the news media is resorting to spreading rumors now. The NY Times supposedly had an ‘off the record’ recorded meeting with Trump where he says the whole strategy is a ruse. Do we believe that someone that media savvy would actually sit down with NY Times reporters and not make sure that there were no recordings? And why only audio? What good sound engineer couldn’t string together a compilation of Trump speeches and edit it into what ever they wanted it to say?
Let me get back to the anger issue. Liberals HATE Donald. He is satan incarnate. He is the end of our country. Funny, before he ran for president, he wasn’t sexist, he wasn’t racist, he was just a rich guy with an entertaining show about entrepreneurship and a bossy style. If he was such a heinous person, why didn’t anyone notice until now? Why wasn’t the ACLU all over him? Surely someone so systematically evil would have been on the radar before now. The reason is that politics often doesn’t follow logical thoughts. It’s raw emotion in many cases. For liberals, who are frequently atheists or at the very least not very devout, it is their religion. Everyone needs to believe in something bigger than themselves. For many conservatives it is God, as they know him. Liberals don’t have a God in many cases so they must believe in something.
Liberals want desperately to believe that they have the answers to saving humanity. They have better answers than God. They can change all of society if just allowed, they will transform us all into a peaceful mosaic of loving people. Except humans are not always a peaceful animal. We have a violent history and that is ingrained in us. The will to survive is strong. When we no longer have to use our will to scratch out a living from dirt or chase down our dinner, we direct our energies to other things we feel we need to survive. Religion is one. In the absence of religion you have politics.
Most conservatives could live very happily without government. They have been taught a set of morals from an early age. It is what they live by. They don’t need a body of men to set up more rules, they already got theirs from their God. Politics is more of a hobby or a business to them. It is not a reason to get mad, at least not fightin mad. Liberals were not raised with a set of rules other than their parents guidelines. There was no bigger picture other than government. They place their faith in government. This is by design if you read any literature on socialism or communism. Religion cannot coexist with either because it implies a power higher than the government. In any socialist/communist system religion is at the least discouraged and at the extreme outlawed and people killed persecuted. Liberals don’t believe in any higher power. Government is their God.
So, why do they get so mad about politics? Because we are attacking their religion. We are attacking the only thing they really believe in. This is their intangible higher cause. To conservatives, it’s just politics. At the end of the day the conservatives go back to their families, their churches and even though they may be frustrated by government and yell a little, it’s not the be all and end all it is to liberals. If liberals lose to conservatives, they are defeated in spirit. It’s like someone coming in and burning down your church. Except that we are burning down their entire religion when conservatism wins. They have chosen to have no beliefs except those of the world. When those beliefs are not validated, it’s like being told there is no Santa Claus.
So, I hope that my liberal friend is not too mad at me. I am trying to make logical sense to a person who believes in a political solution to the world’s problems. She is not a bad person, she is a true believer even though she is not going to any church. She prays at the church of liberalism. If the elections are lost, it is more than a defeat, it is a catastrophe. For conservatives, it’s a frustrating obstacle, but we have other things to fall back on. I hope that I never have to rely on politics to fulfill my need for higher understanding of life. I do believe in God. I am not much of a church person, but I do believe in God. I believe that all politicians bow to the same God sooner or later that I do. I don’t believe they have the capacity to change the world. The world, believe it or not, has been going through the same struggles since the beginning of civilization…the phrase ‘there is nothing new under the sun’ is so true. We are destined to turmoil until we die. It’s just the way it is and it’s not so much if your guy always wins. It’s just as important to thrive in spite of the other guy winning. Anyone can do wonders if everyone is on their side. Show me what you can do when the chips are down. Liberals need that government to back them up. They feel powerless without political strength. I wish I could let them know that there is an immense peace to be gained in believing that we are not completely in charge of our own fates. Failures or successes are never 100% up to us. It makes life interesting. And redefines what success and failure really is. We are free to succeed or fail. The government doesn’t have any role in our lives other than setting the speed limits. That’s the way we like it. We don’t need the government…we have better things to worship.