God & Politics Guest Post 2016 Election: Don't Be A Jerk

I don’t know about you, but my moral compass has been spinning during the 2016 election. I want to seek justice as I vote, but I am not sure it is possible. To help myself (and others who felt this same tension), I asked you guys to share with me your own perspectives as you try to balance your worldview, beliefs about God, and opinions as you seek the good of our nation through the context of justice.

The goal of these points aren’t to fight, but to help us consider the same three points from various vantage points to help us look at all angles.

Check out the rest of this series here:

*Disclaimer, the individual posts in this series do not necessarily reflect the stance of Average Advocate*

God & Politics: ANONYMOUS #3

(Don’t Be a Jerk)

As a secular Jew, I don’t base my morality upon any specific religious texts or figures, but rather take a more humanistic approach. Most of this can be boiled down to “Don’t be a jerk.”

When I think of a fair and just society, it isn’t one in which tens of millions of people live in poverty while the few on top enjoy the greatest increases in wealth the world has ever seen. When I think of a solution to the problem, it doesn’t involve cutting taxes for those on the top while destroying worker’s rights, and it certainly isn’t one that is led by one of those individuals that has spent an entire lifetime amassing wealth at the expense of everyone they cross paths with. “Don’t be a jerk” means helping those at the bottom, not failing to pay them for hard earned work, bullying them with lawsuits, and rooting for their downfall so you can make a quick buck.

A fair and just society isn’t led by the embodiment of rape culture. “Don’t be a jerk” means treating women as humans and not sexual objects. It should disgust everyone when convicted rapists get three month sentences because they happen to be upper class white men. We shouldn’t allow the status quo of men snickering behind closed doors and bragging about sexual assaulting their peers, or cheating on their wives, or objectifying their daughters. Elevating that behavior to the highest office in the land should be a national embarrassment, not cheered for.

A fair and just society isn’t one in which entire ethnic groups, races, or religions are immediately judged as thugs, criminals, or terrorists. “Don’t be a jerk” means we shouldn’t send away suffering women and children because their God goes by a different name, or keeping others out because they speak a different language. We should never be led by a man who views the Geneva Convention as “the problem” and “out of date.” Our leaders should understand that all of humanity has worth, and those that wield power are obligated to reduce suffering, not increase it.

And to those who sit and judge and claim the moral high ground, you have lost any credibility you might have remotely had when you support a candidate whose actions over a lifetime have been in complete contrast to the morality you profess to singularly own. I may be a secular Jew, but I know enough about Jesus to know that he wouldn’t be at a rally screaming “Jew-S-A,” or holding up pictures of people with bullseyes over their faces, or carrying effigies of others with nooses around their necks. “Don’t be a jerk” means not cheating on every one of your wives, not sexually assaulting others, not emboldening hate groups, and not appealing to people’s worst fears and instincts to propel yourself forward.

As we collectively decide who to elect as our next President, here is a quote from one a few generations back who was most certainly not a jerk:

“The test of our progress is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much; it is whether we provide enough for those who have too little.”

This election to me is the choice between a flawed but well-meaning candidate, and an absolute monster.

Also, check out God and Politics, introducing this series, and the other posts so far in this series, ANONYMOUS #1: How Would Jesus Vote and ANONYMOUS #2 (Why I Can’t Vote For Pro-Abortion Hillary).

I appreciate the vulnerability of those who chose to share. Considering, even if you disagree with them, please keep your comments clean and respectful or they will be deleted.