Don't scoff. I live in Hawaii and Seattle, most people consider them fairly liberal, so it was an experience meeting a card carrying member of the president's base. We are more alike than different, caucasian, male, older, some discretionary income, a sense of family and friendship, long successful marriages, Christian or at least trying to be.
And as we started talking, the more I listened, the more I was amazed, so I mostly listened. We are different. He was giving off the classic messaging of the base that had elected the 45th president. Full disclosure, he is not exactly the first. One of my friends on Kauai does that, but he can play any role and does. So I was ready to be schooled by the real deal.
I learned that our country's downfall began with the Obama administration. That was eye opening, I would have thought that the history books were going to put him in a pretty good light. So, I waited and listened some more.
It all started with the Supreme Court legalizing same sex marriage. Oh, my, I quietly thought, we really don't want a country where the President tells the Supreme Court how to vote. But wait, that wasn't it. Our downfall came because of the rainbow lights the shined on the White House. Now that may seem insignificant, but did you know that 25 years ago, only .4%, (less than 1 per cent, he said for emphasis), openly admitted being gay. Today, it's 43%, (must have been some light show).
If you know me, you know I am an analyst, terrain analyst, systems analyst, network security analyst, (wrote a few books with that hat on). So I ran a mental sanity check, LinkedIn connections, Facebook friends, co-workers, church, and I could only think of one openly gay person. Another man present in the conversation marveled saying, "I'm pretty sure all of my co-workers are straight."
Next up was millennials. Did you know they don't, some say can't, read. At this point I was getting a bit antsy, I have some experience in supplying millennials high quality, technical, reading materials. They do read them, the proof is their GIAC exams.
And, I was told, millennials don't parent, instead they send their kids to camp, bike riding camp, shoe tying camp. Anything so that somebody else raises their kids. I reflected on my brother in law's family, how those very millennial parents are so involved with their kids.
By this point, I am not saying anything, especially after the pejorative mention of long hair, (I resemble that remark). To be honest, I wanted to throw up, please Lord let me get out of here before the conversation turns to African Americans, Mexicans, Muslims, or worse, immigrants.
Looking back, I'm trying to make some sense out of things, we are more alike than divergent. How then, can our differences be so stark? We both claim to be Christians, "There is one body and one Spirit".
My natural inclination is avoidance. Arrange my schedule so that we only cross paths at the most superficial moments. And that might be the best choice. The harder road is to listen and love, search for shared experiences, try to understand how he came to that mindset. That last is the most important.
To some extent we are all conformed to this world. I think the answer might be in Romans 2:12 NLT, Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
My brother in Christ has been conformed by a set of values, but I have too, so have you. My responsibility is to look for shared interests.
In the months before the election, I would be driving around Washington and kept seeing billboards, especially in rural areas, that caused me to doubt the pundits and polls saying the Clinton was going to win the presidency. I'm guessing this "coincidental" meeting may be the start of a Baader-Meinhof phenomenon; once I learn the verbal and written clues I will be able to pick it out more readily. If that happens I will try to blog my impressions and observations.
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