As a woman, as a Christian and as an American, I\u2019ve been reflecting this morning on last night\u2019s election results. And what I\u2019ve concluded is that yesterday, ethics and decency took a back seat to dollars.\u00a0 The man we have elected has made crass comments about women, he has judged people on the basis of their ethnic background, and he has intentionally made false allegations about our current president\u2019s birthplace.\u00a0 Yet we elected him to hold the highest government office in our country.\u00a0 Why?\u00a0 Because he promised that if he became president we would all become \u201cwinners!\u201d\u00a0 And he promised to singlehandedly make us rich.\u00a0 (If you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you.)\u00a0 And yesterday people checked their basic ethics at the door and voted for someone who promised them a couple of extra dollars.<\/p>\n
The problem with yesterday\u2019s election result is that there is more to being an American than making money. We are a country that is supposed to believe in the highest ideals of liberty and equality.\u00a0 We are supposed to be a beacon to the world for what it means to live in a society in which you are not judged by the color of your skin (or your gender or religion or your sexuality) but by the content of your character.\u00a0 Yesterday, we said, \u201cForget all that,\u201d based on a charlatan\u2019s promises of cash.<\/p>\n
We did not vote our values. We voted our wallets.\u00a0 Unfortunately for us, our president cannot make us money.\u00a0 Nor can Congress.\u00a0 Nor can any particular legislation.\u00a0 There is only one way to make money: Hard work.\u00a0 There is no quick fix.\u00a0 There is no president who is going to absolve us of the basic requirement that you have to work hard to make money.\u00a0 And no matter how rich or poor your parents are, you have to hustle to move ahead in this world.\u00a0 Success and achievement are not handed out on silver platters to anyone.<\/p>\n
Our president is supposed to reflect our values. He or she is supposed to be\u00a0our mouthpiece by which the world understands what we think about right and wrong.\u00a0 That person is supposed to espouse the values contained in the Declaration of Independence:<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.\u201d<\/p>\n
The individual we have elected does not represent those values.<\/p>\n
So where does that leave us on November 9th<\/sup>?\u00a0 We need to make a decision that this election does not reflect who we are.\u00a0 And our soon-to-be president does not reflect who we are.\u00a0 And we have a responsibility to be more vocal than ever about the rights of women, children, minorities and the poor.\u00a0 We cannot simply sit back anymore and think that racism and sexism are issues of the past.\u00a0 They are alive and present, and for those of us who truly believe in the those \u201ctruths\u201d contained in the Declaration of Independence, it is the time for us to be more vocal and active than ever before.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As a woman, as a Christian and as an American, I\u2019ve been reflecting this morning on last night\u2019s election results. And what I\u2019ve concluded is that yesterday, ethics and decency took a back seat to dollars.\u00a0 The man we have elected has made crass comments about women, he has judged people on the basis of…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":593,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[8],"class_list":["post-360","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-election"],"yoast_head":"\n