“Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.”
Galatians 6:9
In the days after the last presidential election, a handful of girlfriends checked in on me, and each asked the same question, “Does it feel personal?”
At first I didn’t know how to answer that question. I thought, "personal? How? Nothing’s going to happen to me.” By the fourth time I was asked this question, I realized what they were really asking—
“Do you feel like no one’s listening to you?”
And the answer to that question was a gut-wrenching, “yes.”
I had just spent four years sharing resources for people to learn more on their own (because I am not an expert but I can point you to them), and the election was a wake-up call that the people who weren’t already there weren’t willing to get there.
Those who follow me from Instagram might remember from that week that I almost gave up completely. It really had me ready to leave Instagram and give up writing entirely. I have this tiny platform, no real job, and who even listens to me anyway? Does what I do actually matter? It felt, in that moment, that it didn’t.
But then the messages came pouring in. People—mainly fellow Evangelical women—expressed their support for me and thanked me for my perspective over the years.
shared one of my stories where I had tagged her to her stories, and on the day I said I was considering leaving I kept getting new followers (who were immediately in my dms saying my work was a breath of fresh air to them). They said it mattered to them. It was personal. Eventually, I remembered I wasn’t on Instagram to build my platform anyway but to stay in touch with some of my communities, and to connect people with causes that matter to them as needed, and I stayed. The experience was sobering.In 2016, as a deconstructing conservative afraid of her own leaning toward liberalism, I sat out the election. I firmly believed that our votes didn’t matter, everything was rigged in favor of how the powers that be want it to go—and on top of that, I saw any participation in the election system as bowing to an idol. As sincerely as I held that belief then, I don’t hold it any longer.
So, stay with me on what I’m about to share.
How Did We Get Here?
If you’re reading my work, I assume you’re also reading about the historical background of American evangelism’s role in our government. That’s a big part of “how did we get here” that I’m not going to get into today. If you want to know more, you can read the wealth of books and articles by Evangelical leaders and like Russell Moore, Karen Swallow Prior, Jemar Tisby, Skye Jethani, David French, Essau McCaulley, Beth Allison Barr, Kristin Kobes Du Mez, and more.
But how did we get a second Donald Trump presidency after, you know, we thought we had learned our lesson the first time? Well, no matter where you land on the political spectrum, you’re not going to like it. I come with receipts.
In 2022, several news outlets reported on how Democrats were funding Republican campaigns during the mid-term elections. The campaigns in question? The most far-right Republicans running for office in states Democrats wanted to win. Their tactic: elevate the most radical voices of political extremists, because it will be easier to win those offices.123
And they were right. It worked. In 7 out of 13 of those races, Democrats won.
It should be obvious why this tactic is completely unethical and damaging to democracy, but in case it isn’t: instead of running against sane Republicans with integrity in a fair race, the Democratic party decided to use millions of dollars to stack the deck with Trump loyalists, effectively taking our options for good representatives away.
From Open Secrets:
“I think it’s very dangerous and potentially very risky to elevate people who are hostile to democracy,” Democratic political strategist Howard Wolfson told the Washington Post. “Either this is a crisis moment or it isn’t. And if it is — which it is — you don’t play cute in a crisis.”
Even if candidates [Democrats funded] do not go on to win their general election, there is an additional concern that by helping them secure a victory in their respective primaries, Democrats have helped to legitimize and normalize their political platforms, which otherwise would have been viewed as fringe.
I’m not saying that the Democrats who won those districts were not good representatives. I’m not even saying they are the ones who lack integrity, because I won’t assume they all knew about or had control over this decision. Campaigns involve a lot of people. I am the Democratic party could have backed Republicans with integrity and good faith, but that would have required they would rather lose to a worthy candidate than win. Instead, we ended up with a bunch of extremists rising to undo prominence in the next two years, and ultimately they used that push in visibility and funding to win more seats and get Trump back in the White House.
In the end, the Democratic party was impaled on their own sword. The consequences reach far beyond the US.
Many liberal media sources reported about this tactic when it was successful in 2022. Fewer published articles on it in 2024, although Democrats did try it again. Why publicize failure?
And on the conservative end, I couldn’t find articles on this. Why tell the truth when it makes your side look bad?
Don’t Forget We’re on the Same Team
I know it probably feels like we really don’t have options when it comes to voting after all. But I don’t agree. We can vote for the more qualified candidate for the job, even if we don’t agree with all their policy positions. To do one even better, we can be informed enough citizens—not obsessing over the news or outcomes, but just enough to help us maintain a grasp on reality so that we can face it.
When Garth and I were first married, during conflicts we started reminding each other that we’re on the same team. This perspective kept us focused on resolving the problem that was causing our conflict rather than fighting each other.
Dear America, we’re on the same team. If we continue working for mutual destruction, we all lose.
I don’t know how to truly remedy the problems we face, but I do know that we need to give up the us-vs-them mindset. Turn off the voices that are playing into that way of thinking. Stop giving them space in your mind. Give the platform to people who are willing to work together with people who aren’t already like them.
And I know it’s hard, but we need to be willing to engage these topics with the people in our lives. The implications of disengaging are too costly. It’s not just about us and our comfort. But we can make sure we’re going about it in ways that foster mutual understanding, care, and unity. I believe in us.
After the last election, I felt so immediately exhausted and discouraged. I knew Black and Brown writers and friends were as well, and that I was only feeling a fraction of what they were feeling because I only paid a fraction of the cost they do and will pay. These five years of learning to be more outspoken have shown me beyond a shadow of a doubt what our society is like for them. As a white, privileged woman, I have experienced firsthand just for speaking up what they experience regularly.
I think that’s what is hardest of all with this gig. The gaslighting of those in power—over centuries—is still the dominant narrative that so many want to continue to believe, even when the truth is right in front of them. Still, I believe in tenderness toward those people, because I have had to be tender with the younger version of myself for the years of struggling with cognitive dissonance. I know it’s real, and it’s hard, and it feels so threatening to come up against.
And living with the cognitive dissonance is easier than standing with those who don’t always agree with you, who can’t protect you—putting your safety or comfort on the line for the sake of others. But easier doesn’t make it right.
I’ll leave you with this quote from Martin Luther King, Jr., which he wrote in his Letter from Birmingham Jail,
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White citizens’ “Councilor” or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action” who paternistically feels that he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
Our lukewarm acceptance isn’t enough to foster belonging. Yes, we have laws in place now meant to protect the civil rights of those who are not white able-bodied men. But we’re currently watching an executive-level effort to roll back so many protections for all of those people. That isn’t a projection, it is literally what is happening. And it’s happening because many Americans have maintained the same posture and attitudes Civil Rights leaders were facing in the 60’s and even earlier.
We haven’t made it as far as we think. And it’s time we stop and consider the reality of that. We can no longer cheer “our side” winning by any means necessary when Americans with ethics and integrity lose. When the people working for our mutual good lose, we all do.
NPR article, Nov. 11, 2022, “The Democrats’ strategy of boosting far-right candidates seems to have worked.” https://www.npr.org/2022/11/11/1135878576/the-democrats-strategy-of-boosting-far-right-candidates-seems-to-have-worked
An article from Open Secrets in July 2022, which I would highly recommend reading, https://www.opensecrets.org/news/2022/07/democrats-spend-millions-on-republican-primaries/
Vox article from November 12, 2022 highlighting the risks of Democrats funding extremist platforms, https://www.vox.com/2022/11/12/23454725/democrat-republican-maga-strategy-midterm-red-wave
With you here, Bre. Thank you for not giving up.
I see you, Bre. Grateful for you