And so the pendulum has swung back to the right, after eight years of Obama as president of our country.
On the surface, it looks like old hatreds and anger have defeated hope, honesty, decency and fairness. It feels that way too.
But we do not have the luxury for despair. It is a luxury we can’t afford. Our values have not changed. Our ideals and our commitment to work toward social justice, tolerance and the end of racism remain firmly intact.
One man does not get to choose the morals you live by. We must continue to live according to our own moral compasses and we must continue to love and respect our neighbors, even when (and especially when) we disagree with them.
We have too much work to do to indulge in the gnashing of teeth, breast beating and tearing of hair. We have too much work to do. That work is now more difficult, but we’ve still got to do it.
We need to continue to speak for fairness for all. We need to respect veterans and their sacrifices. We need to respect all faiths and creeds. We need to fight for fair and affordable access to health care for all.
We have work here in our own community to do as well. We need to help the families and friends who suffered the most profound losses and harm last month. We need to make sure our local food shelf has the supplies it needs.
We need to make sure the Valley Interfaith Council has what it needs to make sure local families have what they need for a Thanksgiving dinner. We have work to do.
As a state, we need to continue to lead the way toward a progressive and fair state, showing our neighbors by example.
Our ideals have not changed.
The morning after the election, Mother Jones published a piece that included these words: “Old hatreds won the day, but they can and must be vanquished – don’t mourn, fight like hell.”
