Boredom Backfires
1318 Words – Approximate Reading time 5 minutes
I was bored and scanning through my Facebook page when I came across this post.
HOW I FEEL ABOUT TRUMP:
You’ve been on vacation for two weeks, you come home, and your basement is infested with raccoons.. Hundreds of rabid, messy, mean raccoons have overtaken your basement.. You want them gone immediately!.. You call the city and 4 different exterminators, but nobody can handle the job.. But there is this one guy, and he guarantees to get rid of them, so you hire him.. You don’t care if the guy smells, you don’t care if the guy swears, you don’t care if he’s an alcoholic, you don’t care how many times he’s been married, you don’t care if he has a plumber’s crack, you simply want those raccoons gone!.. You want your problem fixed!.. He’s the guy.. He’s the best!
Here’s why we want Trump: Yes, he’s a bit of a jerk; Yes, he’s an egomaniac; but we don’t care!.. The country is a mess because politicians suck, the Republicans and Democrats can be two-faced and gutless, and illegals are everywhere.. We want it all fixed!.. We don’t care that Trump is crude, we don’t care that he insults people, we don’t care that he has changed positions, we don’t care that he’s been married 3 times, we don’t care that he fights with Megyn Kelly and Rosie O’Donnell, we don’t care that he doesn’t know the name of some Muslim terrorist.. This country became weak and bankrupt, our enemies were making fun of us, we are being invaded by illegals, we are becoming a nation of victims where every Tom, Ricardo, and Hasid is a special group with special rights to a point where we don’t even recognize the country we were born and raised in; “AND WE JUST WANT IT FIXED”.. And Trump is the only guy who seems to understand what the people want..
We’re sick of politicians, sick of the Democratic Party, sick of the Republican Party, and sick of illegals!.. We just want this thing fixed.. Trump may not be a Saint, but we didn’t vote for a Pope.. We voted for a man who doesn’t have lobbyist money holding him back, a man who doesn’t have political correctness restraining him.. We all know that he has been very successful, he’s a good negotiator, he has built a lot of things, and he’s also NOT a politician, NOT a cowardly politician.!.. And he says he’ll fix it.. And we believe him because he is too much of an egotist to be proven wrong, or looked at and called a liar.. Also, we don’t care if the guy has bad hair.. We just want those raccoons gone, out of our house, NOW!!!
You are welcome to copy/paste/share this.. Thousands of people who haven’t voted in 25 years seem to be getting involved.. And the more people get this message, the more that will understand why Trump was elected..The raccoons have got to go!!!
Needless to say, my boredom was over. Now, I was sad and even a little mad. My heart was even more troubled by the “likes,” “thumbs up,” and “smiley” emojis being tallied at the bottom of the post. At first I thought about responding with a quick shoot-from-the-hip public post, but something didn’t feel right about emotionally vomiting and letting everyone read it.
I know the person who posted this. I consider him to be more than an acquaintance. He is a person I respect in my community (and BTW…I still respect him). A quick, emotional response is not what was needed. I took a day to pray and think. Below is the private response I sent through Instant Message.
I recently read your post “How I Feel About Trump.” I wanted to share my thoughts with you discreetly that is why I am messaging you my ideas instead of posting them publicly. I do not want to inadvertently offend or embarrass you. I have no desire to be engaged in a social media dispute…especially with someone I respect and admire.
I like parts of the analogy. It communicates the angst I feel about politics in America. However, even though you have titled this post “How I Feel About Trump,” the analogy also reveals how you feel about immigrants. It is this I would like to speak about.
The analogy compares immigrants to raccoons. Raccoons are nasty animals that no one would want living in their home. Immigrants are people. Before I go any further let me clearly state: I am against illegal immigration and I am for protected borders. I am seeking ways to respect the law and show compassion.
Because immigrants are people and not animals there are some things I would like to suggest. First, people are made in the image of God. Therefore, how we treat them is extremely important. One day we will all stand before our Creator. He is going to hold us accountable for how we treated people–not animals. People are a priority to Him because people are made in His image. How we treat each other is a representation of how we treat Him. I’ve been around you enough to know the analogy does not clearly represent how you feel about people. You are a civil servant. For years you have helped people without knowing their status as a citizen. When you respond to a crisis and see someone in need of help, you see a person not an animal.
Because immigrants are people, it means they have a soul, which means they will live forever. Eternity is not going to be a place just for Americans. Heaven will be a place filled with all races. That means, the very people we mistreat here might be our neighbor there. We will have eternity to realize God values all people equally. Life on earth is practice for life in eternity. To leave this truth out of immigration policies puts us on a path of hatred for others.
Last, not every immigrant is an illegal. There are actually three types of foreigners among us: refugees, immigrants and undocumented immigrants. The raccoons in the analogy are referring to undocumented immigrants, but refugees and immigrants look just like an undocumented person. How can we possible know when we see a foreigner if they are here legally or not? You know I adopted two boys from Colombia. One of them has a strong Spanish accent. He will always have this accent and it will always make him stand out.
I know the raccoons in the analogy do not represent adopted children from foreign countries, but foreign-born children will always look and/or sound like an immigrant. If our discussion of immigration does not take into consideration the different types of foreigners among us, then we lump all foreigners together as raccoons that need to be removed. I truly believe this is not what you were trying to communicate in the analogy, but that is part of the problem with comparing immigrants to raccoons. It devalues all immigrants and suggests that they should all be removed.
I hope you don’t think I am preaching at you. I do not mean to come across that way. Immigration and our response to immigrants are truly important—eternally important. Let me say again: I am against illegal immigration and I am for a protected border. I’m just against devaluing and dehumanizing immigrants.
The analogy does not cause me to have disrespect or anger towards you. I just disagree with its underlying premise and wanted to communicate that. I truly appreciate the way you serve our community. If I have offended you, please forgive me. It was not my intention.
I would be glad to have coffee with you or buy you lunch one day. Let me know if that interests you.
3hats1life.com 
It is unfortunate that over the last 40+ years, life has less meaning in society The devaluation of those same lives are expressed in how we react when lives are lost. How can anyone who has no conscience about abortion feel compassion or empathy for older adults or children? We truly cannot put all immigrants,refugees, into one group and label then the same. There is clearly defined reasoning and definition for them. One heart attitude then cannot be used to divide them either.
If any of us were in the exact same circumstances, we would hope for some help working through the maze.
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