Post #19: Hate is the Worst Answer to Any Question 🕯️

Please vote tomorrow, then recommit yourself to love.

This is a watercolor painting I made based on a piece of art by my one of my favorite artists, Rick Allen of Kenspeckle Letterpress.

Hello again, Friends!

So here we are, just over 24 hours until the polls close. It's still hard to believe the election is already tomorrow. I just wanted to send one more reminder to VOTE. This election is critical — it is simply not time to stay home.

Like many of you, I have been grappling with big emotions this week, and I’ve been struggling to think of anything new I could add to the conversation. But this one thought keeps whispering to me from the back of my brain, so I'll share it with you in case it is helpful.

And it's this: Hate is the worst answer to any question.

I truly feel that Trump is putting out nothing but hate with his rhetoric. Hate for immigrants, hate for trans people, hate for disabled people. Just hate.

No one with love at the forefront of their mind would spew out the kind of dehumanizing vitriol that you hear in his interviews and at his rallies.

Even if someone was a fiscal conservative or concerned about inflation, I just don't think it’s possible for them to argue that Trump’s economic policies are worth the cost of electing him, a man who is literally calling people "animals" — not once, not twice — but doubling down… That’s just not the language of respectable, humane leadership.

Now, I know some of you have already voted. And ultimately you must decide who to vote for on your own. But if you are somehow undecided, please know that every time Trump uses hateful and violent rhetoric, he is giving the green light for others to do the same. If he gets elected, it will make the world less safe for disabled people, people of color, gay and trans people, women, and anyone else he doesn't value as "powerful".

There is so much pain and trauma and literal violence that can be avoided if we listen to our gut tomorrow and choose to elect Kamala Harris instead of Donald Trump. If you have any doubts about Trump but feel you must vote for him because of abortion, please reconsider. The lives of millions of disabled Americans who rely on Medicaid will be in jeopardy if he wins. If you hate the war (genocide) in Gaza (and rightly so), please take a few minutes to seriously ask yourself if you think Trump will handle this awful situation with any integrity or forethought or compassion. I know the situation completely sucks, but at this point (in a two party system) your choice is between the lesser of the two evils. And Trump will only make us less stable and safe worldwide.

Activism happens all year round, but election day is that one moment where your sacred vote tips the scales one way or another. Please let it tip away from extremism.

Recently, I was doing my morning devotionals and the story of the "adulterous woman" was the recommended reading.

Something new leapt out at me when I read it, and it made me weep:

Now the scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in the act of adultery, and after placing her in the center of the courtyard, they said to Him:

“Teacher, this woman has been caught in the very act of committing adultery. Now in the Law, Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” 

Now they were saying this to test Him.

But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. 

When they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” 

And again He stooped down and wrote on the ground.  

Now when they heard this, they began leaving, one by one, beginning with the older ones, and [eventually] He was left alone, and the woman where she was, in the center of the courtyard. 

And straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?”  She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.”

John 8:3-11 (NASB)

You know what jumped out at me? When Jesus said: He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her — he didn't stand there with his arms folded, staring them down until they started to cave. He stooped down and started scribbling nonsense into the ground. He gave them space and privacy to make up their minds.

And one by one, starting with the oldest ones who had been around the proverbial block already, they had to admit to themselves that — just like that woman — they, too, had made mistakes. They had done things of which they were ashamed. And they found it in their hearts to turn away from hate.

They put down their stones.  

If you haven't voted yet and you're on the fence, remember, you still have time to put down your stone. America doesn't have to run head-first into hate and violence and insurrections and intimidation and dehumanizing language.

Only after everyone had left, did Jesus look up.

“Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on do not sin any longer.”

It can be the same with you tomorrow.

Between just you and your Creator, you can decide to put down your stone. I believe that God / the Creator / the Universe understands temptation. How easy it is to get caught up in righteous or unrighteous anger and to work yourself up so much that you don't even care who you hurt.

But you don't have to follow through with it. You can always make a choice to change course, to start again. And your Creator will say, "I do not condemn you either. Go. From now on, sin no more."

No matter what happens tomorrow, let's try to remember that hate is the worst answer to any question. We may feel like throwing stones or burning it all to the ground, but that’s not the path of love. That will never lead to peace. In a 1967 sermon on Loving Your Enemies, Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Now MLK Jr. was no softie. He wanted change, and he wanted economic reform and he understood the anger and frustration of his people, because he shared it with them. But he also knew the ultimate truth, that the only real choice is love. Please vote your conscience tomorrow, then commit to choosing love. Again and again, whenever you are tempted, just put down your stone.

Love,
Gaelynn Lea

P.S. If you are feeling down, anxious, alone, please reach out to someone who can help — a friend, a family member, a counselor, a Mental Health Hotline (988), or even an AA meeting! Just don’t bottle it up. Cry, run, dance, journal, do something productive and safe and healthy to get your emotions out of you. And please read this beautiful essay by Andrea Gibson — it recently restored my faith in the universe. And know that I am sending you a big hug! We can get through this. We can choose love.