The nation has spoken. That is how it is supposed to happen: We go to the polls and vote for who to guide the country's direction for the next four years. Some of us are happy with the results and some of us are sad with the results. This election, more than any other, has polarized the nation. We are a divided nation, and this election has made it so we will remain divided. I don't know if I will live long enough to see a united nation. Maybe I am just ignorant and we have been this divided all along because what I am witnessing now shows how little we have come since the 1950s. 

I remember the racism from the '60s and the struggles we, as a nation, tried to overcome that hatred which is racism and bigotry. Many things have changed since then but many things have remained the same. The one thing that has remained the same is that we still have a race that believes it is superior to all of the others. When much of America talks about American Exceptionalism what many believe is actually American White Exceptionalism. The problem with that thinking is that we will always be a divided nation. You see since the founding of Jamestown we have been a diverse nation because there were people here before us, the native Americans. We became even more diverse after the first slaves were brought to our shores in 1619. Diversity has always been part of what America has been and will be. Trying to wipe the word diversity from the English Language will never be able to change that fact. 

I have stated before there are people I will never be able to look at the same ever again. The real problem with this has always been me. I have always been able to forgive my friends and family for their bad and racist behavior because they were just that, friends and family, people that I have known most of my life. I think most of us will tolerate more from friends and family than we would a stranger. Many of us have been more afraid of being alone so we have made up excuses justifying our friends and family's bad behavior. Fear of being excluded and worse being alone are powerful emotions. I know people with Developmentally Disabled children and grandchildren and I will never understand why they would vote for a Republican. I don't mean because of Trump mocking the handicapped reporter, which by the way was a disgusting display by a future President. It is because Developmentally Disabled individuals are so dependent on the very inclusion policies the Republicans would do away with. I fear the support both socially and financially will be eroded away. Past generations have tried to just hide away the Developmentally Disabled and I can see that happening again. 

Religion has played a huge part in this election. Now, I am not a religious individual but I have always been grateful for the fact that I grew up in a religious household that was forced to attend Sunday School and Confirmation classes. Much of that schooling I had has stayed with me all my life and still shapes much of my thinking. My idea of right and wrong came from my home and the Church. About a month ago I went back and read Jesus's Sermon on the Mount which is in the book of Matthew. After reading that again I came to the conclusion that I really don't know that many real Christians. They may say they are Christians. They may pray like they are Christians. They may even assist with communion but they have turned their backs on what Jesus left behind and, that are his words. I know that I am not supposed to judge but I can read and I can hear. There is nothing about hate in that Sermon. What I have read does not go well with what I hear almost every day. When I google Jesus and immigration I see nothing that resembles what many of today's Christians want to happen. There is no reference that immigrants should go back where they came from. There is no reference to a bloody round-up of illegal and legal immigrants by the military so they can be put in camps and deported. There is a commandment to help and embrace that immigrants which today definitely is not being followed. I do know that Jesus and his Family had to seek asylum in Egypt when Herrod wanted to kill all the firstborn children. It is almost like this country is going to do exactly the opposite of what the Bible would want us to do. Maybe that is why I walked away from the church. 

I do have many fears for the future that is the discrimination and persecution of people that are different. By that, I mean the Gay and Trans community. There has been much talk of violence toward both communities that I fear for some of the people that I know and some of the people that I am related to. The attack ads toward the Trans community during the election were really scary. Those attacks don't come from the Democratic Party they come from the Republican Party and the Church. I know one thing. I know I will never be harmed in any way by a Gay or a Trans individual and how they live their lives doesn't harm me one bit. Those who think that it is their moral obligation to be outraged by the Gay and the Trans community better go back and read that Sermon on the Mount in the Book of Matthew again like I did.  

Biden has called Trump and congratulated him and, vowed his cooperation to a peaceful transfer of power. That is something that wasn't done in 2020. Throughout the 4 years with Biden, he has shown real strength that you will never see from Trump. You see folks, after everything Biden still puts the People, the Country, and the Constitution above himself.