It is in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and all who have stood and continue to stand for the rights of others in fulfillment of our great American ideals that I send this letter.
Dear Mr. President-elect,
This is the first time I have written to a US President or President-elect. But, these are critical times. I am an interfaith minister serving a church in southern New Hampshire and have traditionally held strong liberal progressive views. But, my purpose here is not to further galvanize the political divide. To the contrary, I offer my hand across the great abyss dividing this country in hopes that, in doing so, we can begin to address the great challenge of our time: to affirm that beyond political, social and religious beliefs, we are, first and foremost, one America. I see this challenge etched in the very faces of our people, those diverse faces, strong, and committed to weaving together the multi-faceted strands that make us a democracy where there is truly liberty and justice for all.
Mr. Trump, you have been called to leadership at this critical time, as you have said, to “Make America great again.” Problem is from the raw grit of our great diversity arises differing visions of just what it means to be great. Those on the liberal left would say what is needed is a moral revolution in response to what has been called your egregious rhetoric and potentially dangerous policies threatening to roll back hard-won social progress here at home as well as advancements in multi-lateral climate change initiatives world-wide. While, in truth, I have felt the same, it may surprise you to hear that this is not what I would propagate at this time. Why? Because those on the conservative right, many of whom voted for you, would say the same – that what is needed is a moral revolution in response to damaging economic policies that have left so many behind, an elitist, unresponsive and ineffectual Washington bureaucracy, and a social agenda antithetical to biblical tradition. No, it is not helpful for either side to claim the moral authority to assert their vision of the truth fits all. Indeed, this is exactly what is creating the growing divide among us.
Instead of a moral ‘revolution,’ I believe what is needed is an ‘evolution’ of our national consciousness capable of raising us all up together. This requires a modern-day revival of the “All men are created equal” to include all the faces of our great America. Indeed, it challenges each of us to see the face of the laid off steel worker whose family has struggled so much, the disabled child who lives with Autism, the mother who lost her daughter to a drug overdose and yearns for greater border control, the Muslim who prays for peace, the policeman who risks his life every day for our safety, the African American who lives in constant fear of unchecked racism, the Christian who devoutly seeks to live out Christ’s Commandments, the gay man who searches for the courage to marry the one he loves, the waitress who cannot rise above her subsistence wage, the young girl who struggles to have her dreams as valued as her brother’s, the hard working immigrant who agonizes daily over possible deportation and separation from his children.
These are not political, social or religious ideologies. These are the very real faces of our brothers and sisters who have chosen, with us, to live in this great democracy where, together, we affirm all peoples are endowed by our great Creator “with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” All peoples.
Mr. Trump, I pray you will accept this hand extended to you so that, together, we may work to create one America, one that celebrates and unites our many diverse faces. Indeed, as the one called to leadership at this critical time, I believe it is your charge and duty to do so. For it is only in this way that your hope, indeed the hope of all of us, can be realized: to, truly, make America great again.
Yours in Faith,
Rev. Stephanie Rutt
