Ever Hear the Parable of the Prodigal Voter?

[ProudLib72]

Neither have I. And the thing about the parable of the prodigal son was that it was his father who was glad to see him, not some stranger. Furthermore, the prodigal son returned of his own volition; his father did not go out searching for him. True, the prodigal son wasted his inheritance and had no other place to turn, but he was smart enough to realize his mistake when it bit him in the ass. These tRump voters are strangers to me. I owe them nothing lest they prove themselves. They can start by voting correctly in November. They can continue to vote correctly in 2020. Maybe after fifteen or twenty years of correct voting I will accept them. Only by demonstrating they have come to realize their own foolishness and make amends of their own accord may they be redeemed.

Thus endeth the exegesis that any goodly evangelical trumpanzee should be able to understand.

[Squinch]

1. Never really got that story. I'd have rewarded the loyal kid. But I take your point.

Lot's of those stories just made me scratch my head.

A voice in your head tells you kill your kid, so you're willing to do it? We call that Andrea Yates.

[ProudLib72]

2. Oh, I'm not touching the story of Isaac

Were you aware that according to Islam Abraham was going to sacrifice Ishmael, not Isaac? Makes sense because Ishmael was his first born son even though it was through Hagar.

[Squinch]

3. Either way, get that guy some thorazine!

[renegade000]

4. I've always puzzled over the prodigal son story...

Recently, I've come to see as not some grand moral fable, but rather instruction in how one builds up social groups/movements (something of relevance to early Christians). If you're trying to build a big tent of people, then you need to cut down on the stalwarts being obnoxious to newcomers and such.

And, you're right, I think it applies to politics as well. Trump voters do need to demonstrate sincere contrition, but we're also going to have to swallow our urge to vent our frustrations against the ones that do as well.

[FakeNoose]

5. Good points

... and I agree that they have to make the first move. Otherwise they get nothing from us.

[ProudLib72]

6. There have been a few stories about those who sincerely regret their decision posted on DU recently

I also think there is a spectrum of trump voters ranging from the confused first time voter to the diehard white nationalist. For instance, there was a story a couple days ago about a life long republican who voted for trump who has since changed her tune. I can understand someone like that, and I wouldn't be tempted to vent against such a person. However, there are a lot of trump voters on the right end of the spectrum who are not worth bothering with, and I think that a lot of them hide their racism/xenophobia underneath "economic" concerns. So these posts about reaching out to them miss the point. If we reach out to address those concerns, our plea falls on deaf ears because they still harbor racist/xenophobic tendencies.