I borrowed this graph from the BBC. Exit polls showed that the 25% of the US citizenry that identifies as White Evangelical Christians voted roughly 3::1 for Palin as V.P.
Folks in the LGBT, body-modified, other-than Evangelical faith, or otherwise new-mainstream communities, I have a message for you:
Minister to these lost souls.
Many of them are terrified of you. They don't know that you are their children's teachers, that you are the police officer who pulled them over for running that red light, or that you took their order last night at the restaurant. Okay, perhaps they knew their server was... different from them. But the rest of the New Mainstream hides in plain sight.
I wonder how many Evangelical Californians turned up to vote? Are Palin supporters also people who would vote for inequality under the law? Would they ban same-sex marriage? I would think so. Perhaps California Palin supporters provided enough of a tip to defeat Prop 8.
New Mainstream, we're familiar with the failure of bullying someone into our viewpoint. It didn't work on us, did it? So now take a page from what we know how to do, and lovingly use your powers of non-violent communication to speak with the New Disenfranchised. Hear their concerns. Whatever your connection to the ineffable says to do, whether it's pray, bless, hold, or witness, help them explore their discomfort and release their fears.
Believe it or don't, we need them and their opinions in order to continue to build this great nation. Don't be afraid of them any longer. Get out there and make them your friends. Show them how majority rule doesn't mean squashing the other people's hopes and dreams.
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