Dear Mr. President,
Good day to you. Although I was not one of those in the electorate who voted for you over a year ago I congratulate you on your victory nonetheless. I do so not with a great sense of enthusiasm for your policies – or for the lack thereof – but in celebration of the democratic process, which I have long held dear. Unlike you, when you had lost the election prior to your current term of office, I never felt cheated when the candidate who I had voted for had lost. Again, I take this time to congratulate you.
Sir, I must say that I was very surprised by your victory in November of 2024, especially given the amount and the severity of the legal troubles that you were mired in, and by the crimes that our courts actually found you guilty of, in most, but not in all instances. I applaud your courage and your fortitude through it all, as I did not envy your situation. The many sleepless nights I would have had; the loss of appetite; the weight loss; the mental strain. How did you do it, Mr. President? You are, indeed, a marvel.
You must show me the ropes, sir, as to how you and some other public officials, within the federal government, were able to access jobs with serious blotches on your records. I know of people who were not able to do the same. Some who did, lost their positions that were federally funded. Their misdeeds, in some instances, were merely misdemeanours – nothing near the gravity of the things which the courts placed on your record.
Unlike so many others I am not going to revisit the January 6th debacle, which occurred at the Capitol Building at the end of your first term in office. Some stated that it was a peaceful tourist event, which, perhaps it was, as many of your supporters in the electorate and within Congress have asserted. What I am confused about was why the rest of the world thought otherwise? Mr. President, there were so many international newspapers which reported it as an insurrection – the majority of them being allies of this country. A woman was shot and killed, while breaking and entering the building, and police personnel were killed and injured. But the people who voted you back into office seemed to have agreed that it is not worthy of our concern. And so, I will move on and not linger on that issue. America will have to learn to get over it.
Mr. President, perhaps nobody in my family applauded your victory, with its promises of increased prosperity and safety, more than my elderly father. The irony is that he is not even a U.S. citizen living in the country. As he laid in bed he watched your inauguration, and listened to your recorded speeches over, and over, and over again – smitten by your charisma. I have another relative who has the same immigration status as my father who also applauded your political triumph in anticipation of the moral and religious changes that you had promised to make.
You were seen as being good for my sibling and myself, who are naturalized citizens. And so, that having been said, why are my family and I still struggling to make ends meet, and why do we feel less secure today than we did before you took office? Again, my elderly father has grown quiet, and has expressed his concerns for our safety on this side of the ocean.
Mr. President, I am a Christian, as I was informed that you were by many of your surrogates, some of whom are pastors. And so, therefore, like you, I believe that Jesus is the Messiah. Like you, I believe in repentance for sins and living a life of purity. Like you I believe in all of the fruit of the Spirit like love, joy, peace, patience (or forbearance) and self-control – qualities which reflect God’s character. Like you, I believe the following words which were penned by the writer of the book of Proverbs, words that you and I try to live by: “These six things doth the Lord hate: yea, seven are an abomination unto Him:A proud look, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood,A heart that deviseth wicked imaginations, feet that be swift in running to mischief,A false witness that speaketh lies, and he that soweth discord among brethren.” And so, why do I not feel safe after you had publicly promised to protect the Church, with Christians never needing to vote again, despite the fact that voting is enshrined in our Constitution? I am confused. I want to be honest and share a position that you might disagree with, as I did not hear the same promise being made to citizens who are adherents of other religions.
If I as a Christian, the same as you are according to your surrogates, am declared to be free by my government, but not the Hindus, but not the Muslims, nor any of those of other religions, even those in religions which hold tenets which I strongly oppose on theological and moral grounds, then how can I, in good conscience, enjoy such freedom and be made to feel that it is safe and that it is, indeed, secure? I have been a Christian for a very long time, yet that was not always the case. Since I was left free to pursue the truth, elsewhere, without fear and without favour, before I finally came to the knowledge of Christ, who am I now to support the suppression and the denigration of conscience in those who are my neighbours?
Jesus’ definition of my neighbour in His well known parable of, The Good Samaritan, included people who do not think, nor believe, nor lead lives the way that I do. The parable, in no way, inferred the compromise of one’s principles, but of leaving the door open for dialogue through an acknowledgement of our shared humanity, which is evident by our acts of kindness to others. The Lord, Himself, showed mercy to an adulteress, and also to a tax official who had embezzled a lot of money from the public. But He exercised His open door policy by showing mercy, after having held them accountable for their actions.
And so, if my neighbours are not free, those who do not think as I do, those who do not believe as I do, and those who do not live as I do – according to man made laws – then neither am I truly free. If they are not free then neither is the Gospel by which I now live, which I found after much soul searching. Belief inspired under duress is not one of freedom of heart and, hence, not real and not lasting. I am free in my spirit, but in my flesh, I am not free, and I will not be truly free until my neighbour is allowed to enjoy the very same freedom and respect that I am said to have. Do you see what I am getting at Mr. President? Some of our founders were not all Christians. In fact, not all of the early colonists were Puritans, fleeing religious persecution in Europe. Many did not even believe in God at all and came to make money as many are still doing today. But, do not take my word for it. Go into your library and pull one of the many books on early American history and check it for yourself. Do not take my word for it.
Currently, I am on a hiatus from reading American history, sociology and U.S. law, especially as the latter has to do with the Constitution. What am I to think when the U.S. Supreme Court makes rulings which defy the clear reading of the Constitution? What must I think when law enforcement wear masks without identifying themselves? I can understand the masks which the Lone Ranger, Batman and Robin, and the Green Hornet and his sidekick, Kato, wore back in the day, but why the masks today? Why no due process of law? Why no Miranda Rights, and why no habeas corpus? Why enforce the law by breaking the law? And, speaking about one’s Miranda Rights, it was named after a citizen of Hispanic heritage.
Ernesto Miranda was an American labourer whose 1963 arrest for kidnapping and rape led to the landmark Supreme Court case Miranda v. Arizona, establishing that suspects must be read their constitutional rights before custodial interrogation, including the right to remain silent and the right to an attorney, to ensure confessions are voluntary. Though his conviction was overturned due to the lack of these warnings during his interrogation, he was later retried and convicted, serving time in prison before being fatally stabbed in a bar fight in 1976. The process was working, and it still works if you and your Administration would only give it a chance.
Mr. President, I have been reliably informed that you are a man of action, and that as a consequence of that you often do not have time to read. A long missive such as this, therefore, could end up in your rubbish bin, so I will not take much more of your precious time. But, I am going to remind you of requests which I had made, publicly, of you and of the other presidential candidate, prior to the election of 2024, in another missive of mine. Did you get a chance to read it? It was penned in the vein of a request for gifts at Christmas and it reads as follows:
“In this election I want both presidential candidates to assure me, regardless of whether I will get some or most of the other things that I want out of this election cycle or not, that I will have the freedom to vote again in four years’ time, and every four years after that. Will I always have a voice in the affairs of this country — how it will be run? I pay my taxes, and I do my best daily to obey the laws of the land. I also want this right for all people, of all races, male and female, for rich and poor alike — whether they are Democrats, Republicans or Independents.
I want both presidential candidates to assure me, regardless of whether I will get some or most of the other things that I want out of this election cycle or not, that the U.S. Constitution, and every detail contained within it, will continue to be treated as the supreme law of the land, with its principles revered by all.”
Mr. President, as I close, I want to mention concerns that I now have about your health. You say that you are quite well and in better shape than your predecessors. As you are a Christian, according to your surrogates, I should never question your word. But, you do not look good at all, and it has been and continues to be the talk in society. Nevertheless, I am, like every Christian, commanded to pray for our leaders – for all who are in authority. And so, as you are my leader, although I was among about a half of the country who did not vote for you, I pray for you now. God, let your will be done with respect to the President’s health. Let your will be done with respect to his safety and that of his family. Let your will be done in his Administration, as it has been envisioned in heaven. Let your will be done unto him as he has and continues to do unto others. In the name of your precious Son I pray. Amen.
Signed,
A fellow citizen.
