When the Girl Scouts congratulated Amy Coney Barrett, the fifth woman to serve on the Supreme Court, in a tweet that also pictured the other four female justices (including the late Ruth Bader Ginsburg), Democratic Rep. Ayanna Pressley scolded the group, and angry Twitter mobs piled on until the Girl Scouts gave in and took down the tweet.
It was a sad moment. The most important message there isn’t about angry Twitter mobs or the Girl Scouts’ decline. It’s a story of our country’s growing intolerance of political disagreement.
I’m not saying this is a purely left-wing thing. In rural Pennsylvania, I saw obnoxious signs in recent days saying, “Make liberals cry again,” or “If you vote for Biden, you have blood on your hands.”
I have very strong opinions about voting for Biden. I believe Catholic teaching forbids it because of Biden’s extreme stances on abortion. Still, I would never attack my friends who vote for Biden as having blood on their hands.
I think the problem of political tolerance is worse on the Left. All over Twitter, including from online and real-life friends, I see the opinion that if you vote for President Trump, you’re a bad person. Over the summer, I got ratioed through the roof and was told that I was a horrible father by perfect strangers because I said I would not vote for Biden.
I need to plead with my liberal friends here: I agree that Trump is uniquely bad. He is what we raise our children not to be. But I promise you that millions of good people have good reasons to vote for Trump over Biden.
I could recount the views of my friends and family who are voting for Trump. I could tell you stories from my travels to Pennsylvania, Florida, Michigan, Iowa, and Wisconsin. That could turn into an endless back-and-forth about true motives, compassion, race, abortion, taxes, and so on.
So, instead, I’ll just say this: 60 million to 70 million people are voting for Donald Trump this year. This probably includes your cousins. It includes the people who fix your garage door, the people who grow your food, and the people who extract the natural resources that power or heat your home.
I may not be able to convince you that any of them are good people. But I can ask you this: Are you ready to believe a third or half of our population are bad people, unredeemable, deplorable? If you are, if you hold that there is no such thing as a good Trump voter, I’m sorry. I’m a Catholic. I try to follow what Jesus said, “Love thy neighbor.” No matter which sign they plant in their front yards.
