Understanding their POV

I was apprehensive at first. I was going to visit relatives in the US who are current admin supporters. I wanted to tell them that we will avoid discussing politics as I hold more liberal views.

However I decided that avoidance is not the solution here. Intelligent objective discourse should be the way to go. For my part I resolved to try to understand where they were coming from in supporting the current administration.

Yesterday I had the chance to hear them talk about it.

Here is my understanding of where they are coming from:

- The US constitution is founded on Judaeo-Christian values. The rights enshrined are God-given and that ‘God’ is a Judaeo-Christian God.
From such a background the values of liberty and democracy arise.

- They see the ascent of the US to ‘greatness’ because of the strict enforcement of those values. They remember the discipline needed to achieve in life. They remember learning the value of hard work as foundational to success.

- They see the current state of the country as morally decaying - violence and crime, corruption. These are the result of the way the the previous administrations have ‘given in’ or accommodated to demands of plurality of faiths and cultures alienating the basic Judaeo-Christian values.

- They are not against immigrants per se. But they believe that US constitution (and the values it is based on) should not be bent and relaxed to accommodate immigrants. (They brought in the pluralistic society the US has today.)

- On the contrary, immigrants should ‘abide’ by these values if they want to come to the US and be citizens. They should respect these Judaeo-Christian values as sacred to the country they wish to adopt as their own. These include hard work and discipline. No dole-outs. You earn your keep just like everyone else.

- Because immigration systems are not based on these but on ‘liberal’ views, there is the influx of immigrants that do not contribute. Worse, they expect welfare and support. They have burdened the economy.

- They want ‘better quality’ immigrants who abide by the values enshrined in the constitution and will work and contribute to society. (They do not necessarily blame the immigrants for the crime and violence rampant in US society.)

I felt it best to just understand and not argue at this point. I have to admit that there is a logic to their thinking. And that is what I came here for.


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