Patrick O’Neill: Election aftermath: fear

On “the day after” there is much lamentation over the election of Donald Trump. What began as a joke to many Americans is now an unsettling reality.

My friend who runs a Latino textile co-op in western North Carolina is trying to comfort and assure her workers that they and their family members will not be rounded up and deported.

My daughter, a campus minister in an Atlanta Catholic high school that is comprised almost entirely of non-white students, sent me a text: “My students are having a really tough time today. Their fear is palpable.”

My brother-in-law, a Wake County physician, wrote to me: “I’m in shock. No more Obamacare? No NATO? Nuclear war on a whim?”

White America has spoken, and Trump is their man.

Much of his platform, if put in place, will have a very deleterious impact on those Jesus calls, “The least of these.”

I challenge Republicans, most of whom count themselves as Christians, to follow the dictates of Matthew 25: Feed the hungry. Give drink to the thirsty. Clothe the naked. Welcome the stranger. Care for the sick. Visit the prisoner. And Love your enemies.

Failure to do so is moral bankruptcy.

This story was originally published November 12, 2016 at 6:00 PM with the headline "Patrick O’Neill: Election aftermath: fear."