Dear President Trump,
Hope you are feeling good with all the work you accomplished during your first week. No matter what my friends say, your focus and ability to get things done is impressive! I also think your motivation for doing what you are doing is good too, you want to keep our country safe, bring back jobs and keep the danger away from our homeland.
Sir, while you’re trying to honour most of the promises you made during the campaign, you might be falling short on one big one. Didn’t you want to make America great again?
I am not sure how by limiting America’s role on the international forum, you will make America great. I am not sure how by restricting America’s generosity to those who are desperate for help, you will make America great. I am not sure how by violating International Humanitarian Law by allowing torture, you will make America great. I am not sure how by violating The Principle of Non-refoulement by turning refugees away, you will make America great. I am not sure how by ignoring the plight of women and children, you will make America great.
If any of these actions are backed by empirical evidence that they will keep Americans safe 100%, I am all for forgetting the promise of making America great. According to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, safety and security comes way before becoming great! Unfortunately, the more I read, talk to people on both sides, reflect on learnings I collected in the last 15 years of travelling in over 100 cities around the world, I am not sure if marginalising people based on religion, race or nationality increases national security. On the contrary, it makes things worse!
I am guessing you still want to make America great because you are a man who is known to make great things happen. According to the Oxford Dictionary, ‘Great’ is defined as ‘of an extent, amount, or intensity considerably above average’. So according to this dictionary, aren’t we supposed to go above average on the values that this country stands for. Oh, I am not talking about the liberal secular ‘stuff’. I am talking about our Christian values and the teachings of our Lord Jesus Christ. In Mathew chapter 5, verse 42, Jesus says, "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you". In Mark chapter 12, verses 30-31, He says, Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
I could go on and on about how Jesus teaches us to practice compassion and mercy. One of our Founding Fathers, Samuel Adams once said, "The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous flee to it and are safe (Proverbs 18:10). Let us secure His favor and He will lead us through the journey of this life and at length receive us to a better". Are you saying the teachings Jesus commanded us and the values our Founding Fathers gave us are no more the way to being great? If that is the case, please make it clear so that there is no confusion. Would you mind telling us what are the set of values you are using to make America great again or have you given up on that promise in your very first week?
Very respectfully,
Anjana Dayal de Prewitt
An American Citizen who wants to see America great!
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