To those who are scared about an Obama presidency the answer may be to give him the benefit of the doubt—According to an NBC poll 24% of the electorate feels scared about an Obama presidency. To you who are among those 24%, or to you looking for what to say to those who are scared, I suggest, give the president-elect a chance. We did not elect a savior, nor a Santa Claus, but a leader who will have to deal with the many serious problems before us. Many of you are Christian. Wouldn’t now be a time to practice the best of Christianity: tolerance, charity, understanding, patience? Give him the chance to surprise you. Despite the landslide, he knows there are those he has to convince. All this does not mean you, or I, will agree with everything he does, but even if we disagree we can hopefully see that his decisions will be, as they usually are for presidents, well intended. Give him credit for knowing what he doesn’t know, for looking for that knowledge in those who do. Give him the opportunity to prove himself, to test his mettle and his character. The presidency deserves our respect, no matter who holds the office. That ought to be so even when we are against the decisions of an administration, not because we are stuck for the duration of a presidential term, but because as Americans we believe in the freedom to disagree, and the power of the ballot box.
If I read this new president correctly, then treating him as we would like to be treated were we in a new and difficult spot may help us reap the reward of having given him the benefit of the doubt.
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