FāVS News News and Commentary about Religion and Ethics in Eastern Washington and North Idaho
This Election, I Have No Empathy
By Luke Grayson
I try to have empathy for everyone I come across. I try to be kind to everyone. I try to see the best in everyone. But this election, it has been nearly impossible for me to be kind and understanding of everyone because my civil rights are yet again in question, because there are still people who will loudly protest my right to be treated as a person, because people support someone who has been loudly trying to erase our existence.
I simply can’t show empathy for someone who hates me without even knowing me or who has voted for someone who wishes to disregard me as a human.
I try to see other people’s points of view because it is important to see them as humans and it helps me to regain empathy for them. I try to understand where they come from and what they see every day, but this time I can’t. This election, I can’t.
I try to be kind and gracious of others no matter their view points, but there comes a time where kindness is impossible. There comes a time where it is simply not feasible. This is one of only a few times in my life where I have been against empathy. It is one of very few times where I wish the worst for someone.
While empathy is important in every day life, there comes a time where it is simply undeserved.
Luke Grayson-Skinner is a 20-something, disabled, queer and nonbinary trans person who has been in Spokane since 2012 and is an advocate for the LGBT and transgender communities, foster youth and those experiencing homelessness. Luke is also a slam (performance) poet and visual artist who experiments with acrylic paint, spray paint, graphite and other mediums, who created a spray paint mural at the Spokane County Fair in 2022. Luke doesn’t currently know quite what faith-base they “belong in,” but grew up in an Evangelical church that they left when they moved to Spokane and has attended an open and affirming UCC church off and on for the last 8 years. He will be relocating to Oklahoma next summer to be closer to his family. Luke uses they/them and he/him pronouns.
