By Rabbi Rachel Esserman

Before the 2016 election, I wrote that there was a great deal of anger in our country and that whoever became president needed to find a way to heal our increasingly polarized nation. Unfortunately, that did not happen. In fact, that anger has festered and become worse over the years. Friendships and even marriages have dissolved because people are so divided about politics that they cannot agree to disagree. Nor, even more unfortunately, have many politicians been able to work together for the greater good of our country, because working with someone of the other party is now treated as treasonous. That should be deeply disturbing to anyone who loves our country and who loved democracy.

That is why I was horrified to read that Republican Ohio state Senator George Lang said at a recent rally that “if Republicans don’t win the 2024 election it could lead to a civil war to ‘save the country.’” Even more disturbing were the chants of “Fight! Fight! Fight!” I’m not sure he realized what he was really saying: He was calling for the death of United States citizens because they voted in a free election for a candidate he doesn’t like.

I want you to stop and think about what that means. I want you to think of your friends and family – your wife, husband, son, daughter, mother, father, brother, sister – being killed... no, being murdered because they voted for a legitimate political candidate. Note: they did not try to overthrow the government, they did not try to undermine the political system. They simply took a piece of paper and marked their candidate of choice as they are allowed to do by American law. They did nothing illegal; they did nothing treasonous. Yet, someone is calling for them to die.
You might think that I am overreacting and I would have agreed before the January 6, 2021, attack on the United States Capitol. That mob sought to hang the vice president of the United States because he was following the rule of law. They were ready to injure and/or murder members of Congress because the members of the mob disagreed with their political stances.

If you are not afraid of the horror of war reaching your doorstep, then you have no idea what war is really like. I don’t think I can say it loud enough: People die in wars. The economy and infrastructure of a country are destroyed in war. Famine and starvation can occur. It may take decades for a country to recover. This is not some joke about your football or baseball team fighting to win a championship. This is about innocent people dying.

Please, when looking at political rhetoric or when considering the fact that your candidate might lose the election, remember violence is never the answer. If you really love our country – if you think the United States is one of the greatest countries in the world – then you should not destroy the system of free elections that have made it so. No one should die because the candidate of their choice did not win the presidential election. That is not the American way.