‘I think it definitely has put a bad narrative on Christianity.’

Ana Cosme, 19, is a freshman majoring in Psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. As a member of the Ho-Chunk Nation, she has witnessed the rise of racism in the aftermath of the new Trump inauguration. She reflects on her family and her faith during this new political era.

What would you say your reaction to the new Trump inauguration has been so far?

Ana Cosme: I think I have a lot of mixed opinions on it, obviously. I have been very conflicted. He has a good economic policy, but the morals aren’t there, which I think is a staple in a presidency. But he’s our president now.

Were you shocked by the election results?

Cosme: I thought Kamala was going to win. And then, when the actual election was happening, watching all the polls and seeing Trump win by…

A sizable margin?

Cosme: Yeah. I was surprised because I guess I was on the side of social media where everyone was “Go Kamala!” and not seeing the other side.

Are you disappointed by what has been happening politically recently? With all of the upheaval, is there any legislation or retraction in former policies that personally is going to affect you?

Cosme: I mean, he is doing everything that he said he was going to do, so I’m not really surprised by anything.

I am Native American, so seeing on the news how we might be affected is scary.

With you being indigenous, do you see your community, family members, friends being affected by this? How would you think Trump and his inauguration is specifically impacting you?

Cosme: I haven’t seen anything so far. It’s just the benefits of being Native American are starting to get jeopardized. Because Native Americans are not the richest, that’s why they have all these benefits, reservations, free healthcare, and stuff like that. With Trump being president, that might come into play later, especially with taxes and everything being upped.

Being Native American, we have these things called a per cap. You get money from the government. I’m Ho-Chunk. I get it from the Native American Ho-Chunk community.

I think a lot of people depend on those, with monthly checks and paying their bills. With taxes, they might have more trouble paying for things.

Do you think there has been a shift compared to the first Trump term to the second presidency? Has anything felt different to you?

Cosme: I think especially Trump voters have gotten a lot more…I wouldn’t even call them Republicans. They’re just Trump supporters.

They are very far-right.

Cosme: Yeah. I think that’s been the only thing that I’ve noticed, just regarding Trump and people normalizing being racist now than when he was president before.

There was more of a backlash back then and now it has become more mainstream.

Cosme: Yes.

Do you think you could ever be personally friends with a Trump supporter or have people like that in your life?

Cosme: Oh, one hundred percent.

What is the thought process behind that?

Cosme: I think if you would not be friends with somebody who’s a Trump supporter, you are letting politics run your life. I’m also Christian, so I believe in not judging somebody off just one thing.

If you go down that road of conversation, it can get pretty heated. Who they voted for doesn’t really define who they are. Because I do have friends who did vote for Trump, and they’ll be like, “The only thing that I believe in is his economic policy.”

I wouldn’t want somebody to not be friends with me because I voted for Kamala. So why would I not be friends with somebody who voted for Trump? Even if I don’t agree with them, I think it’s okay to still be cordial.

I think that’s where being able to discuss politics went wrong because people are so quick to be like, “Oh, you voted for Trump, you’re this type of person, you’re this and this.” And a Trump supporter would be like, “Oh, you voted for Kamala, you’re this and this.”

When in reality, it’s not something you should let drive in between a friendship. Especially, if you were already friends with them before Trump, before Kamala.

If I met somebody that was like, “Yeah, I voted for Trump because I want to get all these illegals out of here,” then I’d be like, “We can’t be friends.” That’s a whole other thing.

So how do you feel about these people, where the most important political issues they are placing at the forefront are economics and financials, before seemingly the lives of others?

Cosme: I don’t understand it at all. My brother and I ended up getting into a conversation because I didn’t know he voted for Trump. I was like, “Why?” He brought up the economic stuff, and I was like, “Is that all that matters to you?” He was like, “Well, they’re gonna drill holes in Alaska and make new oil, places we can get money from.” And I’m like, “But what is money worth if there’s nowhere to spend it?”

If you’re drilling holes everywhere, what’s the point in that? We’re all going to be living like the movie Wall-E. We’re all going to be on another planet because we drilled all these holes to make money.

And it is destroying our planet. 

Cosme: Exactly. So what’s the point in all of that if there’s no Earth, no America in the first place. It just doesn’t make any sense to me. 

Then he kept bringing up, “Well, the economy is going to be great.” And I’m like, “What about your own people? They’re literally taking our people’s lands and going to make money off of it?”

The whole time, I was like, “I just don’t understand you.” And that’s my main thing. Before I knew he had voted for Trump, I didn’t think differently of him. After I knew, I was like, “I don’t understand you, but you are the same person you were before. So I’m not going to treat you differently.” But in the back of my head, I don’t understand it, and that’s okay.

I also brought up to him…because he has a son, so he’s my nephew. I was like, “How would you feel if when he is 16 or 17, he doesn’t know what Alaska looked like before? Imagine Alaska turns into this entire green land.” He was like, “Oh, Alaska used to be icy and cold.” What are you talking about? That’s crazy to think about. And how would you want your kid to grow up in that environment of, “Back in our day, Alaska used to be this and that. Or like people used to have this and that but we don’t anymore. It was good back then but you will never get to experience it.”

He kept bringing up that our economics are going to be so good, and I’m just like, “Is that really all you care about?” That amazes me. It confuses me. I know he cares about other people, so it’s not…

A lack of empathy?

Cosme: Yeah. Even from a Christian standpoint, I’ve seen a lot of people be, “Well I’m Christian, so I believe what Trump’s doing.” I’m like, “Have you opened the Bible? Have you actually read anything that’s in it?” Because this isn’t what’s said at all in the Bible.

I do think abortion isn’t, but I don’t think you should take that and completely exploit it and turn it into this big issue because it’s not really a huge thing in the Bible at all.

One of the biggest things in the Bible is immigration because Jesus was an immigrant. He says to open your doors to immigrants and not shut them out. That’s exactly what Trump’s doing.

It confuses me when the Christian community is like, “I voted for Trump because I believe in God.” The man literally made up his own Bible. What are you talking about?

How do you feel about these far right, conservative Christians who support Trump, that manipulate and wield the Bible for their own purposes, instead of following what is stated within the book? How do you feel like that has affected your own personal relationship with faith? Has it made it more complicated?

Cosme: I don’t think it has just because I know who God is. And I know who Jesus is. And when I see those kinds of things, I’m like, “Bless your heart because you’re so far from it, and I hope you get closer to it so you realize these things.”

I don’t think it’s affected my faith at all. I think it definitely has put a bad narrative on Christianity to other people because they’re like, “I can’t be Christian because I don’t believe in not being able to have abortions or stopping immigration.” I think that upsets me the most out of everything.

I’m still pretty strong in my faith because I see it for what it is. That’s not actually what religion is.

Has it made navigating religious communities more difficult?

Cosme: I would say so because a lot of Christians are like, “So if you believe in God, you voted for Trump,” and I’m like, “No, I didn’t.”

They are like, “Abortion is against the Bible.” So is rape. So is sexualizing women. Trump goes against so many things in the Bible. Yeah, abortion is against the Bible, but one of the most unforgivable sins is blasphemy. By Trump making his own Bible, initially making himself God, that’s blasphemous. I don’t understand how you don’t see that.

So it can get pretty weird talking to other Christians or people who say they believe in God but then have these different morals. They’re racist. It’s just a weird community overall.