Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own.
Dear Mrs. Trump,
On Saturday, Feb. 18, I watched you address your husband’s rally in Florida with “The Lord’s Prayer.” The transcript is as follows:
“Let us pray. ‘Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed is your name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespasses [sic] against us. Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.”
Mrs. Trump, at first, I admit, I was perturbed by such a blatantly Christian statement in an introduction of your husband. As a proponent of secularity and the separation of church and state, I was under the impression your prayer violated my schema of an unbiased democracy.
But I amend these beliefs. I have since realized you are a woman with convictions just like I am. You have a right to proclaim your relationship with God on a public stage, just as I have a right to vote based on my relationship with my higher power. Not to mention, many of your constituents loved the prayer, as anyone could tell from the muted chorus of voices echoing your verse at the rally. Former President Barack Obama has referenced the Bible in his rhetoric and I will not claim members of state must ignore any emerging semblance of their faith. I am not one to condemn religion as a construct, as I believe it is one of the most powerful ways to galvanize a group of people into action, whether for benevolent reasons or not.
Mrs. Trump, that is what I take issue with.
I have seen your husband take measures to alienate entire other faiths. I have seen him spread hate, I have seen him go against his word.
Give me my daily bread, Melania. Give me a powerful female role model. Give me an active participant in my affairs. Give me anything but quiet passivity.
I will not talk down to you, Melania. I will, on the other hand ask you to take an active role in my future. When speaking about your husband’s unwillingness to learn some of your own language you said, “I’m not a nagging wife.”
Mrs. Trump, I implore you. Be a nagging wife. Learn to recognize that your husband’s slashing of the national arts and humanities budget will negatively affect programs that help students in low-income areas and veterans transitioning back to civilian life. Take pride in your immigrant heritage and empathize with those who, like you, want to start a new life. Look to the prophet whom you quote and resist the temptation of hiding out in New York and amusing yourself with millions of dollars of extraneous security.
Mrs. Trump, stop letting Ivanka walk your husband to podiums. I do not agree with your sentiments, but I also realize I understand very little about them. Your husband has found a way to let you be content with your own silence. Or maybe it’s not him. Maybe I can draw no other conclusion than the idea that you’ve always preferred bench-warming. Stand up, Melania. Present yourself as a political figure.
Melania, I am not asking you to change. I can’t ask that of you when you’ve chosen to stand by your man, a man whose campaign has been riddled with “alternative facts.” How can I argue with those? I only ask you to practice what you preach. I only ask you to consider your voice important, and while you find it perfectly acceptable to spout a minute of prayer, I want to hear something you think. I want an opinion. I want something more out of a first lady. I know you have big shoes to fill, but don’t let them collect dust in the closet.
Erin Hill is a freshman psychology major. She can be reached at erin.mckendry.hill@gmail.com.
