By Rachel Castor
Reader Contributor
If calling my representative to ask her not to vote on an anti-immigration bill makes me a radical…
If calling my representative to ask her for a statement to her constituents in North Idaho denouncing the white-supremacist terrorist acts that killed a young woman in Charlottesville makes me a radical…
If attending public town halls and asking my representative to raise the minimum wage so that working families do not have to “become dependent” on the government to buy them food makes me a radical…
If telling the stories of Idahoans who are dying from a lack of access to affordable health care makes me a radical…
If going door to door to inform voters that there is an under-advertised education levee election coming up makes me a radical…
If believing that voting is our most important and most powerful right, and the best way we can make a difference in our country makes me a radical…
If holding a letter-writing night to thank Republican Senator John McCain and others who voted to stop the repeal of our health care makes me a radical…
If volunteering to serve popcorn and register new voters at the Bonner County Democratic Party’s booth at the Bonner County Fair makes me a radical…
If walking in the Women’s March with 900 other citizens in Sandpoint from the Panida Theater to City Beach for the idea that men and women are of equal worth makes me a radical…
If leading a community group based on hope, love, and supporting the least among us makes me a radical…
If working with Reclaim Idaho to reestablish our Idaho State Constitutional right to adequate and fully-funded education for all children makes me a radical…
If working with 350.org and Idaho Conservation League to educate the public about how we can better care for our planet and our public lands, stopping needless pollution and degradation of the environment makes me a radical…
If holding a candlelight vigil to honor the lives of Heather Heyer, who was killed by a domestic Nazi terrorist, and of police officers H. Jay Cullen and Berke M. M. Bates who died trying to keep the peace at the Nazi demonstrations, makes me a radical…
If publicly praying for families who have lost brothers and sons to violent hate groups makes me a radical…
If not wanting Nazi organizers to turn our nation into a haven for hate and bigotry makes me a radical…
If believing in the United States Bill of Rights makes me a radical…
If donating to the ACLU to defend free speech for all makes me a radical…
If donating to Planned Parenthood, which provides free- and reduced-cost medical care to all women in need and saves thousands of lives every year, makes me a radical…
If believing that affordable health care is a human right makes me a radical…
If wanting the President of the United States of America to be an honest and dignified human being who takes a stand for kindness makes me a radical…
If never giving up hope that our country will one day again stand for liberty and justice for ALL people, regardless of the color of their skin, the name they call God, or whom they love, makes me a radical…
If wanting to support our men and women in uniform by bringing them home makes me a radical…
If wanting more of our country’s budget, and my tax dollars, to go towards education than towards war makes me a radical…
If wanting the flag of the United States to be seen around the world as a symbol of goodwill and freedom, rather than a symbol of corporate greed and white nationalism makes me a radical…
If refusing to close my eyes and sit silently by makes me a radical…
If being a Christian who follows a revolutionary Jesus, who turned the tables and believed in justice through love, makes me a radical…
If taking a bold, unapologetic stand for love makes me a radical…
…then God bless the radicals! And well more than half of our country’s citizens are radicals.
I want to say that I won’t stop until love wins. But it already has. Love has already won. Because look at us — we are all here because of love. All we have to do, we radicals, is never doubt that love wins, and never doubt that we can make a difference.
Rachel Castor is the facilitator of Sandpoint Indivisible, a writer, a mother and works full time as an appraiser.
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