To what purpose protest?

There were a lot of protests over the weekend, and perhaps rightly so. Donald Trump has been a divisive figure. Some of the criticism is deserved, while some of it is from the media and the left’s interpretation of him, and not exactly a kindly interpretation, either. But that’s not important. What I am here to pose is this:

Can Donald Trump be forgiven? Can he change?

And if not, what is the point of protest? What is the hoped-for end-game?

I’ve seen this sort of thing time and time again in various forms. Someone makes an ill-considered remark, or even an intentional one, and the protests begin, calling for that person’s figurative (and sometimes literal) head. They want them fired. They want them punished. They want the world to know that such behavior is not acceptable.

But most often their target’s apologies don’t matter, don’t make any difference, don’t diminish the backlash in any noticeable manner. Why is that? Do they feel this person can’t change? Doesn’t really intend to change? Or does it even matter what this person does in the future so long as he is made a public example of now?

People claim they want things to change. And yet more often than not, no one cares if the target of their wrath changes. Much of the time they don’t even bother to get the full context or even get to know the target in any meaningful way. They simply want someone to punish and destroy. They somehow think this is going to change the world.

What they get…is Trump.

If you want the world to change you need to first show that you are willing to recognize and accept change if it happens. If you call someone out for their wrong behavior, you need to show that you’re just as willing to support that person if they do change. You have to show that you really are interested in change, not just punishment, or you send the message that change is actually pointless and irrelevant. You only encourage people to double down on their bad behavior and remain completely unapologetic.

In short, you get Trump.

When all you know how to do is scream, you only encourage your target to scream louder.

So answer me this: Can Trump be redeemed? Is it possible for him to demonstrate that he is not the person we think him to be? Are we willing to concede if he proves to be much wiser and more fair-minded on any issue where he doesn’t live up to our original expectation/accusation? Or is the problem actually not Trump at all, but rather the fact that he’s not “your guy”? Is there anything he can do at this point to make us say, “Huh. He changed for the better” or “Huh, I guess he wasn’t as bad as I thought?”

And let’s extend this farther. If we’re going to insist on judging anyone who does something unpopular in public, shouldn’t we offer them our support and our forgiveness just as visibly should they decide to change?

If not, can we really complain if they refuse to change?

If not, why are we bothering them in the first place? We’re not interested in change, just showing everyone how right we are. It may make us feel better for the moment, but the problem remains.

We’d be like the gardener who wanted a tree to grow in just the right shape. He planted a tree and let it grow. But it didn’t grow how he envisioned, so he uprooted the tree, burned it, and planted another. It didn’t grow right, either, so he uprooted it and burned it, then found another to take its place. He went through dozens of trees over a twenty year period and still didn’t get the shape he was hoping for. Another gardener saw what he was doing and asked him why he didn’t just shape the tree by careful trimming, staking, and shaping? The first gardener replied that he didn’t have the time for that much work.

It’s true, supporting someone through change takes time, and it may even draw criticism from those who lack the patience to wait for change and may mistake your support for the change as acceptance of and support for the original bad behavior. It may make one unpopular. It may take time and frustration.

But what do we really want, change or just to feel good?

If the latter, then Trump is what we get…and deserve.