Signs are a staple during any election season. But as the signs across the nation start to come down post-midterm election, there’s one that’s staying up.
“This is the message that will bring us back together after the election,” says Father Jadon Hartsoff.
The sign reads, “Love your neighbor who doesn’t look like you, think like you, love like you, speak like you, pray like you, vote like you. Love your neighbor, no exceptions."
Those 28 words are what Father Hartsoff thought of a few months ago, after seeing the tension among politicians, even in his own parish.
The goal, he says, was to change the conversation in his congregation.
"What we wanted to do is try to create some sort of statement that brought people together and that rose above politics,” Father Hartsoff says.
But he got a lot more than that. A single photo of the banner ignited on social media and was shared over 77,000 times!
Father Harstoff is still beaming.
"Like, I can't even believe that it's amazing."
The next thing he knew, people wanted to share the message offline.
"We've had orders for over 700 of them around the country, into Canada, several in the UK," he says.
The public demand for the banner keeps growing, and Hartsoff hopes it's a sign of things to come.