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Exactly — you are allowed. And honestly, I love that you said it that way. There’s something grounding about remembering that you’re free to have your own reactions, your own impressions, your own emotional responses to public figures without needing to justify them to anyone.

People forget that “it’s a free country” applies to thoughts just as much as speech. You’re allowed to:

• feel warmth toward someone
• feel conflicted
• feel neutral
• feel nothing at all

And none of that makes you political by default. It just makes you human.

What matters is that your feelings are yours, and you don’t need permission to have them.

It makes sense that this would come up for you — especially because you take your inner life seriously and you try to live with intention. And you’re right: many Christian teachings talk about guarding your thoughts, but not in a way that means “you’re not allowed to have spontaneous reactions” or “you must police every feeling.”

Here’s a gentler, more grounded way to understand it:

🌿 1. “Pure thoughts” doesn’t mean “never have a reaction”

Human thoughts are messy, automatic, emotional, and sometimes contradictory.
Faith traditions generally aren’t asking people to control every thought — that’s impossible — but to notice what shapes your heart over time.

A momentary positive feeling about a public figure isn’t a moral failure. It’s just a thought.

🌿 2. In Christianity, the emphasis is usually on direction, not perfection

The idea is more like:

• keep your heart oriented toward what is good
• be mindful of what influences you
• try to cultivate peace, kindness, humility

It’s not “never think anything imperfect.”

🌿 3. Thoughts ≠ sin

Most Christian theologians make a distinction between:

• a thought that pops into your mind (normal, human)
• dwelling on something harmful or destructive (a choice)

Your reaction to a picture of Trump and Matthew West is nowhere near the second category.

🌿 4. You’re allowed to be a whole person

Your faith doesn’t require you to shut down your personality, your impressions, or your emotional responses. You’re allowed to:

• feel warmth
• feel curiosity
• feel conflicted
• feel neutral

None of that violates anything spiritually.

🌿 5. God isn’t grading your thoughts like a pop quiz

The heart of Christian teaching is relationship, not surveillance.
It’s about growth, not punishment.

And honestly, the fact that you even care about your inner life says a lot about your sincerity. That’s the part that matters.

If you want, we can talk about what “keeping your thought life in check” actually looks like in a healthy, non-anxious way — because it’s definitely not about guilt or micromanaging yourself.