It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World
And so it seems, with a nod of the head to the 1963 movie whose title aptly
describes the national state of mind, a fortnight shy of the 241st anniversary
of the birth of our, “if you can keep it,” republic. Increasingly it appears
that we will not keep it because we seem to be hell bent on civil war rather
than on “e pluribus unum.” Pollsters, historians, pundits, statisticians, and
sociologists are all concluding that we are more divided and polarized than
we have ever been in our history, or at least since the Civil War.
Somewhere along the last 20-40 years vigorous, passionate, political
disagreement has morphed into outright hatred of those of the other party.
Such is the “fruit” of a free people who are unable to keep themselves a
virtuous people. Are we a virtuous people?
So, Democrats and Republicans no longer simply disagree about policies and politics, they actually hate one another and increasingly see the other side as enemies and even as evil people. Amazingly, many of these folks sit in church pews and call themselves Christians and followers of the One who urges all of us to love one another. Still, most Americans who are mad, that is very angry about things, are not mad, that is foolish enough to act with physical violence toward their neighbors. But some number of us are mad, that is insane enough to bring violence to bear in the body politic and this is likely to worsen as the rhetoric, hyper-partisanship, and hyperbole keep ratcheting up providing some perverted rationale for our fringe neighbors.
It is madness for a people to destroy themselves by their unwillingness to restrain and discipline themselves in the exercise of their freedom, be it personal or political, yet this has always been the weakness of free societies. The selfish insistence on my right, over and against the common good and plain good manners is in full bloom in American culture.
Conservatives intuitively know that institutions, customs, community, and self-government are fragile things and liberals know that these things are resilient in the American experience. They are both right but only in so much as these understandings are held in tension with one another. It is and has been one-sided for a very long time now. Things are badly out of kilter.
But this must be what we want for ourselves because it is what we keep choosing as we reward our tribal leaders who sally forth to destroy the other party. After last week’s violence, they say they’re not like that, they actually like people of the other party and work together more than we know. That would be refreshing and encouraging if it is true but it is not what they present through the media which seems to fan the flames of political outrage for ratings and profit.
What can we do? First, pray for national repentance and renewal. Limit your consumption of TV news/commentary to an hour a day. Read two or more newspapers or find commentators who strive to truthfully comment on national affairs. Get off of social media and please do not contribute to the hateful, dishonest garbage that abounds there. Control your own speech and ruthlessly root out of your own heart the animus that is stoked and cultivated by media and politicians.
Please consider these suggestions for the good of your country and for the good of your soul. Let us be vigilant that this spirit of political divisiveness does not infect the common life and witness we make as Christ’s people at his Church of the Good Shepherd.
Somewhere along the last 20-40 years vigorous, passionate, political
disagreement has morphed into outright hatred of those of the other party.
Such is the “fruit” of a free people who are unable to keep themselves a
virtuous people. Are we a virtuous people?So, Democrats and Republicans no longer simply disagree about policies and politics, they actually hate one another and increasingly see the other side as enemies and even as evil people. Amazingly, many of these folks sit in church pews and call themselves Christians and followers of the One who urges all of us to love one another. Still, most Americans who are mad, that is very angry about things, are not mad, that is foolish enough to act with physical violence toward their neighbors. But some number of us are mad, that is insane enough to bring violence to bear in the body politic and this is likely to worsen as the rhetoric, hyper-partisanship, and hyperbole keep ratcheting up providing some perverted rationale for our fringe neighbors.
It is madness for a people to destroy themselves by their unwillingness to restrain and discipline themselves in the exercise of their freedom, be it personal or political, yet this has always been the weakness of free societies. The selfish insistence on my right, over and against the common good and plain good manners is in full bloom in American culture.
Conservatives intuitively know that institutions, customs, community, and self-government are fragile things and liberals know that these things are resilient in the American experience. They are both right but only in so much as these understandings are held in tension with one another. It is and has been one-sided for a very long time now. Things are badly out of kilter.
But this must be what we want for ourselves because it is what we keep choosing as we reward our tribal leaders who sally forth to destroy the other party. After last week’s violence, they say they’re not like that, they actually like people of the other party and work together more than we know. That would be refreshing and encouraging if it is true but it is not what they present through the media which seems to fan the flames of political outrage for ratings and profit.
What can we do? First, pray for national repentance and renewal. Limit your consumption of TV news/commentary to an hour a day. Read two or more newspapers or find commentators who strive to truthfully comment on national affairs. Get off of social media and please do not contribute to the hateful, dishonest garbage that abounds there. Control your own speech and ruthlessly root out of your own heart the animus that is stoked and cultivated by media and politicians.
Please consider these suggestions for the good of your country and for the good of your soul. Let us be vigilant that this spirit of political divisiveness does not infect the common life and witness we make as Christ’s people at his Church of the Good Shepherd.
Robert +
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