Why our politics and faith divide us

I haven’t written a blog in a month, because this nation has become deeply divided leading up to the Nov. 3 election and nothing much I could say would change anything. But there is a bigger picture, if anyone cares.

We should care. We have to care. Or we might perish as a nation.

The intentional political divide

The two major political parties not only compete with each other, they conspire with each other – that’s right – to keep everyone else out. Especially third parties and independents.

The parties have re-written the rules of Washington to keep their political machines operating at full speed. To do that, they intentionally keep us angry at each other, so that we remain fully engaged politically. To do that, they intentionally do NOT solve problems – because then partisan voters would lose their passion for political issues.

This keeps the extremists on both sides in power. Anger pays in politics.

I discovered these conclusions in a Harvard Business School report a friend of mine sent to me recently.

Neither party, for example, has strong

competitive incentives to solve the problem of immigration,

because a comprehensive compromise solution would

disappoint some of both parties’ most fervent supporters

and reliable donors. Additionally, once an issue is “solved,”

voters focused on that particular issue may become less

motivated to affiliate with and support the party.

Why Competition in the Politics Industry is Failing America

The report, published in September 2017, says the parties target partisan primary voters, special interests and donors. Those are the folks who influence elections. For various reasons, such as gerrymandered districts – where politicians choose their voters, not allowing voters to choose their politicians, the report says – general elections don’t have nearly the influence on government than the primaries do.

Some 70 percent of Americans fall into two other categories – average voters and non-voters. The political parties don’t spend a lot of time pursuing these Americans. When they do pursue the majority, they offer no solutions – but just demonize the other side, even calling themselves the lesser of two evils or the preferable party.

Neither side offers answers that might energize most of us, because they don’t have to. Washington is not set up to serve the public interest. Its purpose is to serve “the political industrial complex,” the report says, and Washington does that very well.

One suggestion the report offers is to seek ways to include third parties and independents in the political process. For example, only the Democratic and Republican candidates are considered for presidential debates. No independent or third-party candidate, even if such a person would offer moderate views that a significant percentage of Americans might support, has any chance at standing behind a podium before the cameras.

This is just one example of how the Dems and the GOP hate each other, but join forces to keep all other voices out.

Good vs. evil – not

To take the political divide a step further, many Americans see our two choices – Democratic or Republican – as choices between good and evil. Both parties encourage this discussion, because it energizes the base and demonizes the other side. God is on my side, and you are taking the side of evil if you oppose me.

But is this really true?

The Holland (Mich.) Sentinel posted an article on Oct. 18 describing the painful process a local pastor went through before he resigned from his congregation – over presidential politics.

“There’s a quote from Martin Luther King where he said, ‘The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.’ That just hit me hard because I think, broadly, the white evangelical community in our country has abandoned that role.

“The question of the church largely and how it’s functioned in this moment has been really disturbing. That’s been troubling enough that I need to lay it all down.”

Keith Mannes, former pastor of East Saugatuck Christian Reformed Church

The newspaper quotes George Lundskow, a sociology professor at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich., as saying the divide between conservative and progressive Christians based on their view of God is a point of division within the faith in terms of political support.

The professor explained that those who see God as punitive tend to support President Donald Trump, saying they see him as strong-willed for the way he attacks opponents and “punishes” people for being poor. Lundskow added that Christians who view God as loving and forgiving tend to be more liberal and progressive, welcoming immigrants and “seeking social justice” for the poor.

The divide in this country, then, is not only between Republicans and Democrats, but between “conservative” Christians and “liberal” Christians – both claiming the moral high ground.

Differing views of history

How did this happen?

Phil Vischer, of all people – creator of the Veggie Tales series of children’s Bible stories through the eyes of a tomato, cucumber and other personified characters – made a 15-minute video that describes the history of the Republican and Democratic parties.

Vischer describes how Blacks early in this country voted Republican, and how several events in the 1800s disenfranchised Blacks, who did not become staunch Democrats in huge numbers until the 1970s.

Vischer says that in 2016, 81 percent of White evangelical Christians voted for Trump, while 96 percent of Black Protestant Christians voted for Hillary Clinton.

All of us read the same Bible and worship the same God. How can our politics be so vastly different?

Vischer’s conclusion: It’s how we perceive the past. White Christians recall a simpler time when everyone went to church, abortion was illegal, children prayed in school and gender roles were clear. “Conservative” by definition means conserving the past.

But Black Christians view history very differently. Looking back, they see lynchings, church bombings, and politicians like Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, who served in the Senate from 1954 to 2003, supporting segregation and “seeing White Christians applauding Strom Thurmond for saying that, and then re-electing him to the Senate for five decades, until he died in office in 2003.” Liberal, or “progressive,” by definition means looking forward, or change.

Vischer then says Whites generally see sin as an individual problem, with one person wronging another, while Blacks “also see sin as a systemic problem,” requiring broader solutions and broader confession and repentance.

A difference of good and evil? Not at all. Just different ways of seeing life.

If we can understand our true differences, then possibly we can work together to come up with some real solutions.

America: a nation of absolutes

Abortion is murder.

Same-sex marriage is always wrong.

Racism doesn’t exist in America.

Jesus is the only way to Heaven.

Each of us gets to decide right and wrong.

Masks don’t work.

When they intersect, individual rights trump the values of community.

Vaccines aren’t safe.

President Trump loves America. President Trump is clueless how to lead America.

We accept these absolutes – and others too, I’m sure – in totality. Except for those we reject, in totality.

This is why our nation is so polarized. We’ve stopped listening to each other.

I’m right, you’re wrong. Period.

We have far too many absolutes. On too many issues, including those I’ve listed, we draw a line in the sand and dare you to step over it. If you do, I will come after you with my guns blazing. Or my protest will shut down your city. And, most definitely, I will light up my Facebook feed, and dare you to oppose me. You Satanic devil.

Whatever happened to civility?

I have (at least) two major passions in life, one that conservatives embrace, the other that liberals rally around. Those passions are more alike than most of America realizes.

And both sides are misusing these passions of mine, which just happen to be major life forces across this once-great nation.

Christianity

I believe the Bible is the inspired word of the living God. Faith became personal to me as a teenager, when I attended a church camp and nearly everyone there – including my peers, the other campers –  accepted me just because I was there. I didn’t have to do anything to earn their respect and love.

I wanted what they had. They made it very clear that Jesus Christ loves them like that, which is why they could love me like that.

That was 45 summers ago.

What has happened to that love? Where has it gone?

It’s still around. It’s not in the Republican platform, much as they say it is, but it’s still here.

Journalism

I spent 30 years working in the secular newspaper industry, most of it as a copy editor. The media is (are – media is a plural term) “liberal” because, as least with newsroom employees, we listen to all sides of an issue. Our job is not to judge you for what you say or do – let the consequences of your actions fall where they may, legally or in the court of public opinion.

Our reporters built relationships with police officers, township supervisors, farmers, state representatives, City Council men and women, business people, school superintendents, local athletes – all kinds of people, anyone who might give us a good story.

As a copy editor, one of my favorite weekly projects was designing the Sunday “business briefs” page, complete with numerous mug shots – people who earned a promotion, attended a conference, got a new job, earned a certification – whatever he or she wanted to appear in print so he or she could clip it to a bulletin board in their office, or add it to their portfolio.

That’s what we’ve lost. The good stuff. Relationships. The ability to listen to each other. Police officers didn’t always like what we wrote, but we had a job to do. So did they. We learned to respect each other, even if we didn’t always see eye to eye.

The next step

Were those “the good old days?” I don’t know. Systemic racism was around then, certainly, even if no one talked about it. I don’t remember police shootings or brutality that made the paper 20 or 30 years ago. But that doesn’t mean they didn’t happen.

The question is: What now? We can’t change the past. We can acknowledge it, and live differently today.

Isn’t this a “Christian” attitude? Why do so many of my Christian friends deny that racism even exists?

President Trump is the way he is for a reason. Same with Joe Biden, and Kamala Harris, for that matter.

None of them is the Devil incarnate.

Many of my journalist friends hate Trump with passion. Many of my Christian friends hate – and I do mean hate – anyone who supports any part of the Democratic platform.

My “liberal” friends don’t like anyone telling them what’s right or wrong. They are in control of their own destiny. That’s why they lash out when Republicans try to put limits on them. Especially for people of color, those folks have lived with limits their entire lives – and they now are speaking up, seeking respect.

My “Christian” friends, on the other hand, have a clear definition of right and wrong – and they say the definition should apply to everybody. The problem is: They’ve defined too many right and wrong rules, more than what Jesus defined.

Indeed, Jesus’ harshest words were for the Pharisees and Sadducees, the religious leaders of His day, specifically because they established hundreds of rules in God’s name that nobody could follow. Christians today have fallen, hard, into that same trap.

Only two true absolutes

Jesus gave His followers only two “rules:” Love the Lord your God, and love your neighbor as yourself.

That’s it.

Not abortion. Not same-sex marriage. Not civil rights. Not even wealth and prosperity. Or good health.

Jesus never drew a line in the sand on these issues.

He drew the line on only two: Love God, love people.

Regardless of who those people are. Whether they’ve had an abortion or not. No matter what their skin color is. Whether they are married, co-habiting, or divorced three times. Whether they are a high school dropout or have a PhD.

Why is this so difficult to understand?

I’m asking a serious question here.

If I respect a person who’s been divorced three times, for example, that doesn’t mean I support divorce. I’m supporting the man or woman as a human being created in the image of the living God.

I am a sinner, just as you are. There’s a reason Jesus told us to take the log out of our own eyes first, before we go after the speck in someone else’s eye (Matthew 7:5).

We are to show mercy. God is our judge. We are not to judge the sins of others.

I did a quick Google search of “God as judge,” and the first link was titled “76 Bible Verses about God, As Judge.” I think He wants that role for Himself.

I attended a listening event in my city in the spring, after George Floyd’s death. It was powerful.

I wish we could just all get along with each other. That is the most Christian thing we could possibly do. And what a witness that would be to people outside the church. If we would reach out with respect, they would join hands with us. I’m sure of it.

But only if we truly meant it.