Ideas and Ideals

Correct me if I’m wrong, but the actor Alec Baldwin “promised” in 2004 that if President Bush were to be reelected, he would leave the country. Well, President Bush was reelected, and I do not recall the banner heralding or mourning Mr. Baldwin’s departure. Now in 2008 actress Susan Sarandon is “threatening” to leave the country if John McCain is elected president and I am left wondering: am I missing something? Should I care what Ms. Sarandon thinks so much so that she will leave the country and my life will become a meaningless existence, void of anything of substance because of her departure?

One of the great (and equally infuriating) things about this republic is that we hold elections pretty regularly. Call it a job evaluation by which we determine whether those who currently hold the office have been living up to our expectations. Here’s the thing, though. The other voting members of the “committee” may not agree with my assessment, and those who disagree with me may well outnumber me. When the votes are counted, it will matter little how passionate I might have been about my own evaluation. What makes all this work, though, is my willingness to suck it up, respect the choices my opponents have made, and then make the most of it.

Sadly, we don’t seem to have this so much anymore. Far too many across this vast land have digressed to such a point that we no longer merely disagree with one another; we take disagreement as a personal affront to all that we hold near and dear. We take disagreement as a personal attack that requires a direct and equally personal counterattack, and we sincerely hope that we draw at least as much blood as we felt was taken from us. While doing this, we “charge” the other with sedition, accuse them of treason, and question their loyalty and patriotism when they do not agree with us. We call them just about any name that can be legally printed, and we feel like we are the only “true” defenders of this nation’s ideals.

I will grant that I will be gravely concerned about the direction of this country if either Democratic candidate wins the White House and the Democrats expand their majority in the Congress primarily because I am a Republican with Libertarian inclinations. I disagree with Democrats at almost every turn although I applaud them for sounding like a broken record in their insistence that we not forget about the MILLIONS of Americans who cannot afford good health care or health insurance. These are important issues that require some serious work, but calling names or leaving the country will not address the problems, let alone solve them.

Listening to the ugliness which is out there and growing more pronounced and profane, I am left to wonder exactly what it is we truly care about as a nation, as a people. Some claim that this nation is sliding toward the abyss because we have lost our Christian heritage and will ultimately face the Judgment Day with less than sufficient hope, but does this sort of message not betray the essence of the Christian faith? And are these charges and accusations not coming from Christians themselves who express nothing but raw hatred and disdain toward those with whom they disagree? Does this name-calling and finger-pointing not betray the principles of all that Jesus tried to teach us?

I am concerned, as a Christian, about the steady movement this nation is making toward homosexual marriage as an accepted practice and lifestyle and I am left wondering what sort of impact this will have on church and society, but I am not quite prepared to issue a proclamation of judgment that all homosexuals will be eternally condemned. This, too, betrays the ideal of the Christian faith that judgment will bring judgment. Is genuine hatred any less sinful than homosexuality?

It is certainly not cultural diversity that defines a people; it is commonality. What, pray tell, do Americans hold in common with one another? What principle or ideal do we commonly embrace as a people working toward a common goal? For that matter, what might be the common goal? That we need to respect one another is something we should all aspire to, but where will it take us? The “progressives” (formerly known as “liberals”) insist that we must continue to move forward. Fair enough, but where are we headed? Conservatives insist that we need to hold on to the past. Equally fair, but how far back are we willing to go?

This is an angry country, and we continually elect people into office who not only affirm our anger but also attempt to tell us who is to blame for all our misery. Republicans blamed President Clinton, and now Democrats blame President Bush. And we blame one another even though I am pretty sure that few of us can really pin down exactly what we are so anxious about that we are willing to destroy one another in our vain efforts to identify exactly what the problem may actually be. Denzel Washington’s character, Herman Boone, in the movie “Remember the Titans”, in his effort to bring white and black football players together as a common team with a common goal said it best while standing at a cemetery in Gettysburg PA: “If we do not learn to come together as a team, we will also be destroyed just as they (the buried soldiers) were.”

It is true enough, as Herman Boone also told his team, that we do not have to like one another, but we must learn to respect one another. And this requires the highest of Christian ideals: that we love one another. This does not mean that we have fond and warm feelings of emotion toward those with whom we would disagree, but it does mean that for the sake of others we would be willing to put self aside. That is the essence of Christian love, and it is identified by our genuine faith. It proves beyond any measure of doubt that we earnestly and honestly believe what Jesus said.

This is where we are isolated and identified as a people of common value, and it begins with us because we proclaim THE TRUTH of Christ and His Word. Anything less is the beginning of our ending, and politics will not even be given honorable mention on our headstone.