POLITICS - A Game or Exorcism?
There are 3 types of people involved in a football game. Those on the field. Those who paid to sit in the stands. And those who are watching remotely. The players are determined. Those in the stands are fanatical. Those watching remotely range from passionate to interested moms. Yet at the end of the game, the teams line up to fist bump the opposing team members, acknowledging that no matter who won, they played well and with grit. Some even consider it an honor to have played against someone as skilled as the opponent. On the fans side, if one discovered a flat tire leaving the stadium, a fan with different face colors would likely stop and help them change it. Even family members may be rooting for opposing teams, causing quite the ruckus during the game, accusing each other of derogatory characteristic, all in jest. But in the end, both sides help clean up the mess.
Games, after all, are supposed to be fun and entertaining, whether a pick-up game or professional. In the ‘good old days,’ politics used to be similar. Most of the party members respected their colleagues on the ‘other side of the aisle.’ Often they were caught working together on legislation or their families would enjoy a friendly baseball game together. Historically, each party has been passionate about their own issues, a tug of war of sorts. About 150 years ago, the new Republican party was adamant that enslavement of another human was wrong. Yet many southern church leaders saw no problem with considering the slave as not on par with the free man.
(The Tuskegee Airman were fighting against a 1925 Army War College study that conclude:
Blacks are mentally inferior, by nature subservient, and cowards in the face of danger. They are therefore unfit for combat.
As the war whittled down the availability of fighter pilots, desperation took a chance on these “colored” and discovered them more valiant than many “non-colored”. In one scene of the movie, a white man asked a man if he minded being called ‘colored.’ Don’t hold me to the accuracy, but I believe the ‘colored’ man responded that all people are colored, some yellow, some red, some brown, some white, and some black. Although today I may get ‘cancelled,’ perhaps he would prefer to simply be called a man.)
Back on topic, over the decades the United States has had opposing political ‘teams’ on a number of topics. Should a man be owned by another or not? Should these 13 states remain united or a loose confederation of sovereign states? Should the government help those who cannot help themselves or leave that to the churches and cities? Should there be a central bank with common currency or should there be local banks that printed their own currency? Should the government restrict its spending to its revenue or go into debt to do what is ‘right’ for the people. In the last several decades, there seems to be a growing chasm between who knows best, the government or the individual. Who should decide what is morally right and wrong, the government or the individual? Our country has become so polarized, so tribal, that although most politicians on either side of the aisle have honorable motives for being there, it is no longer a civil game where each team acknowledges the contribution that the other has made. Instead, we have one party ripping up a State of the Union address by the other party – and calling it ‘a return to civility.’ Or interrupting the president’s speech with derogatory accusations. The United States has degraded into warring tribes that will rarely negotiate on anything.
I write this to ask you to consider each other as people, many of whom are devoted to Yahweh. Listen and discuss the various facets of an issue. Then consider the other’s perspective. When I was at the Military Academy and one of the students was in trouble, I would NOT intervene on their behalf because I knew there was more to the story. I would coach them on what to do. I would go with them as they stood before their CO and pled their case. But I was wise enough not to intervene. Once one hears both sides of a political issue, realize that you have now heard maybe 25% of the truth – and that is likely stretching it. Instead of giving the other team the evil eye at the polls this year, how about interacting with others and thanking those who are taking their time to volunteer for those you voted for and for those for whom you did not vote. Just because the political party letter next to my name is different than the one next to yours, I am not a demon to be cast into outer darkness.
