At this point in time, feelings are running so high that no matter who wins the election we are ripe for chaos. Neither side sees the other as human beings trying to make a positive difference in the world; what we see are demons. This is an atmosphere that fosters assassinations. This is an atmosphere that fosters witch hunts. This is an atmosphere which fosters world wars.
How did we come to this pass?
I believe the reason is Fear!
There is, of course, the fear of terrorism. The images of the twin towers falling and the plane diving into the Pentagon will not leave us in peace.
But there is also the fear of loss of our jobs, of the inability to secure health care; there is the fear of old age without a pension or social security. There is the fear of our children being attacked at school or on the street, and the fear of persecution because, perhaps, we or our friends do not fit the picture of the mainstream, or because someone is jealous of who we are or what we have.
Fear gives rise to demons. When we live in fear we have to do something to make it manageable. So we project it onto others. Osama Bin Laden becomes a demon. Saddam Hussein becomes a demon. All Muslims become demons. Fundamentalists become demons. Democrats and Republicans become demons. Ralph Nader becomes a demon. The religious left and the religious right and the non-religious become demons. After a while there are no humans left, and we are once again alone with our fear.
Fear and the demons it spawns are not new. They are part of human nature and they come to visit each of us every generation or so. When I was a child the fear was not of terrorist flying airplanes into buildings or walking into town center with a nuclear devise on his or her back. It was intercontinental ballistic missiles which would destroy the whole world in a day. Our next door neighbor had a bomb shelter in his rose garden; the air vent was visible among the Florabundas and the American Beauties. We practiced duck and cover at school. The air-raid siren would go off and we would all dive under our desks and wait for either a blinding light or the all clear blast. The demons of my childhood were Communists, Pinkos. Anyone could be one. My mother fell under suspicion because she was a Girl Scout Leader and our troop earned the World badge. And, since Communist believed in one world under communism, if we believed in one world of peace we must be communist sympathizers . . . A favorite TV show at the time was “I Led Three Lives” featuring FBI Agent, Herbert Philbrick, a double agent, a counter spy! My school district in Orange County, California was given a day off so that we could all be bussed to hear Special Agent Philbrick speak about the evils of Communism. Innocent people lost their jobs, their livelihood, their freedom, even their lives because they were accused of being communists or of even knowing communists I remember my mother’s respect and loyalty to Newscasters, Chet Huntley and Edward R Murrow, who played pivotal roles in bringing down Joseph McCarthy and the House Un-American Activities Committee, exposing them for the power mongers they were. I later learned that The Rev. A. Powell Davies of All Souls Unitarian Church in DC also played a significant role in defeating McCarthy.
Today the parallels between the McCarthy Era (not to mention the reign of J. Edgar Hoover as Director of the FBI) and the Era of the Patriot Act are all to real, and both are born of fear.
Those of us who recognize the parallels, and shout – “but the Emperor has no clothes!” are not without blame, for in our fear we have demonized the demonizers. And, it is impossible to work with demons.
So what do we do after November 2nd? No matter who wins, half the country will be sure that we are ruled by demons. Will half of us move to Canada? Or, we may ask, “Who will become the scapegoats?” Will we find ourselves locked in battle between God’s anointed ones and the Anti-Christ? Such is one of our fears.
Increasingly over the last decade or so the Religious Right has gained a deeper and stronger hold on the political arena. They have redefined Christianity in their own image, and some (Christians) would say that during the last four years they have placed politics before Christ. Those who do not vote with them are risking their souls. But, two interesting changes have begun to take place during this election year.
First of all, both political parties have picked up the religious rhetoric. And, they show an interesting theological split. The Republicans speak of Faith and Mission. The Democrats speak of Good Works, “Faith without Works is dead.” They represent a theological debate as old as Christianity (perhaps, older) Faith versus Good Works. Bush focuses on the Right to Life and a Righteous war to free all people. Kerry’s faith calls him to defend the poor, protect the earth, and fight for equity and justice. The Democrats have made it clear that there are at least two ways to be religious.
The second shift is that liberal, mainstream and Evangelical Christians have called foul! Even the Evangelicals are demanding, “give us our Jesus back.” “Sojourners,” a progressive Evangelical magazine has been running ads and distributing bumper stickers reading “God is not a Republican . . .or a Democrat.” And, Jim Wallis, their editor in chief, writes: “Any serious reading of the Bible points towards poverty as a religious issue, and candidates should always be asked by Christian voters how they will treat "the least of these." Stewardship of God’s earth is clearly a question of Christian ethics. Truth-telling is also a religious issue that should be applied to a candidate’s rationales for war, tax cuts, or any other policy, as is humility in avoiding the language of "righteous empire" which too easily confuses the roles of God, church, and nation.
War, of course, is also a deeply theological matter. The near unanimous opinion of religious leaders worldwide that the Iraq war failed to fit "just war" criteria should be an electoral issue for Christian voters, especially as the warnings from religious leaders have proven prophetically and tragically accurate.”
His are not the words of the Christian right but they speak for a growing number of Christians, who are tired of having their religion defined for them. But note. He also says that God is neither a Republican nor Democrat. While it is pretty clear where he stands, he is careful to point out (in other writings) that there are many ways to help the poor, and many ways to take care of the earth, that truth telling and humility may take varied forms, and the definition of a just war is not monolithic. His call is to take a closer look at Christian values and not limit them to a few litmus tests.
Dennis has noted that one of the ironies of the American political landscape is that the conservative wing tends to hold a strong belief in the pre-eminence of faith, yet in financial matters they are very works oriented – insisting that salvation in this world, to the extent that it is possible, grows from such virtues as diligence, sacrifice, and tenacity, all works-oriented. They expect everyone to accept these virtues as paramount and live accordingly. They assert that they have faith in the capability of individual human beings.
Liberals, on the other hand, tend to be works oriented in their faith, insisting that faith without good works is empty, yet their approach to political economics tends to try to ameliorate the misfortunes of the poor and the disadvantaged, not by encouraging them to virtue, not by insisting that they make their own way, but by creating strong support systems for them so that in time they may learn how to be self-sufficient, and that everyone will do so. Liberals have faith in the possibility of creating a society that cares for everyone.
So where does that leave us?
Because we agree to affirm and promote the worth and dignity of every person, we also must be concerned for the poor and the outcast. Because we honor justice and equity, we must look carefully at how we balance our need for security with our commitment to civil liberties. Because we recognize that we are part of one world which is complex beyond our understanding, we must guard against actions which may lead to unintended repercussions. Because we understand ourselves to be part of an interconnected web which reaches far beyond humankind, we must tread softly on the earth using utmost care to protect her fragile balances. Because we recognize democracy as a flawed but the least flawed of all governmental systems, we must do our best to work within that system to create a fair and viable state. And, because our road to truth and understanding is through reason, personal experience, and tolerance of other’s views, we may find many different ways to live out our values with strength and integrity. Just as God is neither a Republican, nor a Democrat, Unitarian Universalists are not bound to be Democrats or Republicans. We are bound to listen to one another and to learn from one another how best to create the Beloved Community, here on earth together.
It is this skill, to listen to one another and to seek common ground, which will stand us in good stead whoever wins the election next week. It will be crucial, win or lose, to form coalitions not only with those with whom we agree, but also with those whose place of meeting is less obvious and requires compromise and new ways of approaching issues. We cannot reach out to heal the rifts which have expanded into chasms, nor soften the polarization of our political system this election year if we continue to see others as demons. We must recognize that there are fiscal conservatives who are socially liberal and social conservatives who are fiscally liberal. There are “Right to Lifers” who are willing to work on ways to make abortion unnecessary, and there are women for Choice willing to do the same. If we wish to assure the civil rights of all people regardless of race, creed, gender, sexual orientation, age or ability, then we must find the moderates on both sides of the aisle yearning to break free if only it were safe to do so. How do we make it safe?
After the election, it behooves us to neither gloat nor move to Canada; instead we must conquer our fears so that we can see the fear in others. It requires great strength to pierce the demon’s mask. It requires determination to seek the soul within, especially if that soul still perceives us as the evil ones. Our challenge will be to find common ground with an ever widening circle of people, unlikely companions working to heal the world. This is how we break the cycle. This is what it means to choose good over evil. It is hard work and it begins with recognizing our own fears in the eyes of others. It begins with speaking the truth, naming what we see, and knowing at some level, somewhere, we are one.
The opening may have to come from us – ceasing to make demons of those who think and vote differently from the way we do. We may have to learn how to be gracious in either defeat or victory, acknowledging our fear as something shared by all. We may find ourselves defending the very people we have been fighting. Let us not let history repeat itself, again.