By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
American
politics are coming apart at the seams.
The fabric of our democracy is resilient, but it’s being tested as never
before. Donald Trump’s angry Republicans
demand a return to the halcyon days of the past when they were part of a secure
and moderate majority, while Hillary Clinton’s Democrats are challenging that
majority and want to abandon its traditional moral standards to recreate
America in their liberal image. The political
faceoff has created a dangerous political polarization that this country has not
seen since the Civil War.
Trump’s
followers have supported him in spite of his nastiness, narcissism and disdain
for those who question his suitability to be President, while Clinton’s
coalition of minorities have ignored her questionable ethics as she leads their
attack on traditional cultural values to promote the rights of newfound LBQT minorities
and provide more power for racial minorities.
Partisan
politics now resemble a football game between the Trump team and the Clinton
team in which each team member must be committed to defeat the opposition. The game plans are prepared by Trump for
Republicans and Clinton for Democrats, and the quarterbacks who call signals for
them in the House are Paul Ryan and Nancy Pelosi. Winning is everything, and those members of
the team who question the game plan must sit on the bench, or worse.
In
more traditional political terminology, Democrats might be considered political
revolutionaries and Republicans
political reactionaries (see David
Brooks’ commentary in the Notes below). Once
there were moderates in both parties who worked with the opposition on
important issues and understood that politics
is the art of compromise. But in
today’s polarized two-party duopoly there is no place for moderates who can reconcile
contentious partisan issues. A third
party could provide the moderates needed to diffuse partisan polarization and
gridlock.
Revolutionaries
and reactionaries have long been driving forces for social and cultural change. That has been evident in the evolution of religion
as well as politics. In politics, the
U.S. Civil War was a dramatic and tragic example of what can happen when there
are no moderate forces to reconcile issues that divide revolutionaries and
reactionaries. Slavery was an issue that
reflected a virulent mix of politics and clashing religious standards of
legitimacy.
The
Enlightenment motivated revolutionary changes in both politics and religion by
challenging the truth of ancient religious doctrines and laws with advances in
knowledge and reason—this despite the reactionary efforts of fundamentalists. But this revolution of reason did not occur in
Islamic cultures where there is now a revolution to determine whether Islam emerges
as a religion of peace and justice or one of violence and oppression. Its outcome will be determined by Muslims. The intervention of outside forces has proven
to be counterproductive.
The
violent mix of religion and politics goes back to ancient times. Moses began as a religious and political revolutionary
and became a reactionary in eliminating challenges to his leadership. Jesus was a Jewish religious revolutionary
who was eliminated by reactionary religious and Roman authorities; and
Muhammad, like Moses, began as a religious and political revolutionary and became
a reactionary ruler who effectively eliminated his opposition.
Religious
fundamentalists are reactionaries who are opposed to any change to their
ancient religious doctrines and laws. In
America, most Trump supporters claim to be Christian fundamentalists, even
though Trump is the antithesis of the teachings of Jesus. Al Qaeda and ISIS are Islamist
fundamentalists who are reactionaries to progress and modernity, but they are also
violent revolutionaries within an Islam that was once a religion of relative peace.
The
measure of liberation for politics and religion from oppression is for them to
embrace the libertarian values of democracy, human rights and the secular rule
of law. In Islamic nations in the Middle
East and Africa, shari’a prevails with apostasy and blasphemy laws that
preclude the fundamental freedom of religion and speech and with women and
Non-Muslims denied equal treatment under the law. Only moderate Muslims can liberate Islam from
that oppression.
In
both politics and religion, reconciliation is needed between the liberal revolutionaries
who seek change and reactionaries who oppose change. Without moderates to reconcile those contentious
conflicts in politics and religion, the delicate fabric of democracy, peace and
justice will remain at risk in a world of increasing political and religious
violence.
Political
and religious moderates must be able to bridge contentious issues with a moral
imperative accepted by revolutionaries and reactionaries of all faiths, and that
is found in the greatest commandment
to love God and our neighbors as ourselves—even those we would rather
ignore. It is a common word of faith for Jews, Christians and Muslims alike that
can reconcile revolutionaries with reactionaries, whether political or
religious—or both.
Notes:
For David Brooks commentary on The Age of Reaction in which he cited
Mark Lilla’s The Shipwrecked Mind: On Political Reaction, see http://www.nytimes.com/2016/09/27/opinion/the-age-of-reaction.html?emc=eta1&_r=0.
Michael Gerson has said that he doesn’t understand how people who claim to be Christians can support
Donald Trump, and asked, “I wonder how Trump evangelicals explain to their sons
and daughters that this man is a suitable leader for a great country.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trumps-angry-white-men/2016/10/03/32af5f4e-898b-11e6-875e-2c1bfe943b66_story.html?utm_term=.e285e190c4aa&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.
Stephen Stromberg has said that the Christian right must renounce Trump or
renounce itself. See https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/post-partisan/wp/2016/10/07/the-christian-right-must-renounce-trump-or-renounce-its-self-respect/?utm_term=.9c3c05797884&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.
On related topics, see the greatest commandment at http://www.jesusmeetsmuhammad.com/2015/01/the-greatest-commandment-common-word-of.html; On the relevance of religion to politics,
see http://www.jesusmeetsmuhammad.com/2016/04/the-relevance-of-religion-to-politics.html; and on religion and a politics of reconciliation,
see http://www.jesusmeetsmuhammad.com/2016/05/religion-and-politics-of-reconciliation.html.
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