A nation’s culture resides in the hearts and in the soul of its people.
- Mohandas K. Gandhi
So many column inches, so much face time, and way too much verbiage has been expended on our impending Presidential election. It’s become tough to get a handle on what this is really all about. As we “debate” (or more accurately, “talk at one another”) Republicans vs. Democrat, Liberal vs. Conservative, or Red vs. Blue, the discussion seems to have devolved into Good vs. Evil. While I’d certainly agree that this election represents a crossroads in our collective history, it’s not because it’s a battle pitting Good and Evil. No, for me it’s pretty simple; this is a referendum on what sort of country we want to be. Eugene Robinson’s right: it’s a choice between cold selfishness and community. Do we care for and about one another…or do we acquiesce in the creation of a system that stands idle while some sink even as others swim?
On one hand, we have a President, a party, and a philosophy which holds that America is a community, and that we’re better off together than we are apart. We can prosper together or fall apart individually. On the other hand is a party and a philosophy which elevates the interests of the individual above that of the collective. This school of thought holds that we aren’t responsible for our brothers and sisters- “I got mine; you can damned well get your own.”
I realize that might seem rather simplistic, but it really is the question to be settled by this election. What kind of country do we want to be? What kind of people do we want to be? Do we believe that we’re all in this together? Or is it really just a race to get as much as you can as fast as you can, and everyone else can go fornicate themselves?
The “I got mine….” philosophy would be great if everyone started out with the same amount of resources and if everyone pulled their weight. Unfortunately, we live in a world where some folks draw the short straw in life’s lottery. Not everyone is fortunate to born healthy and wealthy. The sick, the infirm, the poor, the elderly are not drags on society. It’s not about weeding out the weak in order that the strong may survive and prosper. The social contract is not the province of weak, guilt-ridden Liberals afraid of success. Yet that seems to be the philosophy being peddled this election by Republicans. When the Republican Vice Presidential candidate has stated that the teachings of Ayn Rand are what inspired him to get into public service…well, compassion seems not to be part of the working vocabulary.
Somewhere along the line, a large proportion of America settled into an ideological camp which holds that it’s a dog-eat-dog world and that if you can’t compete you deserve whatever fate may befall you. The poor deserve what they get, and we have no responsibility to assist or do for those who can’t or refuse to do for themselves. So many of those holding to this philosophy call themselves Christians…yet they seem incapable of leading a Christ-like life.
I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians. Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.
- Mohandas K. Gandhi
America is not a Christian nation; it’s a secular nation with a Christian majority. That’s a subtle but significant distinction, yet this election finds America’s historical commitment to diversity of belief threatened by those who would turn America into a Dominionist Theocracy, a place where the rule of law is predicated on Biblical principles…or at least what the Religious Rights defines as such. Though these people believe in their hearts that they are righteously doing the work of Jesus Christ, the reality speaks to something very different. They would create an America devoid of compassion, tolerance, and understanding.
THAT is the vision being presented to America as an alternative to Barack Obama. Dismantle the social contract, create a Dominionist Theocracy, and fundamentally alter the system the Founding Fathers created- this is what Conservatives are presenting as a legitimate and reasonable choice, which leads me back to the questions to be answered in November:
What kind of country do we want to be? What kind of people do we aspire to be? Is it about community or cold selfishness and self-interest?
It’s your choice, America.
