Saturday, October 27, 2018

Musings of a Maverick Methodist on a Migrant Tidal Wave

  By Rudy Barnes, Jr., October 27, 2018
America watched in fascination and fear as hurricanes Florence and Michael threatened  our shores. We were as prepared as possible for those natural disasters, but we are totally unprepared for the unnatural disaster now moving inexorably toward our southern borders.  It’s a tidal wave of Central American migrants who seem determined to inundate our borders.

America’s two political parties have predicted a red or blue wave in midterm elections.  Democrat political pundits have predicted a blue wave to end Republican control of Congress; but the prospect of a migrant tidal wave is likely to dissipate any blue wave, unless Democrats can offer a disaster preparedness plan for the approaching tsunami of immigrants.

President Trump is exploiting the rising fear of a massive migrant caravan that began in Honduras and is now moving through Mexico.  It has given Republicans an election issue that makes their immigration policies to block Central Americans at the border seem reasonable; and so far Democrats have not proposed any political alternatives, instead emphasizing health care.

The silence of Democrats on the migrant caravan is damning.  In America’s two party duopoly each party must be able to represent a majority of voters to rule and to hold the other accountable.  But that’s not possible with a radical right Republican Party and a leftist Democratic Party that thrives on identity politics. There’s no place for centrists in either party.

The biggest challenge for a democracy is to balance the wants and rights of individuals and identity groups with providing for the common good.  Politics is the art of compromise, and the radicalization and polarization of America’s two political parties has made that impossible. It will take partisan restructuring to give centrists a political voice and make compromise possible.

Neither a party of minorities nor a radical right populist party can provide the consensus needed to resolve critical national issues like those on immigration.  Structural political reforms are needed to overcome the partisan gridlock that has undermined the American civil religion, and any structural reforms must be based on a strong moral foundation.  

Over 70% of Americans claim to be Christians.  Social justice is a priority of Christian morality, but ironically most white Christians vote Republican and ignore social justice issues.  While Democrats are less religious, their obsession with social justice issues that benefit their minority constituents makes it difficult for Democrats to win in statewide and national races.  
               
The greatest commandment provides an altruistic moral imperative that can promote the compromises needed to provide for the common good.  The moral imperative to love God and to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, including our neighbors of other races and religions, is a common word of faith and politics for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

A moral immigration policy requires balancing humanitarian concerns with protecting our borders.  America needs a Congress that can do that. But the lack of moderates in either of the two political parties has left America vulnerable to Trump’s fear-mongering on immigration.  Is a choice between a border wall and open borders the best Congress can do?

Fareed Zakaria has attributed Trump’s political success to the failure of Democrats to compete “in the bloody crossroads of American politics.”  If Trump’s exploitation of American fears of a migrant tidal wave dissipates a blue wave in the midterm elections, the Democrats will have snatched defeat from the jaws of victory, further illustrating the abject failure of America’s polarized two-party duopoly to sustain a healthy democracy.  When will we ever learn?   

Notes:



On conflicting issues in micro immigration policies that favor open borders and social justice issues and macro immigration policies that restrict immigration, and the need to address these issues soon, see https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-immigration-conversation-we-need-to-have--and-soon/2018/10/23/3921ea36-d709-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html?utm_term=.4f94bd15c52a&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1.

David Brooks has characterized the Democratic Party as “...fundamentally a materialist party. The Trumpian challenge is primarily a moral and cultural challenge. But the Democrats are mostly comfortable talking about how to use federal spending to extend benefits. Some Democrats want to spend a lot more (Medicare for all, free college education), and some want to spend less, but their basic instinct is that national problems can be addressed with more federal money. Their basic political instinct is that you win votes by offering material benefits….When Democrats do raise a moral argument, it tends to be of the social justice warrior variety. The core argument in this mode is that the oppressive structures of society marginalize women, minorities and members of the L.G.B.T.Q. communities.  ...If your basic logic is that distinct identity groups are under threat from an oppressive society, it’s very hard to then turn around and defend that society from authoritarian attack, or to articulate any notion of what even unites that society. You can appeal to women as women and to ethnic groups as ethnic groups, but it’s very hard to make a universal appeal to Americans as Americans, or defend the basic American norms that Trump calls into question. It’s a messaging vulnerability that Democrats have imposed upon themselves. ...Instead of drawing disaffected voters away from the G.O.P., [Democrats] seem to be pushing Republicans back to Trump. It has now become evident that Republicans are better at politicizing cultural issues and Democrats are better at offering economic benefits to those who are struggling. See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/22/opinion/midterms-democrats-health-care.html.
Geography makes it difficult for Democrats to get along.  Urban “progressives” promote a path to victory in the midterm elections by motivating their youthful base and moving to the left., while “pragmatic centrists” in the suburbs argue that victory requires ideological moderation to attract independents. See  https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/why-geography-makes-it-difficult-for-democrats-to-get-along/2018/10/22/afe7d4d0-cd6f-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html?utm_term=.e149d8d0a346&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.

Fareed Zakaria has attributed the dilemma of the Democrats to their liberal views on cultural issues “— chiefly immigration, but also things such as transgender bathroom laws and respecting the flag — on which a key group of Americans thinks the Democrats are out of touch. ...the challenge for the Democratic Party politically is not whether it can move left economically but whether it can move right on culture. I say this as someone who agrees with the Democrats on almost every one of these cultural issues. But a large national party must demonstrate that it can accommodate some people who disagree with it on some issues. Doing this without abandoning one’s core principles is a challenge, but it is a challenge Democrats will have to embrace if they seek a durable governing majority.  Eventually, the electorate will be more young and diverse, but in the meantime, the Republican Party is utterly dominant in American politics because it owns the bloody crossroads where culture and politics meet.”  See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/trump-owns-the-bloody-crossroads-of-american-politics/2018/10/25/f3eba9c8-d886-11e8-a10f-b51546b10756_story.html?utm_term=.dcf3e906821f&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.


Defense Secretary Mattis is expected to send some 800 U.S. troops to the border with Mexico. See https://www.npr.org/2018/10/25/660568492/defense-secretary-mattis-will-send-some-800-u-s-troops-to-mexico-border.


Related commentary:

(1/11/15): The Greatest Commandment: A Common Word of Faith
(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
(2/22/15): Religion and Human Rights
(3/8/15): Wealth, Politics, Religion and Economic Justice
(3/29/15): God and Country: Resolving Conflicting Concepts of Sovereignty
(5/10/15): Religion, Human Rights and National Security
(5/24/15): De Oppresso Liber: Where Religion and Politics Intersect
(5/31/15): Liberation from Economic Oppression: A Human Right or Obligation of Faith?   http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/05/liberation-from-economic-oppression.html
(6/28/15): Confronting the Evil Among Us
(7/12/15): Reconciliation in Race and Religion: The Need for Compatibility, not Conformity http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/07/reconciliation-in-race-and-religion.html
(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities
(9/27/15): Religion, the Pope and Politics in the Real World
(11/8/15): Tough Love and the Duty to Protect Life and Liberty
(11/15/15): American Exceptionalism: The Power of Persuasion or Coercion?
(11/29/15): Religion, Refugees and the Law: Where Jesus and Muhammad Meet Today
(12/5/15): Faith, Hope and Love in a World of Fear, Suspicion and Hate
(12/19/15): Taking Lives and Liberty in the Name of God
(12/26/15): Resettling Refugees: Multiculturalism versus Assimilation
(1/23/16): Who Is My Neighbor?
(1/30/16): The Politics of Loving Our Neighbors as Ourselves
(3/19/16): Religion, Democracy and Human Depravity
(7/2/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in the Wake of Globalization
(7/9/16): Back to the Future: Race, Religion, Rights and a Politics of Reconciliation
(7/23/16): Reconciliation and Reality
(8/5/16): How Religion Can Bridge Our Political and Cultural Divide http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2016/08/how-religion-can-bridge-our-political.html
(9/17/16): A Moral Revival to Restore Legitimacy to Our Politics
(9/24/16): The Evolution of Religion and Politics from Oppression to Freedom
(11/5/16): Religion, Liberty and Justice at Home and Abroad
(12/10/16): Partisan Alternatives for a Politics of Reconciliation
(12/31/16): E Pluribus Unum, Religion and a Politics of Reconciliation
(1/7/17): Religion and Reason as Sources of Political Legitimacy, and Why They Matter
(3/4/17): Ignorance and Reason in Religion and Politics
(3/11/17): Accountability and the Stewardship of Democracy
(3/18/17): Moral Ambiguity in Religion and Politics
(7/29/17): Speaking God’s Truth to Man’s Power
(12/2/17): How Religious Standards of Legitimacy Shape Politics, for Good or Bad
(1/6/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Diversity in Democracy
(1/20/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Morality and Religion in Politics
(1/27/18): Musings on Conflicting Concepts of Christian Morality in Politics
(3/24/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christian Morality as a Standard of Legitimacy http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/03/musings-of-maverick-methodist-on_24.html
(3/31/18): Altruism: The Missing Ingredient in American Christianity and Democracy
(4/7/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Need for a Moral Reformation
(4/28/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Virtues and Vices of Christian Morality
(5/5/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Nostalgia as an Obstacle to Progress
(5/12/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Christianity and Making America Great Again
(7/7/18): Whose America Is This? Musings on Conflicting Standards of Legitimacy in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/07/whose-america-is-this-musings-on.html.
(7/21/18): Musings on America’s Moral and Political Mess and Who Should Clean It Up
(8/4/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Religious Problems and Solutions in Politics
(8/11/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Changing Morality in Religion and Politics
(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
(10/6/18): Musings on Moral Universalism in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-moral-universalism-in.html.
(10/13/18): Musings on a Common Word of Faith and Politics for Christians and Muslims
(10/20/18): Musings of an Old White Male Maverick Methodist in a Tribal Culture
http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/lamentations-of-old-white-male-maverick.html.


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Saturday, October 20, 2018

Lamentations of an Old White Male Maverick Methodist in a Tribal Culture

 By Rudy Barnes, Jr.
I am an old white male (OWM) alienated from my traditional tribes.  As a retired United Methodist pastor, I have rejected exclusivist church doctrines and left my religious tribe to be a progressive Christian.  I believe that God is bigger than any religion and I promote interfaith reconciliation as a priority of my faith; but few Christians in our tribal culture share that belief.

I am a progressive Jeffersonian libertarian in my politics--and that’s not an oxymoron.  I believe that protecting human rights should be a priority of government, but that individual rights must be balanced with the obligation to provide for the common good for democracy to survive.  Our two-party duopoly has made that balance difficult with radicalized and polarized politics.

I was a Republican during the 1970s, but I left that political tribe after the religious right  and neo-conservatives became dominant in the GOP. Since 2016 I have opposed Donald Trump and his radical right Republican minions, but have never supported the leftist identity politics of the Democratic Party.  As a political centrist I have no political tribe.
I practised law for 50 years.  When I started in 1967, I believed the law was a noble profession.  I continue to respect many lawyers, but I am disappointed with the law profession.  Our legal system was envisioned to serve the public, but today it exploits the public.  It’s just another business that puts profit before public service and it denigrates itself with offensive ads.

I am a retired Army officer who remains part of the military tribe.  I have great respect for those in the military and law enforcement who risk their lives to protect others, and I oppose politicians who promote wars, most of whom have never worn the uniform.  It has been rightly observed that war is a terrible thing, and that the only thing worse than winning a war is losing it.

Religion is a primary source of a nation’s standards of moral legitimacy in politics, law and military operations.  Christianity has long shaped the American civil religion, but today the altruistic moral imperatives taught by Jesus are conspicuously absent in its politics.  It is ironic that in 2016 white Christians gave a man who represents the antithesis of Christian morality the reigns of political power, and in so doing threw Jesus under the bus.

Christians struggling to follow the teachings of Jesus no longer have a voice in our polarized partisan politics.  We live in a red and blue tribal culture, and our most intractable differences on matters of race, religion and sex have been polarized in a partisan duopoly.  Religious and political reconciliation in America is essential, but it seems an impossible dream.

Before churches can promote political reconciliation, they must acknowledge their complicity in promoting red and blue tribalism.  Most white Christians vote Republican and most blacks vote Democratic. Evangelical church pulpits promote Republicans and black pulpits promote Democrats, while most pulpits in white mainstream churches are silent on politics.

Christians need to hear their pastors preach on how the teachings of Jesus relate to the stewardship of democracy.  They could start with the greatest commandment to love God and to love their neighbors--including their neighbors of other races and religions--as they love themselves.  That’s a common word of faith and politics for Jews, Christians and Muslims.

I remember when most Americans cared about others, and lament that most Americans now follow the self-centered teachings of Ayn Rand rather than the altruistic teachings of Jesus.  America may seem just fine with low unemployment and a booming stock market, but it isn’t. America is polarized politically and economically--an us versus them tribal culture seething with resentment.  If we don’t find a recipe for reconciliation soon, we will be overcome by darkness.


Notes:

The Kavanaugh confirmation process illustrated the deep divisions in the American tribal culture. “There is a split culturally, spiritually and socially,” said Sen. John Neely Kennedy (R-La.); and William J. Bennett said, “This is the second most divided time in our history, comparing the current moment to the breakdowns that preceded the Civil War.  Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) said “There is a real question of whether we can all move forward amid these cultural and human challenges and the raw partisanship. The damage will be enduring to the court and the country.” Under the pressure of these divisions, no public official has been able to rise above the fray to chart a path forward toward greater national unity and mutual understanding. Moral outrage has been accepted as the basic currency of political debate, opponents regularly attack each others’ motives along with their positions, and honest reflection, when it cuts through the maw, is often dismissed as a sign of weakness or posturing.  Americans from the halls of Congress to the kitchen table were forced to fill in the blanks themselves. Public polling showed they did so by overwhelmingly falling back on their political identities, a tribal response that tracks other evidence of increasing polarization. An August Pew poll found 78 percent of Americans say Democrats and Republicans disagree not only on “plans and policies” but on “basic facts.” https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/rock-bottom-supreme-court-fight-reveals-a-country-on-the-brink/2018/10/06/426886e2-c96f-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.45a757d82b93&wpisrc=nl_headlines&wpmm=1

Tom Toles has described Trump’s objective to divide and conquer us in our tribal culture.  “We are not, in fact, lacking in unity in this country. We have more unity than ever. It’s just that it’s within two increasingly irreconcilable factions. This is the product of President Trump’s imperishable ‘Us vs. Them’ worldview. ...He has seen and felt the lift he gets from stigmatizing and demonizing, and it doesn’t matter to him whether the enemies he tars are foreigners or fellow citizens.  Adam Serwer, writing recently in the Atlantic, described Trump’s hold on his followers in a fully distilled formulation: ‘The president’s ability to execute that cruelty through word and deed makes them euphoric. It makes them feel good, it makes them feel proud, it makes them feel happy, it makes them feel united. And as long as he makes them feel that way, they will let him get away with anything, no matter what it costs them.’  This is little different in its properties from our opioid epidemic. And it’s similarly toxic and dangerous. Addiction epidemics do not last forever, and we may outlast this one. But the longer the treatment is delayed, the greater the damage. And, yes, that which doesn’t kill you can make you stronger. That is, of course, if it doesn’t kill you.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/opinions/wp/2018/10/12/trump-again-shows-he-will-divide-us-to-conquer-us/?utm_term=.d22fe086ff80&wpisrc=nl_popns&wpmm=1.

Richard Cohen has described America’s economic inequities as a sinkhole of its own making. “If you grew up with all sorts of chest-thumping statistics on what a wonderful place the United States was, you now must learn that our vaunted middle class is cratering, that the lower classes have sunk even lower, that income disparity is increasing and that rich American men live 15 years longer than poor American men, ‘who endure only as long as men in Sudan or Pakistan.’ Ah, America — not so exceptional anymore.
The rich now are very rich. The ultrarich are even more ultra. Yet, all this wealth has had “zero impact on the average pay of 117 million Americans,’ writes Anand Giridharadas in The Elite Charade of Changing the World. Since 1980, the income of the top 1 percent of Americans has more than tripled. In that same period, the income of the bottom 50 percent had remained nearly exactly the same. As for the top 0.001 percent, their income has increased sevenfold. It turns out that a rising tide may not lift all boats, but it does turn some into superyachts. For some on the left, the remedy is now socialism. Yet, outside of the lecture hall, it has worked nowhere. The real remedy would be a political uprising in which the trends and the current situation are denounced as, truly, un-American.” See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/america-is-in-a-sinkhole-of-its-own-making/2018/10/08/cfd855fa-cb24-11e8-a360-85875bac0b1f_story.html?noredirect=on&utm_term=.31b891c691c7&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1

Michael Gerson has described the lengths to which Trump’s evangelical supporters go in distorting the teachings of Jesus with a recent tweet by Jerry Falwell, Jr.: “Conservatives & Christians need to stop electing ‘nice guys’. They might make great Christian leaders but the US needs street fighters like @realDonaldTrump at every level of government b/c the liberal fascists Dems are playing for keeps & many Repub leaders are a bunch of wimps!”  It is paradoxical that some conservative Christians should reject the concept of a “living Constitution” while embracing the “living Beatitudes.” Blessed are the street fighters. Blessed are those who compare their enemies to Nazis. Blessed are the bullies. On second thought, this is less paradoxical than heretical. It is also common in Christian history. In a variety of political and cultural contexts — under the rule of Constantine, and Charlemagne, and the Romanovs, and Mike Pence — Christian believers have turned to government to protect and further their institutional interests. Henry VIII — who practiced his own vigorous form of misogyny — was given the title: “Defender of the Faith.” I suppose some at the time might have reasoned: At least he isn’t a wimp.  See https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/as-jesus-said-nice-guys-finish-last/2018/10/01/22b954ea-c599-11e8-b1ed-1d2d65b86d0c_story.html?utm_term=.5239c8b12c64&wpisrc=nl_opinions&wpmm=1.

The undying bond between the Bible Belt and Trump is as pervasive as it is paradoxical.  See https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/14/us/politics/trump-southern-voters-campaign-rallies.html.  And in other parts of the country there’s less interest in religion and politics, and It’s getting harder to talk about God.  See  https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/13/opinion/sunday/talk-god-sprituality-christian.html.


Related Commentary:    

(12/8/14): Religion and Reason
(12/29/14): Religion, Violence and Military Legitimacy
(1/4/15): Religion and New Beginnings: Salvation and Reconciliation in the Family of God
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(1/18/15): Love over Law: A Principle at the Heart of Legitimacy
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(4/12/15): Faith as a Source of Morality and Law: The Heart of Legitimacy
(4/19/15): Jesus: A Prophet, God’s Only Son, or the Logos?  http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2015/04/jesus-prophet-god-only-son-or-logos.html
(6/21/15): Christians Meet Muslims Today
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(8/9/15): Balancing Individual Rights with Collective Responsibilities
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(2/20/16): The Evolution of Faith, Religion and Spirituality
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(7/2/16): The Need for a Politics of Reconciliation in the Wake of Globalization
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(7/23/16): Reconciliation and Reality
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(8/25/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on Moral Priorities in Religion and Politics
(9/1/18): Musings on the American Civil Religion and Christianity at a Crossroads
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(9/29/18): Musings of a Maverick Methodist on the Resurrection of Christian Universalism
(10/6/18): Musings on Moral Universalism in Religion and Politics http://www.religionlegitimacyandpolitics.com/2018/10/musings-on-moral-universalism-in.html.
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