The Gospel of Matthew remembers Jesus saying: “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste and no city or house divided against itself will stand.” Given the tenor of current public discourse, it seems a verse worth remembering.
Instead of talking with one another, we seem more content to talk at or against each other and call that conversation. It’s not.
The one thing that each generation of religious and political conservatives and liberals seem able to agree on is that the world needs changing for the better. We just can’t seem to agree on the best ways to bring about those changes. One side thinks the best way to change society is by changing individual people, and leans on religious communities to lead the way through acts of compassion and charity. The other side leans towards large scale change brought about by government action, believing perhaps that government is also an instrument of God able to bring about institutional and systemic change. Changing society’s structure can bring about justice for all. But instead of talking and working together, both sides act as if only one side is right. The truth is closer to this: we cannot change society without changing people and cannot change people without also changing the society that conditions and shapes people’s behavior and attitude. Our persistent failure to acknowledge the presence of truth on both sides brings only an angry and heated stalemate. Our failure to bring together the best parts of all sides makes this old story all too true:
If someone is drowning a hundred yards from shore, a conservative will throw out fifty yards of rope and shout, I’ve done my part, now you do yours! A liberal will throw out 200 yards of rope and yell, I’ve given you more than enough, but will soon lose interest and let go of his end of the rope.
Could we at least agree that neither approach saves nor serves the neighbor? Now, if only we would stop yelling and start talking, perhaps we would find common ground and by leaning upon what we hold in common could better serve and save a drowning world.
