Divided We Fail
The divisions currently deeping in the country are often portrayed as liberals vs. conservatives, but those banners don’t get at the heart of the real issues.
We are a nation divided more than ever in my lifetime. Some call the division liberals vs. conservatives. But today the liberals are for conserving our natural resources like Teddy Roosevelt, and the conservatives are weighing in against states’ rights on several issues. We may be divided under those banners, but those are not really the issues.
I think the division is whether we see the government as them or as us. Take health care. If government is them, then we don’t want them meddling in our health care. And we don’t want them to force us to help care for our neighbors. But if the government is we the people, then we want to take control of our health care.
Some people want congregations to just pitch in and help each other. If we leave this to congregations, then wealthy congregations can take care of the wealthy, poor congregations can sell their property to care for their needy, and the homeless can rely on the vast resources of the Rescue Mission. I regret to inform you that in Roanoke the Interfaith Hospitality Network cares for working families who are nevertheless homeless. It ain’t easy out there.
There is also the great religious divide. As it was in the lands that our forefather escaped from, many feel that their religion will be weakened if those around them are not mandated to follow the commandments of their religion.
The conservatives have tapped into this, becoming the true conservatives of pre-American values. But there is no way to compromise on religion. This is why the Taliban are so difficult; they know in their hearts and souls that they are right.
But as a member of a minority religion, I can tell you that we have been strengthened and unified by this situation. When John F. Kennedy ran for office, he said that the Roman Catholic religion guided his personal life, but that religion had no place in the way he conducted his public duties. In the context of American history, that is a totally conservative stance and a requirement for our nation to function as a democracy.
While our racial divide has gotten small, I have to tell you that it is still here. Some people really do feel gored because a person of color is in the top office. This is also an issue of no compromise. You can’t compromise when there is no logic. Those with a racial agenda are like those with a religious agenda: They can only work for this administration to fail, and thus their elected government to fail.
Today, we have folks participating in tea parties. The Boston Tea Party was not a protest against paying taxes. It was a protest against sending taxes back to England without any representation in that government as to how the taxes would be spent. If we don’t have representation in our government then we need to vote in the primaries and the elections.
We need to work with those representatives on how to accomplish our nation’s goals. We need to continue to improve our nation and to grow as we have been doing for more than 200 years. This land and this government are ours, and we need to continue to work to make them all that they can be.
The Puritans came to this country for the right of everyone to worship as Puritans. The United Church of Christ has come a long way since then. We all need to come a long way. We must come together so that we are divided only by how best to make this a more efficient, caring and prosperous nation with respect for all our citizens.
Bob Peckman, of Roanoke, is a musician and a retired engineer and scientist from ITT.
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