faux<\/em> conservative for what I\u2019m about to say.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I have watched with real concern as American society has divided itself up into aggrieved tribes, each demonizing the other, regarding the other as morally depraved and the embodiment of evil, unwilling to compromise, punishing those who do<\/em> attempt to compromise.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
I understand that some politicians genuinely are<\/em> evil. \u00a0Hitler certainly was, as was Mussolini. \u00a0Hillary Clinton isn\u2019t in their league, obviously, but I do see her as not merely wrong on policy issues but, more fundamentally, cynical and corrupt. \u00a0And Donald Trump, in my view, is a nationalist authoritarian demagogue, a crassly vulgar statist of no discernible principle who is, moreover, personally amoral.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
However,\u00a0most politicians, left and right, are flawed but decent people, trying to do their best. \u00a0And, in a democratic republic such as ours, it\u2019s useful to have opposing parties, because they can often see and point out flaws even in policy proposals that we like. \u00a0Furthermore, there simply isn\u2019t a national consensus to do some of the things that my side (or the other side) would like to do. \u00a0And the nature of our country, constitutional prescribed and illustrated throughout our history, is compromise. \u00a0Not on fundamental principles, but on practical and temporary measures.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
I understand that one can compromise too much<\/em>. \u00a0I know what \u201cselling out\u201d means.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
But to\u00a0absolutely refuse to\u00a0compromise at all<\/em> is, effectively, to engage in a kind of holy war.<\/p>\n\u00a0<\/p>\n
The results of such refusal to reach accommodation with each other can be seen in American history between 1861 and 1865. \u00a0 Many people died because of it. \u00a0Cities were destroyed and wealth squandered. \u00a0And \u2014 someday I\u2019ll expand upon this \u2014 the nature of American governance was permanently changed, and not for the good. \u00a0The states ceded a great deal of power to the central government in Washington DC, and they never got it back. \u00a0Federalism took a body blow from which it hasn\u2019t recovered, and probably won\u2019t recover.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Perhaps we should study the history of the Nephites for even more than spiritual and theological lessons.<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
Posted from Richmond, Virginia<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u00a0 \u00a0 I\u2019ve been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: \u00a0 And the people were divided one against another; and they did\u00a0separate\u00a0one from another into tribes, every man according to his family and his kindred and friends; and thus they did destroy the government of the land. \u00a0And every […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1019,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-33550","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
Written for our day<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Written for our day\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Sic et Non\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-05-17T19:12:50+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-05-17T20:37:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/05\/Malvern_Cannons__Civil_War_Battlefield_RIchmond_National_Battlefield_-_Stierch-1-768x1024.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Dan Peterson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html\",\"name\":\"Written for our day\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-05-17T19:12:50+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-05-17T20:37:12+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\"},\"description\":\" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Written for our day\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/\",\"name\":\"Sic et Non\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045\",\"name\":\"Dan Peterson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Dan Peterson\"},\"description\":\"\\\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\\\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Written for our day","description":" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Written for our day","og_description":" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html","og_site_name":"Sic et Non","article_published_time":"2016-05-17T19:12:50+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-05-17T20:37:12+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/wp.production.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/files\/2016\/05\/Malvern_Cannons__Civil_War_Battlefield_RIchmond_National_Battlefield_-_Stierch-1-768x1024.jpg"}],"author":"Dan Peterson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Dan Peterson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html","name":"Written for our day","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-05-17T19:12:50+00:00","dateModified":"2016-05-17T20:37:12+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045"},"description":" I've been thinking a lot lately about 3 Nephi 7:2-7 which reads as follows: And the people were divided one against another; and they","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/2016\/05\/written-for-our-day.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Written for our day"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/","name":"Sic et Non","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/77113e9b09701bd1599fa272c4f65045","name":"Dan Peterson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5ed1a72d26805e35a503e3167599df7c?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Dan Peterson"},"description":"\"Life was very unsatisfying until I discovered Dan's blog, which gave me a reason to live.\" (gemli, 7 November 2019)","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/author\/danpeterson"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33550","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1019"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=33550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/33550\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=33550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=33550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/danpeterson\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=33550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"Two](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/186\/2016\/05\/Malvern_Cannons__Civil_War_Battlefield_RIchmond_National_Battlefield_-_Stierch-1.jpg\")
<\/a>