#SOTU: Christians, Let’s Abandon Polarization, and Be Part of the Solution–Not Part of the Problem

I admit it. I get pretty jaded about politics sometimes. The talking heads. The games. The aggrandizement of one’s own political party and demonization of the other party.

It’s easy to let that kind of an attitude sink in on nights like tonight. It’s easy to get frustrated and mad and irritated at whichever guys and gals seem to be most screwing things up.

It’s easy to watch the State of the Union and assume it’s all posturing and politics and theater.

But what if the State of the Union–and tonight’s Republican response–are actually opportunities for engagement? What if instead of advocating the sainthood of our party and damning to hell the other party, we could listen attentively to both our allies and opponents? What the Christian view of humankind as made in the image of God but also sinful and fallen could be a lens through which we see our political engagement?

When we look at our party, let’s not just see “the only hope for America.” Let’s be attentive to the flaws and imperfections. Let’s notice the selfish tendencies. Let’s be willing to be self-critical in the midst of commending the good.

When we look at the other party, let’s not see good-for-nothings who are destroying America. Let’s realize it’s not that simple. Let’s respect that most people get into politics at least in part to do some good, even if we disagree with how they are going about it. Let’s dare to see the imago Dei in our political opponents. Let’s study their proposals and mine them for positive themes that we can commend.

We as Christians can be part of the polarization in our country if we want. We can shout from one side of the political divide at the other side. We can be part of the problem, part of the reason people are so angry with each other and important problems don’t get solved.

Or we can stop for just a moment and realize we are all flawed people and most of us are trying to do some good. We can be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to become angry. We can model respectful disagreement instead of attacks and name-calling. We can refuse to answer attacks in kind. We can dare to get to know people who think differently and understand better why they think as they do. This kind of respectful discourse–even in moments of grave disagreement–could go far to build up our country instead of tear it down, and it could do much to increase our credibility in a world that has concluded that Christians are no different than anybody else, that we are just out for ourselves.

In that spirit, here are some things that stood out to me from the State of the Union and the Republican response tonight. (These points are not exhaustive as you can read the full speech here):

President Obama’s State of the Union address had much to commend. Notably, he outlined the significant progress made in recovery from the recession, framing America as “a strong, tight-knit family who has made it through some very, very hard times.” He framed the policies of his administration as “middle-class economics,” economics built around helping average working Americans manage to succeed and provide adequately for their families.

That’s what middle-class economics is — the idea that this country does best when everyone gets their fair shot, everyone does their fair share, and everyone plays by the same set of rules.

Potentially helpful ideas presented by President Obama to help achieve “middle-class economics included: $3000 tax breaks per child for childcare, movement toward paid maternity and sick leave, equal pay for equal work for women in the work force, and the provision of free community college education for those willing to work for it. He also appealed to businesses to provide educational benefits to their employees. And to pay for his proposals, he called for tax loopholes for the wealthy to be closed so that all could pay their fair share in taxes. Agree or disagree with his methods, President Obama’s proposals do seem to come from a place of wanting everybody to get a “fair shake.”

Internationally, I found the President’s engagement with foreign policy helpfully-framed. He said:

When we make rash decisions, reacting to the headlines instead of using our heads; when the first response to a challenge is to send in our military — then we risk getting drawn into unnecessary conflicts, and neglect the broader strategy we need for a safer, more prosperous world.

President Obama augmented this cautious approach to conflict with a desire to work together with broad coalitions in the world: something that is certainly difficult to achieve but far more effective than unilateral action.

At times, the speech’s aspirational quality belied belief a bit; while appeals to common values can move people to action, sometimes such appeals neglect our opportunity to repent for our errors and failures. If we can’t acknowledge our flaws and blind spots, I question whether we can fully move beyond them. But on the other hand, the President’s aspirational rhetorical style calls us to what we want to be, even if sometimes we do not live up to those aspirations. It can help create a vision that we all want to participate in. It helps us imagine those moments in our history when we were at our very best, and it helps us long to recreate that reality for a new generation.

In my opinion, though, the moment where President Obama really hit his stride in the speech was near the end where he referenced his famous speech at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston, the speech in which he reminded us all, “There’s not a liberal America and a conservative America—there’s the United States of America.” In tonight’s speech, President Obama pointed out that many pundits had pointed out his failure to move beyond gridlock. I appreciated greatly his acknowledgment with his critics in regards to his flaws: “ of which there are many.” I can’t recall hearing a political leader stand up and admit–however parenthetically–that they are flawed. President Obama is not always known for his humility, but I felt this was a humble, gentle moment, and I couldn’t help but commend him for it. I do think there are ways he has contributed to the continued gridlock in Washington D.C. And if all he were to do was to point the finger at others (as he has sometimes done), his response would be far less helpful.

Then he dared to praise his often-opponents and to return to his call to something more than the morass of politics as they are today:

There are a lot of good people here, on both sides of the aisle. And many of you have told me that this isn’t what you signed up for — arguing past each other on cable shows, the constant fundraising, always looking over your shoulder at how the base will react to every decision.

Imagine if we broke out of these tired old patterns. Imagine if we did something different.

Understand — a better politics isn’t one where Democrats abandon their agenda or Republicans simply embrace mine.

A better politics is one where we appeal to each other’s basic decency instead of our basest fears….

If we’re going to have arguments, let’s have arguments — but let’s make them debates worthy of this body and worthy of this country.

What powerful words. When I wrote the introduction to my piece here, I did not know the President would be featuring these themes of unity and rising above the muck of cynical politics so prominently. (I may or may not have responded to this section with an “Amen!”)

We can agree or disagree with the President on a multitude of issues. I disagree with him particularly prominently on the issue of abortion. But I recognize in him a man who does want good for this country. A man who got into this politics thing because he wanted to serve and bring people together.

And sometimes he has failed to live up to his own ideals, but that doesn’t mean the ideals were bad. When it comes to his exhortation to have better arguments, to have better debates, and to imagine a world we treat each other with decency and respect even when we disagree, I am fully on board. Those are the same ideals I try to live by each day. I think they are sorely missing in our politics (particularly, by the way, for those of us who are Christians and really should know better). I pray that he will be able to live up to those ideals in his last two years in office–at least most of the time.

Senator Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) offered the official Republican response tonight, and I wanted to write just a short word of gratitude for her approach as well. Senator Ernst set a classy tone for the evening by opening her short response with this statement, “Even if we may not always agree, it’s important to hear different points of view in this great country of ours.” In saying this, she modeled something of what President Obama was describing in that final section of his speech. She was daring to have a better argument, rather than a jaded, demonizing one. I deeply appreciated this respectful tone.

Senator Ernst may not have had a lot of time in which to speak, but she managed to bring in many of the central principles of the Republican perspective. She notably described her upbringing that included lots of hard work on the farm and not a lot of material possessions. She honorably lifted up the important values of middle America, “We were raised to live simply, not to waste” and “Our parents may not have had much, but they worked hard for what they did have.” I’ve met these folks who really do work hard, take care of their neighbors, and don’t waste what they have. When it comes to what conservativism has to offer, these virtues rank high on the list. She also expressed compassion for the hard times everyday people have endured in the past years of recession. She upheld the importance of the armed forces and acknowledged recent terrorism incidents–not just in Paris, but also the one in Nigeria that got far less press despite massive casualties. In a world where white lives are so often treated as more important than black ones, this mention seemed notable. She also lifted up that important value of defending the most vulnerable life in our society. There were areas where I would differ with her, but overall she kept the discourse respectful and modeled a helpful tone of communication.

Tonight, I am grateful for the leaders who give of their time and energy to go into public service. Their jobs are hard and laden with constant stress. They aren’t thanked much for their efforts. And while there is plenty to complain about in Washington, for tonight I simply give thanks that two of our leaders managed to keep a respectful tone in their communication and to model an attempt to find some common ground. I hope that trend will continue. And most of all, I call on my fellow Americans–and especially my fellow Christians–to be part of that solution, rather than part of the problem.

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Header photo source: Pete Souza (Executive Office of the President of the United States) [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons

Other photo source: Stellar (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons