The Great American Experiment

"And on that day you will cry out because of your king, whom you have chosen for yourselves, but the Lord will not answer you on that day" (1 Samuel 8:18).

In many ways, last night's election results are a mirror that reflect our nation accurately. Lord have mercy. 

We are a nation divided in terms of political ideology, in terms of race and ethnicity, and in terms of socioeconomic status. But a substantial majority of the voting public has spoken. The question is no longer whether this or that candidate is more qualified or deserving. The question now is, How do we move forward with another four years of President Donald J. Trump?

To those like me on the losing side of the election now is the time to live out and embody our commitment to democracy and the common good—what historian Alexis de Tocqueville has called the great American experiment.

The next four years are a test of our ability to build community amid strife and let compassion guide our actions. There is a lot of real suffering, pain, and trauma coming. Will we stoke the fires of hate and division or heal the wounds of injustice? We must offer nonviolent resistance to the forces of authoritarianism and oppression but not at the cost of those trampled underfoot. To paraphrase Pope Francis, the world is a battlefield and the church is a field hospital. As Christians we ought to organize for social change but we cannot ignore the real  human suffering in front of us.

Sadly, not all those on my side of the political divide agree. Instead, they speak about organizing for anti-fascist resistance. To them I offer a word of caution from Friedrich Nietzsche: “Beware that, when fighting monsters, you yourself do not become a monster.”

To reject totalitarianism is to trust the democratic process. The inherent risk is the possibility of a population swayed by populist rhetoric. As in matters of faith, there is no place for coercion in democracy—we must trust our fellow citizens and hope to persuade them. Once we cross that line where we apply force—be it legal, political, or martial—to control the outcome of an election, we have embraced fascism.

I would rather focus on the human side of the equation. Why are so many voting for Trump despite his obvious shortcomings? 

Clearly, he has connected on a visceral level with so many different subgroups across these United States, from white male working class voters to disaffected African American and Latino men to Catholic and Evangelical Christians, which to me suggests that Trump and the GOP have listened to their concerns in a more authentic way than has the Democratic Party.

What are we doing to reach out to these groups? Are we taking their concerns seriously? Or are we dismissing their concerns by casting them into Hillary Clinton's dreaded "basket of deplorables"?

​Not only is that not Christ-like behavior, it's a surefire way to continue losing elections.