NYU social psychologist Jonathan Haidt observes that we are
coming apart. Polarization is out of control and has become the breeding ground
for contempt and intolerance. These have become so intense that many friends
and family have been separated into armed camps.
In Haidt’s keynote address to the APA, he provided some possible
solutions to this escalating and threatening problem. One of them is
self-examination and humility:
·
We are moralistic
hypocrites. We must be more humble and less judgmental. https://youtu.be/vAE-gxKs6gM
Indeed, if we honestly examined ourselves, we would find
less justification for our hyper-judgmentalness and contempt. In support, he
cites a number of religious sages, including Jesus:
·
You hypocrite, first take the log out of your
own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s
eye. (Matthew 7:5)
If we could only see ourselves accurately, we would be too
humbled to hastily stick the accusing finger in another’s place. Consequently,
we have also become too quick diminish the importance of those on the other
side of the aisle. In this regard, Haidt sites J.S. Mill:
·
A party of order or stability and a party of
progress and reform, are both necessary elements of a healthy state or
political life.
This is often the case. We need the corrective tension and
the accountability too often absent in our centers of power, policy, and
education.
However, our problems are far deeper. We no longer believe
in equality and what it entails – the dignity of every human being. Yes, we
believe in it as a useful pragmatic principle, but we believe in it the way we
believe in the counseling principle of unconditional-positive-regard. This is a
valuable therapeutic principle necessary to build a meaningful therapeutic relationship
with a client. If the client does not feel valued, they will remain behind
fortified walls.
However, the therapist often believes in this principle, not
because it is true, but because it works. Instead, he might actually regard his
client with contempt, but he does not dare show it. Consequently, he lives a
double-life.
Likewise, we might greet our neighbor with a smile that
covers our contempt. We fail to see him as a fellow human created in the
likeness of God. Instead, he is a worm, and if he is going to make this a
better world, he should just disappear.
Does this sound extreme? It shouldn’t! When Hillary Clinton called half of the Trump supporters “deplorables,” she was merely expressing the contempt she knew to be on the heart of most of her supporters. Otherwise, she would not have made her contempt public.
Does this sound extreme? It shouldn’t! When Hillary Clinton called half of the Trump supporters “deplorables,” she was merely expressing the contempt she knew to be on the heart of most of her supporters. Otherwise, she would not have made her contempt public.
“Deplorables” are disgusting and irremediable. At the least,
they should be pushed into a closet, where they cannot be heard. Therefore, it
is not a matter of finding common ground with the other side. There is no
common ground. They simply must be resisted – whatever it takes.
It is not simply a matter of exercising a bit of civility or
learning how to appreciate what the other side has to offer. We already have
our minds made up. The other side has to be defeated and silenced.
How did we get to this state? I think that there are many
reasons for this deadly growth of intolerance. However, understanding the
reasons might not contribute to a solution any more than understanding why the
shark chose my leg to ingest will restore my leg or give me the ability to deal
with my loss.
In 1787, this nation had been on the brink of dissolution as
the Continental Congress found itself unable to agree on a constitution. In the
midst of its acrimonious stalemate, the deist Benjamin Franklin arose on June
28, 1787 to recommend something startling but yet decisive:
·
“I have lived, Sir, a long time, and the longer
I live, the more convincing proofs I see of this truth: that God Governs in the
affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without his notice,
is it probable that an empire can rise without his aid? We have been assured,
Sir, in the sacred writings, that ‘except the Lord build the House they labour
in vain that build it.’ I firmly believe this; and I also believe that without
his concurring aid we shall succeed in this political building no better, than
the Builders of Babel . . . I therefore beg leave to move— that henceforth
prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our
deliberations, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to
business, and that one or more of the Clergy of this City be requested to
officiate in that Service.” (Wikipedia)
We have come a long way since then. However, ever as late as
1981, the Senate Chaplain Richard C. Halverson (1981-95) prophetically warned
the Senate:
·
No great nation or empire was defeated from
without before it had rotted from within – spiritually, morally, ethically.
America will be no exception. She will be destroyed not by forces without, but
by her own decadence….the need is critical for her people to take a stand
against the conditions contributing to the pollution and corruption of American
life. Secular humanism, materialism, hedonism, self-indulgence, sexual
permissiveness, drunkenness, drug abuse – a cancer is ravaging America’s health
and strength. (No Greater Power, 46)
Perhaps we have become too proud to humble ourselves in
prayer.
Halverson concluded with this prayer:
·
What will it take, O God, to make us know that
we cannot do it alone? What calamity must fall before we humble ourselves and
acknowledge our dependence on Thee?...Lord God help us. Quicken our minds to
seek Thy wisdom, our hearts to repent, our wills to obey Thee. Return us to the
noble dependence on Thee by which our forefathers persevered against incredible
odds to give us our grand national legacy. In Jesus’ name. Amen!
I fear that we still think that we can address our growing
problems on our own without resorting to the radical surgery of prayer.
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