Principles, Common Ground, and Unity (in that order)


Barack Obama: “On this day, we gather because we have chosen hope over fear, unity of purpose over conflict and discord.”

Donald Trump: “The Bible tells us, how good and pleasant it is when God's people live together in unity.” ... “When America is united, America is totally unstoppable.”
Presidents of the “United” States of America, like to urge their fellow Americans to be united.
In his inauguration speech Joseph Biden called for unity six times.
“To overcome these challenges – to restore the soul and to secure the future of America – requires more than words.It requires that most elusive of things in a democracy:
Unity. Unity.”
“With unity we can do great things. Important things.”
“History, faith, and reason show the way, the way of unity.”
“For without unity, there is no peace, only bitterness and fury.”
“This is our historic moment of crisis and challenge, and unity is the path forward.”
“And together, we shall write an American story of hope, not fear. Of unity, not division.”
While unity is definitely a valuable tool when striving toward a common goal, we have a potential problem: the common goal.
Abraham Lincoln said, “a house divided against itself cannot stand” (a paraphrasing of Luke 11:17, Mark 3:24-26, Matthew 12:25-26), but notice he doesn’t specify whether the house is standing for something good or bad, only that it’s standing. This is ironic because Lincoln and “The Union” waged a long and bloody war to ensure the Confederate States of America did NOT stand.
But Lincoln is just one of many to use unity for questionable or evil purposes.
A united Roman Empire watched and cheered as Christians were fed to the lions in the coliseum.
During the Holocaust, a united National Socialist German Worker’s (Nazi) Party nearly exterminated the Jews.
The united Chinese Communist Party is persecuting the church and other religions.(1)
Islamic radicals are united in executing Christians in Nigeria.(2)
And in the US, local governments (governors, legislators, DAs, and cops) have united in targeting churches with all manner of unfair regulations, bizarre fines, lawsuits, and threats of being permanently shut down(3).
Now I’m not saying that unity is a bad thing. Merriam Webster defines unity as “a condition of harmony.” What I am saying is that unity and harmony mustn't come at the expense of righteousness.
The Bible makes this distinction explicitly clear. “But the wisdom from above is FIRST pure, THEN peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.”-James 3:17
Now don’t misunderstand me. I’m not expecting Americans to unite around the Bible, the Ten Commandments, or even the Constitution. We’re far too diverse a country for that. But I do believe it is possible.
However, doing so will require each of us to go the extra mile. Because we not only must remain grounded in our own principles, but we must also take the time to find common ground with the principles of our political opponents. That is where we can find unity without sacrificing our morality.

Sources:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psaki: It’s ‘Unfair And Absurd’ That Companies Would Raise Costs For Consumers Due To Higher Taxes

  Spoken like someone who has never managed the costs of running a business. Profit = price - costs Costs include but are not limited to: employees, certifications, facility mortgages, materials, gas, electricity, and taxes. Profit is becoming a demonized word, but the reality is if a company cannot make a profit then it cannot provide employment opportunities and it cannot provide goods and services to people in the local community. Most companies in the US. only make 8% profit. (1) With such a slim margin, if any of the above costs go up, then the average company has no choice but to raise prices just to stay afloat. It is absurd that the administration does not get such basic economics 1. https://wordsandnumbers.libsyn.com/you-just-hate-the-poor...
Read more

Why is the Post Office Terrible?

Image
We are halfway through December. This is the busiest time of year for companies like UPS, Fedex, and Amazon. And the question on everyone's mind is, “Can I get my package delivered by the 25th?” All of this is going on, just like it does every year, and yet….my local Post Office had one solitary person working the front desk. This would have been irritating on its face, but to add insult to injury, an older woman next to me heralded the Post Office’s “efficiency” and assured everyone that we would be in and out “quickly.” While I recognize that patience is a virtue and a Fruit of the Spirit, the Post Office was not efficient and after waiting 45 minutes (with a long line of people still behind me), I can also say it was not quick. Looking into the Post Office’s history reveals a long line of inefficiencies. They haven’t made a profit since 2006 and in 2019 alone the Post Office lost 8.8 BILLION dollars (that’s $8,800,000,000)(1) What’s the deal? Why does this happen? The Foundation...
Read more

How Things Become Politicized

There is a growing lament among centrists and moderates that everything has become political (1). In Luke 11:17 Jesus says, “Every Kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and a divided household falls.” And boy is America divided. From sports, to beans. Ice cream to pillows, politics (and the strife that it brings) seems to have invaded every aspect of our lives.(2) But how did we get here? The latest kerfuffle of the MLB All Star game is an excellent example. Following the drama of the 2020 election, the Republican-controlled legislature in Georgia passed a bill that changed election laws. The stated intent of the bill was to secure the integrity of their elections. Democrat politicians claimed this was a racist attempt to disenfranchise minorities. All of this is pretty typical for American politics. The MLB entered the picture when the Players Association threatened to move the All-Star game out of Georgia. After that it was game over. President Biden announced his support fo...
Read more