A Moment of Reckoning and of Hope
It is with great sadness that I pen this first President’s Perspective of 2021. Like many of you, I watched in amazement and anger last week as an angry and armed mob stormed our nation’s Capital and attempted to use force to overturn our election results. And while this attempted coup continues to send shockwaves across our nation and around the world, the same questions that were being asked before these events continue to haunt us: How do we as Americans and as the Church make sense of this extraordinary moment? How do we begin to reverse the course of history we have been writing for far too long? And how do we begin to repair the damage done to our democracy and to our social fabric?
Sadly, I know too well the impact of hate and division on a people. Having worked far too closely on the issue of national and interstate terrorism, I have heard with my own ears and seen with my own eyes the effect of “tribal” hate and distrust. The process of dehumanization between two or more peoples has long-lasting and devastating consequences. Once even local violence is utilized, it is not much longer before all-out war happens. And while civil war hasn’t been top of mind for most Americans for many generations, let us not kid ourselves. We are as vulnerable to the effects of division and hate as any other peoples in the world. We are fickle and frail beings with a far too short memory of the past. It is time we woke up to the possibility of what can happen if we allow the polarization in our nation to continue to fester.
Let us be clear, while 74 million Americans may have cast their vote on November 3rd, 20201 for President Donald Trump, what happened last week was not the SOLE responsibility of nor sanctioned by those same 74 million Americans. The fault of last week’s events cannot and should not become the burden of only one part of our populace. Instead, the fault must be born in some measure by each and every one of us.
Those of us who are truly committed to American democracy – the same democracy that affords us the ability to believe and worship freely – must be willing to put that commitment ahead of our differences and our desire for a particular political or even social outcome.
We are each responsible for moving our nation this close to a tipping point. Whether in large or minuscule ways, we have all contributed to the tidal wave of polarization that has come crashing down around us. Whether it was brushing off the casual remark of a friend or remaining silent while people we know and even hold dear decried their political enemy, the storming of the capital last week began like the tiny ripple created by a mere pebble when tossed into the sea. Each time we sat by or even participated in divisive or hateful rhetoric we helped turn that ripple into the tsunami we all witnessed last week. And while those who broke into and desecrated the Capitol will pay dearly with prison time or public shaming, we will all pay the price for their actions.
Our democracy has been threatened in the past by powerful forces and even more powerful people. However, the events of January 6th moved our democracy perilously close to a crisis point. And while true evidence of voter fraud should not be taken lightly, the threats that were made to the sanctity of our electoral process have little to do with fraud of any kind. What motivated hundreds of angry Americans to threaten the sanctity of our democracy and our country’s political institutions was the deep divisions in our society present long before the doors of the Capitol were breached. Those of us who are truly committed to American democracy – the same democracy that affords us the ability to believe and worship freely – must be willing to put that commitment ahead of our differences and our desire for a particular political or even social outcome.
Make no mistake, it was our apathy and hubris that led us to this moment. For too many of us, the incidents that took place on January 6th were unfathomable before they became a reality.
Americans of goodwill devoted to the continuation of this formidable yet fragile system of government and governance must not only be willing to speak of the horror that unfolded last week but must be willing to act boldly and without hesitation to weave back together the strands of our social contract that have been broken over the years and decades. We must not only be willing to acknowledge the role we have played individually, but we must also denounce the destructive role of others – including the friends, family, and neighbors who continue to participate in the shredding of the already weakened seams of our social fabric. This is truly the only path to restoring trust in and ensuring the continuity of our nation’s democratic norms and institutions.
Make no mistake, it was our apathy and hubris that led us to this moment. For too many of us, the incidents that took place on January 6th were unfathomable before they became a reality. Yet here we are. And so, I ask you, what will you do differently today to contribute to the much-needed work of healing, reconciliation, and restoration? How will you show up differently at home, at work, with friends and family? And what will you sacrifice for the good and the future of these United States of America?
For over a decade, I have been working on the front lines of peacemaking. So, these are questions I do not take lightly. As an organization, we will begin tomorrow the same way we did today and yesterday – with an urgency to broaden the perspectives we hold of one another; to highlight the wrongs that are in desperate need of being made right; to bring healing to broken and divided spaces; and to work for racial justice and equality. This has been our work all along, and it is with hope and incredible optimism that I lead Ideos as we continue the work of accelerating empathy here at home and abroad. This moment is an opportunity for each of us to reaffirm our commitment to those values. It is also our moment to begin the hard work of rebuilding and restoration. I hope you will join us in this work.
