Power to the Middle

I watched the inauguration of President Trump, and I am brimming with reaction, but I am not going to write about it. If I did, a bunch of you would brand me as an enemy or, at least, a poor, misguided soul. You would probably delete me as a Facebook friend and never read another thing I ever wrote. I am just moderate enough to be hated by both sides. It’s not that I am a coward, I have written plenty of controversial things in the past

Rather, I am sick of the division, the sniping, the vilification, the cynicism, the politicization of every issue, and especially the strained and severed friendships because of some politicians in D.C. Unfortunately, my wife hears some of this from me, and I certainly have heard my fill from others.

Let’s be honest, we have had several of the least popular, most divisive presidential candidates in memory, but soon after the primaries, the people of our nation become ultra-tribalized, just like the political parties and media talking heads have been encouraging us. Suddenly, one candidate is the “savior of our nation” and the other one “will destroy America.” There is no room for nuance or a close examination of the issues. The “other side” never even gets a hearing. Moderation is a bad word. Our representatives are so busy fighting that little gets done and our nation falls behind.

Is one political party always correct on every issue? What are the odds? The purpose of political parties is to amass funds and power. They stir people up to get their people elected and massive numbers of bureaucrats appointed. They must cast a vision that is in opposition to each other, to have a purpose to exist.

We have had one independent president. His name is George Washington. When he left office our country was eight years old. His farewell address was written at a time before political parties had become accepted as vital extraconstitutional, opinion-focusing agencies, Washington feared that they carried the seeds of the nation’s destruction through petty factionalism. He was correct

I have been told you have to choose one or the other. I do not. You do not. We do not. We can choose neither. There are some positive values upheld by both parties, but they have become increasingly extreme. 

Hitching our wagon to a political party is lazy. It keeps us from exploring different perspectives and developing an honest opinion that has some room for nuance (and there is always nuance).

Our national heritage is a pendulum of reaction. The party in power sticks it to the opposition, back and forth. Little gets done and we grow further apart. This resembles tribalism as much as democracy.

Criticism is easy. Solutions are hard. I offer three items on the solution side.

Develop your own opinion. Do your own research. Stretch yourself by listening to others you disagree with. 

Learn how to discuss issues in a civil manner. You can have strong opinions, but you can express them in a civil manner. Certainly, some folks in power give us a lot to disagree with or be cynical about. But we can make a conscious choice to shy away from verbal molotov cocktails, and social media zingers. 

People are more important than positions. You don’t have to change your position or that of someone else to maintain a relationship. You simply refuse reject someone who has the audacity to disagree with you on politics. If you can have a civil conversation, do so. If not, there is much more to life than politics, talk about those things.

Move from complaining about the problem to being part of the solution.You can join with others who are working toward common sense solutions and begin exploring new ideas. It will be a better use of your mental and emotional energy

About Glenn

Glenn is a former pastor, newspaper columnist, magazine contributor, blogger, and author of two books. He also designs lighting. Glenn and his wife, Patty, live in northeastern Illinois.
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2 Comments

  1. Very true Glenn. There is so much ‘us versus them’ in our politics and in our country. We need to start listening to each other and seeing other viewpoints. That certainly does not mean we have to change ours, but we should be kind and accepting to others even in our differences. There is always something to learn, always a different way of looking at things. Good article.

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