09/03/2024
A quote from Lincoln’s second inaugural address:
“Both (sides) read the same Bible, and pray to the same God; and each invokes his aid against the
other”
In a nation, again, divided such as ours, you see frequent posts from both sides beseeching God to “save us from those who would destroy our country”.
I’m reminded of a line from a Mark Knoffler song, “Two men say they’re Jesus.. One of them must be wrong..”
So what nation is it that the other is hell-bent on destroying?
For one, it’s the nation of tradition. The nation of the nostalgic past. Perhaps the nation we remember from our childhood. The nation of waving flags on Mainstreet as the color guard passes by. The nation that proudly served in two world wars and helped promote freedom. The nation that shed blood during the War Between the States. A nation unabashedly proud of its past .. and longs for it again. A nation that is static and stays as it was. A nation where people strongly protects and defends their personal rights. A nation that reaches out to help his neighbor.
The other side, also proud to be American, views the nation as an experiment. As a nation that is ever striving to reach its ideal of liberty and justice for all. It is a nation that realizes it must at times tear down in order to rebuild institutions that are more equitable and just. It is a nation where the idea of “neighbor” extends beyond their zip code. That extends beyond the reach of their ability to personally lend a hand. It is a nation that believes that government, for all its imperfections, is at its best when it removes obstacles to justice, inequity, and representation .. even if it results in the empowered to have to relinquish some of their power. It’s a nation that looks at the interests of the disenfranchised as well as their own.
It is a nation that, while proud of much of its past, also acknowledges the sins of the past.. as well as it acknowledging that it continues to benefit from these sins. It also works to redress these sins.
I know many Trump supporters. I seriously doubt that any one of them think I, personally, am “trying to destroy America.”
I also don’t think that any of them are actually trying to “destroy America”. I know them as decent, hardworking individuals.
I don’t know where all this ends.. but as long as there are those who are willing to exploit our differences for political gain, we will remain a nation divided.
