Morality that divides
Ian Lewenhaupt / Op-Ed / The USD Vista
When it comes to political views I always claimed that I was a centrist, not because I didn’t have a stance on certain political issues, but because it was just uncomfortable for me to admit that I belonged to one side or the other. Statistically, that would put me in the majority. Most people lie somewhere in the middle because they agree with one party on some issues and with the other party on other issues. I knew where I stood but I could never really describe why I felt uncomfortable identifying myself with one side, so instead I just kind of checked out of politics. Only recently has it dawned on me that this discomfort may be a profound intuition that speaks to the core of our political morality.
On Nov. 6 we are beckoned, and even begged, to simplistically identify ourselves with one party or the other (maybe three if you’re lucky enough to have an independent on the ticket). Then, if we weren’t already, we have to convince ourselves and others that we have chosen the “good” side, or at least the better one. Our decision has then by necessity created a bad, or worse side. The side of the other. There is no doubt that many of us “vote our conscience” and choose our party affiliation based on deeply-held values such as truth, justice, equality, or even racism, bigotry, and corruption. These values, of which each party makes claims to, then seem to create a very obvious wrong and right each according to the party making the claims. Good on one side and bad on the other side and yet there are people on both sides. Naturally, we are then able to explain this phenomenon by ranking people as better or worse than other people. There are simply people who are more or less just than others, more or less bigoted than others, etc.
As reasonable as this may sound I would argue that it simply cannot be true. In the end we are all humans united in our inevitable death which will mark the end of all of our stances. No matter what side we are on there is a good chance that we will die having believed in something and maybe through that we can find some gratification. Is the purpose of our lives really to find a belief and stick to our guns? I doubt it. I am not saying that we shouldn’t do what we think is right (otherwise I wouldn’t be writing my own beliefs for others to read), but rather I’m asking how important it is to be right. Even Jesus Christ, founder of Christianity and political figure, denied our morality as the key into heaven. No, it is only through him, fully divine and fully human, that his followers get into heaven. We are born morally neutral.
As Nelson Mandela so aptly stated, “People must learn to hate.” So too we must learn to love. However, before any learning has taken place we are still human and therefore inherently unified. Good and bad is a narrative that was created by us and there is not even one person among us who perfectly conforms to whichever side of the spectrum we subscribe too. Yet still, we divide ourselves along these lines. Divided and yet we each think we know what’s best for everyone. At least that’s the case with politics as it currently stands.
Of course, we must take a stance because we all have wants and desires for the world that we live in. It is in our nature to decipher what we like and don’t like, what we want and don’t want, and, by all means, we should act upon those desires and beliefs. This should bring us together rather drive us apart. We should recognize that having beliefs and advocating for them is an inevitable part of who we are as humans. Being more or less right than someone is not based in anything except for the dehumanization of the other. Of course we have different views because we have all heard a different story of good and bad. So, this election season, instead of dividing ourselves by right and wrong, let us come together to share our stories and recognize that our differences are only disguised as different. Let our opposing beliefs speak to the underlying mutuality that we have with one another. Politics is meant to be a place where we come to share our story of good and bad and listen to other such stories. Then we will begin to see that there is no “us” and “them” only “us”.