Center-Right and God

On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, I sat with my wife watching the election returns. We had CNN on the television, and had a variety of political sites up on our respective laptops. During the course of that tense-then-jubilant evening, a number of things bubbled to the surface here and there that, I think, warrant some discussion. First, the notion that the United States is a "center-right" nation.

Bill Bennet repeated the statement during CNN's election coverage. Why was this statement made? Well, because lots of other right-wing pundits have been saying it, so Bill Bennet, being a standard bearer for the Republican party, merely repeats it. In typical Karl Rove style, the idea is that if you repeat something enough times (fill in your favorite example here: "blame game," "cut and run," and the more recent "he's a socialist" just to name a few), that will make it true. Here I get to use one of my favorite phrases: you can call a shovel an ice cream truck all you want, but it is still a shovel. On what grounds can Republicans make the claim that the United States is a center-right nation? Apparently, according to polls, more people identify themselves as conservative than liberal. Please note that this is exclusively a brand question, and not a question on specific issues, from which one may deduce the subject's political proclivitity. Coke or Pepsi? Pancakes or waffles? Paper or plastic? Labels are, quite frankly, of minimal use in this context. A much more useful indicator is to look at voting patterns in this past election. Look at the results from the November 4 election. Does that look like a center-right nation? I think not. Having had their fill of the cataclysmically maladroit governance of the Bush administration, the majority said that it was time for moving in a different direction. I grow so very, very tired of the Karl Rove-esque "repetition = truth" philosophy.

The other issue, and what I think may in fact be the more important one, is the God issue. Elizabeth Dole, in the last dying throes of her campaign, went with the God angle and released ads calling her opponent "godless." Kay Hagan, who (thankfully) ended up winning Dole's seat in the Senate, fired back with what amounted to "says you." Why is it that in a country that explicitly has separation of church and state, that a.) we have to bring god into the debate at all; and b.) it is somehow seen as a slur against one's moral fiber to be called "godless," and must be loudly and vehemently refuted? This treads into an area that I plan on digging into repeatedly (and at length) in future posts, so I'll only hit a few major points here.

First, a person's personal beliefs are simply that: Personal. Beliefs. Consider what Elizabeth Dole was actually saying in her ads. "My opponent consorts with people who aren't God-fearing Christians, which--by implication--I am." Excuse me? And this has a bearing on a person's fitness to be a Senator in what way? This, in some way, is supposed to make Elizabeth Dole a better Senator than Kay Hagan? "I love Jesus more than she does, so you should vote for me." When I was in grade school (and I realize that I'm seriously dating myself here), I vividly remember a kid on the playground telling me once, "I like 'Happy Days' more than you do. I like 'Happy Days' more than *anybody*." Ummmmm......so? I remember looking at this kid like he was out of his mind. "Who cares?" I thought then, and with the Elizabeth Dole thing I think it again now: who cares? Kay Hagan did what she had to do under the circumstances by firing back with what amounted to "Oh no I'm not godless." I would have loved to see her come back with something more along the lines of "And what, exactly, does that have to do with anything?"

Second, why should a person's faith (or lack thereof) in any way affect their social standing or be taken as a measurement for their ability to govern? I can already hear people saying "Well, strong Christian belief is necessary for determining right from wrong, and for determining what is *really* important." To this I can only say "no it isn't." Richard Dawkins said it far more elloquently than I, so I won't attempt to recreate his argument here. I will merely say that if you think you get your moral compass (pardon the use of the phrase) from scripture--which states that people should be killed for working on Sunday and that a father has the right to sell his daughter into slavery--you are sadly, grossly, egregiously mistaken.

I have high hopes for what the election results say about the future of our country and the American people as a whole. Perhaps we can move away from this absurd "End Days" Theocracy that has so heinously tarnished the image of the United States in the world view. The short-sighted views of the last 8 years, much of which was geared around attempting to fulfill Biblical prophecy and thus bring about the return of Jesus, would be comedy were it not so terrifying. Mr. Obama, you have my support and the support of many, many others like me. You have rekindled my faith in the very ideas upon which this country was founded. We have a long and difficult road ahead of us as we try to pull ourselves back from the brink. Through hard work, compassion, understanding, and a willingness to show that same compassion and understanding to those who may think differetly, we'll get there.