Election Day, Christianity, Virtue and Peanut Butter Cups
Dr. RB McFee
“Virtue isn’t based on who you voted for. Virtue is based on how you treat others who voted differently from you.”
Today is Election Day in the United States; enshrined by our founding documents, it has been an institution of free excise of choice for a free citizenry for centuries. Not all of us enjoyed the vote throughout our history, and throughout the world the same can be said. But today in this country you and I have the privilege of making our choices known. Our candidate may win, or might not. But that has been the case since Adams and Jefferson, Truman and Dewey, and so many other presidential races since Washington stepped down.
It is easy to lament at the polarization of politics, and pretty much anything else in contemporary society. But if read the book Infamous Scribblers you will see political campaigns, the people who supported them, including the press (back then often consisted of broadsides tacked to a tree) could be pretty contentious. One newspaper even stooped so low as to print the obituary of a candidate they opposed, right before an election. It might have been a nice gesture, had the guy been dead.
Don’t forget, back in the day, some folks got tarred and feathered for going against passionate groups roaming, hunting for dissenters. Fast forwarding to today, there’s no sense pointing fingers which side does it more. That’s like two fleas arguing who owns the dog.
Oh, as an aside, the tar wasn’t Elmer’s Glue ® it was hot, sticky stuff.
Yet somehow we managed to put most of that behind us, adhere to basic societal tenets of law, order, and free exchange of thought in the marketplace of ideas, and forge a great nation that has survived natural disasters, the Civil War, disease outbreaks, riots, and so much more.
Because we have been able to band together more than pull apart, we grew to be a country able to help rebuild Europe after WWII, and send relief and medical volunteers all over the world when crisis occurs. That is our collective heritage – the ability to do good for our neighbors here, and abroad.
Where did our collective, social compact go?
Maybe we need Mr. Reese to come back and help us out. He managed to get two feuding camps to get along. Consider the TV commercial that reflected the great candy polarization of the American 20th century….
“You got chocolate on my peanut butter,” one side loudly proclaimed. Only to be countered with equal angst and passion “No! You got peanut butter on my chocolate.”
Instead of letting these folks destroy the peace in our land of candy loving patriots, in an act of great diplomacy, Mr. Reese created the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup ™, and happy coexistence again reigned supreme in America. And not only in our land, but throughout the galaxy! ET loved Reese’s diplomatic candy, i.e. Reese’s Pieces ™
Alas discourse today more than ever in recent memory has become tempestuous. Even mentioning the “other candidate,” engenders visceral responses. For some it is about virtue shaming or virtue signaling….as if the candidate someone selected is both a standard-bearer of all that is holy and righteous, a reflection of self personally, or that the other candidate and supporters thereof are somehow less than good and decent, when they have selected a different path.
For some reading this, you might think I’m toting a beach towel and mumbling “42,” having hitchhiked from another planet. Some might be tempted to think or even ask “how can you Robin give equivalence for each side and its supporters when clearly my side is the good side.”
I’m not!
But what I am doing is bringing the discussion to a place I think Mr. Reese might suggest – taking the best of both and forging something awesome, or even more on point for those of us chocolate loving folks who are also professed Christians….how would Jesus want us to handle Election 2024 – in perspective, in His perspective…..
Our friends and neighbors, family members, coworkers and strangers who vote differently are not “the other,” even if they vote for the other person.
It is this ‘less than’ this making someone the ‘other’ that Jesus warns us about in His powerful answer to the question “what is the greatest commandment?”
There are multiple versions of this in the Gospels, and they are worth looking at, especially now.
Mark 12: 29 – 33 NIV
29 “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “ Hear, O Israel. The Lord our God, the Lord is One. 30 Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. 31 The second is this: Love your neighbor as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.”
Luke 10: 27 NIV
37 He answered: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength, and with all your mind….28 Do this and you will live.”
What is different about the Mark and Luke versions, shortly after the Jesus answers in Luke, Jesus then asks this powerful question Christians and people in general wrestle with ever since…. “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus then goes on and tells the story of the good Samaritan.
Just to review – Jews weren’t exactly keen on Samaritans, so much so that they often would spend an extra day journeying from one part of Israel to another just to avoid transiting the shorter route through Samaria. If ever there was a group referred to as “other,” it was Samaritans. And not without historic context – recall when the Persian King gave the green light to Jews to rebuild the temple? Samaritans didn’t make that process easy. So the wounds were still raw and remembered.
That notwithstanding, who does Jesus select to showcase as the good guys in the story? A good Samaritan – someone who put his own particular history with the Jews (think Hatfields and McCoys) behind him to help an injured stranger not from his own culture.
Not to put too fine a point on this, but who did Jesus, a Jew, speaking to mostly Jews, select to find in the desert at high noon to disclose He is indeed the Messiah? A Samaritan woman. And who did Jesus highlight as appreciative of being cured when He cured ten lepers – Jews and a Samaritan? It was the Samaritan. The “other,” who was the only one to thank Jesus –
And digressing from the Samaritans, but in keeping with how Jesus handled “the other,” amongst us….recall the Roman officer who asked Jesus to heal his servant. Jesus was blown away by the faith a non Jew had. For first century Jews, Rome and her soldiers were the ultimate “other,” yet here again Jesus showcases something positive about this person, this “other.”
When we think on those passages and our Heavenly assignment from Christ to love our neighbor, which is to say to love the one designated ‘other,’ it isn’t easy, and we can get tempted to ask our Lord, God I’m supposed to love even so and so who mows the law at the crack of dawn knowing I get up at the crack of brunch, or the one who intentionally puts up huge election signs directly in front of their house supporting someone I would spend a lifetime opposing? To which we all know Jesus’ answer….
Jesus would say – “yup, that’s the one I want you to love, so suck it up.” OK maybe our Lord and Savior might filter it a bit more.
In Mark, Jesus appeals to our own sense of self love, and asks us to share that same level of self love with the “other.” Jesus would offer something akin to – your vote and your love of self or your closely held views are important but not at the expense of loving My other children.
And no surprise, Jesus would be right.
Whether you are a Democrat, Republican, Independent, Green or Snoopy party member, those who think and vote differently are not the un-virtuous other because of whom they support or how they vote. If you loved them before you knew what candidate or policy or politics, how can that make you un-love them now? Maybe I care about the same things you do, but I have a different approach to solving the same policy challenge.
How would Jesus look at that? What would He say to any of us who fall into that trap?
The person who brought you chicken soup before the election is the same friend you should let into your home after it, regardless of candidate or political philosophy, unless they belong to the pull wings off birds party.
Point of transparency – I have a degree in political science. I have deeply held convictions. I know who I am voting for and can defend my policy positions on that selection. But if you are my friend, it is because you have a kind heart, and likely a love of God, and we have shared important times together. How on earth can or should that change because you vote for someone I might spend a lifetime debating against? I might think you are a bit meshugana for your opinions, but I’ll love you just the same.
Reflecting on Pastor John’s message Sunday, and a priest’s homily I recently heard, as Christians we are called to be examples of a better way. We are called to reflect the love of Christ – not just at church or church functions, but all the time as best as we can, even when, especially when it is hard to do.
Fr. Adrian Milik offered this insight “Real love is an act of will.”
The Samaritan chose to stop and help the wounded traveler, while the others also made conscious choices to walk away. Though not racing off to an election, they tightly held beliefs and reasons they thought justified treating the injured man as “other.” But real love is indeed an act of will, which is why Jesus kept reminding us about loving folks who reflexively we might walk by or away from.
I think Jesus would agree; our virtue as Christians is how we choose to live towards the ‘others,’ after Election Day, even if the results aren’t what we wanted.
Real love truly is an act of will.
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