The
Washington riot of 1-6-21 has had a disturbingly little impact on provoking
people to think about the Union.
America is a religious nation and most identify as Christian, but faith did not matter as Christians took sides as they have in civil wars for centuries. President Abraham Lincoln saw this as plainly in 1865 as we see today when he said:
This hatred of the other has cut deeply into the union and is constantly fueled by the rhetoric of doubt and contempt. I’ve seen this many times in marriages that fall apart. It’s not much different when it comes to intergroup relationships. After all, we are talking about the ability or inability of humans to make a union thrive or give up and go their own way. It’s no surprise that people born into such unions reflect the excoriating contempt for the other partner.
Currently, we
appear to be a nation divided like a couple separated but not officially divorced. Each partner enhances
their own identity (identity
& politics) without concern for the union anymore. They hang with their own
friends and if religious, as so many claim, they worship different gods. The couple has amassed
great wealth but they have not invested in the union. Sometimes, they make an
attempt at compromise for the good of their children but often the effort is
pathetic. The children invariably suffer.
Reconciliation
is going to be very difficult.
There
are incentives not to reconcile.
Like a
dysfunctional family, relatives have poured their resources into coffers that
only encourage sniping, sewing seeds of doubt about the other, and increasing
the hideous hammer of contempt.
Money is a powerful incentive supporting the segregation of the nation into
Republican and Democratic groups.
It will
take more than rhetoric to rebuild sufficient trust to create a flicker of hope
of reconciliation.
Reconciliation,
the rebuilding of a union, requires rebuilding trust,
ending the
rhetoric of doubt,
ending the love
of gossip,
withholding
words of contempt, and
trying hard
to find truth no matter how painful.
Truth and reconciliation
have worked before.
Truth is a necessary condition for reconciliation, but truth can be painful.
Reconciliation requires safety.
Reconciliation only works when both groups are willing and there are no acts or threats of violence or other forms of harm such as emotional abuse.
Rhetoric
doesn’t count as evidence.
Trust is
built on public acts of kindness and good will.
Trust
requires action that honors commitments made in the next few days, weeks, and
months.
We the voting citizens of America can play a part in voting for candidates committed to working across party lines for the good of the United States.
We can also seek to reconcile with those who hold different opinions provided that they are willing to engage in civil discussion.
I haven’t
talked about forgiveness. It’s much too early yet. You can reconcile without
forgiving just like you can go to work and get along with someone who has been
offensive. Forgiveness requires so much more effort than reconciliation because of the persistent emotional pain. For a
lasting relationship, forgiveness is important.
Remember the date 1621.
May it be a turning point in promoting the union of These United States of America, by building a working trust one safe step at a time.
Cite this post (APA)
Sutton, G.W. (2021, January 6). Unions of states and couples are built on trust. GeoffWSutton. https://geoffwsutton.blogspot.com/2021/01/unions-are-built-on-trust.htmlLinks to Connections
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