In the news this morning: enormous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. After a month of being unable to stop the gushing underwater well, the oil is finding its way into coastal marshlands as birds and sea life wash up on shore. BP is trying to get a handle, quite literally, on the situation. Apparently, BP has spent billions of dollars learning how to get oil out of deep water wells but next to nothing to learn how to stop the flow once it has begun. It turns out that the technology for repairing things 5,000 feet below the ocean’s surface is fairly limited (we can fix space stations orbiting the earth, but not wells on the ocean floor). Senators, governors and other politicians are shouting accusations at BP and the White House. The same folks who chanted “drill baby, drill” now seek to blame the Obama administration for being “in bed with” the oil companies. All sides are pointing fingers and casting blame but the fact is, we all created that oil well. We drive three blocks to get a cup of coffee. We drive, well, everywhere. While the age of the big gas-guzzling SUVs has been somewhat replaced by a greater sensitivity to fuel consumption, the simple fact is, BP would not be spending billions of dollars to drill under the ocean, if we did not demand and consume the fuel that well provides. We are all responsible for this mess. We didn’t cause the spill but we all helped to create the pressing demand for more and more hard to reach oil. Hurling accusations will not help. It is time to stop the blame game. People, focus! Certainly an investigation will be in order at some later date, but for now, we need to get our best minds together and figure out what the solution is to this mess.
Sadly, we are out of practice at finding solutions to problems. We prefer finger-pointing, blaming and seeing if we can gain some political traction with meaningless accusations. It seems that politicians say whatever they deem to be politically advantageous, regardless of whether it makes any sense at all. We, the good citizens of the land, play right along, nodding our heads and shaking our fists, but rarely seek the truth, let alone the solution. The response to this tragic oil spill is only the most recent example of our affection for confrontation and our unwillingness to enter into reasoned conversation leading us into a heap of trouble.
What happened to the middle? It used to be that there was one side, then there was another side, then there was a place where both sides came together; it was called the middle. A reasonable person could see an issue one way. Another reasonable person might see an issue differently. If those two reasonable people wanted to address the issue together, they discussed it and found virtue in finding a common ground that allowed for both sides to reach what was called a “compromise.” In such an agreement, each party learned the art of “give and take,” and even if neither side were 100% satisfied with the outcome, they both understood that wisdom and fairness was found in that middle ground. In times of crisis, political or environmental, it was understood that a response was needed and that all sides would do whatever was required in order to meet the emergent crisis with an appropriate solution. It seems that today, even when faced with a crisis, we cannot rise above our entrenched sides to address the problem.
As I watch and listen to news programs and advertisement in this midterm election season, the rhetoric of both parties is inflammatory, malicious and only the slightest bit tinged with something supposed to be representing truth. Actually, it doesn’t seem to me that fact and truth are given any value in political discourse. Whoever shouts the loudest, whether shouting lies, truths, and just casting blame, gets the attention of the media for that news cycle. Of course, each side accuses the other of greater untruths as they seek to “spin” their story and cast blame on their opponents. In this midterm election cycle, each side of our political system seems to be rushing headlong to affirm the viewpoints of their most extreme constituents. Senators and members of Congress who used to be lauded for there “moderate” positions and willingness to a cross party line when it seemed in the best interest of the country are now being forced from office. When did being “moderate” become a character flaw? When did outright stubbornness and a refusal to work with the other side become seen as patriotic? As one columnist noted in the LA Times this morning, a Republican member of Congress who as much smiles in the President’s direction is liable to be accused of treason. Have we as a country, a society, simply given up on reasonable conversation, civil discourse (let alone civility) and the ability to appreciate “middle ground”? Even as I write that, I know someone reading this will want to shout that it is “the other side” that has given up on the middle ground.
Please don’t get me wrong. I am not suggesting that a milk toast, middle of the road, never offending or disturbing culture makes for a good society. Sometimes a society needs the peace to be disturbed. Thank God, Martin Luther King offended our sensibilities. Sometimes the sides are simply Right and Wrong. When basic civil rights, human dignity and justice are threatened, we need to speak clearly and with all the clarity of our convictions. There are times when my convictions lead me to take a stand on an issue; sometimes a clear line must be draw, and with Luther I must say, “here I stand; I can do no other.” But those times are not as frequent as our political rhetoric would want us to believe. More often than not, I believe that people are well-intended fully capable of being reasonable, respectful and civil, if they so choose. Perhaps, if we were willing to step out of the rhetoric of blame, we could learn once again, to engage in civilized discourse.
To my mind, civil discourse is a virtue. I have not mastered it but I aspire to it. I certainly have my political positions and lean decidedly to one side of the political fence. Quite honestly, there are few things about which I do not have an opinion. And while I know my opinions are always right (about this, I think we can all agree), I am at least humble enough to recognize that others have the right to disagree with me. My own politics come out of my religious convictions that seek to create a fair and just society for all of God’s people. I can make fairly coherent arguments to support my positions, backing them up, if necessary, with philosophical, historical, and biblical references. That being said, I know that reasonable and faithful people read the same sources and come to very different conclusions on important matters. I can live with that. I certainly do not need to cast dispersions on another person’s intellect, faith or conscience when we simply disagree. I suspect when we get into our most heated political and theological debates our egos may be far more dangerous and destructive than our core convictions.
Learning to “disagree without being disagreeable” ought to be taught in our schools and, while we are at it, in the halls of Congress and the White House. I believe there are ways of having conversations about important issues without each side barricading themselves in their respective corners, launching assaults, blame and inflammatory rhetoric with the goal of annihilating the other side. Can we just assume that all of us are seeking what we believe to be in the best interest of the country without resorting to character assassination and unhelpful extremism? Can we put the common good above petty politics and seek some sort of common ground?
As we bicker, shout, point-fingers, hurl insults and pout, the well is still gushing brown, sludgy gunk into the Gulf. That is the fact. We can spin stories around the truth, point fingers and cast blame, but at some point, we need to stop the accusations, discuss the problem, and come up with a reasonable solution. There is nothing profound about the idea of talking, but then again, we haven’t tried that in a while. It seems to me that when it comes to oil spills and a heap of other problems, it wouldn’t hurt to at least try to, you know, talk. Forgive me if that sounds naive and simplistic. I know that it is, but at this point, it could only help. Enough with the political name-calling, shifting blame, shirking responsibilities and meaningless blather; it is time to grow up, deal with the issues facing our nation, and if I may be so bold, may I suggest some civil discourse?
