The Need To Make Things Right

Going to a church where creeds, doctrine, history are important is something I am thankful for. I would have no interest in attending a church that had ambiguous beliefs and is just as much about fluff as it is about substance. But while I have found common ground about theology with those in the church, I find it interesting that when it comes to political ideology, there are differences of opinion in the church of Jesus Christ. It would be one thing if different denominations would sway to particular political positions because of their doctrinal beliefs, having a kind of biblical worldview that would logically follow towards a tendency to fall into a particular ideological camp regarding public policy choices. However, as much as I wish this might be the case, I have discovered that this is not the case at all. In fact, some close friends I have, as well as people i admire and respect have political philosophies that are far removed from the ones I have.

Recently I have been trying to cultivate a look, listen, and learn approach in my dealings with people. It is common for me to listen to a persons ideas and determine what I think of them. This often has left me shaking my head because often after a person has established credibility with me on their reasoning ability they may later take a position that makes me think, "Is he or she kidding me.?" But I am now beginning to understand that their are other factors that cause a person to have a belief, particularly a political one, that may be rooted more in what a person thinks is important that what may be better rooted in sound thinking.

I hope not to be condescending to those who take a approach different from mine and in fact in some ways I feel those who have a different view than mine are in some ways nicer, sweeter, more compassionate people than I am. Let me explain some things. Politically I think the governments main responsibility is to preserve and protect the liberty of the people. More than anything else, I wish for government to establish laws to preserve a civil society, and then do all that it can to make sure the citizenry has the "right to be left alone." Others I know have a different view of the government and that is for it to have a more active role, not just preserving and protecting, but also to try to find a way to make things right in a society that isn't always fair.

These two views were best illustrated to me a few years ago at a party. It was a parent get together that was a year end celebration as our children finished another school year. I am fortunate enough that my children attend a prep school via a scholarship and because of this I get to meet many parents who have careers that pay the kind of wages that are far beyond my imagination. This particular party was hosted by a senior vice president from a very successful company and he had a huge, beautifully decorated home, a great table spread of appetizers, fine wines, imported beers, and he hired people to serve us for the evening. I was there prepared to enjoy myself. A woman friend of mine, who I've known for 5 years while are kids have been in school together, looked around and said to me something like, "How can people live like this, in such wealth and luxury, while others who slave away and work just as hard, struggle just to have a modest home and pay their bills."

I looked at her and noticed how sincere she was. It genuinely pained her that life was full of inequities and she wanted somehow to make things right. This type of thinking never occurs to me. I just think, "Nice house, great life, good for them." I also can see there are stresses and trade-offs to this type of wealth, but I wasn't going to get into it right then. But then it occurred to me from previous conversations that my friend was a "liberal." I've attacked liberalism from many angles and have always felt confident that liberalism is a worldview that is deeply flawed. Later that evening, she brought up the idea that when people get to a certain income level, then they should have to give above that level to charitable causes and give back to the community someway and use their wealth less for themselves and more for the common good. I am terrified of the notion of having government coming into people's lives as some sort of referee, to make sure we have a more just world, a world where we can make things right.

Back to making things right. I have observed from conversations I've had that many people who have this desire to "make things right".... that this desire shapes how they view so many things. If I see a pregnant woman smoking a cigarette while walking down the street, I may think, "What a shame, that woman should really know better." But others who perhaps "care" more than me they just feel that they need to do something about it and find a way to stop it. This can and does have far reaching implications. We must stop fat people from overindulging in saturated fat for their own good, using speech that may hurt people's feelings, you can probably name dozens more. I on the other hand don't think that much about it, I just go about my business and let people be.

I am not saying that these observations are the norm for where people fall on their political ideology. Liberals can be self-righteous and self-promoting. Those more conservative or laissez-faire may be community activists and the most compassionate of do-gooders. But I think my observations deserve consideration. How often when there is a problem coming from Washington do you hear liberals say, "We've got to do something." This is the mantra even when common sense shows that there is really nothing that can be done that will not ultimately make things worse. Others on the other hand can just let things be and live with the fact that life isn't fair. Knowing these facts I think is important while we engage in public debate. Perhaps knowing that what we find important is different may help prevent us from shounting at one another.