Column: Regarding respect
Dear Neighbors,
Many of us had enough school to know that the Pilgrims came to America to escape religious persecution. Some of us think that this led to the founding of a Christian nation, but that’s incorrect. In the body of the Constitution itself, Article VI specifies that “…no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any Office or public trust under the United States.” A “Christian nation” would be more concerned about including, rather than excluding, religious standards. The understanding was echoed in the First Amendment to the Constitution, that “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion,” even as the Founders were well aware of the existence of non-Christian religions. Christianity was not assumed, and could not by law be given precedence over any other religion.
Yet some Christian tenets do align with principles of democracy, and this might account for the confusion. “Love thy neighbor as thyself,” concurs well with the idea that we are all equal. We are all entitled to the same state and equity in a democracy. We are all citizens and all get one vote, you and your neighbor both.
I am not the first to observe that a relationship with a loving God imposes obligations on us in the manner in which we treat each other. We are, to the religious, all God’s creations and deserving of respect. Similarly, a democracy demands that we treat each other as equals, and with respect. That mutual respect, between Democrats and Republicans, has been eroding for decades. Think about it. Which do we see as surprising: a marriage between black and white individuals, or a marriage between a Democrat and a Trump supporter?
For a moment, let us look away from the current lack of respect, to celebrate how much things have improved. Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said of blacks and whites that, “If we begin now to act as though we respect one another, we may in time come to truly respect one another.” Race relations in America are far from perfect; maybe barely even decent. But things are better than they were, and I think MLK’s prescription was a large part of the reason.
Can we please apply the same medicine to our current partisan divide? Can we please see some party leaders and elected officials on both sides pledging to accept the outcome of the next election? I know the Democrats will be quick to accept, and I suspect the MAGA diehards never will. That leaves room for many “normal Republicans” to step up and agree that Democrats and Republicans respect each other enough to accept the outcome of elections. How about it?
