What happened to decency?
We are in strange days, my friends.
Over the weekend, a crazed assassin, his head filled with right wing conspiracies, broke into the San Francisco home of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, seeking to kidnap and injure her. Speaker Pelosi wasn't at home, but her husband Paul was. The assassin assaulted Mr. Pelosi, fracturing his skull among other injuries.
Such a horrific act should have been condemned by everyone across the political spectrum, much like it was when Steve Scalise was shot in 2017. Instead, the right wing exploded in derision and conspiracy theories, going so far as to claim that the incident was a gay lovers' quarrel turned violent. Even the new owner of Twitter pushed that line, until he quietly deleted his scurrilous tweet.
But you see that crassness not only in our politics, but in our culture. Controversy is seen as good business. Being outré is a way to garner attention and generate revenue. Our media is filled with reality programming which push the limits of civility with every episode. We are angry, we are filled with animosity, we rage against the slightest inconvenience. Our friend Rational Left alerted me to this story which encapsulates the moral moment in which we live.
Why do people who claim to be decent, God-fearing people vote for indecency? Why do they put into power people who do nothing but harm others? What is it in them that drives them to these extremes?
A changing world is frightening. You can greet it in one of two ways. You can accept that the only constant in our mortal existence is flux and change, and accept that, acclimating yourself to the new realities. Or you can wail and cry at the loss of perceived perquisites which are now being taken away from you. You can stand in solidarity to create a new, more just world. Or you can cling to the injustice which has served you well.
They will go to their churches on Sunday, sing hymns, cry hallelujah, and ignore all the true teachings of the God they worship. They will say they have no hate in their hearts, and then act in the most odious and hateful manner. They will lend a hand to a neighbor, and then vote for people who will make that neighbor's life untenable.
They are people of faith and not works. Faith without works is dead. But they believe that their faith gives them a stature above mere humanity. They are the elect, and being saved all their actions are righteous.
The blessed Rabbi Hillel the Elder summed up a moral life in two sentences: That which is hateful to you do not do to your fellow. That is the whole of the Torah; the rest is interpretation. This is the teaching of all the world's faith and wisdom traditions. And yet this simple credo is missing in so many of us.
May we recover the spirit of decency, of being loving and kind to our neighbors. In history, that has been the only thing which has moved us forward.