I follow current events from both angles. Conservative talk radio, left-leaning late night talk shows, and so on. In my opinion, the only thing the left and right consistently have in common these days is their dislike for one another. In fact, the rhetoric is so generalized as to border on comedy. Or tragicomedy. One prominent radio figure goes so far as to declare himself good, and the 'left' bad. Wow. I shouldn't be shocked by such egregious conceit, but I am. The left is not innocent in these matters either.
Now, truth be told, the news media was no less vitriolic in the days of Washington, Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, and the like. At least now matters of honor are not settled openly with pistols. There is a distinct difference, however, between the American political climate of then and now. In fact, I would argue the Union and Confederacy had more fundamental beliefs in common than Republicans and Democrats do today.
To develop this post I'm going to borrow some content from Oxford scholar Dr. Os Guinness' talk "Time for Truth" where he explores whether or not a democratic union can be preserved under the constitution with a plurality of beliefs dominating the social landscape. In his estimation, the framers differed significantly in two ways (not dissimilar from today):
Their own views of faith (Jay was a Huguenot, Washington a deist at least by all appearances, Adams a devout reformed protestant, Jefferson a humanist, Franklin a hedonist, Hamilton a functioning atheist until his waning years, etc.)
Their opinions of how faith and public life intersect (think right 'evangelical' and liberal ideologies)
BUT (and it's a big but...)
The founding generation of our nation tended to agree significantly on three very important ideas:
Freedom requires virtue
Virtue requires faith
Faith requires freedom
This Dr. Guinness calls the Triangle of First Principles. And this is where our generation diverges from generations past. How many generations past? I'll leave that open for debate. What is significant for our discussion is that we are worlds apart from the general social and religious ethos of the late-18th century.
Dr. Guinness
Which brings me full circle to the question in the heading of this post: can American democracy survive without a recovery of the Triangle of First Principals? Freedom, virtue, and faith each fueling and feeding off of the other. Now, I happen differ from Dr. Guinness' construction of these principles and turn it into something of a pyramid where faith forms the foundation, giving rise to virtue, and together birthing notions of a free society, since faith can be held and practiced with or without political freedom. And before you accuse me of overly 'Christianizing' America, know that I'm not so naive to think the US Constitution was drafted by deeply spiritual individuals - indeed the spiritual temperature of the time had been very much affected by the Enlightenment and the outward display of faith had in many ways become indistinguishable from scientific pursuits fueled by reason alone.
To address our question in a 21st century context, I wonder if we start by probing the nature of virtue first (which would include an intellectual pursuit so as to be an adept civil servant - i.e. Jefferson's advocacy of an educated populace to ensure our survival as a free people)? What is virtue and how does a pluralistic society agree on what is virtuous? Is faith necessary for virtue? If so, which one(s). To believe that all worldviews generally give rise to similar pragmatic approaches to life and community is a grievous error. Believers or not, the great American political thinkers of the 18th century drew largely on principles of governance, economics, social justice, legislation, and rule of law that arose generally from Judeo-Christian ethics and traditions. To claim otherwise is to overlook reams of scholarly work.
I think it's time for a respectful public forum where the major worldviews are examined for what they are, where we are not dishonest for the sake of avoiding offense (read: being politically correct). Not that everyone has to adopt a certain faith - which would be an entirely un-American idea - but that everyone has the opportunity the opportunity to trace the fruit back to its root.
I think we need a robust debate of worldviews in a public forum before we can make headway on Capital Hill in an effort to recover a base of thought upon which to rebuild a government of, by, and for the people. So I leave you with the question, and I invite your comments and opinions below: Can American democracy survive without a recovery of the Triangle (or Pyramid) of First Principles? My gut says no, at least not the America envisioned by the framers when they saw a free and prosperous society arising from the blood-soaked soil of the Revolution. What type of revolution will galvanize us once again?
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