Liberal democracy isn't a theory of everything

Patience justifies the practice of mercy and tolerance because it recognizes that we ourselves will change with time, as will our neighbors

Patience justifies the practice of mercy and tolerance because it recognizes that we ourselves will change with time, as will our neighbors. So, it is wise and good to give people space and opportunity to change organically in response to love and care and the ordinary happenings of life, rather than seeking to impose stringent and exacting demands on them as part of some doomed project of political perfectionism. A Virtue-Centric Argument for Political Liberalism: Why patience, mercy, and tolerance counter a postliberal vision.

The Christian hope is not in Trump’s MAGA nor is it in AOC’s progressiveness. Each has a plan for our perfection. Each is utopian in its own way. And each takes us to someone’s scheme for an ideal world in which forgiveness and humility are not necessary. It brings to mind Daniel Berrigan statement from 1969, “I can be saved only by Jesus Christ” [1]

nor by the Vatican, nor by the world, Buddhist association,
nor by Hitler, nor by Joan of arc,
nor by Angels and archangels
nor by Powers and dominions
I can be saved only by Jesus Christ

Liberal democracy isn't a theory of everything

I’m borrowing from Jonah Goldberg’s "conservatism isn't a theory of everything." And it’s true that Goldberg's version of conservatism isn't a theory of everything. The place where he and I come to the same page is in seeing the form of government that we know as liberal democracy, or constitutional democracy, as being the best we humans have come up with as a way to navigate between individual liberty and the common good. Making it work requires an investment in the traditional virtues, including humility, patience, and forgiveness.

In that approach, we do not try to cleanse the nation by the removal of all illegal/undocumented immigrants nor do we try to turn the beatitudes into a progressive political agenda for universal healthcare and free public transportation? That’s the place where I can get trapped. I'd be perfectly happy to see the safety net extended to include universal healthcare and free public transportation. The danger to my soul is that I might then easily jump from those specific preferences to believe that the progressive “theory of everything” is a pathway to salvation. If we are honest with ourselves, we need to acknowledge that the danger of allowing our politics to dictate our faith is the temptation before us, whether we are conservative evangelicals or liberal Episcopalians.

And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time, and said to him, “To you I will give all this authority and their glory, for it has been delivered to me, and I give it to whom I will. If you, then, will worship me, it will all be yours.” (Luke 4:5-7)

A moral and religious people

A few days ago I watched Andrew Sullivan interview Batya Ungar-Sargon. She’s a Trump supporter, he’s not. Things got testy. I'm not recommending the program. Too much heat, two little light. But there was one section that caught my attention. Both Ungar-Sargon and Sullivan practice their religions. He's a Roman Catholic. She's an Orthodox Jew. In the program, she talks about a period in her life when she broke away from her religion. And while she's delighted to have returned to her faith, she does think that she was always a moral person. And I have no reason to doubt that. Or at least as moral as any of us are given the realities of sin and human limitation. But it occurred to me that the discussion missed something that is important to understand as the nation wallows in its division. Does it matter if a person believes in something greater than themselves?

Her return to religious practice may not have affected her moral behavior, but it was an acknowledgment that she was not the center of the universe. My point here is not to suggest that Ungar-Sargon doesn’t understand that truth. She may, it wasn’t pursued during the interview. But it is common for many people in our time to think that the only question is their own personal morality. And if that’s true — what about God?

For the real saint is neither a special creation nor a spiritual freak. He is just a human being in whom has been fulfilled the great aspiration of St. Augustine – “My life shall be a real life, being wholly full of Thee.” And as that real life, the interior union with God grows, so too does the saints’ self-­identification with humanity grow. They do not stand aside wrapped in delightful prayers and feeling pure and agreeable to God. They go right down into the mess; and there, right down in the mess, they are able to radiate God because they possess Him. - Evelyn Underhill

John Adams said, “Our constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.” Note, “moral and religious.” His idea was that the American form of democracy was a mix of limited government and the self governance of citizens. The capacity for self governance was dependent upon the virtues of the people. The alternative, if adequate stability was to exist, was a strong central authority.

The virtues of integrity, honesty, and all the rest needed to be grounded in religious belief. Something larger than ourselves. I find myself wondering if our current situation is not made more difficult by our nation’s drift away from religious faith. The one party has a base that rejects religion. The other has a base that claims religion but includes many who don't participate in religious practice.

Our anger, fear, and anxiety

If you desire a vision of life that isn’t driven by anger, fear, and anxiety, then the solution is not to adopt a political vision that will, you hope, smash your political opposites, as if they are the source of your mental distress. The answer to your political anxiety is, at least partially, to adopt the liberal virtues and carry on your part in the great story of democratic liberalism that our nation has been telling for centuries. From, A Virtue-Centric Argument for Political Liberalism: Why patience, mercy, and tolerance counter a postliberal vision.

On Trinity Sunday, Sister Michelle preached on the uncontrollable God, Blessed Evelyn Underhill and the Holy Trinity. (At 24:45 on the video)

She preached on a God worthy of awe and adoration. She quoted Rowan Williams, “we can't boil God down to something that's manageable… I believe in God as an interweaving of personal agencies, the love and mutuality of what we call the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.” Michelle went on, “he talked about the innate depth, the inaccessibility and unmanageability of God. And said that when we try to turn God into something we control, that is a false conception of God…. The Trinity itself is something deep and mysterious, at once beyond our grasp, and also profoundly practical. We can't control it, but we can enter into it. We can choose to heed the call of a God who's very being reflects a harmony between individuality and common life and relationship.”

This abides,

Brother Robert, OA

[1] “I can only tell you what I believe. I believe.
I cannot be saved by foreign policies
I cannot be saved by sexual revolutions
I cannot be saved by the gross national product
I cannot be saved by nuclear deterrence
I cannot be saved by Alterman, priests, artists, plumbers, city, planners, social engineers,
nor by the Vatican, nor by the world, Buddhist association,
nor by Hitler, nor by Joan of arc,
nor by Angels and archangels
nor by Powers and dominions
I can be saved only by Jesus Christ”
Daniel Berrigan in “Quotations from Chairman Jesus”, 1969, Temple Gate Publishers