GEORGE TEMPLETON
COMMENTARY
By George Templeton
Rim Country Gazette Columnist
America First?
“Can
citizens learn to seek their own welfare and growth not at the expense
of their fellow men, but in concert with them?” Gordon Allport
In
my student days, I lived in a house along with six girls and four
boys. A “boarding house” reach was essential at the dinner table,
because the food might run out. I hope “America First” is not like
that.
The Traditional Viewpoint
History
and mythology can help us understand our developing spirit. They are
authoritative because of their age. Do we suffer from “tunnel vision”?
Our experiences seem longer and more important than the history that
came before them. It is not straight-line predestination, but more like
a question mark.
Myths
are conservative. They work because they are believed. They support
the status-quo. They help us to know ourselves. They keep us together
and pass our heritage from generation to generation. It is not abstract
principle, but as Edmund Burke would say, prejudice and convention that
keeps us from dissolving into a new normal of revenge, nastiness,
brutality, and violence. Tradition holds us together, but what happens
when radical change is needed?
We
are in the process of creating new myths though we do not realize it.
Myths are not literally true, but they speak to our inner selves in a
way that nothing else does. We have myths in religion and politics.
Human beings are naturally inclined to deify their leaders.
David
Allan Coe’s song explained “The only way you’ll ever get along in this
world is to get a little dirt on your hands.” It’s how we legitimize
con men. Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527), the first political
scientist, described this in his book, The Prince. “Everybody
sees what you appear to be, few feel what you are, and those few will
not dare to oppose themselves to the many … the end justifies the
means.”
A
leader must seem to be merciful, faithful, humane, sincere, and
religious, but to maintain the state he must sometimes act against
faith, against charity, against humanity, and against religion. The
prince is a sinister, cunning person who ruthlessly pursues personal
power and control. He knows he must always side with the “silent
majority” instead of the elite.
The
identifying signature of the Machiavellian is self-interest. His form
of leadership is concise, but it often fails when people begin to
understand that he does not really act on their behalf. He uses people.
Revisionism
When
the pieces of the puzzle don’t fit, they are bent until they do. There
is a disconnection between beginnings and contemporary thought. What
did he say? Did he mean it? What was his intention? Given my
situation, what would he do? Is he lying? Is he bragging?
The
June 2017 issue of the National Geographic explained why we lie.
Forty-four present of the time we do it to promote ourselves.
Thirty-six percent of the time it is to protect ourselves. Only eleven
percent of the time, it is to influence others. Lying is more a matter
of personality than manipulative intent. Belittling adversaries to
appear stronger, tougher, and smarter is similar.
The
Church’s mutually exclusive truths may not have been the intent of
Jesus. Each religion thinks that it is the only correct one. There are
also disagreements between beliefs about the meaning of the
Constitution. Conservatives look to the original intent of the writers
or original meaning of the words. Liberals understand that times
change. Another way of looking at this is to consider that words,
categories, and labels exist both within our minds, hearts, and a
concrete external reality.
The man who was sainted, Sir Thomas More (1477-1535), described by the 1966 film, A Man for All Seasons,
wanted a changed government. He was known for his piety, devotion, and
integrity and was a learned man of great wit. Saint More had served as
a member of parliament, an ambassador, and Lord Chancellor of England.
He wanted to bring Christ’s gospel of caring for the oppressed and the
downtrodden to government. To prevent chaos, political issues would not
be argued outside of government chambers. There should be no debate
over legislation on the day it was introduced. This would allow time
for understanding the viewpoints of others.
In
More’s ideal society all houses would be unlocked, owned, and
maintained by the community. Households would become the factories of
that time and marriage would be for love, not by arrangement. Many of
us are skeptical of More’s utopia. Even dogs have territory!
Skepticism
The
problem with skepticism is that it leads to a loss of content in
meaning. We need to believe in something. So, the problem is, exactly
what will you believe If anything? Religion stands in the light of the
utility for the public good. The great theologians of our tradition
were not trying to replace the Bible. They were trying to understand
what it meant in their time and circumstances. Reason is the enemy of faith that allows no doubt, but faith has no meaning without doubt.
Have
we lost faith in democracy? Would we prefer a dictator who would force
conformity and absolve us from the responsibility of having to make
decisions? Such an ideal is described in Thomas Hobbs’ book, Leviathan.
Hobbs (1588-1679) lived in a time of brutality, civil war, and the
threat of England’s invasion by the Spanish Armada. It was natural for
him to conclude that passion, pain or pleasure, and not religion ruled
the day, because that was what he observed. Nature’s laws were cruel.
What he feared he called evil.
For
Hobbs, protection from evil would come from a strong leader. He would
hold power over everything and everyone, including the executive,
legislative, legal, personal, and public property. The justification
for this was that the sovereign would represent the self-interest of
everyone. It was a simpler world! Hobbs was not authoritarian.
An American Prototype
The
political philosophy of John Locke (1632-1704) strongly influenced
Thomas Jefferson when he wrote our Declaration of Independence. Locke
provided the justification our founding fathers needed for their
defiance of King George’s arbitrary tyranny. They recognized that
governmental power was legitimate only when it would serve at the
consent of the people. Government existed to remedy the inconveniences
of nature. There was a natural moral law discoverable by reason. “…all
men are created equal and endowed by their Creator with certain
inalienable rights, among them, life, liberty, and the pursuit of
happiness.” This leads to a social contract with the people (propertied
white males) and to written law. The majority rules the minority.
Legal equality is protected, but not equality of material possessions.
Locke
saw the need for government, but he did not see the need for a leader
who would rule by power, force, and fraud to protect us from ourselves.
Locke’s ideas were more than political. He argued that all knowledge
is only probable and that our ethical values come from experience. What
we call “good” is that which causes well-being and what we call evil
causes pain. Locke did not feel that this threatened religion, but it
brought religion and politics together because we come from experience
and politics changes the world we live in.
Balanced Government
Montesquieu
(1689-1755) argued for a separation of governmental powers, each to
serve as a check and balance against the other. He knew that democracy
was the least stable form of government. Its stability required getting
the individual to understand the benefit of the collective. History
showed that prosperity led to selfishness, greed, and the downfall of
nations. Nobodies wanted to be somebody. They craved luxury. They
tried to emulate the rich and famous, not realizing that their values
might be invalid for them. They confused wants with needs.
Is greed good? Adam Smith’s 1776 book, The Wealth of Nations,
claimed that the economic self-interest of people engaged in commerce
would lead to meeting the needs of others whom they didn’t even know.
It works without benevolence or charity. But is this enough? It
ignores that crooks steal instead of trade. Let the buyer beware!
Government
has never left business alone. It can be traced back to Alexander
Hamilton’s first national bank. Business has been regulated and
promoted all along. Communism failed in the eighties. Regardless, the
commandment to love our enemies has morphed into hatred. It is
patriotic. Murder becomes valiant patriotism when borders are crossed.
Cuba is Evil
The
news person explained that Cuba was an evil nation that we must retreat
from because it is communist. She didn’t realize that when someone
does not believe as you do, it is not an attack. We can’t force others
to think, act, and believe as we want them to. Our setting an example
will change the world and ourselves. We wondered how she felt about
China, with all their products in our stores. It is trade that provides
the motive for justice. There was no need for justice in Eden because
Adam and Eve had all they needed. They did not eat the apple because
they were hungry. They wanted power, knowledge, and to be like God.
At
the UN, Trump’s speech wrapped sovereignty with a cloak of virtuous
self-interest. At the recent Values Voter Summit, he said, “We don’t
worship government, we worship God.” But it is right-wing churches that
are extremely Republican.
Trump calls us as a nation under one God, suggesting that he knows what
America’s God is. You probably have some ideas. Neither I nor anyone
else can offer anything broadly inclusive and better than what you
have. But youth doesn’t see a man in the sky with a magic wand or
understand the three in one visible invisible. But how else could the
ancients have understood it?
All
I wanted was a job. But the fact is that I needed to see that which
could not be seen. When we realize our blindness we become more
tolerant. Our construction of a deity who favors the interests of only
those who believe in him is bad for America. Healthy religion motivates
us to follow the value underlying all reality for its own sake and as
an end in itself. Our construction of a harsh politics that teaches
envy, bigotry, and withdraws from the world is unhealthy. The happiest
places in the world are secure, healthy, stress free, and where people
have a sense of belonging and purpose.
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