Friday, October 30, 2020

Thank Goodness for Politics

I'm so thankful I've lived long enough to see it.

I've lived my entire life in a country with two major political parties, growing up to believe one was good and the other was bad. And now, I've seen each of them, at different times, twist up into knots and sell their souls in defense of a reprobate. Neither of these parties has proven itself to be above the shame of forfeiting credibility for the sake of power.

A cynic will scoff and ask what I ever expected. Don't you know this is what politics is?

But no, we can and should expect better.

What would be better?

I always considered beliefs to be the non-negotiables, and just assumed good character was a constant for my side. I assumed it was the other side that accommodated bad character, and that this must have said something about the quality of their beliefs. But it's clear now where we have arrived:  Beliefs, or sometimes mere opionions, are rigid, and character is negotiable, at least when we need to overlook the bad character of the person we think will advance our beliefs.

But now, character is what I want, in whatever package it comes.

Let me be led by a person of character who is honest, humble, wise, and peaceable, and we can find common ground no matter how far apart we think we are in our beliefs. I'll take this person over a like-minded weasel any day, though I didn't always think that way.

Let me be that person of character, a welcome and trustworthy teammate to anyone, especially when common ground is hard to find.

Let me also let go of the fantasy of the perfect leader, the complete package, all the boxes checked on beliefs, and character above question. Who wouldn't think that was nice? But really, how often does this happen? Most of the time, we end up compromising one or the other, either our list of important beliefs, or the character of the leader we think will advance them.

It took most of my life, but politics finally taught me not to place my hopes in a party.

It took most of my life, but I have learned to cherish chapters of history notable for the quiet absence of leadership scandal more than glorious recountings of partisan battles won at the expense of the other side.

It took most of my life, but politics finally taught me a leader of character matters more than getting all of my boxes checked.

It took most of my life, but I have learned to reject a reprobate, simply for being a reprobate.

There's no excuse for excusing one, no matter how many of your boxes the reprobate checks.