Democrats gained control of the House and the Senate last night in what the Wall Street Journal called a “blue wave” that “surged across the country.” The party flipped Senate seats in Maine, Iowa, Kansas, Ohio, Texas, South Carolina, and North Carolina, along with numerous seats in the House. In my home state of Texas, Democrat James Talarico defeated Ken Paxton in a key Senate race, and Democrat Gina Hinojosa secured victory over three-term Gov. Greg Abbott.
The results were decisive but unsurprising. Since 1938, only twice have midterm elections resulted in congressional gains for the party in the White House (in 2018 and 2022, the president’s party lost seats in the House but gained seats in the Senate). As a political science professor explained, “Governing requires choices that disappoint some voters, and dissatisfaction can give the opposition a stronger incentive to participate. Midterms also provide an opportunity to express frustration with national conditions or support a check on presidential power.”
This “opportunity” is my focus today. Whatever your sentiments regarding yesterday’s results, I think there is good news here worthy of consideration.
“One of humanity’s greatest achievements”
James Davison Hunter is a sociology professor at the University of Virginia; I consider him one of the most significant evangelical cultural commentators in America. In a recent article, he writes:
In the annals of history, modern democracy stands out as one of humanity’s greatest achievements. From its beginnings, democracy was an exercise in hope—hope that the world and the lot of ordinary people could be made better. This was especially true in America, a nation predicated solely on the ideal of expanding freedom, equality, justice, and toleration rather than on established traditions, inherited identities, or long-standing territorial boundaries.
Accordingly, our Founders created a system in which our citizens regularly choose our leaders and our leaders honor our choices. Contrast this with China, Russia, North Korea, Cuba, and the list goes on.
Less than 12 percent of the world’s population live in what is known as liberal democracies, where constitutionally established norms and institutions limit the power of government and protect the freedom and rights of individuals. By contrast, 72 percent of the global population (5.8 billion people) live under autocratic rule.
Bottom of Form
Midterm elections in which the president’s party loses seats in Congress especially illustrate the uniqueness of our democratic republic. For most of history, it was inconceivable that the ruling power would permit the people they ruled to express their opposition, much less to vote their opponents into offices that would constrain their authority. In America, such constraints are more the rule than the exception.
When you think about it, we have very little say in much of what affects our daily lives. We don’t choose the leaders of the companies whose products and services we depend upon, from the electricity that powers our homes to the vehicles and technological devices we use daily. Except for the Green Bay Packers, sports fans don’t get to choose who owns their teams. Most employees don’t get to choose their supervisor or the owner of their company.
But with the governance of the greatest superpower in history, you and I have a direct vote and say. And if enough Americans are unhappy with the person and party occupying our highest office, we can empower their political opponents in response.
Our “greatest crisis since the American Civil War”
However, the good news that our constitutional system continues to function does not erase the bad news that threatens its future. Dr. Hunter warns:
American democracy faces its greatest crisis since the American Civil War. The signs are everywhere: extreme partisanship making political compromise impossible, increasing threats and acts of political violence, a loss of trust in all branches of government and all major institutions of civil society, and a growing disregard for the rule of law by a leadership class often defined by corruption and cowardice.
He adds that “too many Americans today believe that the cause of this crisis lies in the malice of the ‘other side.’” Accordingly, Dr. Hunter calls on Americans to “reconstitute a civic culture centered on an ethics of human dignity and respect.” This will require a commitment to truth, toleration, and civility; the depoliticization of journalism, education, religion, and our other civic institutions; and “the growth of a humane civic ethos that transcends the culture war.”
His worthy prescription points to the unique role our faith plays in our future.
We are fighting culture wars because our culture has jettisoned objective truth and morality for “personal truth” and enforced tolerance of the “truth” of others. Our politics have become so vociferous and divisive because we have invested them with significance formerly reserved for our religious beliefs and commitments, turning parties and politicians into idols.
Partisan mass media makes money by stoking our political fervor, while social media amplifies our personal voice. Together, they fuel the illusion that we can control our lives and future by fighting existential battles to defeat our political “enemies.”
But it is always too soon to give up on God.
The vote that matters most
In his first inaugural address, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed to his divided nation, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection.” He then offered the hope that “the better angels of our nature” would touch the hearts of the people and “swell the chorus of the Union.”
You and I can point to an even higher hope, one found not in our “nature” but in our Lord. His Spirit can empower us to stand for objective truth and biblical morality “with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15), to forgive others as we have been forgiven (Colossians 3:13), and to offer hope that transcends elections by “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith” (Hebrews 12:2).
Whether our party and candidates won or lost yesterday, the vote that matters most is the one you and I must cast every day: Who will rule on the throne of our hearts today?
Vote wisely.
Quote for the day:
“We become better friends to America by loving Christ first.” —Jonathan Leeman
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