“An extraordinary display of partisan scuffling”

President Donald Trump spoke to a joint session of Congress last night. This was not a State of the Union address. Rather, it followed the precedent set by President Reagan in 1981 and continued by every president since as they delivered speeches to Congress and the nation in the months after being inaugurated.

The one-hour, forty-minute address was the longest of its kind. Mr. Trump defended his policies, casting his first month in office as the most successful in history. He said he received a letter earlier in the day from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, saying he was ready to sign a proposed minerals deal between the two nations. And Mr. Trump said the mastermind of a 2021 bombing during the US withdrawal from Afghanistan had been detained.

However, seven minutes into the speech, Rep. Al Green (D., Texas) was escorted out of the chamber after rising from his seat and shouting at the president. Numerous other Democrats marched out of the chamber of their own accord; by the time the address was over, their side of the aisle was half empty.

Many Democratic women wore bright pink in a display of defiance. Some Democrats held up protest signs during the address. Others refused to attend; one hosted a Facebook Live town hall instead.

The Hill called Democrats’ actions “an extraordinary display of partisan scuffling even by the standards of the polarized modern era.”

The higher the stakes, the higher the emotions

If you support President Trump and his policies, you probably find these responses frustrating. If you agree with the Democrats, you may find their responses appropriate and even necessary.

We can wish for a system of governance that is less fraught with partisan conflict. But I have witnessed personally the alternatives available today and cannot recommend them to you.

I have traveled over the years in Cuba, China, and Russia. None see protests within their governments against their leaders, but this is because they are led by autocrats who severely punish dissent. By contrast, dissent and even chaos are common features when parliaments meet in the UK, Israel, and similar countries. This is because all (or at least most) of the viewpoints held in their nations are represented in their governments—often loudly.

Political opposition and division have been a part of American governance throughout our history. In the presidential election of 1800, for instance, John Adams’ camp warned that should Thomas Jefferson win the presidency, the US would become a nation where “murder, robbery, rape, adultery, and incest will openly be taught and practiced.” Jefferson’s camp in turn called Adams a “gross hypocrite” and “one of the most egregious fools on the continent.”

The higher the stakes, the higher the emotions.

What has changed over the years is the degree to which politics have become a religion for many. At the same time church membership and identification with Christianity have declined, political issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage have become more urgent and polarizing. Social media has enabled many to find community not in a religious congregation but within “tribes” of political alliance and allegiance. Demonizing the other side has become a central strategy of political campaigns and engagement.

As Gerard Baker laments in the Wall Street Journal, traditional media has taken on this religious tenor, advancing partisan agendas as orthodoxies and marginalizing or canceling those who disagree. Rather than holding leaders and parties accountable as neutral arbiters of nonpartisan fairness, they have become “like prayer books for a believing congregation . . . tending to the emotional well-being of committed believers.”

When politics replace religion

When politics replace religion, here are some consequences:

• If our nation is to flourish, our leaders must be infallible, since we have no higher authority to trust.
• Our citizens must be infallible in their political choices and personal conduct, since we have no wisdom or accountability beyond our own.
• Those who disagree with us are by definition the enemies of what is right and good and must be opposed in any manner necessary.
• Vengeance and retribution are ensured when the other side inevitably regains power.

As a result, participatory governance fails, leading either to autocracy or civil war.

By contrast, Julian of Norwich (1342–c. 1416) testified: “God is the ground and the substance, the very essence of nature; God is the true father and mother of natures.” When we worship and serve him as our Lord and King, making our political aspirations and engagements a means to the end of loving our Lord and our neighbor (Matthew 22:37–39), here are some consequences:

• We know that our leaders are fallen and fallible, so we pray for them (1 Timothy 2:1–2) and support them (Romans 13:1–7). If we must choose, however, “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29).
• We know that citizens are fallen and fallible, so we hold each other accountable to biblical truth and morality with honesty, compassion, and humility (Ephesians 4:2, 15).
• Those who disagree with us are opponents rather than enemies, so we treat them with the respect we would wish from them (Matthew 7:12).
• Vengeance and retribution are rejected, forgiving as we have been forgiven by Christ (1 John 1:9).

As a result, participatory governance flourishes as the means by which we serve each other to the glory of God (cf. Acts 2:42–47; 4:32–37).

Abraham Lincoln famously warned, “As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.” The choice is ours.

“Words which do not give the light of Christ”

As you respond to last night’s presidential address to Congress, will you view those with whom you disagree through the lens of religious charity or political division? Will your words and actions promote gracious unity or partisan rancor? Will they enhance your witness for Christ or drive people further from your faith?

Mother Teresa noted,

“Words which do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness.”

Which kind of “words” are more common in our culture?

Which kind will you share with the world today?

Quote for the day:

“Our forgiving love toward men is the evidence of God’s forgiving love in us.” —Andrew Murray

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How the conflict is both complex and simple

The Trump administration is pausing all aid to Ukraine, including weapons, days after a contentious meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and President Donald Trump.

In related news, the UK and France are seeking to forge a European “coalition of the willing” to secure a peace agreement between Ukraine and Russia. This comes as France proposes a partial one-month truce between Russia and Ukraine, and Mr. Zelensky says Ukraine is “still ready” to sign a minerals deal with the US. However, he also says a deal to end the war with Russia “is still very, very far away.”

This ongoing controversy over the way forward in Ukraine is both highly complex and very simple.

How the conflict is complex (part one)

It is highly complex in that there are so many competing agendas in conflict with each other. For example, consider the press conference last Friday in the Oval Office staged to discuss the signing of a rare earth minerals agreement between Ukraine and the US.

Forty minutes in, Vice President Vance advocated for diplomacy to end the conflict; Mr. Zelensky then began to argue with him, citing times Vladimir Putin has violated diplomatic agreements and asking, “What kind of diplomacy are you speaking about?” A heated argument ensued, ending the press conference and postponing the signing ceremony that was to follow.

If I had not seen the press conference but only read opinions about it, they would seem to be discussing completely different events. Republican leaders blamed Mr. Zelensky for the conflict; one castigated him for having “the audacity to disrespect” the president. Democrat leaders blamed Mr. Trump; one called him “a lapdog for a brutal dictator in Moscow.”

This is unsurprising: in our divisive political climate, many people consider anything President Trump does to be either entirely right or entirely wrong. Many partisans are convinced the other side is not just wrong but evil—and you don’t compromise with evil. So every political story descends into name-calling and point-scoring for “our” side against “their” side.

How the conflict is complex (part two)

Then there are the basic facts of the conflict:

• President Zelensky wants security guarantees from Europe and the US to keep Russia from invading again. In his view, Ukraine is fighting Vladimir Putin on behalf of the West. If Russia captures Ukraine and then proceeds to invade a NATO country, America and Europe will be drawn into a world war.
• European and US leaders know that if they grant such guarantees and Russia invades Ukraine, World War III will ensue. Since both sides have nuclear weapons, such a war could endanger mankind.
• President Trump sees this as a European conflict and therefore believes European nations should do more to support Ukraine and the US should be less involved.
• Vladimir Putin sees any Western presence or influence in Ukraine as an encroachment on Russian sovereignty paving the way for another invasion of the Motherland.

Last Friday’s press conference should be viewed through the prism of these contradictory facts.

Mr. Zelensky was frustrated that the proposed rare earth minerals agreement did not include security guarantees he believes are crucial for his nation. Mr. Trump was frustrated that Mr. Zelensky did not seem grateful for the help he had been given and turned a press conference into a debate. Both then argued for what they believe is in the best interest of the nation they serve.

And so the conflict continues.

How the conflict is simple

I said earlier that this conflict is both complex and simple. Here’s the simple part: Ukraine and Russia want the same territory. Both consider it part of their historic homeland and vital to their sovereignty and security. If one wins, the other must lose.

Such a zero-sum dilemma is at the heart of most intractable conflicts across history.

For example, Israelis and Palestinians both venerate the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. To the Jews, it is where Abraham offered Isaac and their temple was built. To the Muslims, it is where Abraham offered Ishmael and the Prophet Muhammad ascended to heaven. Both sides want the same “rock” and the land it represents.

The only way to resolve a zero-sum dilemma without conflict is to change the terms of the engagement from win-lose to win-win. This involves compromising what I want to enable what you want. The more I must sacrifice to make such a compromise, the more I must value your best as I value my own.

Imagine a world in which Russia values Ukraine’s sovereignty and flourishing as much as it values its own. Or a world in which Palestinians and Israelis want the same prosperity and freedom for each other that they want for themselves.

Such a world is the intention of Jesus’ second Great Commandment: “Love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:39, quoting Leviticus 19:18). He did not tell us to love our neighbor only when we agree with them. (That would be so easy as to need no such directive from our Lord.) He told us to love them “as yourself.” And you love yourself even when you don’t like yourself. In fact, you love yourself even when you despise something you have done to yourself or to someone else.

This is how we are to love our neighbor, whether they are a person or a nation.

“The wolf shall dwell with the lamb”

Of course, such selfless love is impossible for fallen humans, which is why zero-sum conflicts continue in our families, communities, and the world at large. But while we cannot fulfill God’s word in our strength, the good news is that we don’t have to.

The love Jesus commands is a “fruit” of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22), one result of the Spirit’s work in every life yielded fully to him (Ephesians 5:18). If both sides in the Russia/Ukraine war would submit themselves to Christ as Lord and surrender to his Spirit, he would empower them to forgive each other, seek each other’s best, and live together in harmony.

You might say this is impossible, but remember: The Spirit transformed a Christian-persecuting zealot into the greatest advocate and apologist for the Christian movement in history (Acts 9). He transformed a Gentile-rejecting Jew into a missionary to a Roman centurion and his family (Acts 10). He is working today to conform you and me to the character of Christ (Romans 8:29).

And no one in human history loved his neighbor as himself more than our Savior.

Jesus is grieving over the horrific war in Ukraine right now. He is also grieving over any zero-sum conflicts in your life and mine. He loves your neighbor so much that he died for them. Now he wants you to love them as he loves you.

One day “the wolf shall dwell with the lamb” (Isaiah 11:6). That day can come for your heart today.

Quote for the day:

“To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.” —C. S. Lewis

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