America has been fixated on Capitol Hill yet again as an unworthy spectacle plays out in the Senate. Center stage stands Brett Kavanaugh, a federal judge appointed by the President to fill the recently vacated seat on the Supreme Court; Dr. Christine Ford, who alleges that Judge Kavanaugh sexually assaulted her in years past; and a Senate judiciary committee, comprised of Republicans hell-bent on Kavanaugh’s confirmation to the Court and Democrats hell-bent on the very opposite.
And so, before our very eyes, a most ugly drama has played out. It is a tragedy without the gravitas, a sick comedy that lacks any semblance of comedy. Names through mud are dragged. Warring camps are mobilized under hazy and uncertain banners. And behind it all, the “leaders” of the American Senate, the statesmen and women of the esteemed Senate stand as ringleaders in this aptly described “circus”.
Americans all over rally to their chosen tribe. Conservatives have honorably insisted on the presumption of innocence until the proof of guilt is found and dishonorably made light, even mockery, of the serious claims brought by Dr. Ford. Liberals have honorably sought justice for Dr. Ford and dishonorably used this testimony to obscenely slander a man while trivializing the pain of many as a political tactic.
It has truly brought the worst out in both sides.
Furthermore, it has deceivingly presented us with a false dichotomy: believe men or believe women. We have been told, if not with words then with attitudes, that we must choose between one or the other: honor and bring justice to our women or protect and uphold the integrity of our men. This choice is not necessary and yet the fact that it is presented to us as such is a sign of another phenomenon in the contemporary American experience: the extinction of trust.
Yes, it is trust and community that have begun to disappear into the foggy past. Perhaps we shall find ourselves in a fantasy world one night, in a dream, and among the unicorns and dinosaurs, we shall see trust riding with the centaurs.
What has brought us to this point? Foregoing a (lengthy) history lesson, we can conjure up many possible causes for this phenomenon but one that I want to particularly highlight and examine is the inverse rise and fall of social media and community.
My premise is simple: relationships are built on trust and vice versa. In fact, I would go as far as far as to say that relationships are built on deep trust and vice versa. Social media undermines this foundation and trivializes relationships in an unintended way. It’s the great paradox of our time: as the world grows wider it also grows thinner. As we possess the ability to connect with other humans around the globe, we risk losing the ability to build deep, meaningful, relationships (and thereby trust) with our nearest neighbors.
Furthermore, social media has afforded every unqualified prophet a megaphone and every unqualified preacher a pulpit. Armchair pundits now have every means available to chronicle and commentate on the happenings of the world without any firsthand knowledge or experience of the subject of their reports. This has led thousands who know neither Dr. Ford nor Judge Kavanaugh personally, to nonetheless offer their totally unqualified opinions to the debate from the comfort of their own couches. Authorities on a subject are no longer recognized because amateur experts have shouted them out of the discourse. We can’t believe anyone these days. Why? Because we don’t have relationships anymore we have platforms. We don’t have friends, we have followers. We don’t have family, we have tribes.
We, in the West, have witnessed the extinction of trust, due in large part to the rise of social media and the very-much-related fall of true community.
Without relationships, we must depend on public narratives to inform our understanding of the world. Thus, the tribal war begins with each side pelting each other with sound bites, headlines, and desperately slanderous fear mongering.
What a world, indeed? Is this the America you hope for? Is this the America our bravest men and women fight for? Is the the America we want for future generations? No? What can we change?
Admittedly, we can’t change much. After all, Capitol Hill is the way it is and most things, change first among them, move slowly in Washington. But we can change what stands right before us. We can start by returning, in our own individual spirits, to the foundations of the American republic. That is not a liberal or conservative principle, not a right or left concept. It is laid out in the Declaration of Independence quite simply: that God created all people equal. This foundation is not laid on a political ideology but instead on the revelation from God that establishes all people as image-bearers of their Father.
So you too hate the tribalism and shiftiness of the culture you find yourself in? Good. Whoever you are, we have that in common, among other important things. We have hope for unity in Christ. The resurrection of trust commences when we love people as image-bearers of God and honor them; man, woman, child, black, white, old, young, left, right, etc; by pursuing deep relationships with them.
Build relationships with those who are different from you by focusing on common ground and letting grace cover the rest.
Trust in America is riding with centaurs, galloping into fantasy and extinction. The bugle that calls it to return is love, grace, hospitality and community. Fortunately, it’s already slung around our necks. All we must do is play.