What’s wrong with America? ‘Dear Sir, I am’
On Aug. 25, Hurricane Harvey hit the Gulf Coast of Texas, ravaging Houston. Afterward, Evangelical Pastor Kevin Swanson took to the airwaves to proclaim the storm was God’s judgment on Houston for once having elected a lesbian mayor.
But Kenneth Storey saw this disaster through a different lens. Storey, formerly a visiting professor at the University of Tampa, tweeted that Harvey was “instant Karma” for Texans voting Republican in the 2016 election. He insisted Texans should “do more to stop the evil their state pushes.” Storey left the impression that Floridians who voted Republican “deserve it, as well.” In Storey’s world, the devastation Floridians experienced last month from Hurricane Irma was payback for all Republicans who voted for Donald Trump.
On Oct. 1, thousands gathered in Las Vegas, Nev., to enjoy a country music festival. That evening, 58 people were killed, and nearly 500 were injured, in the worst mass shooting in this nation’s modern history. The next day, Hayley Geftman-Gold, a lawyer and former vice president at CBS, tweeted the victims did not deserve sympathy: “I’m actually not even sympathetic [because] country music fans are often Republican gun toters.”
On Wednesday, the Newsweek cover story, with generous quotes from the Bible, insinuated Trump, the “Prince of Lies,” is a demonic figure. What’s wrong with America?
In his best-selling book, Thomas Harris encouraged those growing up in the 1960s and ’70s to believe, “I’m Okay — You’re Okay.” Today, Democrats look at Republicans saying, “I’m OK, and You’re No Where Near OK.” Republicans are happy to return the favor.
By what standards do modern Americans decide who is a good person and who is bad? Simple — it’s by how you vote. As one postelection headline stated: “There’s no such thing as a good Trump voter.” On this logic, people who voted for Trump are not merely mistaken or misguided; they’re evil. And, by implication, those who oppose Trump and the Republicans are righteous. This kind of thinking represents a dramatic departure from the dominant world view of past generations.
A generation ago, the Times of London sent an inquiry to famous authors asking the question, “What’s wrong with the world?” One author responded simply: “Dear Sir, “I am. “Yours, “G.K. Chesterton” Chesterton believed the world is not comprised of people who are good and people who are bad. No, as Russian dissident Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn wrote: “The line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being.”
This truth was made clear in a thought experiment posed by theologian Francis Schaeffer. He said, suppose an invisible tape recorder were placed around your neck at birth, but it only recorded when you made moral judgments about others — whenever you said, “He ought to do that” or “She shouldn’t do that.” Schaeffer wondered, what if you appeared before God on Judgment Day and, in your defense, said, “I didn’t even know you existed. It’s not fair to judge me by standards I didn’t know about or believe in.” What’s God to do? He might say, “So you didn’t believe in me or the Bible? All right, I won’t judge you by the standards of the Bible. I’ll judge you by your own words.” God then turns on the invisible tape recorder and says, “I’ll judge you on the same standards by which you have judged others your entire life.” What could be more fair and equitable?
Schaeffer’s thought experiment is in line with the teaching of Jesus, “For you will be treated as you treat others. The standard you use in judging will be the standard by which you will be judged.” If this is the standard by which we will be judged, who will be “OK?”
The forgotten message of the Bible stands against the narcissism of “I’m Okay, You’re Okay,” and against the moralism of “I’m OK, You’re Not OK” and calls us to admit, “You’re not OK — but neither am I.”
Who knows if Americans will ever turn from their self-righteous, partisan religions and stop demonizing each other? But we will know we’re on the right track if, when asked “What’s wrong with America?” we humbly reply, Dear Sir, I am.