Divided We Fall

If the words have a familiar ring, they should they are from the famous speech given by Abraham Lincoln in 1858. While the issue at the time was slavery and the entry of Kansas to the United States as a Slave State, the corollaries between today’s vast divides are not I think very different.

The Divided States of America (DSA) no longer united by shared goals, shared values or even a sense of common humanity it seems. No longer united by the shared tragedy of September 11, for even this has divided us in misery by its outcomes. We are a house divided where once though we might have differences in our politics and religions we came together for the common good, we are now so riven by ideology even families are torn apart by their differences.

Our true history is lost as both sides of the argument dance upon the shifting sands of time and rewrite the books as if they have won the war. It has always been the way, the victor of the war writes the history of the battles and the history of the world before time, shouldn’t we ask the question though; isn’t it past time for us to stop rewriting history and start learning from history instead. It is only my opinion of course; nevertheless, my answer to this would always be yes. It is well past time for this nation to take a step back from chest pounding and nationalistic patriotism and start hard introspective look at who and what we truly are, to ourselves and others.

Consider the horrifying state of America, the divisive nature of our political theater and their determination to be the moral standard bearers of the nation and its three hundred million plus people. They cozy up to religion and the countless so-called faith-based leaders, many who are all too often standing on the stage and spewing a rhetoric not of love, peace and kindness but of hate, divisiveness and self-centered enrichment. These ministers of God, no matter which God they call on lift up man rather than spirit and presume to speak for a truth that is not written anywhere but a ledger of numbers showing their increasing wealth while those who need their ministry and charity most send their last dollar in prayerful hope of a miracle.

Study the media of today, their ability to permeate every aspect of our lives, repeating, enhancing and even creating ‘news’ for our consumption. The most insidious ingredient for the mind of the battle for the Divided States of America is the media Talking Head Pundit, though this name assumes expertise of some nature it is rarely the reality. Instead we our inundated with vitriol aimed at whichever side of the house is perceived as the enemy by that media group, rich in standard bearers for the ‘News’ of the day, the truth is buried while the tidbits supporting the spin are blasted into homes through every media source available becoming truth for those who seemingly absorb this spun up ‘News’ through their pores.

I hold all politicians equally responsible for the state of the nation, every last one of them going back to Reagan in 1987 and his veto of Congress’ attempt to codify the FCC Fairness Doctrine, leading to a decade later Clinton signing the 1996 Telecommunications Act. Between these two, this nation went from fifty (50) media corporations with a requirement to cover equally both sides of issues, e.g. give equal time, to what we have today:

This is not to say that all Politician’s are terrible people, though it is hard to find one that I would leave alone in my home for 5 minutes without counting the silver when I returned. At every level, we are met with divisive language from those who would lead a nation. At every level, we are introduced to new reasons to fear that which might be different or new, by those charted to bring us together in peace. Words and language that even four years ago was considered unfit for public use, now is not only accepted but demanded of those who would be President and even those who lead from the pulpits. Hypocrisy runs rampant through the halls of our nation’s capital, followed closely by obstruction, obfuscation, bribery, intimidation and a host of other criminal activities all of which it seems today we must accept as normal, even cheer on as if the offices of our elected officials are nothing more than running reality shows put on for our amusement.

What are we come to?

Can it be we are on the precipice of a new order? One that will see a nation divided by more than any of the obvious lines of demarcation for us to seek correction for through finding common ground and fighting a shrinking minority; those of race, gender, sexual orientation and even the economics of poverty. Could we be looking over the abyss into a choice of moving forward into a future that includes social, technological and human advancement or instead reverting to a past that includes abysmal poverty for many, racial and gender oppression and a nation defined by its religious zealotry, superstition and ignorance? Have we stepped off the edge already and are even now falling from the heights of our once dreamed greatness into second or even third-nation status? Is this the future our children will be left with? Have we stepped aside and allowed a minority of our populace define our future?

Those of us who have fought the false lines of demarcation our entire adult lives, we see clearly this ugly strain of hate marking the nation and we recognize it as something old and ugly raising up to devour us. But we see these markers indelibly inscribing themselves across not just the expected party and population but within our own as well. Suddenly, many of see our own loyalty to justice, to fairness, to breaking the walls that separate us questioned because we don’t agree with radicalism. We are subject to purity tests, we are rejected by those we once had common ground because we might be two old, to white and privileged or to something else, including to centrist not Left enough. We have gone from a nation that values inclusion to one that seeks exclusion even at the lowest level, within our communities.

If we continue on this precarious path soon we will be a nation without empathy or compassion from any side of the aisle. A nation led by sociopaths using the tools of fear and hate as a means of controlling an already downtrodden citizenry. The lessons of history will be lost in the morass of tangled lies, religious and political chicanery and corporate manipulation of our political systems for personal gain. Already we have seen much of this in the past three years. We have watched an entire political party bow under the weight of a lunatic, give way to fear of a minority voting block and the rhetoric of a media storms of constant hate towards groups of people, American Citizens or not who pose a threat to their comfort and hold on power. Make no mistake though, the other side fed this hate on a daily basis by never accepting the outcome of an election, by their constant and unrelenting refusal to accept a loss.

But what is to be done? Abraham Lincoln didn’t come to his famous speech without inspiration; in fact, his inspiration was taken directly from Biblical thought.

Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom, divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand?” Matthew 12:25-26, Holy Bible New International

The only question that remains, are we a people that can set aside ideology and parties long enough to pick what is right and save our nation? Or are we going to allow, once again the media to select our candidate to do battle against what will only bring our nation to its knees.