This past week the House of Representatives elected Kevin McCarthy as Speaker of the House of Representatives. A Republican from California’s 23rd district and former House minority leader (2019-2023) and House majority leader (2014-2019), it took 15 ballots and an open rebellion from the far right of his own party before he could declare victory. The question now remains, given the concessions he made, will it be possible to effectively lead this country with any sense of common purpose?
A Faith That Does Justice, a faith-based organization, seeks the common good of all God’s people. We lament the fractured state of our country and make a plea that the way forward must be through dialogue. We must engage those we disagree with rather than continue to demonize them. We must also commit to finding common ground on some our most pressing issues, like immigration, racism, poverty, infrastructure, and the economy, etc. To live politics as usual is to invite catastrophe, as January 6, 2021, made clear.
We are a diverse nation of people from different countries, ethnic backgrounds, and religions. We are all created in God’s likeness, and all deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. Our founding fathers reminded us that E pluribus unum (Out of many, one). Yet, we are now threatened by extreme ideological groups who demand this country look like them and believe as they do. Let it never come to pass! May we commit to live the ideals that have been handed down to us by our founders.
I couldn’t agree more. What seems remarkable / incredible, in my experience, is that so many of the people who want the U.S. to look like them and believe like them are Roman Catholics. For example: A person whom I love very much has no tolerance for Black Lives Matter or the academic concept known as Critical Race Theory. I came to know about this last year on the occasion of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday, when I remarked that I deeply respect Dr. King, what he stood for, and what he was trying to accomplish. The response: “Black Lives Matter, they’re all Communists.” (What??) When I disagreed, this person angrily said about African Americans, “They’re not slaves, and I’m not a slave owner.” The atmosphere in the room instantly became chilly. … Other Catholics whom I know have little or no tolerance for undocumented immigrants; the same is true for some elected officials who are governors and members of Congress. “Ditto” about LGBTQ individuals. (Full disclosure: I have a teenage grandchild who is transgender.) A conversation that took place on this past Christmas Day included heated disparaging remarks about undocumented immigrants and transgender people. … Dialogue with some of our Catholic brothers and sisters can be difficult. Yet it needs to be part of the solution about bringing us closer to each other.