Monday, November 5, 2012

Election Reflections

Well, tomorrow we vote.  At some point, perhaps in the early morning hours of Wednesday, perhaps not for several days, we will find out who has been selected by our electoral college system to serve as President for the next four years.  I expect that the winner will not fulfill all the promises they have made.  Nor will their presidency be as apocalyptic as the prophets of doom have predicted.  Both of these candidates have virtues which are worthy of our admiration, and weaknesses which merit our concern.  Nonetheless, based on the deluge of FB posts by my friends, I expect that while somewhere around a third of you will be ecstatic over the result, another third will be bitterly disappointed.   
But this post isn’t really about who is President for the next four years.  We’ll all survive that.  This post is about my friends.  You all.  For no matter who wins this election, the last election, the next election – most of us will still be here.  There is an old saw that we get the government we deserve.  And frankly, based on the vitriol and animosity I have seen on my page, we don’t deserve much. 
I have heard friends accuse friends of being bigots and racists because of who they are voting for.  I have seen friends accuse friends of being “uninformed, misinformed, communists or opposed to this country’s values” if we vote for Obama.  I have seen friends accuse friends of being haters, homophobes, misogynists, etc., if they vote for Romney.  I have seen friends “unfriend” friends.  Frankly, I’ve been tempted myself, although I have resisted the urge.  I don’t know if we are reflecting the animosity of Washington, or if the Beltway reflects the hatred and spite of the citizenry. 
Here’s what I rarely, if ever, observed.  People truly listening.  People asking questions of people who view the world differently seeking to understand.  To paraphrase G. K. Chesterton, it’s not that we have tried to engage in gracious, thoughtful political dialogue and found it wanting – it’s that we have found it difficult and not tried.  We have told people what they think rather than asking them.  We have refused to believe their reasons, choosing to trust our own stereotypes.  We haven’t listened to their stories – we’ve made them shallow caricatures in a story of our own creation. 
I expect I have noticed this acutely this year because this is the first year that so many of us have been on FB in an election year.  But of course, politics, not to mention religion, has been a taboo topic of discussion for years, long before the internet.  It is tragic that those disciplines that capture the depths of human values and meaning - religion and politics - are considered off-limits for many of our conversations.  I expect much of this revolves around our need to be right, and our fear of people who see the world differently.
I’ve given this a lot of thought as a friend of mine has continually jabbed at supporters of the other candidate, goading them to respond to some of the more troublesome aspects of their candidate’s platform.  All asked in a shaming, blaming way.  Not surprisingly, no one took them up on the offer to explain. 
Let me make a few friendly suggestions of how we might do this better four years from now.
First off, ask questions.  And listen.  Really listen.  Don’t just wait for them to take a breath so you can shoot down their position.  Listen seeking to understand.  Assume that they are a person of good faith, rather than an evil, bigoted hater.  Don’t tell them why they’re wrong.  Try and understand why they view the world the way they do.  Affirm aspects of their values and perspectives that you can respect and admire, even if you might view things differently.  Make it safe for them to share their deepest hopes and fears with you.  You will find that when you have asked questions, listened actively seeking to understand, and affirmed common ground, that you will develop trust.  You will also have created a space where they may ask you questions.  They may give you the same respect that you have shown them.  They may be willing to express respect for some of your values and vision, even if yours differ from theirs.  Then, admit to them the concerns you have about your own candidate/party, acknowledging that candidates, like the rest of humanity, have their weaknesses as well as their strengths.  Then, and only then, might they feel safe enough to address the weaknesses in their candidate/party that trouble you.  Few of us embrace the entire platform of the candidate we vote for.  You may not change your friend's vote.  But you will have deepened a friendship.  And opened a mind.  You can’t wait for them to make the first step.  You have to do it.
And whoever wins this election, be open to the possibility that some of their policies, all of which have been informed by advisors and embraced by close to half the population, might actually succeed.  Hope and pray for the success of the candidate, even if you’re skeptical.  Be more concerned about the good of the country than the success or failure of political parties.  When we remain open to the virtues and vision of their leadership, they may be more willing to listen to our legitimate concerns about those who might get left behind by their policies.
And maybe, just maybe, this sort of political engagement will catch on.