Article VI Blog

Back in September, I wrote, in the wake of Rick Perry’s address to Liberty University,  about how some aspects of Christianity stood at the very core of how our nation was put together:

Perry’s speech seemed, in its pat but comfortable phraseology and its lack of depth and its approval of mediocrity to capture most of what I disagree with in the evangelical movement I call my own.  Christianity is unique in two very special and related ways.  The first is that unlike most religions it does not demand a code of ethical behavior – excellence – from its adherents, rather it seeks to empower them to recover the  excellence that into which they were created.  (Read C.S. Lewis’ science fiction trilogy for insight in to Lewis’ view that all people were created to be kings and queens.)   Secondly, the empowerment Christianity offers comes not in the form of a coronation, but in form of humble service (“humility even to death” to paraphrase Paul’s letter to the Philippians).

Consider how these ideas are built into the American system.  With the people sovereign and our leaders servants, with opportunity for all to reach whatever station in life one chooses, with a system that seeks not to dictate but to stay out of the way – these ideas from Christianity are a very part of the fabric of our nation.  And yet, as the left has chosen to challenge, assault and overturn these ideas how have we responded?  For many in the evangelical movement the response has been a lowering of the bar as to what constitutes excellence and demands concerning our place at the table.   Many have responded to the left in kind rather than in the unique fashion that Christianity calls wholly its own.

At the time, I was essentially chastising many of my Evangelical brethren for their approach to politics.  But it seems the ideas I expressed have caught on in some unexpected circles.  On Saturday, Ross Douthat wrote a piece on his blog called “Our Reckless Meritocracy.”  Here is his thesis statement:

In hereditary aristocracies, debacles tend to flow from stupidity and pigheadedness: think of the Charge of the Light Brigade or the Battle of the Somme. In one-party states, they tend to flow from ideological mania: think of China’s Great Leap Forward, or Stalin’s experiment with “Lysenkoist” agriculture.

In meritocracies, though, it’s the very intelligence of our leaders that creates the worst disasters. Convinced that their own skills are equal to any task or challenge, meritocrats take risks than lower-wattage elites would never even contemplate, embark on more hubristic projects, and become infatuated with statistical models that hold out the promise of a perfectly rational and frictionless world. (Or as Calvin Trillin put it in these pages, quoting a tweedy WASP waxing nostalgic for the days when Wall Street was dominated by his fellow bluebloods: “Do you think our guys could have invented, say, credit default swaps? Give me a break! They couldn’t have done the math.”)

Inevitably, pride goeth before a fall.

And his conclusion:

In place of reckless meritocrats, we don’t need feckless know-nothings. We need intelligent leaders with a sense of their own limits, experienced people whose lives have taught them caution. We still need the best and brightest, but we need them to have somehow learned humility along the way.

So, what we need in our public servants most at the moment is humility, and as I pointed out two months ago that is an essentially Christian thing.  Perhaps most interesting is that the left is challenging Douthat by asserting that we are NOT  meritocracy, but a government of the elites, and the selection of the elites are not nearly as intelligent as a true meritocracy would produce.  (The leftie examples are Bush decisions so it is essentially a retread of the very tired “Bush is stupid” meme. *SIGH*)

I can’t think of a better example of what results from a lack of humility than the current mess facing Herman Cain.  And this is where I want to make my faith point.  People of faith often have bad problems in their past and overcome them.  Bush 43 had an alcohol problem, his faith was integral to his overcoming it and he was honest and straightforward about it when it became public knowledge.  That’s what Christian faith teaches us – to face our issues, squarely.  It’s in all sorts of faith expressions from the Confessional of Roman Catholicism to the 12 steps of Bill W.  One is humbled in so squarely facing issues.  That is the humility that only faith can create.

Regardless of whether you believe Cain’s latest accuser or not, Cain has an issue he has to face head on, squarely.  The accusation, with its vivid detail, is an issue in and of itself.  Cain’s flat denials of any wrongdoing today may be a good PR move, but it does not have the kind of integrity called for in the face of numerous and in some cases specific charges.  Cain’s responses bear the mark of the shallow Evangelical expressions I chastised in regards to Perry’s speech those months ago.  It simply lacks humility.

This is where faith really matters in the public political realm, and particularly when it comes to our national leaders.  Douthat is absolutely right on this one.  We need people that have been shaped with faith in a  fashion that produces humility.  That does not necessarily mean they are “without sin,” but it does mean they can stare such right in the eyes and acknowledge it for what it is.

There’s a lot of talk about “looking for Reagan,” this and most cycles since he served.  If you think back, much of what made Reagan, Reagan was his self-deprecation, and his willingness to face things straight on.  I’m not looking for another Reagan, jut someone with those attributes.  Attributes that tend to flow from deep and abiding faith.

Posted in Candidate Qualifications, Doctrinal Obedience, News Media Bias, Religious Freedom, Understanding Religion | 1 Comment » |  Print this post |  Email This Post

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