Americans have work to do: Learn to live together in peace
I was on a retreat for my movement’s regional synagogues during the weekend immediately following the election of President Trump in 2016, and I led an impromptu discussion on how people were reacting to the news of Donald J. Trump’s election as the next president of the United States.
Suffice it to say many were unhappy, even despondent at the decision of the American people. But after talking about it, they returned to their respective communities with ideas about enriching their congregations and coping with their challenges of adjusting to the new president.
Four years later we find ourselves in a not-so-different situation. Former Vice President Joe Biden has been declared president elect. Some are elated; others feel like those who voted for Hillary Clinton in 2016.
So where do we go from here, and where does faith play a role in our nation moving forward?
It is one thing for us as a democracy to choose sides for what we believe in and whom we will vote for, in any election. We might oppose each other and strenuously disagree with the candidates, including the president, that we did not vote for last week.
But those who consider themselves part of the religious community in America have work to do. We should be thinking seriously how important it is for houses of worship and for clergy to strive for stability and peace in this country after such hard-fought elections, especially the race for the presidency.
President Abraham Lincoln in his second inaugural address spoke about the core values that united the country at the end of the Civil War. In the case of Holy Scripture he said, “Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God’s assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men’s faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. “Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh” (Matthew 18:7).
Do Lincoln’s words capture the moment where we are today? Does the religious community in the United States have a moral responsibility to do what we can to ease the tensions and calm the passions in the hearts and minds of Americans? How can we attend services in our respective congregations and pray to God and then hurl the most vile invectives at each other because we don’t agree with someone’s politics?
No matter whether we are reading the Hebrew Bible, the Christian Scriptures, the Koran or whatever holy books other religions cherish, the idea is that these texts are supposed to help us learn how to live with each other and not do violence to each other.
The Bible says in Exodus 19:6: “You shall be a kingdom of Priests and a Holy People.” Is that not our mandate as we measure ourselves in light of the teachings of God? I have communicated with elected officials who lost their races and staff who are saddened that their candidates lost their elections. Yet, they all said that they will move on and try to make a difference in other ways. Some will find other jobs, and others might return to challenge the winners next time around. That is what democracy is all about.
Our sacred texts remind us “That which is hateful to you do not do to your neighbor. All the rest is commentary, now go learn” (Talmud Shabbat). Those texts are supposed to guide us to peace and toward sustaining our nation and addressing the most serious issues, such as the pandemic, the economy, race relations, among others. Now is the time to have faith in what is possible and not fall prey to unbridled anger. In the long run, that merely diminishes our nation and our faith traditions.
We are dealing with powerful emotions and passions that can drive us to extreme reactions. The time is now to monitor ourselves and see where we need to be as Americans.
As President Lincoln wrote, “With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation’s wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.”
This story was originally published November 12, 2020 at 4:35 AM.