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Indulge me while I apply the underlying mental stance of our
current political climate to a simple analogy. In my view this is a stance that
applies to ever widening aspects of our society and represents the single
greatest threat to America.
The Analogy: I regularly visit two medical doctors—both doctors I really
like. Each sees me first as a human being—a person
with the usual broad sweep of relationships, characteristics, interests, ideas,
and emotions. Concurrently with this extended friendship, each sees me as a human organism replete with a wide-ranging
array of physical processes involving a complex variety of required resources.
Now suppose my kidney doctor since our last visit has imbibed
heavily at the fountain of our society’s current dangerous mental stance mentioned
above. I ask the heretofore friendly and forthcoming doctor a factual aspect of
my condition—"Doctor why is minimizing potassium intake important for my kidney
condition?" Rather than relaying in layman’s
terms a short sketch of kidney functioning, he launches
a full-throttled tirade against me, my attitude, my motives, my hidden agendas,
my political and religious proclivities.
Finally, he concludes triumphantly with this question, “Why are you so defensive?” I probably would be thinking: "Doctor, why are you so paranoid?"
To repeat my campaign slogan: It is what it is….Just deal with it. Perhaps my first campaign question should be “Is there
a doctor in the house?—a doctor experienced in human nature and concurrently in
physical processes, structures, and needs.
In the instance of a little hurting child before us, a doctor might address the obvious need
for love and reassurance as well as mustering the insights and skills of pediatric
medicine.
My campaign will need to address the broad landscape of
human personhood as well as the sometimes tedious details of complex systems. Obviously, this will take many more resources
than I alone can muster—it would be laughably ludicrous for me or anyone else to
pronounce—I alone can fix it. Success
will require numerous individual heroes who thoroughly understand that our efforts
must always of urgent necessity begin and end with our society's deep affliction of personal pain—perhaps of our own furtive and desperate
tears. Enough of phony smiles, empty small-talk
diversion, and hollow, ricocheting laughter sourced in pain and despair. It is NOT the economy, stupid! Human meaning and destiny depend on far more than
an air-fryer in every kitchen. If we should foolishly barter our God-given integrity and joy for the latest gadget addiction from hell, then it is truly only a matter of time
before we end up precisely there.
