We must continue our thoughts on how we should be conducting ourselves in the political arena and anywhere for that matter. I have written before about outrage, included one blog commenter who observes that “Recreational outrage is America’s most popular indoor sport.”

Now, we’re beyond outrage. As of Wednesday, we have rioting by Trump supporters to go along with the summer’s riots against racial injustice. Breakpoint’s John Stonestreet nailed it:

But, and this is the much more important point that many miss, character is destiny for a people as well as for a person. Yesterday, when President-elect Biden said that the actions of the mob did not reflect America, I wish he were correct. But he wasn’t. We are not a moral nation. We are lawless. We are not a nation that cultivates the kinds of families able to produce good citizens. Our institutions cannot be trusted to tell us the truth or advance the good. Our leaders think and live as if wrong means are justified by preferred ends. Our churches tickle ears and indulge narcissism. Our schools build frameworks of thinking that are not only wrong but foster confusion and division. 

Yesterday’s riot was not the first in our nation’s recent history, nor will it be the last. There are certainly immediate causes for what we witnessed, including the words of a President who appeared to care more about the attention the riots gave him than the rule of law that they violated. Still, there are ultimate causes, ones that predate his administration and that have created what is clearly a spark-ready environment.

Yesterday’s events cannot be understood, much less addressed outside this larger context. And the moment we excuse ourselves from being part of the problem, we have lost our saltiness. John Stonestreet, Breakpoint, January 7.

I’m reminded of the hockey player I mentioned in October 2019 who, after assaulting another player on the ice, said, “I don’t play the game that way. And I’m not a mean-spirited person.” Actually, you do play the game that way – we have you on videotape.

Wednesday’s actions do reflect America. Millions saw the assault on the capitol live as they did the riots last summer. Our outrage and our words (“they’re just words”(?)) have escalated. A well-known political figure said a few years ago, “You cannot be civil with a political party that wants to destroy what you stand for…” World Magazine reported President Trump’s actions on Wednesday:

In December, Trump called for his supporters to rally in Washington the day that Congress certified the Electoral College count. He spoke to participants outside the White House on Wednesday, saying, “We will never give up, we will never concede. … Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore.” He said it was up to him and his supporters “to confront this egregious assault on our democracy.” He encouraged them to march to the Capitol without specifically telling them to break inside. –World Magazine, January 7, 2021.

May believers of all political persuasions (or none!) lead the way in peace and civility.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time. Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person. (Colossians 4.5, 6, ESV)

¹²  Whoever of you loves life and desires to see many good days,
¹³  keep your tongue from evil and your lips from telling lies.
¹⁴  Turn from evil and do good; seek peace and pursue it.
¹⁵  The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry;
¹⁶  but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil, to blot out their name from the earth. (Psalm 34.12 – 16, NIV)