A divided nation has him seeing red
I pledge allegiance to the United States of America, two nations, one under God. . . . That is what I found myself saying as I watched the presidential election returns. Ever since, I have been haunted by the huge TV map colored Bush red down the middle and through all the Southeast. A political earthquake has split the nation. I fear a fundamentalist Midwest and South that will attempt to impose their beliefs on me.
I feel cast out, abandoned by my own country. There is no place for me, since I long ago left the fundamentalism of my parents. The men and women of the Christian right who will run the country for the next four years will, understandably, think of themselves as the Elect.
The members of this new political-religious union seem to forget that evangelical Christianity is only one form of Christianity, and they ignore the devout worshipers who are not Christians.
I can still remember my first dead German while fighting World War II, and my surprise that his Wehrmacht belt buckle said God was fighting on their side. Of course God is worshiped in many ways, all worthy of respect. But, of course, few religions seem to tolerate difference.
I fear the Christian right's increasing power in our government because it does not respect difference, doubt, or contradiction but expects all of us to think and behave in one way.
When I voted, poll watchers on the right and left, herded into a rope corral, studied voters with angry, paranoid stares. They looked at us as if we were guilty of voting for the wrong candidate.
As an 80-year-old, I remember the polls as a place of celebration, with ordinary neighbors wearing badges or arm bands. For this day, they were elevated. As we lined up to vote, we greeted one another with a jovial familiarity.
As this year's campaign droned on, I found I was practicing an unusual reserve in political conversations with friends. As both parties became increasingly nasty, I found that I lived in a different world than that of the other side.
President Bush and Senator John Kerry have made the usual promises to work together, but it won't be easy. The nation is deeply divided. "They" cannot understand our most deeply held beliefs, and we cannot understand theirs.
The lack of understanding leads to a lack of respect for the other side's views that is essential if we are to heal the nation and close the wounds left after each party's personal attacks. This is a challenge for each of us, not just those in the White House or Congress. I must start with myself.
My political opinions have become emotional. I cannot imagine why people voted for the candidate I opposed. The difference -- and the distance -- between those on one side of the great divide and those on the other seem fundamental. I fear we may have two nations, not one.
