We have come through an election based on hatreds. Almost 3/4 of Democrats and Republicans hate each other. Religious Democrats hate Republicans. Religious Republicans hate Democrats. “Love one another” seems just to be a myth that many religious people believe but do not practice in politics.
The Biden supporters were the most consistent haters. Almost 90% of Biden supporters loathed Trump supporters. About 70% of Trump supporters loathed Biden supporters. The Party that had the most hate won. But partisans on both sides had pretty high levels of hate.
The survey asked what did the respondents think of the people on the other side of the partisan fence. A majority of each side of politics thinks that the other side is: close-minded; misguided and uninformed; ignorant; intolerant; authoritarian; dangerous; and dishonest.
(I sum up these strongly negative opinions as “hatred” of the Other. For some, they might argue that their general attitude toward the Other side is one of disrespect, not hatred. Only 30-40% say that the other side is “evil.”)
The survey found that most Americans love America deeply, but they don’t trust their leaders, government, Wall Street, big business, the educated class, and the media.
These findings come from a large national survey of American political culture directed by sociologist James Hunter and conducted by the Gallup Organization. (Institute for Advanced Studies in Culture’s Survey of American Political Culture released on November 16, 2020. The sample was from the Gallup Panel of 2,205 adults ages 18 and over, interviewed in July and August 2020.)
Which side of the hatred scale are you on?
Both sides (69%) see the divisiveness and polarization of our politics as a serious threat to our country’s future. But it doesn’t seem that either side is willing to give up their hatreds.
Biden could take a step in overcoming this by appointing some Trump supporters to his cabinet. The principle goes back to a New Testament practice. When an ethnic group was complaining that their people were not being treated well at the dinner table, the solution was to appoint their leaders to solve the problem. What do you say, Joe?
As a first step, Biden could balance out his Democratic-ladened panel of advisors on the pandemic. He could appoint to his panel Dr. Bill Frist, a transplant surgeon and former Republican senator and Dr. Marc K. Siegel, an internist and Fox News opinion writer.
Wrong.
Most people who voted Republican did so out of love. Love for their country, and love for the charismatic candidate, who they rightly regard as a national hero.
By marked contrast, those who voted for the career grifter and aphasiac Joe Biden, who comprised a minority among LEGAL voters, did so not because they love Biden or their country – most think *both* suck – but because they HATED Trump. Indeed, if hatred could be used to fuel cars and heat homes, America’s energy needs would be supplied for at least 100 years by the Christ-despising, America-loathing, foaming-at-the-mouth Trump haters, which are legion.
Thanks for the hope!
Your OpEd left me wanting more…hope. Maybe that was your intent…sometime less it more… to get us thinking about how to bring hope to one another…especially with the combination of the Thanksgiving piece right on the heels of your OpEd.
I was not surprised by the statistics…another reason why I will be glad when all of this judicial stuff is over. There really is a lot of “hate” and at least up to this point people aren’t willing to budge. People are so tied to media…almost any media and as such are left confused and fearful and suspicious of anyone other than themselves when it is ourselves we should be the most suspicious of if we are not walking in the Lord as He prescribes.
I have had people ask me why I’m not more upset…and I tell them well first of all, Jesus said this would happen…maybe not exact details (but, yeah in some cases), second, Presidents come and Presidents go…God is the one who shakes the nations to fit His desires and His plan, third, I am old enough to have lived through some pretty bad President. Besides, our job as Christians is to get over our petty disappointments, and more, on to a way that we can make a difference for the Loving God in the world. The mission never changes…even if it appears the world does.