Feed the man, then teach the man

With all the Merry Christmas v. Happy Holidays hubbub, you'd think we were in an all-out culture war. Perhaps we are, but likely not on the levels bandied about in the übermedia. Historians will chronicle whether indeed there were undercurrents of a culture war at present.

I was heartened to read something just along these lines in an interview with Michael Flaherty, president of Walden Media (the producers of the film "The Chronicles of Narnia: the Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe"):

Maybe the problem is that we, as Americans, tend to buy into the idea of the “Culture War” too easily. “I think that the press is clearly obsessed with that,” Flaherty responded when I posed that question to him. “But we like to pride ourselves on being the purple company.”

This has been a supertheme in my life for a few years now - that the way for me is beyond right or left, conservative or liberal, truth or mercy. My way, I have discerned, is to have a foot in both, sensitive to both intellectually and emotionally persuasive arguments and acting appropriately, based on judgment grounded in respect for history as well as a commitment to both short and long-term compassion.

I think that's where conservatives and liberals diverge - in their commitments to compassion. Liberals tend to be concerned with that beautiful short-term compassion that is ministering to the immediate needs of the hurting. But so often they drop the ball at this point, never establishing the means by which long-term compassion is administered. Give the man a fish, for certain, but teach him to fish. Continuing to provide the man with fish while not showing him how to fish is making him (and his descendents) - over time - your ward. While there are many well-intentioned liberals who merely wish to feed the man, there are those who perversely use the man's relationship as beholden to themselves in order to gratify their egos and further their agendas. True liberals need to look at their leadership from time to time for signs of a commitment to an agenda rather than to people. Are their faces bright with what can be done, sorrowful with what needs to be done, or scowling with antagonism for opposing views and haughty with self-importance and their role in their agenda.

Conservatives - as fans of history and respecters of historical precedence - tend to jump the gun, wishing to show the man how to fish when the man first needs to eat. Many conservatives are fearful of - or worse - judgmental of the man and his choices and simply avoid the man when possible. Yet the man's hunger persists. Feed the man, then teach him.

It would seem we live in a world of bleeding hearts and closed hearts, with heartless "leadership" often exploiting both. To the liberal, I urge you not to think of your conservative brother as heartless. Nothing could be more untrue. Oftentimes his heart is large, with great capacity to do good. It may be shut down, however, often in reaction to the loathsome self-gratifying egoism of your leadership. Or, it may be in reaction to an examination of our society and its ills - the elements of questionable virtue which are vaunted in our culture. Often, his heart is closed to others so that he may protect his family. In any regard, his heart is closed unnaturally - and in reaction to experience. You, my liberal brother, can help him open his heart in the immediate ministering so needed.

To the conservative, I urge you as well, not to see your liberal brother as a dupe, controlled by ideology, irrespective of truth. Most liberals I have met are guided far less by ideology than by a palpable caring for those less fortunate. It is palpable, as you can see it in action - touch it as they are touching the lives of those in need. The liberal's mistake is in his blind allegiance to his leadership. He is too busy ministering to the immediate needs of those around him to examine the annals of history, the actions of his leaders, or the arguments of well-intentioned conservatives.

To the ideologues on either side of the political fence, I urge you to lay down your ideology and start living life. No matter how rigidly you adhere to your ideology, you will not be remembered for it, but by how you conducted your life. I have just returned from the funeral of a great man who was great because he was good. He was respected not because of his ideology, but for his commitment to doing good in the lives of those whom his Creator put in his path. The character of his life seemed to be most concerned with making the right choices. Those choices, if analyzed, were probably sometimes conservative and sometimes liberal. And yet, amid seemingly inconsistent choices - politically - stood the character of a man who - personally - was undeniably consistent.

Such is the way I want for my life.

Rest in peace, Keith.